Second week!

Hi! 

So just after almost a week, here's another blog! 

On Thursday morning Angela came to pick us up from Ans and Louis, and she dropped us in Otorohanga. In Oto we went to the Kiwi house and had a walk around the town centre. In the afternoon we chilled out at Ans and Louis, because it was way too hot to do something. In the evening we made dinner for ourselves, but it wasn't really a big success :). 

On Friday morning Willie came to pick us up. He took us for a drive around Waitomo and showed us the best things to do and to see. After that we went to his brewery, called King Country Brewing Company. He told us how they brew their 4 beers, the Pilsner, the Pale Ale, the Apple Cider and the India Pale Ale (IPA). We got to try the Pale Ale, which tasted really good! Next up Willie took us to his house, which was absolutely gorgeous. We would stay there for 2 nights. 

On Saturday morning we headed to Tante Mien, Willie's mother. We took her out to her husband Harrie. Due to dementia he can't live at home anymore, so he lives in a resthouse. We met with Harrie, which was a short, but good meeting. After we went to Harrie, we had a cup of coffee at Tante Mien's place. When we finished our drinks, we headed towards Mount Maunganui. After a 2h scenic drive, we arrived at Mount Maunganui. The scenery over there was just gorgeous. A big mountain, the sea and the harbour behind it. We stayed there for a couple of hours, and then headed back to Willie's house. 

On Sunday, Marie-Louise picked us up from Willie's, and we went to Hamilton. We first had a rest in the afternoon, and went to have dinner at a foodtruck event on the Hamilton Gardens, which was really cool! 

On Monday we caught a bus to Raglan, to spend the day at the beach. We spent a couple of hours sunbathing and swimming in the sea, and then headed back home for dinner. 

On Tuesday morning we caught the bus into the centre of Hamilton, and went to discover the city. We did some shopping, (I bought clothes I actually didn't really need but Sterre liked them and they were cheap, so I bought them) had a very good lunch, and did some more shopping afterwards. The final shop where we went was the Bin-Inn shop. This is like a small grocery store, but the special thing is that they sell Dutch products! We initially headed there to buy Sterre some hagelslag, but I also bought me some Engelse drop, and we bought some speculaas for Rick. After the shopping we went home and got some delicious dinner. After dinner the four of us, Marie-Louise, Rick and us, discussed what we would do on Wednesday, as it was a public holiday called Waitangi Day. We decided to go to Kawhia already this evening, so we quickly got some clothes and went to Angela and Gary's bach in Kawhia. 

On Wednesday morning we woke up in the pretty tiny beachhouse. There was a beautiful sunrise in the backyard! We got dressed quite early and went for a walk alongside the beach in Kawhia. After we walked for almost an hour, we went back to the bach to rest, because everyone was just exhausted from the walk. In the afternoon Sterre and I went for a paddle in the kajaks, which was actually really cool! In the evening we got ourselves a takeaway dinner and ate it at the beach, and then also got to see some hot water pools on the beach! After this busy day we deserved a good night sleep. 

Today we headed back to Rick's house, as we would fly to Wellington in the afternoon. We got home by 1pm, and then booked a trip to the Coromandel next week's weekend! At 5.20pm our flight to Wellington departed, and we landed safely at 6.30pm. We then headed to our hotel, got into our room (with harbour view!) and had a quick dinner at Restaurant 'Golden M', which was very delicious! Now we're about to go sleeping, as it is midnight already! 

Next days will be about discovering New Zealand's capital Wellington, and when we've finished I will update you again! 

Hope you all enjoy reading our blog! 

Anthony and Sterre