Oh, the joys of having not just your own room but a luxury hotel room on your travels! I was upgraded on arrival to a $169/night room with a view of the marina which was a nice surprise (and worth almost double what I'd actually paid for, sweet as).* Throw in a 32" plasma with Sky TV, a monster DVD collection and a king size bed and there you have it - a very happy Jen who didn't leave the room until 4pm the next day. What, would you?
*People throw the word 'flashpacking' around but honestly, there was nowhere else to stay!
Beach walk
I did eventually get to the point where I felt strongly enough about going outside at least once that I managed to remove my arse from the couch with the intention of doing an hour long walk to the lighthouse, but 'unfortunately' high tide was all like THOU SHALT NOT PASS so I just hung out for a little while on what was left of the beach.
Snorkelling at the Poor Knights
The reason I came here was to dive/snorkel at the Poor Knights Islands, which are allegedly one of the top 10 places in the world to do both these things. I must stop believing everything I read - I chickened out of the diving but was assured the snorkelling would be amazing. Amazing? I saw TWO species of fish. And they weren't even that colourful, one was grey and one was a sort of murky blue. The divers had more luck, and I did get some kayaking in, but still, wtf?! The good thing to come out of this is I now know that underwater isn't my thing - while I'm perfectly happy on a boat, being actually in the ocean freaks me right out, as does having big old fish swim right at your face. I was okay (not good but okay) when the visibility was decent and I could see the rocks and fish clearly; it was when I was looking at nothing but blue that the anxiety began to gnaw; when brain went into 'get back to the boat GET BACK TO THE BOAT' mode. I hate not knowing what's underneath me, and I'd just die of fright if something emerged from the blue and I only saw it at the last second. Arghhh. Bit concerning as I'm heading to the Great Barrier Reef in the next few weeks! BUT as well as being warmer, I'm hoping there's going to be such an explosion of life and colour that I'll be far too distracted to panic.
Verdict: Tutukaka was a nice place to chill out for a couple of days but it did suck not having a car. Whale Bay and Matapouri Beach ('apparently' two of the country's most beautiful beaches - although I'm taking this with a pinch of salt) were a 2 hour walk away on a narrow road with no pavement and it would have been equally tricky getting to Ngunguru where the sea kayaking is meant to be good. No such thing as buses or taxis here either! Booooo. The hotel more than made up for this though. Next stop, Mount Maunganui!
