Taranaki :)

I hate to brag, well actually no I don't, so here we go!  Hamilton is the armpit of New Zealand and everywhere else on this island belongs to the goddess of all things beautiful and amazing.  The trip to Taranaki went by really quickly, and I had a great time bonding with Jess and Elizabeth from California and the other Jess from here.  Two hours into the trip, we set eyes on the most amazing sunset ever and to our surprise the mountains we had been travelling next to were separating us from the beach.  For about ten minutes we had been trying to get a good picture of the sunset from the car, but Jess only giggled and said "don't worry, in about five minutes we will have the best view ever," and sure enough we rounded another corner and came across the most gorgeous sight I have ever been lucky enough to gaze upon.  The mountains cleared and a bay connecting to the ocean opened up.  

By the time we finally arrived at Jess's house, we were all pooped, so headed to bed pretty quickly after hanging out with her family.  Her parents were very gracious and kind.  It felt great to be around a family and have a BBQ together the next day.  I got to meet Jess's twin sister and a lot of her friends from highschool.  Over the next two days, she took us around New Plymouth to see everything her town had to offer.  (This just happened to include a Rugby game her boyfriend was playing in.)  We climbed mount Paritutu, and had no idea just what to expect.  Jess had never climbed it before and it's a rather small mountain, so we decided to just hike up in our flipflops, assuming it would only be steps.  Halfway up, the steps turned into rather rough terrain and we were literally climbing straight up holding onto a chain for support!  In the end, our shoes came off and we made it up the last half barefoot, but the view from up top was worth any bruised feet.  According to the weather, it was supposed to be rainy all weekend, but mother nature smiled upon us and decided that sunburns fit our complexions better than raindrops. The following are some pictures from the hike, the drive, the river, and the rugby game.  I wish I could describe this dreadfully manly game, but from what I can tell, it is just a bunch of overly aggressive men in short shorts fighting over an awkwardly shaped football. 

sorry the pictures are a bit unorganized, this program doesn't give me much to work with!