This below is what resiliency looks like my friends.
One might question how it is possible that two native-to-New Zealand girls could possibly drive four hours in the wrong direction and not realize it. The answer to that is a little invention called GPS which told us a big lie and lead us to believe we were going to Whitianga (in the Coromandel Peninsula) when in fact we were heading for Whitianga (in the Bay of Plenty). We won’t talk about the fact that we probably should have looked harder at the map the GPS showed us before we clicked ok take us there. Essentially, instead of driving four hours directly North, we drove four hours directly South.
The whole time we kept saying, “It’s weird that we are passing Hamilton”, “It’s weird that there is a sign for Gisborne” (both way south of where the Whitianga we wanted to go to is). We literally had no clue we were lost until the GPS said we had arrived at our destination which was the deserted car park you can see a little of in the above picture.
We spent the next ten minutes laughing hysterically and then put the car back in gear and decided to explore where we had ended up. My sis is one of the most fun people ever and this kind of adventure with her is always a blast. We ended up staying the night in an adorable cabin in the most random town ever, Opotiki, before deciding to do a Bay of Plenty road trip. The Bay of Plenty is basically a series of gorgeous beach after beach in the North Island of NZ.
A few photos from the drive during which we talked non-stop and giggled for 78% of the time between discussing deep and meaningful topics:
We stopped for a lunch break and the below camel was our table number. How cute is that? This kind of thing makes me weirdly happy FYI.
Other things that make me happy=
Beastie wraps with cous cous in them:
And giant “jumping pillows”:
We found an incredible campsite in Papamoa, a little beach town in the Bay of Plenty, and one of it’s many perks was the jumping pillow arrangement- there was an adult one and a kid’s one and it was like a trampoline but even more fun if that’s possible. Please admire my stride.
My non-jumping-pillow stride is not quite as epic 😉
I had an incredible run along the beach (please don’t judge me for wearing the same workout gear as yesterday, road trips are no time for being high-maintenance 😉 ). It was actually super hot but I burn really easily so I wore a long sleeved top, I have no interest in feeling my skin blister in the NZ sun while I’m running and would prefer to cover up and sweat approximately 1.7 buckets more than usual.
My sis treated us to an amazing cabin for the night and I knew the place was right for me when I laid eyes on the cutest bird cushion ever:
Oh and the sunset wasn’t too bad either 😉
More relaxing on the beach is needed with my incredible sis who is insanely generous and usually lavishes me with gifts but now that I live out of a suitcase decided to treat me to the best road trip of my life.
Where was your last road trip?
Ever been badly lost?
What a lovely experience!! I’m so glad you got lost! Enjoy every minute and drive safe. 🙂
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Thanks so much!! It’s been amazing! 🙂
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Omg I love this. It’s the same in Sydney….Nearly every suburb has a duplicate name. you guys look like a ball of fun. Come to Melbourne!
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Haha thanks, so do you!! 🙂 yeah sydney is super confusing too! I love Melbourne, when I go there next I’ll def hit you up for the grand tour 😉
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Please do. I’ll tell you we’re going to the city and we’ll end up in….the sticks.
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We will show the sticks what’s UP. 🙂
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That’s hysterical and sounds like something I would do.
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Haha awesome, that makes me feel less ridiculous! 🙂
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I’ve definitely gotten lost, but never with so much of a fabulous outcome as this! Jumping pillows!? That looks like such a blast! What an incredible adventure you guys had. I guess getting lost can be really great sometimes. 🙂
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The jumping pillows were the ultimate highlight! So much fun! 🙂 it absolutely can, it’s an adventure! 🙂
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Wow, that’s crazy! I love that y’all made the best of it and turned getting lost into a fun adventure. I also love that you laughed hysterically when you figured it out instead of crying hysterically, which I feel like would be a lot of our reactions haha 🙂
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Haha yeah it was kindof so ridiculous that we just had to laugh! 🙂 I would highly recommend getting lost now 🙂
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mmm that wrap looked amazing! and so does the beach. lucky you 🙂
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Thanks! I love the beach here! 🙂
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Wow, how nice of your sister! Looks like it was a great time. Jumping Pillows look pretty awesome! I wonder if we have them here in the states?
Please educate me – is it “summer” there or “winter” (your warm season or cold season is maybe more appropriate)? What are your average temperatures now ? And please convert to F for me 🙂 ha!
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My sis is amazing! Whenever we were little and I liked one of her toys, she would just give it to me. That’s the kind of person she is 🙂 I’ve actually never seen jumping pillows before either, such a cool idea right?
Haha right now it is summer!! Our seasons are backwards 🙂 A normal summers day is about 77degrees Fahrenheight (google converted that haha) but often get up to 86 degrees F too. Winter is not too cold in Auckland where I’m from, but it’s pretty rainy, a normal winter day is about 57 degrees F 🙂
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