It was strange checking out of the Base Pipi Patch Hostel in Paihia after staying there for 37 nights. I made sure to pack all my stuff up the night before which was quite the nightmare given the amount of newly acquired goodies I had to pack. It was nice that my entire room save for one person was all checking out at once so we didn't have to worry about tip-toeing around in the morning. I said my good byes to the two Dutch girls who'd been staying there four three days or so as they went to drive back to Auckland to head on to Australia. One of room mates from the USA decided to sleep in but myself and Alice headed to check ourselves out and then just hung out at the hostel.
I made myself a wicked breakfast of three fried eggs and four pieces of toast with raspberry jam in attempt to use up a good portion of my groceries so I didn't have to leave too much behind. I ended up eating the eggs on top of the toast and jam. It was surprisingly good. After this I loaded my luggage into storage. The boat wasn't leaving until 4:45 so we had plenty of time to kill. Alice and I occupied time by watching Dateline NBC's to Catch A Predator with Chris Hansen because she had never seen it and myself and the American woman in the room had been explaining how funny it was the night before. We killed time on youtube for a good two and half hours until my battery died. I stowed my laptop at reception and we headed to the wharf to grab lunch.
We decided on submarine sandwiches for lunch. After lunch we went to Franks Bar & Cafe and grabbed dessert in the form of fudge for me and a brownie for her and then we attempted to purchase lunch for the following day on the cruise. This ended with me buying a bottle of kiwi juice and Alice buying a bag of caramel honey popcorn simply because Four Square didn't have much in the way of lunch items. Finally we just sat on the wharf and waited for the boat. We lucked out and got on the first shuttle boat to the main boat and proceeded to get ourselves acquainted with the vessel.
The boat was really nice. The main floor was very spacious with plenty of spots to sit and relax as well as stuff to do. The main activities for the evening consisted of shooting pool and just chatting with people. In addition to this there was a shooting competition in which everyone got two shots at a target duck in the water. Neither I nor Alice were able to hit the duck but it was amusing none the less. Dinner was really nice. It consisted of steak, lamb chops, mussels and various salads as well as a dinner roll. After dinner more pool was played while we waited to go Sea Kayaking under the stars. I wish I could of gotten a photo of the sky last night but I just couldn't get it figured out on my camera. Suffice to say it was unbelievable. I have never seen such a starry night in my life. It didn't look real the sky was so illuminated. The most incredible aspect of Kayaking though was the Phosphorescence in the water. There is an algae in the water that fluoresces when agitated. So every time your paddle cuts through the water it lights up. It was pretty amazing to behold. After Kayaking we sat around the fire and all chatted about various things while things dried off. After this some pool was played until the boat went down to candle light only and every gathered back around the fire. I finally packed into around 1AM because I could barely keep my eyes open. I was so tired that when I went to bed I fell asleep before I could put my headphones in.
I woke up the next morning around 7:30AM and proceeded downstairs camera in tow to grab some more pictures. At 8AM a breakfast of hot oats and fruit was served. After breakfast we loaded into various methods of transportation and headed for a secluded beach for the day. Upon landing on the beach we headed on a walking trip up to the top of the island. Unfortunately I didn't bring shoes to the beach excursion and had to walk barefoot on gravel most of the way up. I spent most of the way up just thinking about how much of a jack ass Criss Angel is. The view from the top was pretty breathtaking and snapped some good photos. The way back down the trail was just as much fun as the way up the trail.
When I returned the beach I grabbed my snorkel and mask and some fins and headed in the water to go snorkeling. I spent most of my time just swimming around some rocks harassing the urchins. It was a very pleasant swim and my first real snorkeling test with my my mask and snorkel. After my snorkel I walked around the beach and ate some food before eventually opting to kayak back to the "The Rock".
Pool commenced once more upon the return to the boat this lasted until the rocking of the boat made the game more or less unplayable. Alice and I ended up having to be sent on a separate faster boat part way back because she needed to be back at the hostel by 3PM and I needed to show her how to get back to the hostel. When we got back to the hostel we said our goodbyes and then I just chilled out for the rest of my last evening in Paihia.
This whole experience only cost $178NZD + $36NZD spent on drinks. Total cost was $214NZD ($149.86CAD)
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