Day #13, more driving/Surf Hwy

I'll tell you what: a good night's sleep and a hot breakfast will do wonders for a gal. I was in much better shape this morning, even though it was still drizzly. My goal was to end up in Opunake, a small surf town sandwiched between the volcano Mt. Taranaki and the lovely ocean on the North Island's west coast. My friends Amie and Chris, avid surfers, had moved there from up here in N.H. and I was going to visit them. But first, I wanted to stop by Putangirua Pinnacles mentioned in Scott Cook's "NZ Frenzy" book *SCRMW.

As you probably have realized, I love mountains, particularly rugged mountains (although the softly rounded Appalachians are probably dearer to my heart). The promise of a "geological oddity" of these pinnacles featured in LOTR sounded like a good first item on my day's itinerary.

I took the highway (this is important--it was a highway), Rte. 2 east of Wellington. And at first, I too believed this road was a highway. Until it hit the mountains.

I am no stranger to driving long distances all by myself, sometimes in bad conditions. I have never been afraid to tackle a mountain pass via car (like when I broke the soul of my poor little Saturn driving on "Hellbender Highway" near the Smokies--she has never been the same since). But I was so freaked out after this drive that I was actually shaky.

Think: hairpin turns, one after another, on driving lanes that are really too small to encompass the entire width of a vehicle. On the right: sheer cliff going up, no room for error (especially when the double trailer big rigs are coming into your lane); on the left: partial remainder of the white line, crumbled away into the mountain pass thousands of feet down. The "guardrail" was fashioned from tomato stakes (or their equivalent) and twine. But indeed, it was amazingly gorgeous and of course I have no photos because I was driving and there's that whole "death" thing I was scared of.

Anyway! Drove past some farmers herding cows in the road with their short shorts, gumboots while riding motorcycles. Onward, trying to find the pinnacles...

Look, it was a lovely countryside, but I could not for the life of me find those darn rocks. I drove around for most of the morning until I realized it was lunchtime and I had to get to Opunake sometime. Bummer!

While driving back, I got pulled over by a cop for speeding. *sigh* Luckily I just got a warning. I told the cop about my driving plans through the mountain pass (a different one that would be a shortcut to go north) and she raised her eyebrows. "You're heading through THOSE mountains?" she asked incredulously. "Well, I guess as long as you don't get carsick you should be okay..." I figured maybe I ought to take a different route if even the local cops are wary about driving through certain mountains. Yowza!

The rest of the day, I gotta say, was boring driving. Lots and lots of boring driving, until I got to Opunake! Amie and Chris live literally right next to the beach. Their backyard is a cliff down to the surf. I arrived while they were still at work so I walked down to the black sand beaches. So pretty!

It was soooo nice to see Amie and to get to know Chris better. Yay!! I missed them so much. My Monday nights without Ladies' Night have been sad since she moved to NZ. But upon arrival at their house, I found that my honey had sent flowers to me for Valentine's Day! Wow!! I don't even want to know the cost. They were beautiful! I am loved and missed.

My friends and I enjoyed a great home-cooked stir-fry, I love all the fresh fish and seafood in this country!! Soooo tasty. We had good NZ wine (red, who knew?) and great conversation and I felt ready to explore more around the Taranaki region without missing home too much.

I look terrible in this photo but it is a nice one of Amie! We had good chats about all sorts of things and it was nice to catch up, see their little garden and think about what do tomorrow. Time to stretch out on a bed bigger than the van can offer...