Wahiki Island

(This is an Island off the north east coast of New Zealand near Auckland)
After getting off the 35 min. ferry ride to Wahiki Island, we caught a bus to Palm Beach which we later realized was a nude beach. We didn't see any skin until the next morning when Rob was writing in his journal and he gazed to his left and saw a man emerge out of the water and begin some morning yoga with the tree pose in the nude. I did not witness this but it was hilarious hearing Rob try to describe it.
That night though was great! We walked along the beach as the sun was coming down and walked around this massive rock and into a secluded cove. There was a perfect place for a fire and the stars were about to start popping out of the dark blue sky. We started to collect wood and set up camp. Once the fire got going we heard people come around the corner into our cove. They were all holding drinks and making plenty of noise. Without hesitation they came up to our fire and started messing with it. They were definitely locals. Most of them were nice and introducing themselves to us. We all were looking at each other with wide eyes that were saying "what the heck is going on??" Our peaceful night just got flushed down the drain, but these were locals and they all seamed nice. We later found out that some of them were Maori and just after that we found out just why the Kiwi were not to fond of the local indigenous tribe. A guy named Sam (who was a Maori) was more drunk than most and he was trying to prove himself to us and his girl Nakata. He kept looking at each one of us with his chest all bowed up saying "Who's this one" or "I'm going to smash you"! He was all in our face cussing and swearing as much as anyone could. We all came to the conclusion that he was a bi-polar drunk, because he would be yelling at us one second and the next he would be laying on the ground with his girl friend on top of him making out. It was so strange. The more we talked and shoved this Sam guy the more hyped up he got. All we wanted was to sit by the fire and have a beautiful and peaceful second night in New Zealand. As the night dragged on and the verbal instigations kept coming we realized he was all talk and we just started laughing at him. He kept saying that this was his island and he was a man that had been to" Juvi" (juvenile detention) and that he could pound us. We got into a pushing war but nothing more that. I guess he thought we were going to steal his girlfriend from him or something. It was an interesting night that ended late with Sam throwing up on the beach and leaving his jacket and cell phone. All in all it made for an interesting night and a great story.
We woke up the next morning on a beautiful beach and perfect weather. After a morning dip in the ocean we made our way back to our newly bought van and headed to Coromandel!
This Peninsula is great. Beaches, cliffs, sheep, and and old coupe we ran into who wanted to feed us oysters!! People are so nice in New Zealand.(Unless they are Mouri haha)

-Clark