July 24 First stop: breakfast at a café right by our hotel. My mom and I shared a delicious orange and mango smoothie along with a tasty sandwich. We all enjoyed our brekky quite a bit. We left from there to go to Mount Manganui to hike to the summit. It was really windy and rain was blowing in our faces at the beginning, so my parents stopped to wait for Kiley and I to finish it. There were several awesome lookout points throughout the hike, and the weather got steadily better. At the top, we could see in every direction; we saw oceans, a bay, and the city we started from. It was really pretty and full of blues and greens everywhere. While on top of the mountain, someone noticed our ISU shirts and asked why we left Iowa in the middle of summer (good question! ;) On our way down, we met my parents who had climbed up farther since the weather got better. We all walked down together and left for hot water beach. The drive was curvy but beautiful and sunny the whole way until we got to the beach. Then, it started to get windy and rain. We decided to go to Cathedral Cove and walk that hike to see the beaches there instead of doing the hot water beach because it was pretty chilly. We went through the rainforest with views of the ocean most of the way. There were some nearby islands that made for some great scenery. The cove was hands down amazing. We took some awesome pictures with the cove, rocks, the beach, and waterfalls. The whole time on the beach I felt like I was on a paradise island. On the way back, we got pretty close to some mountain goats that were quite curious and photogenic. From there, we left for Auckland where our hotel was. My dad was trying to hurry so we could get the car back to the rental place before it closed, so you can imagine how the drive was. We were all pretty hungry, so we ordered some room service. While waiting for our food, my mom, Kiley, and I used some of the mud masks. They felt funny as they dried, but I guess they're good for your skin. We thought about going to the pool but decided to relax and go to bed early since we all had to catch early flights the next day. We said our goodbyes to my parents until we would see them later in Canberra, Australia.
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December 2016
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