Road trip for New Years! - Vinegar Hill, New Zealand
Vinegar Hill, New Zealand
Where I stayed
A freind of a friends batch (cabin), Kevs Place, Vinegar Hill Campground, Reids Farm, and Finally home again
What I did
Wattle bay, Ragland, Lake Tapo, Reids Farm, Vinegar Hill, Martin, and Heaps of Homos
My holidays were wonderful. Another memorable year with good friends and family. Not too much drama, surprisingly not too much alcohol, and just the right amount of sun!
I spent x-mas eve at work, finishing early with a BBQ and heading to a friends house for another BBQ. I guess thats what you do when the weather is warm for x-mas. I had a great time catching up with all the people who stuck around for the holiday.
Christmas day was spent at home with my partner as both of our families are overseas. We had plans to go to the beach, but the weather decided to keep us inside watching movies. That evening we went to Plaxy's friends house for a drink and some "family time".
Then there was boxing day. I don't remember what we did that day...that was too many days ago. But we left for a road trip the day after that. Oh I remember we went shopping. Then we left for our trip.
On the first night we drove out to Plaxy's friends cabin. Up on top of a mountain is a cute one bunkroom/kitchen place with a bit of land around. Its the perfect size. We set up our tent, took in the view and socalized. There were three other families up there at the same time so I enjoyed getting to know some of Plaxy's friends. A day of kids running around and adults cooking and catching up.
At night you can see the lights of the city off in the distance, but it really doesn't feel we were close to the city at all. Intead we were surrounded by trees and farms out on a peninsula. It was a good beginning to the trip.
We got a late start the next day so instead of staying in the Tongariro National Park like we were planning to, we stayed on the coast and spent the night in a small surf town called Raglan. We liked the area so much that we stayed two nights. We found a place to camp called Kev's place.
This guy named Kev has some land just outside of town. Again we were up on a mountain and not by the beach, but he has made the place unique for campers and cabin renters. He has a few chalets to rent, a toilet and shower block and a big flat open field for camping. He lives there too. He doesn't have a tent, or a challet though. He lives in a boat. Parked out on his yard. He also has two old motorhomes that clearly don't motor anymore. But insteading of condeming these things to the dump he has made them livable on land. He was a very nice guy and we enjoyed our stay.
At dusk we found these comfy cairs that looked out over the ocean. The perfect spot for a couple of beers. We had just spent the day exausting ourselves driving, wandering the city and eating fish and chips on the beach. It was time to relax.
The next morning we woke up and went for a run! My first run since i tore my knee. I was only able to run for about 15 minuets but it felt good to be able to do something again.
My knee has been really improving. After I hurt in in December I was sure I would need surgery. I could barely move it and lost so much muscle. My bad leg is still smaller than my other one, but I now have most of my range of motion back and my doc is giving me some good exercises for it. I still have an appointment to see a surgon next month, but we will see if I can get all the stability back first. I might even try to play a game of soccer this week! With my docs approval of course.
After we left Raglan we drove all the way down to Vinegar hill. Neither one of us had been there before, but rumor has it, that every year for years and years now, there is a big gay NYE camping party. We didn't know what to expect. I had just bought a bunch of camping gear and wanted to use it...how bad could it be?
Well there were no rainbow signs telling us where to go but we managed to find it. The rain was dumping down but quit once we arrived. The camp sight seemed to be ok. When you drive in you can either go left or right. Left was known as the gay side and right was for everyone else. There were lots of men around and the occational lesbian here and there. There were rainbow flags on just about every third tent/camper or pavillion. There were pink caravans, and themed campsights. It was cool to see how some people really got into it.
I am not gonna lie, I was a bit scared. Even doing all the stuff I have these last two years I was still nervous. wondering if we had made the right choice to spend New Years down here camping. I think I have become a bit of a princess or something. It kind of felt like you would imagine the first day at a new school would be. Everyone was sitting around in groups having their own fun.
Plaxy and I ended up running into some of her friends from Auckland and eventually found a place to squeeze our tent into. We went for high ground so if it rained again our tent might not flood. Our neighbors were a nice gay couple from Auckland aswell.
Later that night one of my best friends showed up with her girlfriend. My phone had died days ago so I wasn't sure if they were going to make it. I happened to look up and see her drive by just before it started to get dark. I don't think we would have found them if I wasn't so lucky.
We spent the night listening to terrible kareoke on the stage they set up down there and meeting new friends. The next morning we woke up and started drinking. It was finally NYE!
We went swimming in the river (the brown river) and I even went for a shady massage from a woman in a tent. Sleeping on my camping mat had made my back really tight so I thought I would give it a try. I had to wait for about an hour to get one but was entertained by two different lesbians hitting on me. Then one found a bark collar and tried it on herself. I can now say I saw a butch looking Lesbian with dreadlocks almost cry as she shocked herself with a bark collar.
Then durning the massage the woman filled me in on what I had missed so far. This camping event starts the day after x-mas and they have events on every night. She competed in the lube wresteling, but did not win. So sad I missed that! (yes mom I am kidding).
After the massage I went back to our tent to find two more of our friends who had showed up for the party. We made a fire, drank some more beer, and eventually wandered down to the big show.
Every year they elect a new queen who is then incharge of organizing the events and stuff for the next year. I had met a nice man earlier in the day as I was waiting for my massage and now he was on stage being queened! He looked so happy. There was a massive bon fire and many drunk people. I think we missed a drag show, but the atmosphere was still pretty good.
After the countdown we went down to the beach and lit some fireworks and then passed out for the night. Apparently there was a couple fighting outside of our tent all night and they kept some people up. I was sound asleep thankfully.
In the morning we went for one more swim and packed up before heading north. Pip and Illana were heading back down to Wellington for another night, Li and Suzie were going East and Plaxy and I went North. We made it as far as Taupo (about half way home) and decided to find a place to camp. Again we stayed at a place outside of town. Another decent campsight along a river but this one was much cleaner. We decided to go into town for a nice dinner and to watch the sun set over the lake.
In the morning we went for another run, saw the Huka Falls and then drove home. It was a really nice trip but I was happy to be home. I still have time off work and don't go back until the 20th!
I will fill you in on the other adventures I get up to soon. I hope you all had a safe and happy new year!