Fertility Clinic

There is a fertility clinic in my building. Every day I see men, women, couple and family coming in and out the lift to the third floor. It's hard for me not to wonder the stories behind every individual. Some might come for sperm donation, some hoping to have a baby, some get what they wish for and some don't.

Today, I walked out the lift and saw a couple embracing each other. As I passed by, I saw sad tear on the face of the woman. The sense was emotional and reminded me of the episode of "Brothers and Sisters" where Kitty wanted to have baby but every month she got his hope up and every month she got disappointed.

As I walked out the door, I wish one day that couple will get what they wish for.

Yes, I am angry! :@

You left without a word! You just went and had fun with the boys without telling me where you were going. You expected that when you come back I would be still there waiting for you?!

Don't take me as granted!! :@ I might not be there and I might be gone to have my own fun too, with or without you! :@ :@

Tramping at Cape Reinga and around

Tramping in Cape Reinga was a luxury after the great walk in Lake Whakarimoana last year. This time, we didn't have to carry all our backpack as we were doing "car camping"!! :D

At beginning, I was hesitant on taking the trip as 4 day tramping out of my hard earning long weekend seemed a bit too much. However, I was glad that we went in the end. Being close to nature and enjoying the Northland scenery totally rocked!

This was the 3rd time I visited Northland. The first time was in 1996 when I had just arrived New Zealand for less than a week. I joined a camp with YMCA with some trouble kids. Second time was about 10 years ago going on a car trip with family. This time, I went with the tramping club and the experience was as fresh as I had never been there. I was thrilled with the breathtaking scenery and felt so lucky that I lived in a country where has this kind of beauty!!

Day 1:

• Waiting: We waited for an hour for this couple who showed up late without any excuse. Let's not use that against them! However, during the entering trip, they didn't try to engage with the group and every now and then, they just wondered off and disappeared. It really didn't bother me as I was quite happy to just relax and steal the "behind schedule time" to enjoy the holiday mood, except I felt sorry for the organiser as he planned this trip so hard. He was always calm, but I could feel his frustration and responsibility to not "wasting" time.
• Tokatoka Peak: Anyway, eventually we left Auckland CBD (after 1 hour waiting) and eventually we got out the Auckland (after 2 hours sitting in the traffic - due to road over capacity and an motorcycle accident in Wellsford). We convoyed at Matahoke finally to make sure everyone survived the tunnel and the traffic. Then, we went for the first hike - Tokatoka Peak. The short walk up to the summit almost killed me. I was lightheadedd and felt nauseous. However, After enough rest, I was fine. The view was magnificent!
• Waipoua Forest: It's the place where I can remember from the previous trips to Northland. Big Kauri Trees and nice walking pavement
• Raetea Forrest: Because of the delay in the morning, it was dark when we caught the ferry from Rawene across Hokianga Harbour to Kohukohu. Driving in the dark wasn't easy and it's not helpful that none of the signs from department of conservation were retro-reflective, so it took us a while back and forwards to find our camping site! Putting up a tent in the dark wasn't hard. Putting up a tent which was borrowed from a friend made it a bit challenging. However, putting up a tent which only had the outmost fly and no inner tent was... INTERESTINGLY IMPOSSIBLE!! Result: An almost 200 cm human being managed to squeeze into a tiny SINGLE tent with another person!! :o :o :o

Day 2:

• What is this?: In the morning, we got to see where we were camping. It was a nice place considering it was a free camping site, especially it came with a divine toilet!! As we were packing everything back into the car, I found something.
  

"What is THIS?"
" Err?? Where did you find it? :o"
"In the car!"
Yes, we found our "missing" inner tent"!! :x :x :x

• Pandora Beach: On the way to Pandora Beach, our driver as usual liked to stop at place spontaneously. This time, we stopped at this little cute place called Pukenui. The water was so blue like an sapphire . We then conveyed with the other car after the Harbour View Road which had no harbour view and a coffee break. The 3-4 hours hike to the beach wasn't too difficult and the beach itself was really peaceful. We had lunch there and as usual, I allowed myself to have my love affair with the ocean. On the way back, I got to hang out with other girls who had the same walking pace and we had good chats :D. I found out that our car was much more fun than the other - more laughing, more noise and of course more eating!
• Cape Reinga Lighthouse: After putting up our tents in Tapotupotu camping site, we went to the lighthouse. It was very annoyingly modern at the entry. First there was a fancy toilet outside (but I was told it was 100 times worse than our long drop campsite toilets as they were over-flowed). Then there was an arched gate where played music. The path was all new and well signed with significant Maori stories and information. The lighthouse was still as remarkable as I could remember 10 years ago. We saw sunset there and that was a magic moment for me. I love sunset and I love ocean. To have two of my favourite affairs at this spiritual location was a unique moment.
• Tapotupotu: After sunset, we came back to our campsite and cooked dinner. The stars were really clear here and we had a free lesson on astronomy before we went to sleep in a double tent which could fit two persons nicely.
  

Day 3:

• Tapopupotu: We explored the surrounding area while we were waiting for others to get ready.
  
• Te Werahi Loop Hiking: It was a 4-5 hours hike which went from Te Werahi Gate, through swap to Werahi Beach, sand dunes to Cape Maria van Dieman, colourful sand to Twilight Beach and desert-like return. It was quite tough on me as walking on sand dune took a lot of energy. Also, the sun was really burning and I run out the water before we came back to the car. However, the landscape was varied and made it an interesting hike
• Te Paki Stream: After pumping half litre of water into my body, we were on our way to Te Paki Stream. It has the stream on one side and sand dunes on the other sides. Boys went up the sand dunes while we girls relaxing putting our foots into the warm soft sand. It was so much fun leaping off the dunes and landing into soft warm sand 2 meter below :D
• Rarawa Beach: We run out the time to see the sunset in 90 mile beach, so here was the substitute - Rarawa Beach. It has the finest and whitest beach I have ever seen.
• Maitai Bay: It was dark when I arrived. However, our tenting skill had improved by then

Day 4:

• Maitai Bay: Sunrise was magnificent!!
• Karikari Beach: By then I was starting feeling ABB (Another Bloody Beach). However, I loved every beach we went during this trip
• Coca Cola Lake. The colour of the lake is like flat coke. It tasted like Assam Tea though.
• Mangonui: We passed three lovely bays on the way to Mangonui where we had Fish & Chip for lunch. As it was the last day of the trip as well as the long weekend, some people wanted to go back to Auckland earlier, so there we said goodbye to the other car and drove separately home
  
• Rainbow Falls: Our car decided not to go to Whangaroa for St Pauls Rock. However, as we drove close to it, the temptation was high for the boys in the car. We sneakily went for a detour and check out the Whangaroa harbour. It was a lovely harbour, but in the end the sense came to us and we left. However, we caught up the other car at Rainbow Falls as they were leaving.
• Hundertwasser Toilet: Our last visit before going back to reality was the famous toilet in Kawakawa. Hundertwasser was a famous Austrian architect who lived in NZ for a while. I remember in 2003, I went to his museum in Vienna and found his design stunning!!

Remuera Market Day

Good! Fun! Busy! :) :)

My first gingerbread men decoration were awesome! :D :D :D

Tired! Exhausted!