Waterfalls and Pumpkin Pie

Since our plans changed for the weekend I decided to make my own plans. Erika and I went hiking this morning around 7:30am. I invited some of the other girls to come but they all said it was too early. It was the most perfect morning for a hike! It was a chilly morning with the sun breaking through fog covering some of the hills. It reminded me of home :). We took a trail called the Goldie Bush walk that led to a waterfall named Mokoroa Falls. The hike was perfect- ups and downs, some stairs, and a cool cable bridge. The falls itself was beautiful but running low on water. It was just nice to be outside and enjoying the beautiful sunrise. We hiked through the bush pretty much the whole time and surprisingly it was pretty humid- probably because it rained last night. The hike back was a little more intensive because there were quite a few stairs to climb. I can't wait to get back home and start a solid exercise routine again.

After the hike we stopped by Muriwai beach. Erika's nephew sent her Flat Stanley and asked her to take pictures with him in different place around NZ. So we took him with us and got some pictures with a few surfers and with the black sand as well as the waterfall. We also stopped by to see the Gannet colony (a type of noisy, smelly bird that nests right next to the cliff edge) which was cool. There was also a surfing competition going on that we got to watch for a bit- interesting because it was this beach where the shark attack happened that killed that man. There was also a really cool sea cave that we got to explore. The surf would come up through the cave making the cave seem a little erie. It was such a great start to the day!

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Julie, Beau, Jean, and Jayceen. Julie drove us to a few different beaches outside of Auckland and we had a mini picnic while enjoying the beautiful weather. It was such a great day! Jean even made some cake pops for the occasion. While chatting I got the idea to try making some pumpkin pie (I promised my class that I would bring them some next week). The idea of pumpkin pie is super weird to the Kiwis. It's almost as if someone suggested that we make a squash pie and serve it for dessert. But I did a trial run and even though it didn't turn out exactly like our American version and I had to first cut up and boil a real pumpkin (they don't have canned pumpkin here) before making the actual pie (their pumpkins are white and green here and super small but they are orange on the inside). It was turned out really yum! Oh and I made it in a square pan... even though it's usually round. This was just a test run anyway. I'm super sleepy from such a busy but awesome day... night :).

Some of the trees we were hiking through with the morning sunlight streaming through. 

The original NZ silver fern. So named because the underside is a silvery white color. This is their national symbol. 

A cool tree with multicolored bark. 

Morokoa Falls. It's still pretty even though the water flow wasn't that great. 

 A classic NZ look- lots of rolling hills, livestock, and blue sky

Muriwai beach 

Gannet colony (the white specks to the left, center, and right). Also a view of where the shark attack happened. Find the black rock jutting out underneath where all of the Gannets are to the right. That is where the fishermen were standing when they heard the cries for help and saw the attack happen. From that point go straight out about 20 meters or so and that's about where he was attacked and killed. 

The white ones are the parents and the grey ones are the babies. 

Despite being only a hundred meters or so from where the shark attack happened there was still a surf competition. All of those black dots are surfers. 

A better view of the black rock. You can even see fishermen on the rocks. 

Coastline and beach :)

View from the beach. 

Sea cave! 

Sometimes the water would rush in really fast and sometimes it would be completely empty. There were carvings of people's names all over the walls of the cave. 

Pumpkin pie- square form :)