Jaw Dropping Beauty

So today I took off on my own adventure- a road trip to Raglan. Raglan is where I will be spending the next couple of weeks, WWOOFing. I'll be at an eco-retreat called Solscape. Here is a photo of a similar car to mine http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/90-96_Mitsubishi_Diamante_Wagon.jpg/250px-90-96_Mitsubishi_Diamante_Wagon.jpg
Before taking off I stopped at the Warehouse to buy myself some lollies (candy) and some purple keds, which are now muddy keds. After an hour and a half of driving I noticed my car was pulling drastically to the left. After about 10 minutes I finally made it to Whangarei to a grocery store. There, I discovered my tire was completely flat. I had a spare, but didn't think it was any good so I began thinking of other options. First and foremost, I went into the grocery store to buy chocolate covered pretzels so I could think properly. After walking around and talking with AA ( the AAA of NZ), I decided to attack the situation head on. I began changing the tire myself. Within 3 minutes I had an elderly man trying to assist me and then shortly after a mechanic decided to do his "yearly good deed." So 15 minutes later I was good to go- and my spare is a real tire that is suitable for me, for now. After that ordeal I decided it was lunch time. I drove into downtown and ate the best sandwich of my life. In the process I found a brochure stating some "walks" in the area. "Walks" are all over NZ- the Dept. of Conservation has designated walking areas, they are similar to a nature trail. So I set off on a Kauri walk. Kauri is an indigenous tree to NZ but most have been chopped down. The Kauri walk was very disappointing, but I discovered a very wet walk to some falls. These falls were absolutely amazing. And that is how my purple keds became muddy. After that I took off on the back roads to Orewa. I stopped here and there to observe. I found myself smiling at almost every corner. The hills were winding and around every turn I was equally as blown away by the beauty as I was the last. Eventually I made it to Warkworth- where I am staying the night now. I made too many stops to get to Orewa. It just so happens that this town decided to celebrate Spring so the 2 pubs in town are crackin', they have even installed a temporary river bar. I am just going to have to check it out. And I am going to do that now...