To The Mountain Heads of Whangarei

Kia ora! Haere mai. Well, today's my third birthday celebration away from home. The first one was when I was doing my CAP in NMIT Nelson City. The second was in Invercargill and the third in Auckland. Hey, I spent most of the day in Whangarei, a small nice idyllic town north of Auckland.

                               

And, I am now 25, a quarter of a century old now. So many things has transpired in the past few years and on my 25th birthday, there have been so many realizations, retrospection, introspection and little bit of planning on my journey to life, to hopefully make it something wonderful. Though it can be lonesome, but there are so many reasons to be thankful about behind the struggles of getting there, towards self betterment and actualization. 

This is a planned trip, and the target? It's Mount Manaia in Whangarei Heads. As per Wikipedia, Whangarei Heads is a locality and promontory on the northern side of the Whangarei Harbour in Northland, New Zealand. Whangarei is 29 km (18 mi) to the north-west, and Ocean Beach is 8 km (5 mi) to the south-east, with Taurikura between the two. Mount Manaia rises to 420 metres (1,378 ft) to the east.

I was enthused on climbing that mountain peak after seeing it on my good friend Arjay's Facebook and from there, the conceptualization of the trip began. I asked Arjay about it and learned that going to the peak is not dangerous as it already have established trails. I booked immediately a bus that goes off from Auckland Central to Whangarei Central and from there, I was supposed to meet up Arjay and we planned to climb the mountain together. Unfortunately, he felt unwell and I ended up driving towards there for 30 minutes from the city proper to McLeod Bay on the way to Whangarei Heads. It was fun adventure for me. 

From Auckland City, I rode with Nakedbus for only 10 NZD, a big discount off as fares can be a high as 45 to 50 NZD going there. I also paid 10 NZD in going back. It was a wonderful trip as it was my first time to go up north of Auckland and the scenery is just amazing. It's like in Southland area with those perfect green and wonderfully vast verdant areas with thick canopy of trees at some places that definitely can excite and awaken the nature loving piece deep within you. Although, I never had the chance to see what the weather will be like up there, I had that feeling that it will be just alright as anyway at the back of my mind, whether the weather is good or not, I will go and climb on that mountain up high. All set. I geared myself with everything from raincoat, 2L water, umbrella, food and a DSLR camera which I borrowed from my friend Aaron, all in my backpack. Good thing it is a nice and a great sunny day up there. Then from there, I already know that this is going to be really great. 

That's all about it for now as I am about to do something else. I will update this piece as soon as I find some time and will post photos just the same. This blog as I say is just a product of my own desires for the sole purpose of personal ventilation. If you happen to stumble on this site, thank you for taking time to read and I hope you enjoy reading. As this is for my personal consumption, there can a little bit of disorganization as far as how things are presented here with a little bit of drama as well. There can be grammatical errors that I overlooked and some other ideas and opinions that might be antagonistic to yours. With these possibilities, a little understanding may serve as your guiding principle to whatever correction necessary for its perfection. Have a good day and I am wishing you good and wonderful times ahead.

P.S. One of my favorite milestones that happen also on birthday includes Wong Fu Productions' anniversary. Today is their 10-year anniversary. I always a big Wong Fu fan. I had the opportunity to have  photo opp with Phil Wang, one of the guys behind Wong Fu when he went to Auckland one time. Today also is the wedding day of one of my favorite couples in the world, Cheche and Marlou. Today is their wedding day back home.

Photo above is me and Phil Wang in Sky Tower in Auckland. He visited Auckland for a personal visit with his girlfriend. One of the best people that I always look up to in creativity and scriptwriting. 

Although it's hard to be alone in the distant shores but I can say, I am so grateful to see this part of the tunnel. It is not the end of the tunnel yet but I am seeing greater opportunities here for me to realize my dreams one step at a time and see the light where the end of the tunnel is in the right time. I am also extremely thankful to God for all those experiences that lead me towards seeing bigger energies that I have always been badly wanting to connect with. To myself, keep your dreams alive and always remember that God has bigger reasons. Don't ever forget to be happy. When you're down, don't forget to look up. Your family is always there for you. There is you, your friends and most importantly, there is God.