Lordy, I loves me these Maori placenames. Wonder if it means "reminiscent of Washington or Oregon beach town"? With fewer highrises, but same creeping trendy condo development. To a fashion.
I've set up base camp in this cute little beach town in order to take the ferry at 9 a.m. tomorrow to Kapiti Island for a day trip. I believe is a sacred Maori place-slash protected bird sanctuary - time to read the brochures I guess. In any case, it gets rave reviews from the locals and there's a beautiful picture in the "don't miss" section of Rough Guide. Like the West Coast Trail back home, access is limited - only 50 people per day allowed on the island. If the weather's anything like today I think I'll pack a pair of shorts in my daypack and pack extra sunscreen. I spent a long lazy afternoon walking up and down the long strand of Paraparaumu Beach and enjoying the quiet. This is my first of many beaches this trip and I think I'm off to a great start.
The YHA hostel here is right on the beach; a charming, somewhat run down, but clean old hotel. Because there's so few people here in off-season I've scored a private room with ocean view for $25NZD. Dined this evening with a nice ole gal from Holland, an inveterate traveller on her 5th trip to New Zealand.
Stocked up on groceries tonight, including a $10NZD bottle of Lindemans Bin 50 Shiraz. Very drinkable. Found a $5 pair of "sunnies" (sunglasses) to replace my broken pair so we are good to go.
I've set up base camp in this cute little beach town in order to take the ferry at 9 a.m. tomorrow to Kapiti Island for a day trip. I believe is a sacred Maori place-slash protected bird sanctuary - time to read the brochures I guess. In any case, it gets rave reviews from the locals and there's a beautiful picture in the "don't miss" section of Rough Guide. Like the West Coast Trail back home, access is limited - only 50 people per day allowed on the island. If the weather's anything like today I think I'll pack a pair of shorts in my daypack and pack extra sunscreen. I spent a long lazy afternoon walking up and down the long strand of Paraparaumu Beach and enjoying the quiet. This is my first of many beaches this trip and I think I'm off to a great start.
The YHA hostel here is right on the beach; a charming, somewhat run down, but clean old hotel. Because there's so few people here in off-season I've scored a private room with ocean view for $25NZD. Dined this evening with a nice ole gal from Holland, an inveterate traveller on her 5th trip to New Zealand.
Stocked up on groceries tonight, including a $10NZD bottle of Lindemans Bin 50 Shiraz. Very drinkable. Found a $5 pair of "sunnies" (sunglasses) to replace my broken pair so we are good to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment