One sunny day, my friend Marie and I decided to make a small road trip up north to go to Goat Island and rent some snorkel gear to check out what lurks in the reefs up there. It is a beautiful little island and supposedly one of the best dive spots in New Zealand. 
We talked to the guy hiring our gear and asked him about any threats to our survival on this mini excursion. He told us we’d be fine. Marie was scared of stingrays because of Steve Irwin’s little mishap (to say the least), but the guy said that if the sting ray has his little tail sticking up, it means he is in defensive mode and that we should just swim away. Me, being the calm cool and collected one, told her we would be just fine and pranced into the water ready to go. Not even 5 meters from shore, a huge stingray snuck up on me and had his damn tail stuck up ready for battle! As I said before, being the calm cool and collected one, I freaked out and frantically paddled away, getting stranded on a rock with the tide. That was the end of our snorkeling. Hahaha. So we then decided to transform our snorkeling day into a beach day and drove a bit further to Pakiri Beach. It was beautiful and smooth sailing for the rest of the day! At the beach, I quickly learned that just because the water looks like bath water does not necessarily mean that it is the same temperature as bath water. Regardless, it was still an awesome day with lots of sun. While you are bundling up for winter, I am getting ready for summer! Jealous? Yes.
We talked to the guy hiring our gear and asked him about any threats to our survival on this mini excursion. He told us we’d be fine. Marie was scared of stingrays because of Steve Irwin’s little mishap (to say the least), but the guy said that if the sting ray has his little tail sticking up, it means he is in defensive mode and that we should just swim away. Me, being the calm cool and collected one, told her we would be just fine and pranced into the water ready to go. Not even 5 meters from shore, a huge stingray snuck up on me and had his damn tail stuck up ready for battle! As I said before, being the calm cool and collected one, I freaked out and frantically paddled away, getting stranded on a rock with the tide. That was the end of our snorkeling. Hahaha. So we then decided to transform our snorkeling day into a beach day and drove a bit further to Pakiri Beach. It was beautiful and smooth sailing for the rest of the day! At the beach, I quickly learned that just because the water looks like bath water does not necessarily mean that it is the same temperature as bath water. Regardless, it was still an awesome day with lots of sun. While you are bundling up for winter, I am getting ready for summer! Jealous? Yes.
a bit of a treacherous drive, but nothing like West Virginia roads
hey look i'm at the beach!
