Expectations Versus Reality

I have sometimes found that when I plan something that I think will be
cool, I come away with a feeling of anti-climax. Of course, this is not true of
everything. I’ve planned plenty of amazing things and they’ve been just that – amazing, incredible, awesome, beautiful… But there is no doubt that some things are just not what you hoped they would be, and you leave feeling a little bit disappointed.

Quite often, if the experience I had planned is a bit of a let-down, I find that something completely unexpected turns out to be far more cool, much more awesome or just better in general. I have some prime examples from my time in New Zealand. I don’t want to be down on the experiences that I’ve had that led me to feeling a bit disappointed. The places I went to and the things I saw were still interesting and I still had fun, but I was just left with a bit of that anti-climactic feeling and, occasionally, I was left wondering what all the fuss was about!

Cape Reinga

If you look back to this blog post, you will see that Cape Reinga was on my top 10 things to do or see in New Zealand list, which I posted before I left the UK. As it turns out, Cape Reinga was one of the first trips I took in New Zealand and I was dead excited. I think it was still only my first week in the country and we had a beautiful day for the trip, with bright sunshine and cloudless blue skies. We left Paihia at 7am for the long drive north. We would be on the road for the entire day – arriving back in town around 6pm. I slept for the first part of the journey and woke to a farming landscape – lots of sheep, fields, narrow bridges crossing muddy looking rivers and streams and dilapidated looking wooden farmhouses. As we went further north, the farmland gave way to a hilly, dry landscape and in the distance, we spotted the famous Te Paki sand dunes, where later most of my group would be sand boarding.

It was boiling by the time we arrived at Cape Reinga. We walked down the hill towards the lighthouse and suddenly, there it was. The point where the
Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea. You can see the spot well – the two currents collide and form white crested waves in the middle of the body of
water, forming a rough line away from the spit of land. I looked at the ocean. I looked at the lighthouse. I looked at the yellow finger post sign that showed us how many thousands of kilometers you are from EVERYWHERE when you come to New Zealand. I took some photos. I posed by the sign. But try as I might, Cape Reinga just didn’t get me excited. In fact, I thought it was quite overrated. I don’t know if it was me placing high expectations on it (it probably was) or what, but I boarded the bus to leave feeling distinctly deflated.

We went to a nearby beach for our picnic lunch – all white sand and blue blue ocean. As I dug my toes into the sand and felt the waves lap at my ankles, whilst munching my roughly made sandwich, I felt as though the trip had been salvaged somewhat by the beauty of that beach. It was the perfect place to stop for lunch. My only regret was that we couldn’t stay there longer. I would have happily stayed there a lot longer – even for a night or two, if I could. That’s the worst thing about bus tours – you’re on a schedule all day.

Above: Cape Reinga, where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean

I was super excited to head back to the South Island in May and you’ll know from this post that the Moeraki Boulders were high on my list of ‘must sees’ whilst back down south. Luckily, the accommodation I booked was a mere half hour walk from the boulders, and the walk was entirely on the beach
too. Bonus! Nothing is nicer than a stroll along a sandy beach with bare feet
and the opportunity to take plenty of photos.

As I approached the boulders, I noticed just how many other people were around. It’s understandable – the boulders are also accessed from the road
via a visitor centre and café, so loads of people pull over to see them. I’d just come the more scenic route… Still, it was a little disappointing to see the numbers of tourists all around (I know, I know, I was also a tourist, but even so…). I really should have made the effort to get up and see the boulders at sunrise, when the photography opportunities would have been better, but I
don’t think there would have been any less people around, judging by the number of Moeraki Boulders at dawn photos I see on Instagram. As it was, I snapped a few silhouette shots, wandered amongst the boulders for a few minutes and then ambled away, unimpressed and unsure what all the fuss was about, really.

As I walked back along the beach to my accommodation, I started noticing lots more amazing rocks. They also looked like they’d once been round (like the boulders) but these rocks had cracked and a lot of them displayed amazing patterns, veins of crystal running through them, strange dips and
hollows, beautiful bright colours… I took heaps of photos, marveling at the
strange formations and designs in the rocks, especially because they were all totally natural. Best of all, I was the only person around to admire these
rocks, which made it feel all the more special!!

To round off my day, I drove to Katiki Point, where I’d been told there were rare Yellow-Eyed Penguins to spot. It was only about ten minutes before I saw my first one, and I ended up seeing about seven or eight in total, as well as heaps of seals. I enjoyed half an hour sitting right at the end of the point, where the waves crashed on the rocks below and I was completely alone to enjoy a fantastic sunset. The evening helped to salvage the day from the disappointment of the Moeraki Boulders, and I left the area the next day
feeling happy that I’d spent a couple of days there, if only for the penguins
and those other rocks further down the beach!!

Above: the Moeraki Boulders – in my opinion, not all that they are cracked up to be!!

Above: these amazing patterns on the rocks back along the beach were heaps more interesting!!

Above: watching the waves in the sunset at Katiki Point

Back up north, and back in October again, I joined the popular ‘Hole in the Rock’ boat tour from Paihia on my second day there. Although the weather was miserable as we boarded, I was looking forward to the trip – there were promises we would see dolphins and even suggestions that we might swim with them. Talk about awesome!! I was full of anticipation as we cast off and headed out in the Bay of Islands.

It soon became clear that the main highlight of the boat tour was, in fact, a hole in a big rock. This was the furthest point that the boat went, and we bobbed up and down in a heavy swell as people clamoured to take photos of a hole in a big rock. I took a couple but wasn’t very excited. Of course, there’d been a bit of commentary and talk about the possibility of spotting seals, dolphins and even whales, but nothing had come into fruition and I was feeling a bit flat. On our way back into the more sheltered bay area, the captain did announce that dolphins had been spotted and we changed our course accordingly to go and see them. I grew excited once more and leaned over the edge of the boat with everyone else as the dolphins finally came into view.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to swim with them. There was a baby with the group which meant we couldn’t go in. Still, it was pretty cool seeing the dolphins so close as they played and circled and swam around our boat,
coming into pretty shallow water as we moved closer to land. As we  disembarked from the boat, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I’d been done out of over $60 for a tour which had turned out to be less than impressive. Despite seeing dolphins, we’d been unable to swim with them and when I headed back to the hostel and talked about it with others, it appeared that it was extremely rare to swim with them. As well as this, the highlight of the tour had been, supposedly, a hole in a big rock. I wished I hadn’t paid the money.

A few days later, whilst staying with R and J at my Help Exchange, I was taken by J to Oke Bay, north east of Paihia. J had close ties with the beach – she often went there firstly with her children and then her grandchildren to swim and play and picnic. Because of this, the whole place felt very special and I felt privileged that she had taken me there and shown me around. Borrowing her car later that evening, I drove back and climbed down to the beach. It was deserted except for me. All of a sudden, I caught sight of a fin breaching the water, not that far out. A dolphin! I caught my breath and waited – another fin broke the surface. There was a small pod of them  swimming in the bay and I was all alone… I ditched my clothes and waded into the water. It was freezing cold and I only stayed in for about ten  minutes, but it was awesome to be in the water with the dolphins. It was spur of the moment and being alone with such amazing animals was far, far better than seeing them on any boat tour. I was grinning from ear to ear when I got back to the house and told J and R what I’d done!!