after the weekend in taranaki, lynne and i hired a car, so we could drive ourselves around for the next few days..well, more like lynne would drive us around..given that i have barely driven in the past few years, everyone seemed to think it a better idea that she do the driving..
after a late start (my fault) we made our way out of auckland on a rainy morning..we originally thought we were going to start our trip in rotorua, because of the not so good weather..howeva, the weather started to clear, so we changed our minds and decided to go to the coromandel peninsula..it's an area of the north island of new zealand where lots of people go on holiday..it's beautiful, and close to auckland..after driving for a while, and following the directions of the gps, i realized we were going way too far south, even for taking a scenic route to the peninsula..and whaddya know, we were...it turned out that since it was my first time using a gps system, i had no idea out it worked..surprise, eh?..when lynne asked me if it was set to the peninsula, that's what was showing on the screen at that moment, so i thought that yes, it was set to take us to the peninsula..turns out i was wrong..apparently you had to hit enter a few more times..oh well..anywho, we made sure to set it to a particular beach on the peninsula, made a u-turn, and got going in the right direction..
we made it to hahei beach mid afternoon, and played around for a while...another absolutely beautiful new zealand beach..(i'm pretty sure every beach in new zealand is gorgeous, and there are lots of them)..there used to be a rope swing under a tree, but that seems to have disappeared in the past year and a half..we found the path that leads to cathedral cove, and started walking..with the absolutely wonderful weather we had stunning views (which seems to be another plus of new zealand..the country is full of stunning views)..the walk doesn't take nearly as long as the signs say, and is fairly easy..cathedral cove is a naturally formed area, beautiful, of course...the action of the water over the millenia has formed nifty caves and rocks and what not..one of the caves was used to film the opening scene from one of the narnia movies..(or so i'm told, i haven't seen the movie myself)..as we walked back to the car the weather started to change, the sun went behind clouds, and the wind picked up..not so wonderful anymore..
we drove around the tiny little town of hahei and lucked into finding an amazing little hotel..up the hill, we had a great view all around..the the price was fantastic..the owner said it used to be a restaurant, it was too bad we didn't get to take advantage of the fantastic kitchen..we left our stuff and drove to hot water beach..according to the tide tables i had found, low tide was supposed to be that evening around 2030..hot water beach is a spot where hot water springs come up through the earth and visitors can dig themselves jacuzzis in the sand..ideally you can dig a hole, the hot water will come up and fill the hole and you can hang out and enjoy yourself..lynne and i didnt manage to find one of the hot spots, but we weren't the only ones missing out..we saw a number of other folks looking/digging but only one group was successful, and they had taken over from others..we were disappointed, but hey, life goes on..
the next morning we drove to rotorua..it's a smelly town, sometimes better known as rottenrua..the earth's crust is relatively thin under rotorua, only about a kilometer thick..(i think)..because of that, there are hot springs everywhere, and the whole town is geothermally heated..every hotel in town has jacuzzis in every room, woo hoo!! after checking out a few, we settled on one..(one of the things i love about new zealand is that you can almost always negotiate a price)..rotorua is one of the most popular tourist spots in new zealand, because it has a little bit of everything..activities, natural beauty, (it's on a lake,) good food, etc..we made our way to a hill just out of town, and took the cable car up, read the rules, donned helmets, and got ready for the luge..it's a cement track (three actually, beginning, intermediate and advanced) and you can ride a plastic sled on wheels (lets face it, it's not a real luge, but it's a lot of fun anywho)..the first ride has to be on the beginning track, and it's the most scenic..that's the one where you can pull off in a few places to take pictures, as well as get used to how the little sleds work..the medium track is a bit speedier, and fun..but the advanced track is the best..lynne and i both caught air on the advanced track, and loved every minute of it..we both wanted to stay up there longer and keep riding, but it was closing time..darnit..
next up that evening was a quick stop at a takeaway shop for dinner, then on to kerosene creek..amy had also loaned us a book about the hot springs of new zealand, it has directions to EVERYWHERE..totally awesome..kerosene creek is a naturally heated creek..until a year ago, it wasn't even in lonely planet..locals wanted to keep it that way, and i understand why..it's fantastic..there are lots of little areas in the creek to hang out and enjoy the heated water..we were in there for two hours, both my rings changed colour!! while floating around we ended up talking to another couple, he's kiwi and she's american..she and lynne are from the same area in the states, they had similar accents..the heated water was amazing, even though we were both pretty smelly when we finally dashed out..the air wasn't warm, so we both changed really fast and got back to the hotel..
the next morning we packed up and after a dispute on the price of the motel room, went to visit a place called te puia..it's home to the new zealand maori arts and crafts institute as well as the pohutu geyser..it's almost constantly blowing up, the steam clouds are pretty impressive..the weather wasn't so great, it poured down at times, but we still had fun..there are a steaming mud spots, and beautiful mineral pools..the area is pretty big, so we took a free tour, and went to a maori show..that afternoon we went zorbing..soooooooo much fun..imagine this: a giant plastic hampster ball, with another ball inside..the employees fill the inside ball with a little bit of warm water, and you superman yourself into the inner ball, wearing nothing but a swim suit and socks..lynne and i chose to ride together..and what a ride..the hill the ball rolls down doesn't look very big, but the ride is a lot longer than either of us had imagined..laughing and giggling and screaming the whole way down..FUN!!
we drove to taupo, another cute little town on a lake..windy as all get out..we took amy's suggestion and booked a room in a nicer place..it was HUGE!!! we each had a huge bed (lynne actually had two beds to choose from) and there was a jacuzzi just outside..a wonderful way to relax for an evening..
the following morning we drove to waitomo, to see the caves..there are several different caves in the area, it's possible to take tours of many of them..lynne decided to go blackwater rafting, and she loved it..absolutely loved it..after the caves we drove back up to auckland, and met up with my mom for dinner..
as you all know, my immediate family is very much into traveling..before i planned this visit in new zealand, mom had already planned her holiday to new zealand and australia..perfect timing, i got to see my mom on the other side of the world for the first time in over a year:)..dinner was lovely, we all had a good time..lynne and i heard stories about me that i've never heard before..hee hee..an awesome evening..
Showing posts with label new zealand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new zealand. Show all posts
31 October 2009
27 October 2009
another fourth visit
i arrived in auckland new zealand on a blustery rainy sort of day...exactly the same type of day ive arrived on in each of my three past visits...wierd...
just before labour weekend, my friend lynne flew in from the states..i know her from uni, and we've stayed in touch ever since..when i lived in germany she came to visit me there as well..this time she came over to run the auckland marathon with me..we saw a bit of downtown auckland (the view from mt eden is brilliant when the weather is nice, and i hadn't been there previously) when amy showed us around..the friday of labour weekend, after ivan was done with work we drove south, to the taranaki area of the north island..it's not a heavily touristed area, though it's gorgeous..in the middle of the area is mt taranaki (the english called it mt egmont) which is similar in appearance to mt fuji, in japan..so similar in fact that "the last samurai" was filmed around taranaki..most of the time the mountain is covered by clouds, even when the weather is otherwise good, we only got to see the mountain at all on our third and final morning..we stayed with amy's mom and her partner, in a beautiful house hand built 22 yrs ago..as we arrived after dark, all we did was bring everything in from the car, tour the house, and sit around to catch up with each other..amy's mom makes a lot of yummy stuff by hand (chutneys, wines, sauces, etc) so there was some wine tasting as well...(these are the times i miss being able to drink)..
the next morning when we woke up we were treated to a most amazing view..from all the bedrooms of the house one can see the ocean and the black sand beach..you can also see the cows grazing in the area..nothing short of stunning..if i lived in that house, i reckon it would be hard to get me to ever leave the area..AMAZING!! amy made a kiwi classic for breakfast, bacon and egg pie..(since it was lynne's first visit to nz, we tried to make sure she had as many traditional kiwi foods as possible..her first night in auckland we had takeaways, fish and chips)..after getting dressed properly, and sending jill off to work, amy, ivan, howard, lynne and i made our way down to the beach..fortunately, jill and howard have quite a few pairs of wellies in the house, because we had to walk through cow paddocks to get to the beach..and cows, well, they're not potty trained..the beach itself is lovely..a black sand beach, with a river coming through part of it..there is a lot of driftwood on the beach, shells as well..
this is a time of year when whitebaiting is allowed..that is, catching whitebait..(it's only allowed for a couple months out of the year, and not allowed to be done commercially)..the mechanics are easy: put a net into the river, the whitebait swim into it..they're small, and not smart enough to turn around and swim back out..take the net out of the water, put the whitebait in a bucket with a little water in it, then do it again..we all did this, i was the only one who didn't catch anything:(..in time for lunch we packed up the net and buckets, grabbed our shoes, and made our way back up to the house..the afternoon was passed it was some might call a lazy way, but i reckon we all thought it was perfect..reading, enjoying the sun, napping (ivan,) and just hanging out..
it was during the walk to and from the beach that we all realized cows are really good at the game of red light green light..though i doubt they would call it that..hee hee..(they probably don't even know it's a game:)..they would follow us as we walked, but would stop and just stare when we turned to look at them..if any of us started to move toward them, they moved away in a hurry..really amusing, but i suppose you had to be there..
dinner was mostly prepared by howard..whitebait fritters..i admit i wasn't too keen on them, but lynne was even more "unkeen"..it was actually amusing to watch her distaste for the idea of eating whitebait..nevertheless, she documented the entire process of making whitebait fritters..she even got a picture where one of the whitebait looks as though it's screaming "don't eat me!!"..(again, i guess you had to be there)..when we ate, lynne ended up eating two fritters..lol..
the next morning i woke up earlier than everyone else, and went for a run..(remember that i came back to new zealand to run the auckland marathon..given that i hadn't trained much, i reckoned i really needed to do a long run)..so i ran to the end of the road and back..including the driveway, that was around a half marathon! i came back, showered, and hopped in the car with amy, ivan and lynne..we drove to new plymouth, about 30 minutes away..(howard and jill live just outside urenui, a VERY small town)..new plymouth is by far the biggest city in the area, with 50-55,000 people..not a very exciting town to begin with, and since it was a holiday weekend, even quieter than normal..a nice brunch for us, in a cafe near the boardwalk, ice cream for dessert (when i'm around, dessert is always on the menu:)..on the way out of town we stopped at a lookout point, new zealand has lots of them..it's one of the reasons i adore the country..it's BEAUTIFUL!! dinner that night was at the cafe where jill works..very slow service (definitely NOT the fault of the waitstaff) but good food, and we knew it would be slow, so we didn't mind..good conversation, which included meeting a dairy farmer named taemon..(sp?)
taemon is a dairy farmer..we learned he milks 172 cows twice each day..lynne had expressed an interest in seeing a dairy farm, so ivan arranged for it to happen the next morning..we awoke to another BEAUTIFUL day, appreciated again the BEAUTIFUL view and life jill and howard have every single day, and got ready to go to the dairy farm..again, the wellies proved helpful..when we first arrived, taemon saw us, and brought out a big bucket of fresh, warm milk..he indicated that we should poor it into a giant funnel looking thing that had rubber teats around the outside lip..on the inside of the funnel looking thing, each of those rubber teats was attached to a tube that went down to the bottom, and into the milk we poured in there..each of us put a finger in the milk, then found one of the brand new calves in the pen, and put our finger in it's mouth..the calves were so young that they didn't yet know that the funnel looking thing held milk for them..one of them seemed to think it could find milk by drooling all over my knee..we had to bring them over to the "teats" and get them to start drinking..calves have no teeth, and they seemed to love our fingers!! soooooooooooooooooo cute..once drinking properly, they drank rather quickly..from there we moved into the milking shed..the cows are lined up in two rows, with their backsides faced inward..in between is a lower pathway, about 2m wide..along this pathway, on rails, are the milkers..each one is like half an octopus..that is, there are four little suction things that are attached to the cow and when turned on, do the milking..it's an easy process, you just want to avoid being kicked, peed, or shat upon..(it's not the cleanest area i've ever visited..lynne and i were the only ones who actually wanted to try putting on the milking machines..i've gotta admit it was a little scary when the cows stamped their feet as i was reaching toward their udders, because i know i wouldn't have been able to move fast enough to avoid being kicked had they decided to do so..anywho..at one point i looked up to see ivan, amy and jill laughing hysterically, though i hadn't seen or heard anything funny..it turns out, they had..remember me mentioning that cows aren't potty trained? taemon had been putting on the milking machines as well, but had also been watching lynne and i with the cows..he had noticed that one cow was about to go #2, and that it would've gone all over me..so he "defended" me..he stepped in between me and the cow..so everything that exited the cow went all over him, and almost none of it onto me..he did such a good job of blocking me that i had no idea anything had even happened!! and he didn't say anything either..i wouldn't have known it had happened had amy, ivan and jill not seen it..sooooooooo funny..anywho..after getting out of the area between the cows, taemon shows us the barrel into which he had some of the fresh milk being pumped, and told us we should try it..so we did..who knew that fresh cow's milk could be so good? YUM!!! next we took milk out to some more young calves, though they were old enough that they recognized what was happening, and drank 100L of milk i about 10 minutes..our last activity on the farm was to feed the mama pig who had just given birth..she is a wild pig, and quite ugly..she got to drink the same fresh milk we had tried ourselves and given to the calves..the entire time the piglets were cowering in the back corner of the pen, climbing over themselves continuously in order to try to get warm..very very cute..after taemon had taken off his rubber apron and put on some clean clothes, he took us to his house in progress..it's gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous..it's not finished (howard reckoned it had taken him 10 years to get to where it is now) but it's easy to see how amazing it'll be when it is finished..taemon has done all the work himself, including milling local logs!! he also took us down to the creek, and fed his "pet" eels..ugly suckers!! they recognized him, and would eat pieces of luncheon right off his boot, or out of his fingers!!
that was our last morning in taranaki..upon getting back to jill and howard's, we cleaned up, put everything in the car, and drove back up to auckland..amy and ivan dropped lynne and i off at the airport, where we were able to hire a car, as she and i were planning to do a little traveling for the next few days..lynne drove the car back to amy and ivan's as no one trusted me to do so:)
amy picked me up at the airport, and we got me into the flat i'm hiring from her and her husband...it's been great to hang out with the two of them, and catch up on everything...
there were others i had hoped to get together with, but plans changed a few times, i was forgotten once, and then there wasn't any more time available..i was disappointed, to say the least...two days later i ran a half marathon...a beautiful morning, blue skies and very very crisp...to me it seemed like fall weather, even though it's spring here...anywho, i spent the first 3K of the race hoping for feeling to come back into my toes...there were plenty of volunteers out on the course to make sure people didn't get lost, which was nice...and there were aid stations (with water, nothing else) every 3 miles or so...the race itself was a loop, us half marathoners did it twice, those running the 11k 'fun run' did it just once...i was pleased that i ran the whole thing...(except for walking through aid stations...i long ago discovered that i can't run and drink, even walking and drinking isn't always the best)...my time was all right, not great, but not bad; and i wasn't sore later that day or the next day, so i had no real complaints...
another night i had dinner with clive and sarah...friends i met the second time i visited new zealand, it was fantastic to catch up with them...clive is in a band, they're doing quite well, and i enjoyed their music...time flew by, and five hours had gone by when i thought to look at my watch!!! sarah's son connor was there as well, but he's going through the quiet teenager stage and wasn't talking to anyone...he's grown like a weed in the past year though...
just before labour weekend, my friend lynne flew in from the states..i know her from uni, and we've stayed in touch ever since..when i lived in germany she came to visit me there as well..this time she came over to run the auckland marathon with me..we saw a bit of downtown auckland (the view from mt eden is brilliant when the weather is nice, and i hadn't been there previously) when amy showed us around..the friday of labour weekend, after ivan was done with work we drove south, to the taranaki area of the north island..it's not a heavily touristed area, though it's gorgeous..in the middle of the area is mt taranaki (the english called it mt egmont) which is similar in appearance to mt fuji, in japan..so similar in fact that "the last samurai" was filmed around taranaki..most of the time the mountain is covered by clouds, even when the weather is otherwise good, we only got to see the mountain at all on our third and final morning..we stayed with amy's mom and her partner, in a beautiful house hand built 22 yrs ago..as we arrived after dark, all we did was bring everything in from the car, tour the house, and sit around to catch up with each other..amy's mom makes a lot of yummy stuff by hand (chutneys, wines, sauces, etc) so there was some wine tasting as well...(these are the times i miss being able to drink)..
the next morning when we woke up we were treated to a most amazing view..from all the bedrooms of the house one can see the ocean and the black sand beach..you can also see the cows grazing in the area..nothing short of stunning..if i lived in that house, i reckon it would be hard to get me to ever leave the area..AMAZING!! amy made a kiwi classic for breakfast, bacon and egg pie..(since it was lynne's first visit to nz, we tried to make sure she had as many traditional kiwi foods as possible..her first night in auckland we had takeaways, fish and chips)..after getting dressed properly, and sending jill off to work, amy, ivan, howard, lynne and i made our way down to the beach..fortunately, jill and howard have quite a few pairs of wellies in the house, because we had to walk through cow paddocks to get to the beach..and cows, well, they're not potty trained..the beach itself is lovely..a black sand beach, with a river coming through part of it..there is a lot of driftwood on the beach, shells as well..
this is a time of year when whitebaiting is allowed..that is, catching whitebait..(it's only allowed for a couple months out of the year, and not allowed to be done commercially)..the mechanics are easy: put a net into the river, the whitebait swim into it..they're small, and not smart enough to turn around and swim back out..take the net out of the water, put the whitebait in a bucket with a little water in it, then do it again..we all did this, i was the only one who didn't catch anything:(..in time for lunch we packed up the net and buckets, grabbed our shoes, and made our way back up to the house..the afternoon was passed it was some might call a lazy way, but i reckon we all thought it was perfect..reading, enjoying the sun, napping (ivan,) and just hanging out..
it was during the walk to and from the beach that we all realized cows are really good at the game of red light green light..though i doubt they would call it that..hee hee..(they probably don't even know it's a game:)..they would follow us as we walked, but would stop and just stare when we turned to look at them..if any of us started to move toward them, they moved away in a hurry..really amusing, but i suppose you had to be there..
dinner was mostly prepared by howard..whitebait fritters..i admit i wasn't too keen on them, but lynne was even more "unkeen"..it was actually amusing to watch her distaste for the idea of eating whitebait..nevertheless, she documented the entire process of making whitebait fritters..she even got a picture where one of the whitebait looks as though it's screaming "don't eat me!!"..(again, i guess you had to be there)..when we ate, lynne ended up eating two fritters..lol..
the next morning i woke up earlier than everyone else, and went for a run..(remember that i came back to new zealand to run the auckland marathon..given that i hadn't trained much, i reckoned i really needed to do a long run)..so i ran to the end of the road and back..including the driveway, that was around a half marathon! i came back, showered, and hopped in the car with amy, ivan and lynne..we drove to new plymouth, about 30 minutes away..(howard and jill live just outside urenui, a VERY small town)..new plymouth is by far the biggest city in the area, with 50-55,000 people..not a very exciting town to begin with, and since it was a holiday weekend, even quieter than normal..a nice brunch for us, in a cafe near the boardwalk, ice cream for dessert (when i'm around, dessert is always on the menu:)..on the way out of town we stopped at a lookout point, new zealand has lots of them..it's one of the reasons i adore the country..it's BEAUTIFUL!! dinner that night was at the cafe where jill works..very slow service (definitely NOT the fault of the waitstaff) but good food, and we knew it would be slow, so we didn't mind..good conversation, which included meeting a dairy farmer named taemon..(sp?)
taemon is a dairy farmer..we learned he milks 172 cows twice each day..lynne had expressed an interest in seeing a dairy farm, so ivan arranged for it to happen the next morning..we awoke to another BEAUTIFUL day, appreciated again the BEAUTIFUL view and life jill and howard have every single day, and got ready to go to the dairy farm..again, the wellies proved helpful..when we first arrived, taemon saw us, and brought out a big bucket of fresh, warm milk..he indicated that we should poor it into a giant funnel looking thing that had rubber teats around the outside lip..on the inside of the funnel looking thing, each of those rubber teats was attached to a tube that went down to the bottom, and into the milk we poured in there..each of us put a finger in the milk, then found one of the brand new calves in the pen, and put our finger in it's mouth..the calves were so young that they didn't yet know that the funnel looking thing held milk for them..one of them seemed to think it could find milk by drooling all over my knee..we had to bring them over to the "teats" and get them to start drinking..calves have no teeth, and they seemed to love our fingers!! soooooooooooooooooo cute..once drinking properly, they drank rather quickly..from there we moved into the milking shed..the cows are lined up in two rows, with their backsides faced inward..in between is a lower pathway, about 2m wide..along this pathway, on rails, are the milkers..each one is like half an octopus..that is, there are four little suction things that are attached to the cow and when turned on, do the milking..it's an easy process, you just want to avoid being kicked, peed, or shat upon..(it's not the cleanest area i've ever visited..lynne and i were the only ones who actually wanted to try putting on the milking machines..i've gotta admit it was a little scary when the cows stamped their feet as i was reaching toward their udders, because i know i wouldn't have been able to move fast enough to avoid being kicked had they decided to do so..anywho..at one point i looked up to see ivan, amy and jill laughing hysterically, though i hadn't seen or heard anything funny..it turns out, they had..remember me mentioning that cows aren't potty trained? taemon had been putting on the milking machines as well, but had also been watching lynne and i with the cows..he had noticed that one cow was about to go #2, and that it would've gone all over me..so he "defended" me..he stepped in between me and the cow..so everything that exited the cow went all over him, and almost none of it onto me..he did such a good job of blocking me that i had no idea anything had even happened!! and he didn't say anything either..i wouldn't have known it had happened had amy, ivan and jill not seen it..sooooooooo funny..anywho..after getting out of the area between the cows, taemon shows us the barrel into which he had some of the fresh milk being pumped, and told us we should try it..so we did..who knew that fresh cow's milk could be so good? YUM!!! next we took milk out to some more young calves, though they were old enough that they recognized what was happening, and drank 100L of milk i about 10 minutes..our last activity on the farm was to feed the mama pig who had just given birth..she is a wild pig, and quite ugly..she got to drink the same fresh milk we had tried ourselves and given to the calves..the entire time the piglets were cowering in the back corner of the pen, climbing over themselves continuously in order to try to get warm..very very cute..after taemon had taken off his rubber apron and put on some clean clothes, he took us to his house in progress..it's gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous..it's not finished (howard reckoned it had taken him 10 years to get to where it is now) but it's easy to see how amazing it'll be when it is finished..taemon has done all the work himself, including milling local logs!! he also took us down to the creek, and fed his "pet" eels..ugly suckers!! they recognized him, and would eat pieces of luncheon right off his boot, or out of his fingers!!
that was our last morning in taranaki..upon getting back to jill and howard's, we cleaned up, put everything in the car, and drove back up to auckland..amy and ivan dropped lynne and i off at the airport, where we were able to hire a car, as she and i were planning to do a little traveling for the next few days..lynne drove the car back to amy and ivan's as no one trusted me to do so:)
17 May 2009
wellington, christchurch and queenstown
when i told people i was going to wellington, they all said i should take the overlander..it's a train that takes the entire day to go from auckland to wellington..it's supposed to be really scenic, and allow you to see beautiful areas of the north island..so i signed myself up for the train, it left at 0725 on a monday morning..the ride itself was okay, nothing spectacular..new zealand is pretty, but i felt as though i had already seen prettier areas than what i saw during that train ride..it didn't help that mt ruapehu was completely invisible when the train went by, but it's supposed to be an awesome view most of the time..i couldn't even tell there was anything there, the whole area was enveloped in a mist..anywho, as i was walking out of the train station, i noticed that someone was busking in the lobby area of the train station..i liked the music, he seemed pretty good..there were lots of people standing around watching, and cameras filming the whole thing..i stayed until he was done playing, but didn't know who it was, and felt too stupid to ask someone..(later on in the week i found out it was john mayer, doing publicity stuff for his concert that took place the next evening in wellington!)..
i found a hostel, and elected to put myself in a girls only dorm room..new zealand has a really good system of hostels, the infrastructure of backpacking is set up well in the entire country..
during the next three days i walked all over..unlike auckland, a visitor can walk all over wellington and see just about everything..it's the capital of the country, but only has about 150,000 people..(the biggest city, auckland, has over a million)..the nickname is windy welly, and i figured out why pretty quickly..the wind never seems to stop blowing!! i walked through te papa, the national museum..its really well done, and huge..it takes hours if you read and look at everything..the displays are put together well, and some of them are interactive for kids..i walked through the botanical gardens, which i didn't think were all that great..i took the cable car up to the top of a nearby hill and was able to look out over the city..i walked to the parliament area..the prime ministers office is in a building called the beehive, and it's UGLY..who knows why they chose that particular architect's design..it's awful..i took the guided tour as well, which i enjoyed for the informative aspects..it was neat to learn about the different areas of the building, what different rooms are used for..my favourite was the room where the queen sits when she visits..(which is practically never)..i was stunned to learn that there are rules still followed about who gets to walk where when the queen is sitting..if a member of parliament walks across in front of the queen he/she will be thrown out of parliament and forced to resign his/her seat!! i thought that kind of stuff was done with a long time ago, but this is a country far different from the US..technically, the head of the country is the queen of england..strange..i also walked to a monument that has something to do with antarctica..i'm not sure on the details, but there is a line where if you look at a particular angle, and could see that far, the next land you would see is antarctica..nifty..
my next week trip was to christchurch..in the canterbury area of the south island..it's home to the international airport of the south island..wine country, for the most part..lots of farming in general i think..the international antarctic centre is near the airport, i really enjoyed that visit...there is sooooo much i don't know about antarctica..they have displayed the new zealand history in antarctica, among other information..there is also a room where you can experience a blizzard..before going in the room you put on boots, and a winter jacket..when the "storm" starts, you can feel the wind picking up and the temperature dropping..it's not the temperatures that get you, it's the wind..it's awful!! but it was a neat experience..coming out of the room i felt like i was in the tropics:)..christchurch has nice gardens as well, and i found a yummy chocolate/fudge shop..who knew gluten free truffles could be so tasty? one afternoon i took the bus over to lyttleton, a small town near christchurch..it's picturesque, and has a building with a big ball on a pole...(think times square for new years eve, when the ball drops to mark the exact start of the new year)..this ball used to drop to let ship captains know exactly what time it was..that way they were able to make sure the clocks on their ships were right, and that way they knew they could properly figure out navigation..inside that building there used to be a family, it's now a museum..they used to live like early settlers lived in the US..christchurch has a number of churches, and old buildings that look distinctly british..i found a rugby store that had jerseys from every team imaginable..i ended up buying a jersey for the antarctic rugby team..fun:)
my last trip was to queenstown..when it was built, it was w/out a name..someone came, and as it was being finished, they said it was fit for a queen..hence the name..not big on originality, hee hee..it's the outdoor activity capital of the country..you can spend a LOT of money in queenstown..that's where bungy jumping originated, and you can still go with that company if you so desire..you can also go canyon swinging, skydiving, spend an hour on the shotover jetboat, etc..i took the cable car up to the top of one of the nearby hills that looks out over the city..as queenstown is farther south than anywhere else i visited, it is farther along in the season change than anywhere else..the leaves were beautiful, all colours of the rainbow..up at the top of the hill i rode the luge that's been built up there...that's my idea of fun, i could've spent a few more hours up there..i walked through the botanical gardens, which didnt impress me much..i found a british lolly shop, which was fun..i took a day trip to milford sound, which was beautiful..the bus drive to and from was long, but really pretty..we drove through a one lane tunnel, and on a steep, turny road..the boat ride up and down the sound was really pretty..(on a side note, a kayaker who had come from australia across the tasman sea lost his life just 30km outside of the sound just a couple years ago)..i loved being outside all day, i definitely wasn't impressed with the lunch that was part of the tour..but i rather expected that..one of the most disappointing experiences of queenstown was when i discovered that my atm card from the states wouldn't work..when i finally managed to ring my bank, i was informed that there was no atm card registered to my account..it turned out that it had been so long since i had used it that it had been kicked out of the system..argh..which left me with almost no cash, and no access to any cash..i had credit cards, but no way of getting any cash..ugh..in queenstown there is a restaurant called fergburger..i had heard about it from another traveller in christchurch, who said i had to eat there, so i did..BIG burgers, and BIG servings of chips..YUMMY!! the worst part of my experience in queenstown took place the day i was scheduled to fly back to auckland..apparently the domestic airport in auckland was completely socked in by fog that morning..completely..it was shut down..no flights going in or out..which meant that many flights to and around the rest of the country didn't go either..i ended up stuck in queenstown an extra night, which really upset me, as dan and i had planned an evening out that night, and i had only a limited number of nights left with him before leaving the country..queenstown isn't an international airport, and flights can't go in or out after sunset, which is pretty early..by the time the fog cleared in auckland, flights all over the country were disrupted..lots of flights ended up being cancelled, which stranded a lot of people..the airlines put people up in hotels, but i was really really really disappointed not to be back in auckland that evening..i did get back the next day..
i found a hostel, and elected to put myself in a girls only dorm room..new zealand has a really good system of hostels, the infrastructure of backpacking is set up well in the entire country..
during the next three days i walked all over..unlike auckland, a visitor can walk all over wellington and see just about everything..it's the capital of the country, but only has about 150,000 people..(the biggest city, auckland, has over a million)..the nickname is windy welly, and i figured out why pretty quickly..the wind never seems to stop blowing!! i walked through te papa, the national museum..its really well done, and huge..it takes hours if you read and look at everything..the displays are put together well, and some of them are interactive for kids..i walked through the botanical gardens, which i didn't think were all that great..i took the cable car up to the top of a nearby hill and was able to look out over the city..i walked to the parliament area..the prime ministers office is in a building called the beehive, and it's UGLY..who knows why they chose that particular architect's design..it's awful..i took the guided tour as well, which i enjoyed for the informative aspects..it was neat to learn about the different areas of the building, what different rooms are used for..my favourite was the room where the queen sits when she visits..(which is practically never)..i was stunned to learn that there are rules still followed about who gets to walk where when the queen is sitting..if a member of parliament walks across in front of the queen he/she will be thrown out of parliament and forced to resign his/her seat!! i thought that kind of stuff was done with a long time ago, but this is a country far different from the US..technically, the head of the country is the queen of england..strange..i also walked to a monument that has something to do with antarctica..i'm not sure on the details, but there is a line where if you look at a particular angle, and could see that far, the next land you would see is antarctica..nifty..
my next week trip was to christchurch..in the canterbury area of the south island..it's home to the international airport of the south island..wine country, for the most part..lots of farming in general i think..the international antarctic centre is near the airport, i really enjoyed that visit...there is sooooo much i don't know about antarctica..they have displayed the new zealand history in antarctica, among other information..there is also a room where you can experience a blizzard..before going in the room you put on boots, and a winter jacket..when the "storm" starts, you can feel the wind picking up and the temperature dropping..it's not the temperatures that get you, it's the wind..it's awful!! but it was a neat experience..coming out of the room i felt like i was in the tropics:)..christchurch has nice gardens as well, and i found a yummy chocolate/fudge shop..who knew gluten free truffles could be so tasty? one afternoon i took the bus over to lyttleton, a small town near christchurch..it's picturesque, and has a building with a big ball on a pole...(think times square for new years eve, when the ball drops to mark the exact start of the new year)..this ball used to drop to let ship captains know exactly what time it was..that way they were able to make sure the clocks on their ships were right, and that way they knew they could properly figure out navigation..inside that building there used to be a family, it's now a museum..they used to live like early settlers lived in the US..christchurch has a number of churches, and old buildings that look distinctly british..i found a rugby store that had jerseys from every team imaginable..i ended up buying a jersey for the antarctic rugby team..fun:)
my last trip was to queenstown..when it was built, it was w/out a name..someone came, and as it was being finished, they said it was fit for a queen..hence the name..not big on originality, hee hee..it's the outdoor activity capital of the country..you can spend a LOT of money in queenstown..that's where bungy jumping originated, and you can still go with that company if you so desire..you can also go canyon swinging, skydiving, spend an hour on the shotover jetboat, etc..i took the cable car up to the top of one of the nearby hills that looks out over the city..as queenstown is farther south than anywhere else i visited, it is farther along in the season change than anywhere else..the leaves were beautiful, all colours of the rainbow..up at the top of the hill i rode the luge that's been built up there...that's my idea of fun, i could've spent a few more hours up there..i walked through the botanical gardens, which didnt impress me much..i found a british lolly shop, which was fun..i took a day trip to milford sound, which was beautiful..the bus drive to and from was long, but really pretty..we drove through a one lane tunnel, and on a steep, turny road..the boat ride up and down the sound was really pretty..(on a side note, a kayaker who had come from australia across the tasman sea lost his life just 30km outside of the sound just a couple years ago)..i loved being outside all day, i definitely wasn't impressed with the lunch that was part of the tour..but i rather expected that..one of the most disappointing experiences of queenstown was when i discovered that my atm card from the states wouldn't work..when i finally managed to ring my bank, i was informed that there was no atm card registered to my account..it turned out that it had been so long since i had used it that it had been kicked out of the system..argh..which left me with almost no cash, and no access to any cash..i had credit cards, but no way of getting any cash..ugh..in queenstown there is a restaurant called fergburger..i had heard about it from another traveller in christchurch, who said i had to eat there, so i did..BIG burgers, and BIG servings of chips..YUMMY!! the worst part of my experience in queenstown took place the day i was scheduled to fly back to auckland..apparently the domestic airport in auckland was completely socked in by fog that morning..completely..it was shut down..no flights going in or out..which meant that many flights to and around the rest of the country didn't go either..i ended up stuck in queenstown an extra night, which really upset me, as dan and i had planned an evening out that night, and i had only a limited number of nights left with him before leaving the country..queenstown isn't an international airport, and flights can't go in or out after sunset, which is pretty early..by the time the fog cleared in auckland, flights all over the country were disrupted..lots of flights ended up being cancelled, which stranded a lot of people..the airlines put people up in hotels, but i was really really really disappointed not to be back in auckland that evening..i did get back the next day..
01 May 2008
nz vol. 2
i flew back to new zealand after my trip with hana in australia...only a quick 3 hour flight from sydney to auckland..dan and i had been talking a lot by email and we both thought we'd had a connection during the holidays at the bach...we'd even had a few phone calls, not something i normally do..we wanted to find out if that connection was more than a holiday connection, or just three fun days..
i remember being super nervous as i walked out of the airport; i was terrified i wouldn't even recognize dan..but almost immediately i spotted him, and things were okay..we were both nervous because neither of us knew what was going to happen..after all, we'd only had three days to get to know each other over the holiday, which isn't much time at all, especially when there are tons of other people around all the time..
anywho, we went to dinner that night, it was fabulous..he took me to a place with a german name, and i had the most amazing asian beef salad..and more important than the food, we knew we had something..
the next day was sunday, easter sunday..normally i wouldn't have mentioned a religious holiday, but in both new zealand and australia, easter is a HUGE holiday..it's a religious holiday, but down in this part of the world, it's secular too..anytime you walk into a dairy you see huge displays of easter lollies..government offices are closed on good friday and the following monday...nearly everyone takes a four day weekend..during the day dan's dad texted that he was coming over to dan's flat with easter pressies..(presents)..we both knew it was mainly because he wanted to see who i was..dan had been talking about me, and his family wanted to know who was coming to visit him after just three days together..his dad is a musician at heart, and works at a hospital for patients with mental disabilities..after his dad left, i suggested going to the golf course..i already knew dan was really into golf, and i remember thinking that i should just get it over with..i wanted to walk the course once, so i could say that i had done it, and from then on he was welcome to go anytime he liked..little did i know what the future held..that day, i had a good time, even though i realized i knew absolutely nothing about the sport..the first time he teed off that day, i had no idea where the ball went!! after golf we went to a nearby beach, called bethells..its a west coast beach, which means it's pretty wild..not a place you go for calm swimming..we laid out our towels, and were hanging out with someone came over and said hi to dan..turned out it was his sister!! we hadn't known she would be there, at least i didn't know..dan drives his company truck, so when he's somewhere, anyone who knows that truck knows he's there..when his sister saw his truck parked there she knew he was probably there with me, so of course she wanted to meet me as well..she seemed nice enough..as we were leaving the beach that day dan talked to one of jess' friends about cricket..the conversation only went on for about 5 minutes, but they might as well have been speaking swahili for all i understood..i recognized words like the, and and, but that was about it..there was nothing familiar in that conversation, despite the fact that every cricket fan i know says it's quite similar to baseball..(it's NOT!!)..at that point i realized i needed to learn about the sport..at least the basics..
the following week i met dan's mum at work..he works with his family everyday, they all are part owners of the company..she was nice too..they're NOTHING like my family..NOTHING..
at the end of that first full week, dan and i took off on a holiday..we took his dad's car, and drove up north, to northland, the "winterless" area of new zealand..when dan was just out of high school (the last two years of which they call college here, which is strange to me) he moved up north and worked for a little over a year in a resort in paihia..we stayed in a bach owned by the parents of one of dan's friends, in taupo bay..(not to be confused with taupo, near lake taupo)..during those first few days we used that as a base to "explore" the northern area of the north island of new zealand..we went swimming with the dolphins on dan's birthday..we slid down the sand dunes near cape reinga..we went out to the tip of cape reinga..that's where the tasman sea and the pacific ocean meet, and on clear days its said that you can see the line in the water where the two bodies of water meet..we definitely didn't see that, as it was foggy and somewhat rainy..one day we went walking on a boardwalk trail through a kauri forest..kauri trees are BIG..not that i've seen them, but i think they're along the lines of the redwood trees in california..maoris here consider it bad luck to have kauri furniture inside your home, but white folks and foreigners don't usually pay much attention to that..kauri stuff is expensive, but it sells..dan took me to a couple beaches on the east coast up there, they were completely empty, and awesome..one had squeaky sand, it was great fun to walk around in that..the other was out in the middle of nowhere..no people, no buildings, nothing..AWESOME..(a beach in new zealand is crowded if there are 5 other people on it)..we drove by carrington golf club one day, and as it looked pretty flash, dan wanted to see what it was all about..the next day we went back and played it..that was the first time i had walked 18 holes, and i remember thinking that it would be difficult to support him playing 18 holes all the time..it took just under 5 hrs to walk that course..it was looooong..the lady at the reception desk said that most people hired carts there, but we ignored her advice..that's the one time we should've hired a cart!! (later, after playing 18 holes on other courses, i learned that dan usually takes about 3 hours on his own to play 18, just under 4 hours if he's playing in a group)..it was a nice course, and relatively new..
for the last two days of our holiday, we stayed at a nice hotel in waitangi..waitangi is where the treaty of waitangi was signed, back in 1840..that's the treaty that established new zealand as it is now, the modern state..there are plenty of arguments over that treaty, whether it was valid, and most people will agree that the british tricked the maoris..issues from that are still being debated today..we went to the historical area, there is a big flagpole put up on the exact spot where the treaty was signed, and there are a few other buildings you can walk around..there is a copy of the treaty there, the original is kept in the national archives down in wellington..we also walked the golf course at waitangi, it was the first golf course dan ever played, it's where he got hooked on the game..it was a nice course, though it had just been cored (sp?) so that took some of the enjoyment out of it..
at the end of our holiday we drove back to auckland, then had dinner that night with his family to celebrate his birthday..he and i had been on our holiday during his birthday, so they waited until we came back to do the family thing..
the next few weeks were pretty plain..he'd go to work, i'd kill time during the day, and when he was done we'd go play golf, or have some other activity during the evening..i got to know his flattie, lota, a little..sometimes i went to his work for lunch, since it was just down the road..
at one point i realized i needed to be doing a little more during my time..so i decided to go visit three other cities in new zealand..wellington, christchurch, and queenstown..
visited paihia, keri keri, cape reinga, the puketi forest, taupo bay, auckland, queenstown, christchurch, wellington, and probably more...
got to hang out with amy and ivan, got to know dan and his family...
heartbroken to leave
left 21 may...
i remember being super nervous as i walked out of the airport; i was terrified i wouldn't even recognize dan..but almost immediately i spotted him, and things were okay..we were both nervous because neither of us knew what was going to happen..after all, we'd only had three days to get to know each other over the holiday, which isn't much time at all, especially when there are tons of other people around all the time..
anywho, we went to dinner that night, it was fabulous..he took me to a place with a german name, and i had the most amazing asian beef salad..and more important than the food, we knew we had something..
the next day was sunday, easter sunday..normally i wouldn't have mentioned a religious holiday, but in both new zealand and australia, easter is a HUGE holiday..it's a religious holiday, but down in this part of the world, it's secular too..anytime you walk into a dairy you see huge displays of easter lollies..government offices are closed on good friday and the following monday...nearly everyone takes a four day weekend..during the day dan's dad texted that he was coming over to dan's flat with easter pressies..(presents)..we both knew it was mainly because he wanted to see who i was..dan had been talking about me, and his family wanted to know who was coming to visit him after just three days together..his dad is a musician at heart, and works at a hospital for patients with mental disabilities..after his dad left, i suggested going to the golf course..i already knew dan was really into golf, and i remember thinking that i should just get it over with..i wanted to walk the course once, so i could say that i had done it, and from then on he was welcome to go anytime he liked..little did i know what the future held..that day, i had a good time, even though i realized i knew absolutely nothing about the sport..the first time he teed off that day, i had no idea where the ball went!! after golf we went to a nearby beach, called bethells..its a west coast beach, which means it's pretty wild..not a place you go for calm swimming..we laid out our towels, and were hanging out with someone came over and said hi to dan..turned out it was his sister!! we hadn't known she would be there, at least i didn't know..dan drives his company truck, so when he's somewhere, anyone who knows that truck knows he's there..when his sister saw his truck parked there she knew he was probably there with me, so of course she wanted to meet me as well..she seemed nice enough..as we were leaving the beach that day dan talked to one of jess' friends about cricket..the conversation only went on for about 5 minutes, but they might as well have been speaking swahili for all i understood..i recognized words like the, and and, but that was about it..there was nothing familiar in that conversation, despite the fact that every cricket fan i know says it's quite similar to baseball..(it's NOT!!)..at that point i realized i needed to learn about the sport..at least the basics..
the following week i met dan's mum at work..he works with his family everyday, they all are part owners of the company..she was nice too..they're NOTHING like my family..NOTHING..
at the end of that first full week, dan and i took off on a holiday..we took his dad's car, and drove up north, to northland, the "winterless" area of new zealand..when dan was just out of high school (the last two years of which they call college here, which is strange to me) he moved up north and worked for a little over a year in a resort in paihia..we stayed in a bach owned by the parents of one of dan's friends, in taupo bay..(not to be confused with taupo, near lake taupo)..during those first few days we used that as a base to "explore" the northern area of the north island of new zealand..we went swimming with the dolphins on dan's birthday..we slid down the sand dunes near cape reinga..we went out to the tip of cape reinga..that's where the tasman sea and the pacific ocean meet, and on clear days its said that you can see the line in the water where the two bodies of water meet..we definitely didn't see that, as it was foggy and somewhat rainy..one day we went walking on a boardwalk trail through a kauri forest..kauri trees are BIG..not that i've seen them, but i think they're along the lines of the redwood trees in california..maoris here consider it bad luck to have kauri furniture inside your home, but white folks and foreigners don't usually pay much attention to that..kauri stuff is expensive, but it sells..dan took me to a couple beaches on the east coast up there, they were completely empty, and awesome..one had squeaky sand, it was great fun to walk around in that..the other was out in the middle of nowhere..no people, no buildings, nothing..AWESOME..(a beach in new zealand is crowded if there are 5 other people on it)..we drove by carrington golf club one day, and as it looked pretty flash, dan wanted to see what it was all about..the next day we went back and played it..that was the first time i had walked 18 holes, and i remember thinking that it would be difficult to support him playing 18 holes all the time..it took just under 5 hrs to walk that course..it was looooong..the lady at the reception desk said that most people hired carts there, but we ignored her advice..that's the one time we should've hired a cart!! (later, after playing 18 holes on other courses, i learned that dan usually takes about 3 hours on his own to play 18, just under 4 hours if he's playing in a group)..it was a nice course, and relatively new..
for the last two days of our holiday, we stayed at a nice hotel in waitangi..waitangi is where the treaty of waitangi was signed, back in 1840..that's the treaty that established new zealand as it is now, the modern state..there are plenty of arguments over that treaty, whether it was valid, and most people will agree that the british tricked the maoris..issues from that are still being debated today..we went to the historical area, there is a big flagpole put up on the exact spot where the treaty was signed, and there are a few other buildings you can walk around..there is a copy of the treaty there, the original is kept in the national archives down in wellington..we also walked the golf course at waitangi, it was the first golf course dan ever played, it's where he got hooked on the game..it was a nice course, though it had just been cored (sp?) so that took some of the enjoyment out of it..
at the end of our holiday we drove back to auckland, then had dinner that night with his family to celebrate his birthday..he and i had been on our holiday during his birthday, so they waited until we came back to do the family thing..
the next few weeks were pretty plain..he'd go to work, i'd kill time during the day, and when he was done we'd go play golf, or have some other activity during the evening..i got to know his flattie, lota, a little..sometimes i went to his work for lunch, since it was just down the road..
at one point i realized i needed to be doing a little more during my time..so i decided to go visit three other cities in new zealand..wellington, christchurch, and queenstown..
visited paihia, keri keri, cape reinga, the puketi forest, taupo bay, auckland, queenstown, christchurch, wellington, and probably more...
got to hang out with amy and ivan, got to know dan and his family...
heartbroken to leave
left 21 may...
02 January 2008
nz vol 1. iss. 1
i arrived in auckland 22 december...i came to visit amy, a swimming friend of mine since middle school..she married a guy named ivan, whom she met when she had an overseas internship while in uni..the day i arrived amy was at a hens do, so ivan picked me up at the airport, and drove me through auckland..he asked what i wanted to see, but since i knew absolutely nothing about the city (or the country for that matter,) i had no answers..at one point we drove through a very picturesque area, filled with what he called lifestyle homes..people who want to be farmers, sortof..they have a bit of land, but don't really do much with it..hard to explain..he also took me to a beach called muriwai..it's on the west coast (auckland has two coasts) which is basically the "wild" coast...the beaches on the west coast have waves and currents and such, the beaches on the east coast are quite calm)..i got to have my very first fish and chips, YUMMY..it was served in what i would call a "proper" way..that is, wrapped in newspaper with the grease coming through..ivan asked what kind of fish was available, but of course i had no idea what either of the answers meant..we drove onto the beach, since he has a land rover, and it was awesome..he said it was a typical west coast beach..that is, wild and beautiful..i only found out months later what he meant, but he was right..amy arrived home not too long after we got back to their house, both ivan and i were asleep napping at the time..she laughed..i spent one night with amy and ivan at their house in auckland, and woke up pretty late the next morning..(time zone change)..amy and i went to the local dairy to pick up coffee, hot chocolate and turnovers..YUM..already, i loved new zealand! that day we drove to their bach on the east cape...i slept through bits of the trip, but i'm pretty sure we stopped in tauranga, and i know we stopped in paeroa...i had my picture taken with the ridiculously huge bottle of L&P...it's a drink similar to sprite or fanta, or a combination of the two...it's an 8 or 9 hour trip, we arrived at the bach early afternoon, and everyone got acquainted...during the trip amy gave me quick lessons on pronouncing many of the words i was seeing on signs..most of the words are maori words, and there are rules for pronunciation, i was having fun guessing how to say everything..hana had arrived a little earlier, having met up with jill (amy's mom) and howard (jill's partner) as well as two german friends of theirs in rotorua..since hana was living in canberra she took two weeks off for the holidays, and flew into christchurch, then drove up and saw bits and pieces of new zealand before the two of us got together...it was the first time i had seen hana in 2.5 yrs or so...
amy and ivan's bach is at onepoto, which translated means little beach..original, right? hee hee...anywho, there were about 10 houses, and when we arrived, the area was quiet..it's not exactly the easiest place to get to, it's a commitment to go there for a weekend..(the fact that it's out there is one of the reasons amy and ivan like it so much, and i can understand why)..there isn't anything but the houses there, you have to go somewhere else to get petrol and just about anything else..the water is spring fed, so you have to be careful about how much you use..
over the next 10 days, i explored the area, mostly with ivan and amy and hana, and met lots of new people...one day trip we went to an old station area, needing ivan's land rover to get there..while there we had a picnic lunch, and made our way to a small waterfall..before the country was the country it is now, this station area is one of the places sheep and other animals were kept while breaking from transport accross the country..it's really in the middle of nowhere, it must've been a very lonely place to live, even with family..but it's still beautiful, as is all of new zealand that i've seen..
since amy and ivan have explored the area quite a bit in their previous stays at the bach, so they know what to see, and where to go..one day we walked to a couple nearby waterfalls, saying hello to the cows along the way..
one day amy and ivan and i went to the little "town" just around the corner and hung out on the pier..ivan was fishing, i was laying out..it was pretty windy, and at one point my skirt flew into the water..my only option for getting it back was to go in after it, so i jumped in...COLD!!! it was so sunny and reasonably warm i guess i sortof expected the water to be warm enough as well..but believe me, it wasn't..i was shocked when i jumped in..hee hee...
we saw the easternmost lighthouse in the country, which is about an hour away by car..by that point several others had arrived, including dan..the night i first arrived in auckland amy had told me about dan, a schoolmate of ivan's..apparently dan was single, and amy thought we'd be a good match..nevermind that i have life commitments for the next while..first i have to go back to korea to finish a contract, then i'm traveling with hana..and later i'm traveling with layna..there is no room for a guy in that!! but when he and i met (as hana and i were sitting and reading around the remains of the previous night's campfire) there was definitely a connection..go figure, as we were driving to the lighthouse, i fell asleep..great first impression, eh? dan was the first to the top of the climb to the lighthouse, apparently he's like that all the time...the rest of us made it up not too long after..it was a beautiful day (as usual) and the views were expansive..we were able to look out over the water all the way to white island, which is the most volcanically active part of new zealand..dan and i argued over the length of the swim in an ironman triathlon, and i was wrong..oops..
as amy loves to play games, (both board games and card games and Wii type games) we had a couple nights of game time..one night dan and i were partners, and we would've won the game, if either one of us were artistically inclined..but we're not..at all...oops..another night i watched hana and amy play speed..funny to see how into the game each of them was..i enjoy watching others play games, but i'm not usually into games myself..
i saw lots of pohutakawas, which are also called the new zealand christmas tree...they're quite pretty, i love 'em!! they bloom right around this time of year, and are really red..gorgeous..the biggest one in the country is in a town really close to the bach...none that i saw were in full bloom, but they were all starting to bloom, and the colour is amazing..i'm pretty sure the trees are indigenous to new zealand, which means you likely haven't seen one unless you've been there, and unless you were there around the holidays or just after, you probably didn't know that you were seeing such an awesome tree..
amy and ivan had invited their entire group of friends to their bach for new years, so they all showed up in the days previous...two of the couples have little kids, it was fun to play with them...kade is the perfect two year old, he can amuse himself for hours, and he's pretty quiet, and tolerant of new people..the kids of the other family have a bit more energy, i liked them too..all the people invited knew each other, but some hadn't seen each other in yonks, so there was a lot of catching up going on...this was when hana and i felt a little left out, simply b/c we didn't know anyone other than amy and ivan..
one of the days after most everyone had arrived the boys used to go fishing...i think eight of them went out on the boat? they came back with a LOT of fish..none of them had caught the full amount they are allowed to catch by law, yet there was sooooooooo much fish...which meant that every meal from there on out involved fish in some way...baked fish, grilled fish, lemon juice cooked fish, etc...it was all tasty, but there was soooo much of it...everyone else knew the names of the fish, i was clueless...
new years eve was pretty tame..everyone gathered wood, and we used it to make a fire..from the time the fire was lit until late into the night, people sat around, stood around, ate, drank and were merry...it was a nice new years, and rather tame..just after the clock struck midnight, the boys set off some firecrackers..one guy in the neighborhood came out of his house to complain about the noise they were making? who does that? who complains about noise at midnight on that day of the year? argh..anywho, i think everyone had a good time..hana and i were the first of anyone we knew to celebrate the new year, simply due to time zones:)..i think i went to bed at 0200 or so?
the morning of new years day we had to get up REALLY EARLY (up at 0430) to make the drive to gisborne in time for our flight to auckland...dan, amy, hana and i all got in the car, none of us feeling very good...the roads were curvy, and i get motion sickness easily...hana wasn't feeling well, dan was feeling as badly as i was, though i don't know why...only amy felt slightly normal...it was nearly three hours of misery that none of us could avoid...ugh...hana and i were both booked onto that flight, (at 0630) then we took separate flights out of auckland...i was sad to go back to korea after such a fantastic holiday...how often do you get to relax so much that you completely forget what day it is? that actually happened during this holiday! im looking forward to going back to nz, to figure things out with dan, if there is something worth figuring out, and to see more of the country...i love new zealand...
i arrived back in korea 2 january after a loooooong flight...ugh...back to the land of pushy people who pay no attention to what is going on around them
amy and ivan's bach is at onepoto, which translated means little beach..original, right? hee hee...anywho, there were about 10 houses, and when we arrived, the area was quiet..it's not exactly the easiest place to get to, it's a commitment to go there for a weekend..(the fact that it's out there is one of the reasons amy and ivan like it so much, and i can understand why)..there isn't anything but the houses there, you have to go somewhere else to get petrol and just about anything else..the water is spring fed, so you have to be careful about how much you use..
over the next 10 days, i explored the area, mostly with ivan and amy and hana, and met lots of new people...one day trip we went to an old station area, needing ivan's land rover to get there..while there we had a picnic lunch, and made our way to a small waterfall..before the country was the country it is now, this station area is one of the places sheep and other animals were kept while breaking from transport accross the country..it's really in the middle of nowhere, it must've been a very lonely place to live, even with family..but it's still beautiful, as is all of new zealand that i've seen..
since amy and ivan have explored the area quite a bit in their previous stays at the bach, so they know what to see, and where to go..one day we walked to a couple nearby waterfalls, saying hello to the cows along the way..
one day amy and ivan and i went to the little "town" just around the corner and hung out on the pier..ivan was fishing, i was laying out..it was pretty windy, and at one point my skirt flew into the water..my only option for getting it back was to go in after it, so i jumped in...COLD!!! it was so sunny and reasonably warm i guess i sortof expected the water to be warm enough as well..but believe me, it wasn't..i was shocked when i jumped in..hee hee...
we saw the easternmost lighthouse in the country, which is about an hour away by car..by that point several others had arrived, including dan..the night i first arrived in auckland amy had told me about dan, a schoolmate of ivan's..apparently dan was single, and amy thought we'd be a good match..nevermind that i have life commitments for the next while..first i have to go back to korea to finish a contract, then i'm traveling with hana..and later i'm traveling with layna..there is no room for a guy in that!! but when he and i met (as hana and i were sitting and reading around the remains of the previous night's campfire) there was definitely a connection..go figure, as we were driving to the lighthouse, i fell asleep..great first impression, eh? dan was the first to the top of the climb to the lighthouse, apparently he's like that all the time...the rest of us made it up not too long after..it was a beautiful day (as usual) and the views were expansive..we were able to look out over the water all the way to white island, which is the most volcanically active part of new zealand..dan and i argued over the length of the swim in an ironman triathlon, and i was wrong..oops..
as amy loves to play games, (both board games and card games and Wii type games) we had a couple nights of game time..one night dan and i were partners, and we would've won the game, if either one of us were artistically inclined..but we're not..at all...oops..another night i watched hana and amy play speed..funny to see how into the game each of them was..i enjoy watching others play games, but i'm not usually into games myself..
i saw lots of pohutakawas, which are also called the new zealand christmas tree...they're quite pretty, i love 'em!! they bloom right around this time of year, and are really red..gorgeous..the biggest one in the country is in a town really close to the bach...none that i saw were in full bloom, but they were all starting to bloom, and the colour is amazing..i'm pretty sure the trees are indigenous to new zealand, which means you likely haven't seen one unless you've been there, and unless you were there around the holidays or just after, you probably didn't know that you were seeing such an awesome tree..
amy and ivan had invited their entire group of friends to their bach for new years, so they all showed up in the days previous...two of the couples have little kids, it was fun to play with them...kade is the perfect two year old, he can amuse himself for hours, and he's pretty quiet, and tolerant of new people..the kids of the other family have a bit more energy, i liked them too..all the people invited knew each other, but some hadn't seen each other in yonks, so there was a lot of catching up going on...this was when hana and i felt a little left out, simply b/c we didn't know anyone other than amy and ivan..
one of the days after most everyone had arrived the boys used to go fishing...i think eight of them went out on the boat? they came back with a LOT of fish..none of them had caught the full amount they are allowed to catch by law, yet there was sooooooooo much fish...which meant that every meal from there on out involved fish in some way...baked fish, grilled fish, lemon juice cooked fish, etc...it was all tasty, but there was soooo much of it...everyone else knew the names of the fish, i was clueless...
new years eve was pretty tame..everyone gathered wood, and we used it to make a fire..from the time the fire was lit until late into the night, people sat around, stood around, ate, drank and were merry...it was a nice new years, and rather tame..just after the clock struck midnight, the boys set off some firecrackers..one guy in the neighborhood came out of his house to complain about the noise they were making? who does that? who complains about noise at midnight on that day of the year? argh..anywho, i think everyone had a good time..hana and i were the first of anyone we knew to celebrate the new year, simply due to time zones:)..i think i went to bed at 0200 or so?
the morning of new years day we had to get up REALLY EARLY (up at 0430) to make the drive to gisborne in time for our flight to auckland...dan, amy, hana and i all got in the car, none of us feeling very good...the roads were curvy, and i get motion sickness easily...hana wasn't feeling well, dan was feeling as badly as i was, though i don't know why...only amy felt slightly normal...it was nearly three hours of misery that none of us could avoid...ugh...hana and i were both booked onto that flight, (at 0630) then we took separate flights out of auckland...i was sad to go back to korea after such a fantastic holiday...how often do you get to relax so much that you completely forget what day it is? that actually happened during this holiday! im looking forward to going back to nz, to figure things out with dan, if there is something worth figuring out, and to see more of the country...i love new zealand...
i arrived back in korea 2 january after a loooooong flight...ugh...back to the land of pushy people who pay no attention to what is going on around them
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