Defeated by water

So our plan was to go snorkeling at Goat Island where Susanne also snorkeled 10 years ago. Beforehand we had plotted out a diving shop we'd go to that had good reviews for renting cheap snorkeling gear. However, when we woke up it was very windy and not too warm. Machiel hadn't slept very well and was shivering. We decided to pack our backpacks first as we had to hand in the car in the end of the day. This was a bit of a challenge since we recently obtained some more stuff, like beach towels. But we somewhat managed to squeeze it all in. Then we first had a look at the conditions at the beach. It wasn't too perfect, but there were other people in the water. Susanne decided to give it a go, and rented snorkeling gear at the beach instead of the other shop, as it was somehow even cheaper (35 NZD for 2 hours vs 40 for the whole day) given that she would anyways only use it for 2 hours and not a whole day. The first snorkel wasn't too waterproof which meant it got it bit too salty, but after switching it for another one, it was working well. The underwater world had some really big fish to offer. Among them the big-gray-with-shiny-turquoise-dots-fish and the big-red-white-striped-fish-who-likes-to-stick-to-the-ground. It wasn't as great as in Susanne's memory, also because the sea was a bit rough and therefore the water not that clear, but it still pretty nice. Machiel meanwhile was the flipflop & towel guy. After a while a break was needed as the water was, despite wearing a wet suit, very cold. She went in once more for a little while, but the sea didn't have much more to offer today. The car meanwhile had warmed up a lot but it took Susanne quite a while in it until she felt warm again.

We drove to Auckland trying to find a cheap gas station to fill up in. This wasn't easy, but we found one with a small detour. Arriving at the car rental location in Auckland, the car was quickly inspected while we were packing whatever was left in it. Then we walked to the hostel we booked. Yes, for the first time in 13 nights we were sleeping at a hostel again. It didn't have any atmosphere but it was functional and provided us with a good kitchen to bake the free kumaras we got on the kumara farm 2 nights ago. That was delicious.Read more