New Zealand

Because my classes are all finished by mid-day on Wednesdays, my friend Ashley (from Clemson) and I went on a camping trip from Thursday until Sunday over this past weekend. We wanted to see Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula, but never quite got there. However, we stayed in Coromandel Town, camping one night and in a hostel (Lion’s Den) the second night. Lion’s Den hostel was the best hostel I’ve stayed at yet. It was very homey and the owner put tons of thought into the decorations. It was a cross between African safari and gypsey. There was a teepee in the back yard that she actually rented out as a room! While staying in Coromandel Town we decided to charter a sailboat, which was relatively cheap especially when you figure in the conversion to US dollars. The boat was huge and the skipper had actually built it himself 5 years prior. He used to be a dairy farmer until he sold his farm and put everything he had into building his boat. We left Coromandel town for our third night and went to the opposite side of the peninsula to a place called Whitianga. We camped there for one night, and it’s where that picture of the Marlin fish was taken. We also saw a wedding during our stay at Whitianga; the picture above shows it. There was a man in the back who was wearing a dress. It seemed too silly to be serious. Ashley and I concluded that he must have lost a bet.

I’d love to hear any questions or thoughts anyone is having so feel free to email me at trippkl@email.sc.edu if you feel like it! Hope everyone is well!