Bay of Islands

Made it to the Bay of Islands. Last night we stayed in a Marae, which is a Maori community house. We were invited to stay with a group of 30 Maori (I can't remember the tribe they're from). They were so welcoming and warm. The whole thing was surrounded by ritual- They had to invite us in and sing to us then we had to sing back (we sang "My Girl"). We had to walk with a guide and speeches were made, shoes were taken off, noses were touched... It was intense. I thought it would be some cheesy manufactured experience but really it was just hanging out with this huge family. They fed us (A LOT), taught us some Maori and how to make these cool flowers out of flax and then took most of us (the Old Lady Crew stayed behind... I've unintentionally been waking up at 6 am every day and it's starting to wear me down. LAME.) to a pub where the lucky few got an impromptu dance. I'm going to try to snag the video to share. Of course, the one time I stay in everybody has an AMAZING experience and made great friends with locals and got the Haka, which is the traditional Maori greeting/war dance/all purpose entertainment. It's the one with the shouting and tongue wagging.

There are so many little stories I'd love to share but I just don't even know where to start. Every day I laugh so hard with this group. Every day I see the most amazing scenery. Every day I feel so blessed to be here. I'll try to do some tidbits from each day...

Yesterday: We got up early to pack up our gear to leave Northland. Went to the Treaty of Waitangi grounds and had the worst tour guide (in my opinion). She kept doing this: "This is a tree used to build the boat behind us. Ok? Cool. Moving on. This is blah blah blah. Ok? Cool. Moving on.") Then she told us that there was no segregation between the Maoris and the Whites because she never got picked on in school for being white. Just for being rich. The whole group was swapping stares and we had a lot to talk about after. This is what we do. See some awesome site and then disect it for all the cultural nuances we can find. Everyone has a different interest in what we see. My research is going to be on the affordibility of the authentic "New Zealand Experience". My collection of brochures grows daily. Good thing I'm a hoarder anyway.

We drove from Paihia back to Auckland. The group is split into two vans and ours is the Estrogen Van. We have Annie driving, Carissa always in the front seat and then a rotating seat gang of me, Amber, Akina, Katie, Liz, Stacey and Rebecca. I'm DJ and stress every day about what to play that every body will like. I don't know why but I have this feeling of: If I play a song they hate then they're going to hate ME. (Of all the things to stress about!) Annie requested some Snoop, which is totally not what you'd expect from her. We giggle a lot in that car. We made a cookie stop and it was like a bake sale for about 20 minutes with cookies being passed up and down each row. Then we all crashed. I'm amazed at the cooperation and care in this group. If someone says they have a headache or a bug bite or are thirsty it's inevitible that a half a second will pass before at least three people offer their tylenol, hydrocortizone or water bottle. I've never experienced anything like it. My oblivious tendencies are seriously being challenged here. I'm trying really hard to keep up with the generosity. (This bunch is so sweet it's not too hard.)

I decided to pony up the $6 for laundry service at our hostel. You have no idea how much of a luxury it is to smell clean clothes. I nearly made out with the pile. It smelled SO GOOD. It's the little things, you know?

I think I'm about to lose my internet connection so will pick up with more in a bit. I need to find somewhere with more bandwidth so I can upload more pics, too.

Stay tuned!