Firstly, I spent Easter weekend celebrating my friend Erika's 21st Birthday. Ohope and Whakatane were so quaint and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a little bit more of my homeland No.2.
In Whakatane, there is something that all teenagers, boy racers (hoons) and other people who simply feel like it, do and that is something called a "Heads Lap." This is where you get in your car, drive down a road to the heads, that ends in a car park and scenic views of the ocean. Obviously, this is THE thing to do and so to fit in with the locals, Erika and I's first point of call, upon entering Whakatane, was to do a heads lap. When we arrived, the tourist in me screamed and we HAD to pop out for a photograph, in front of the Lady on the Rock!
I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her family and friends (outside of Palmerston North). The girls from Palmy and I said spontaneous speech which had its high and low points. The whole weekend was full of celebrating a great person's life-so-far. Furthermore, a chocolate factory in the house was something we thought that we'd all like to have and was a huge hit with everyone, young and old.
Erika's auntie had made two tremendous cakes and spent hours and hours getting them to look and taste so yummy! The importance of family really shined through this weekend birthday gathering.
From Erika's amazing 21st.. I went to stay with family in Pukekohe... and although things are quite stressful for them at the moment, it was a very enjoyable and they showed me great kindness and hospitality. They always have done, but it's always so much harder (I think) when you have stressful things to deal with. However, I think I was able to listen and support them best I could, without being overbearing. They took me on a couple of different adventures.
We went to dressmart where I bought a gorgeous pair of shoes, AT HALF PRICE!
We went adventuring around... visiting places that I'd never been to before. This wasn't really hard, as most of the places in New Zealand I've never been to before!
I found a new, "Dr Phil," but I wasn't tempted to go visit him, nor did I feel he had a TV show. I'm sure if this Dr Phil has a TV show, it would be on youtube and be in a language I don't speak.
When we visited Auckland, we went to Smith and Caughey's, which was absolutely to die for... kind of like a miniature Harrods, but so much more authentic, to the olden days. I got a lipstick from there and I carry it with me everywhere! I love it.... if I had the pennies I totally would shop in there for EVERYTHING, but realistically, that would be a huge waste of money, if I had it. On our walk back down Queen Street we passed a little alley, that reminded me of parades in London and couldn't resist taking a little photo. Oh, how adventuring in big cities is so much fun! Especially, cities with character, charm and quaintness!
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