Holden

After sadly realizing the Rent-a-Dent didn't have any cars available (I secretly wanted to hot rod around in a beater because I figured I would at least be adding a dent or two to it myself) we landed a little, tiny Holden Barina. I was glad it was compact, but also a little worried that it wouldn't fit my massive duffle. Luckily, it fits just perfectly in the back seat (which has now become my dressing room). We've also driven past heaps of hitchhikers, but can't pick them up because there is simply no room. Poor "Holden", as we've aptly named him, was later referred to as a "suppository" by our B&B owner, Mark, in Hahei.

Later that night, as my mom and I polished off a lovely bottle of wine on the deck of Mark's B&B, he joined us for a beer, or two, or ... you get the idea. He then invited us in for dinner at his place, which we could hardly refuse because the prices here are quite steep. Little did he/we know, we'd end this "dinner" at 1 am completely staggering drunk. We brought with us a bottle of bubbly, but after that was finished, Mark opened up another bottle of some horrid strawberry bubbles. Once that was done I vaguely remember ending the night with some more beer and a Bailey's night cap.

Throughout the night we tried to convince Mark to sign a "trade agreement" for his B&B and my mom's lovely home in Snohomish for 3 months out of the year. The only problem being, Mark wasn't too keen on trading in his winter months for ours and I can't imagine spending any time in Hahei (population 250 maybe) when the sun isn't shining. Needless to say, the agreement was never signed, but we did play a few rounds of "knots and crosses" (that's tic-tack-toe to you) and ended the night with some good, old fashion Indian Leg Wrestling. Might I just add that I won 2 rounds (out of at least 10) and woke up with swollen bruising.

I also woke up to this, while my poor mother woke up to the inside of the toilet bowl. Unfortunately for her, we had a very long and WINDY drive ahead of us. Driving out of Hahei and the Coromandel Pennisula has the most curves and tiniest roads I have ever seen (keep in mind, I used to have to drive a mini van around Italy). At first I felt like a race car driver turning my whole body into the curves, but then got really annoyed with the thrashing of my duffle and everything else rolling around in Holden. Not to mention, the sight of my mom turning green. We only had to pull over twice for her to either chuck on the side of the road on her hands and knees, or into a lovely little paper cup she held onto for dear life. Seems like she should have been the one driving, and me wretching, doesn't it?

After a few hours driving, we ended up in Tauranga. I wasn't terribly impressed because all I saw was the inside of our smelly motel room thanks to my mom needing a nap, and then went out to dinner and pretty much called it a day. The next day, however, we got to see a great modern art installation being set-up (my favorite so far), had a nice lunch complete with trashy magazines and no talking. From there, we headed out to see Mt. Manganui and went for a small trek to see some great views of the Bay of Plenty and get up close and personal with the local sheep.