Gone traveling,
Back shortly.A Travel Journal by Scott Hargroves & Heather Noonan

Well it is the penultimate evening of the last decade. We haven’t done any updates in the written form for a while, mainly because we haven’t done massive amounts of exciting things to write about. Mainly spending time with my family. However we have been busy. Very much so. Everyday has had some form of adventure. Most days have involved some form of water activity, mainly swimming in the sea, at an array of different beaches. In fact on Boxing day we went to an amazing beach about 30 minutes away in a place called Waipatiki, and Heather came right into the sea, for the first time. She was really brave for someone who is very scared as the was a strong rip that day. She really enjoyed it and I think that it is the start of a very nice relationship.

The other day we all drove out to shine falls. Somewhere I have never been so was to finally get to go there. It takes about an hour to get there from my Mum and Dads and it is definitely worth the drive. Once you are there you have to trek into the bush for about 40 minutes before the path abruptly ends and opens out into the massive rock face the the water comes tumbling over. Its not the most powerful of waterfalls but the way the water breaks up and cascades down the rocks gives it a serene beauty. Shine falls is appropriately named. As you walk up to the falls you cross a stream many times over different bridges, and one of my cousins had bought and old left over lamb joint with him as he knew that if you put it into the streams you could attract some very Large Eels. Sure enough as soon at the joint hit the water out slivers three, fat and slimy Eels. It was interesting to see how they would slowly approach the bone and then snap onto it and writhe in the water to make sure it wouldn’t get away. Eels are stupid. It made me realise that all my years spent playing in fresh water streams have been shared with some disgusting creature.

The other day we all drove out to a place called Maraetotara where you can jump off a massive waterfall into a deep pool below. For some reason we went on one of the cooler days we have had here and the water was really cold. We all jumped in at least once (except Heather and Chris. Heathers excuse was needing the toilet too bad to jump, Chris doesn’t have one). It is much hight than you think, as with any jump the hard part is the leap of faith, but once airborne the feeling is unbeatable. The few seconds free fall feels like a lifetime, then, the water. I hit the water in a usual pencil dive but had lost track of how deep I had travelled from the jump and soon realised I had better start to kick my way back to the surface. It is surreal that my mind was so slow and calm that I could physically hear my brain say to myself “Wow, I am pretty deep now. Better start making our way to the top” when I surface everyone said I was under for ages and were worried about me. As Tom would say though, it was “all goods”. From one awesome thing not so nice. Once out the sand flies decided today would be a good day to each the crap out of my ankles. I couldn’t kill them fast enough. It was partially my fault as I had declined Insect Repellant earlier thinking that it would just wash off after the jump. Epic fail on my own behalf. Mistake noted and will not be made again.

Yesterday we got our hair cut at my sisters house. It feels good to have short hair in the hot weather, I just wish I had it sooner so I didn’t have to carry around that mass of hair with me. Maybe we wouldn’t have spent so much on fuel on the south island if it have been chopped off earlier. After our cuts we had some lunch with my Mum then headed to the National Aquarium of New Zealand which is right here in Napier. We had been lucky enough to get some vouchers for Christmas so entry was free. I have been before a few times but it is still exciting to see Heather enjoying the visited. We saw loads of awesome things, like the huge Crocodile they have (pictures are on the way) and of course the main attraction is the Kiwis. We could only see two but I think there is maybe one more. I don’t like birds in general but the Kiwi is cute and I have to like it by default. We saw some gross sea horses and then found Nemo. They have this travelator thing that takes you through the underwater tunnels. It is a little bit disappointing when you have been to the Submarium at The Deep in Hull. When the aquarium shut we caught up with everyone who had gone Surf Cast fishing while we had our hair cut. Me and Heather had a nobel attempt but didn’t catch anything at all, they just ate the bait and left. My Uncle Lachie and Peter caught a few little fish, but nothing to write home about. They just used them as bait as they were too small to have for tea.

And finally today we drove over to Hastings, to visit Splash Planet. Me and Brad went last time we were here and had the full park too ourselves as it was super cold. However today was the opposite, super hot. The place was heaving. Most people had flocked too set up camp in the shade so space was at a premium. We spent most of the day there just going on all the water slides and other rides while trying not to fry to death from the suns pure rays. Nothing amazing happened to be honest. Not much to write when everything was good and event free.

So tomorrow is New Years eve and we are both excited too be some of the first people in the world to see in the new year. We will be having a BBQ for tea then heading into town where there is a free concert on the beach at the sound shell and fireworks to mark the new year.

See you all on there side of the Decade.

Peace.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!