Marine Reserve

The picture above is a waterfall we saw, if you look closely we are little dots on the picture by the waterfall. It was really big.

I cant believe that I didn't take pictures of the marine reserve. It was so beautiful, but I think I just wanted a day to relax without having to worry about my camera.

The beach at the marine reserve was a black sand beach, volcanos cause this. The water was so clear, everyone went snorkeling except me, I chose to stand out on this rock wall and watch the giant stingrays swim. There must have been 10 of them. They were probably the size of your couch in length. They were just amazing. Then I waded into the water with some bread in hand, I didn't even get it in the water, I just had it on the surface and a huge fish came up and ate the whole piece! Then I could feel them swimming all around me touching my legs, it took a while to get used to.

I have to awknowledge the Canadian Veterans today since it is Rememberance Day. I can't believe that Alberta doesn't awknowledge this day as a stat holiday. Thankyou to the Veterans for fighting for us and dying for us. I cried all morning while watching the ceremonies in Ottawa, my Grandfather was in WW2, but he passed away a few years ago. He attended the ceremonies in Montreal every year.

One Minute Warning

Ok, I had to take a picture of this bathroom, because I knew no one would believe me.

As I walked over to use the washroom, I could hear this alarm going off and as I got closer one of the guys came out of it. We didn't know what was going on, until we read the sign. It said that if you are in the washroom for more than 10 minutes that the door will automatically open and the alarm will go off. Dont believe me? Read the sign.

These washrooms were all electronic, when the door shut music would come on, something that sounded like twinkle twinkle played with one key on a piano. The toilet paper was despensed automatically along with the sinks, and papertowel machine also being automatic.

Just make sure that you are not constipated or have diahrea when you use this toilet or esle you will be stuck on the toilet trying to close the door and if you dont succeed, a stranger could walk in on you when they hear the alarm go off and come running to see what's the matter.

But remember...you get a one minute warning. A friendly voice comes on over the heavenly music to let you know you have one minute to get your pants up, or you will be made public.

Hot Water Beach

This is a picture of us relaxing before heading off to the hot water beach.

The Hot Water Beach is a beach where if you dig in the right spot, natural HOT water will appear. You dig when the tide is low and then you mix the cooler ocean water with the hot water and you have yourself a nice warm hot tub made of sand.

When we got there we saw around 20-30 people all waiting for the tide to go down, it happens pretty late when the sun is close to setting. You need to bring a shovel. We didnt have any but we heard a rumor that the hostel had some that we could use, so the guys waited at the beach, while Tash and I went to get them. Off we drove...

We were going to reserve some beds but the lady said that we had better hurry up and get back there or we would miss it. She said that there was plenty of room and not to worry and that we should be done way before closing time.

So off we went, when we got to the beach I was so excited that I dont remember much of what happend when I got out of the car, I just remember running over to help dig and jump in. It was so cool and everyone was having a great time.

Pretty soon when the sun was almost set, everyone started to leave so we decided to pack up too. One of the guys asked me where the car keys were. I just stood there for a minute and realized that I had no idea, along with a lot of other things that I thought I had. I found most of my stuff thrown all over the beach out of excitement, except the keys. Oh boy...So we stood around for a while...freezing...because we had left the towels in the locked car. Now everyone was pretty much gone and just us five were there. Now it was dark, really dark. And wouldn't you know it... rain. Atleast we were still in our bathing suits. The guys were huddled near the washrooms and Tash and I were in a phone booth. It was ice cold and we had nothing except our bathing suits and no one was around. Since it was so dark it made finding the keys a little bit tricky.

When I am in a situation like this, I laugh out of nervousness, Tash didnt think I should be laughing and she was really upset at me. What could I do? Finally one of the guys came over to the phone booth and said that he thought there was a spare one under the car in some hole, so we went over there (we meaning him and I, Tash wouldnt help because it was my fault and she was pissed.) in the wind and rain, practically naked and looked, couldnt find it, so back to the phone booth. Then after around 15 minutes of Tash going on about how careless I am and how I lose everything, I ran out to look again for the life of me and in hopes of saving my sanity. I just got excited when I saw everyone digging on the beach. As I walked over alone, again, to the car, there they were! I found them! They were on top of the car. hehe

Off to the hostel! Well we arrived a few minutes after they had closed and we were out of luck. I could feel the tension as I tried my hardest not to laugh.

Long story short, we ended up having to sleep sitting up, inside the car in a parking lot. It really sucked because everyone was in a bad mood, we were wet, dirty, cold, and tired, and at the end of the day, because of me, we got the luxury of a wonderful nights sleep in a wet stinky small car.

The next day was a long one and it took quite a while for everyone to forgive me.

I kill myself! I live for stories like these, maybe that's why I laugh when it's happening because I know its going to be a great story.

Driving

This is a picture that we thought was really cool because you can see vegetation, sand, and water all in one shot.

Screaming Parrots

On our way to the Coromanel Peninsula. The pic of the tree is the biggest tree in NZ.

When I was driving I said that the car felt really funny so we stopped and saw that it was a flat tire. Big surprise. Our car wont start anymore either, we all have to push start it and then quickly jump in. We were quite the site in the supermarket parking lot.

When we finally made it to the Coromandel, we stopped in a little fishing town to get some food. There was really only one place to eat, so we went in. It was kind of like a pub, there were pool tables in the middle and an old fashioned looking bar. There was one large round table left, so we went in and sat down. I went and put on some tunes from the juke box. Finally our food came.

Out of nowhere we heard really loud squaking. We didnt even see it, it was a huge parrot just beside us on his cage. He started to hiss and squawk louder....and louder. We didnt know what to do, but what we did know, was why no one was sitting at this table. We were all red like tomatos with laughter and the more he squawked, the more we laughed. Finally the waitress came over and told us we were upsetting the bird and that we should give him a french fry. So we did and he was quite content. Everyone was staring at us now, and it was really uncomfortable.

Good Times.

We are now on our way to the famous hot water beach, where you can make your own little hot tubs on the beach with natural hot water that comes up throught the sand while digging, and I prove to have a real "Moment" Everyone was mad at me for a long time because of this one.