Bucketlist Trip – Week 2

“AwwweeeeEEEE, wook at da wee wittle wambSSS!!!” This basically sums up our whole trip to New Zealand, so maybe I should begin this post by apologizing to my dad that his three teenage girls were overcome by all of the cuteness as we drove past each pasture full of lambs. Most of the lambs were close to a month old but sometimes they would just look so cute and happy playing in the fields that we couldn’t help but get really high-pitched and gush. Lucky for all of you, I didn’t include any video clips of the squealing…

Cassia got to celebrate her 15th birthday a day early – which I still think isn’t fair because she technically wasn’t 15 yet… We did a quick photoshoot in the morning on the beach, which was absolutely frigid with the wind gusting crazily about us but she looked beautiful so we dealt with it. (Turning 15 also meant she was eligible to get her learners license – quite a scary thought as she is definitely the speed lover in our family.)
We also went on a 10km hike called the Escarpment Track which took 3.5hrs to complete, but thankfully we took the train home because the millions of stairs with no handrails were especially deadly.
The lookout, which was approximately halfway, was stunning.
A benefit to this trail was it wound along beside a pasture full of sheep. Another benefit was that most of the stairs we encountered were generally heading down. A con; however, were the stairs headed up – our house is one floor, meaning I do not have the leg muscles that come with climbing stairs all day, at least that’s my excuse… Given that there were no railings, things sometimes got a little scary as you’re trying to be done the stairs as fast as possible – without falling off the cliff.
More views. The cool thing about this trail was the fact it went from walking along the road at sea level to 800m several times, although it didn’t seem so cool as we had to hike all of that incline.
Cassia’s cake happened because my dad walked to the little bakery on the corner and bought a couple of slices of super good chocolate cake. Week 3’s post contains what we all pitched in to get for her birthday present…
Then, because we hadn’t done enough physical activity that day, Mom, Dad and Lanaya did a yoga challenge. This one worked well – but some of the others were a bit of a gong show.
The next day as we set out and because we like adventure, we took an incredibly windy mountain road (which was so bad even I got carsick – and I never get carsick). The road was one lane and it wound around the edge of a mountain with very steep embankments – we would honk going around every corner and if we met another car, pull over. Pulling over consisted of piddling past them and staying far enough away their mirror wouldn’t hit ours. We stopped at a lookout at one point (pictured) but Dad didn’t quite account for the steepness of the mound of dirt he was pulling onto so when he stopped the car, hoping to see the amazing valley below, all we saw was the gray sky. This may not seem funny to you, but you don’t know how long it took Dad to find the “perfect spot” to park for the best views… Also, notice how he’s sitting on the right – but also wrong – side of the vehicle?
I found the Putangirua Pinnacles online and so after the sickening but also fun (all the wittle wambs) 3hr drive from Raumati, we arrived. The hike was kind of anticlimactic, in that there wasn’t a definite endpoint but it was also pretty cool. There was this really slick mud that looked hard and smooth and when you threw rocks it shattered. If you jiggled your hand on it though, it was a liquid and super smooth. Very satisfying. If you like satisfying videos, I would 10/10 recommend this place to you – if only for the mud… Myself, being typical me, somehow injured my hip doing something, making it a little harder to scramble over the rocks along the trail but it was still very cool.
We drove past this black sand beach and then turned around because Cassia was dying to walk on the black sand. It was so beautiful with the turquoise water, and white waves crashing into the black sand; however, this beach was very painful! The wind was blowing quite strongly, which meant the sand would sandblast our legs each time the wind picked up. Then you were faced with running into the ocean so that the sand would stop stinging or just facing the merciless pain.
As we drove along a little further, we came across the cutest colony of seals *cue even more squealing*! There were so many seal pups and with their huge eyes, they were so adorable.
Once we reached the furthest point we could go (also, this was the farthest south in the world I’ve ever been) we came across this lighthouse – with 256 stairs to the top and no elevator. So, because we hadn’t done enough stairs the day before we climbed our way to the top, which offered a beautiful view of the coast.
The cool thing about this photo is that if you look closely at these stairs, it almost appears as though the stairs are going up – not down. They were much more fun to go down, though…
Here’s a sunset over a field of lambs to delight your hearts. We actually stopped at this pasture because we thought we saw a sheep giving birth but it took so long that we eventually had to keep driving down the road, leaving us with more questions than answers.
A close up photo of two little lambs.????
Because the pinnacles were so far out of the way, we didn’t end up eating until late that night at a little fish and chip restaurant we had seen earlier in the day, aka when we were still in reach of civilization. We ordered two packs of food – not realizing that one would have fed our whole family… I’m pretty sure that was the most deep-fried meal I have eaten in my entire life. There were deep-fried fish, french fries, deep-fried hotdogs on a stick (their hotdogs look different than NA’s), deep-fried potato patties, spring rolls, and I think that’s all. We also fell in love with Bundaberg’s Ginger Beer – if you ever get the opportunity, drink as much as you can. It was the freshest drink – and although we tried a couple of different brands, Bundaberg was best every time.
The next day we ate breakfast at McDonald’s and used their wifi to complete school work and catch up on stuff at home before a quick stop at the beach. It was drizzling, which made things a little cold but we had fun. Some people are just more flexible than others…
This is me trying to be cool on the beach like my sisters. Sometimes I just have to accept that Cassia is more flexible than me and that if I don’t want to get sand on me, I probably shouldn’t try things like this…????
Here is Lanaya, also showing off her athleticism.
After the beach and lunch, we headed over to the Nga Manu Nature Reserve, in hopes of seeing a Kiwi bird. The first time we went into the sanctuary the birds were hiding but when we went back the second time, they were up and running around. I never thought they would be so big – but they really were quite large and poofy.
Lanaya, Mom and I ran terrified as the ducks followed us around the walks looking for the food we held in our hands but Cassia had no problems feeding them out of her hands. We also saw black swans in the pond, a first for me. There were also eels – which I found are truly creepy…
Good ol’ pikelets! These are a sort of dense mini pancake that are absolutely delicious – especially with strawberry jam and whip cream. Aunty Lois’s were better than store-bought though!!!
We left the beach house and headed up to Palmerston North, where Dad had his first conference. The family we stayed with, the Middletons, had a little lamb we got to bottle feed – which was adorable.
The last photo with the Aunties, who drove up to the conference. It was so great to see them again!
The girls at the conference! (It was super great to meet Raquel and Liliana and so cool that Joanna got to come up from Wellington too!)
Nighttime shenanigans with the Persson’s and Middleton’s. Thank you so much for the great weekend and befriending me and my sisters, Jasmine, Jacintha, Olivia, Amy, Alana and Ella!

Week 2 was a ton of fun! It was so nice to disconnect from devices on the road and drive each other crazy… We took up singing to keep ourselves occupied – in between cooing at all the little lambs we drove past. Stay tuned for Week 3!

9 thoughts on “Bucketlist Trip – Week 2”

  3. Elaine Fairfield says:
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    Thanks Raquenna, we enjoyed your post. I can’t believe the athletic abilities of you all, you say you are not limber and you can bend backwards and put your hands on the ground! wow! You did see some amazing sights, like those pillars and black sand. I am sure you are enjoying revisiting your holiday.

    • kennasg says:
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      Haha… I didn’t post the photo of my mom and sisters helping me lower myself into that position – or pulling me back out again…???? It has been really nice going over all of our memories!

  5. Cynthia Burnell says:
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    Your pictures are awesome! I love sheep, so loved those photos! Thank you for sharing your amazing trip.

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