I woke up bright and early the next day - 6 a.m.. The night before, I had decided, with the corroboration of my new friend Karoline, that I would hike to the Huka Falls before I had to check out and wait for the bus. I had plenty of time. The hike would take about two hours there and she recommended that I ask for a ride back to town from another tourist visiting the falls.
No problem, I woke up and started hiking. The hike is along the east bank of the Waikato River and there is a hot springs crossing along the say. You can jump in and enjoy the warm water - I didn't, but it looked nice. I reached the falls by 8ish and they were beautiful, they aren't Iguazu Falls in Argentina beautiful, but they were beautiful nonetheless. I was there so early, there was no one there to ask for a ride back. I waited and started getting a little worried. I could start walking back and be late or hope for someone to come by and they'd give me a ride. I know what some are thinking, don't take rides from strangers right? I promise, this is totally safe otherwise I never would have done it. Finally, a group a 3 really cool travelers came around. They gave me tips on the South Island and we talked for a while. They were awesome.
I packed up and left my bag at the hostel until I was to catch my bus at 1:50. Karoline and I walked to the lake, had a coffee and chatted up a storm. We made plans to meet up in Wellington the upcoming Saturday night. I went back, picked up my bag and off to the bus station. This is where I am actually embarrassed to write what happened next. Where is everyone? Isn't there a bus at 1:50 p.m? Oh please don't tell me...I missed the bus! My bus was at 12:50, not 1:50. Geez Loueez! What is up with me? So frustrating because I had plenty of time - I had just been killing it until 1:50. I have noticed that I am "TOO RELAXED". It's much easier traveling here. I don't feel like I need to be "on guard" as much. In Central and South America, I felt like I had to be more "aware" - is the taxi guy trying to rip me off, is this a safe place, is it clean, don't go there because of the hooligans, etc., etc. It's definitely not like that here and the fact that everything is in English helps. I think I have just become too complacent. Wake up woman!
So, with that confession made, I decided I would bite the bullet and drive to Wellington, on the wrong side of the road! I went to two car rental places and they didn't have any cars - que? One place might have been able to wrangle one car, but it was going to cost more to rent the car than to fly. Off I went, to the airport and I flew to Wellington on New Zealand Airlines. I got a decent rate and some beautiful views from the 19, yes only 19, passenger plane! It was pretty windy when we left Wellington, but the ride was smooth. Whew, I made it!
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