2020

We were thinking for awhile what we should do with new years eve. Skip the celebrations and just sleep? That didn't sound too bad given that our bedtime was usually before 22:00 due to tiredness and darkness. But we also didn't want to waste the opportunity to celebrate the new decade while we're here. Even though for Susanne this wasn't the first time, as she was here in 2009 as well.

So we bought some beer and snacks and looked up what could be potential spots for us to go where there would be anything like a public celebration. It's not as if we were in Auckland. There were only small towns around us. We figured most fireworks would take place at the beaches and that most people would head there as well, so we drove to Ahipara. On the way we bought burgers at a takeaway and ate them for dinner at a random parking lot. In Ahipara we turned onto a parking lot at the beach, but it didn't seem like there was anything going to happen there. We drove further and found another one where there were a few other cars and vans parked. Conveniently there was also a public toilet. We waited until around 23:30 and then more and more people from surrounding homes gathered on the beach, some with fireworks. While being among the first to enter the new decade, we were enjoying being at the beach watching fireworks around us in very comfortable temperatures.Read more