Finding adventure in everyday life

I want to start this blog post with a little ramble that attempts to capture a feeling I’ve been struggling with over the month of December. With so much left to see in NZ and lots of our hostel friends moving on in the last few weeks…I’ve been feeling a bit restless lately. I sometimes feel like this trip isn’t THE BIG ADVENTURE that I thought it should be. But this truth is…that it IS. Everyday’s little adventures plus some big events really do add up to a BIG ADVENTURE. The trouble lies in taking note of all the little things that add up to something big….

I always forget how quickly time can pass if you forget to pay attention to life’s beautiful details, so carefully hidden in mundane occurrences of everyday life. For example, while walking, biking or driving to work at Milk & Honey it is so easy to let the sea, ever present on my path, go unnoticed. I had a week or two in early December where I did just this…everyday I would walk with my headphones on, occasionally glancing at the ocean but not really taking it in. I was not really appreciating the gorgeous shades of blue and green or listening to the rhythmic sounds of the waves or the melody of the wind. I think I was distracted by being tired after a long shift or in anticipation of the shift to come. Of course, the feelings of homesickness and worrying about whether or not I should just be back in the states…you know taking a more traditional post-college path...didn’t help either. It was especially hard during Bill’s time of sickness and his quick decline. Or perhaps it was just the restless feelings. The little voice in my head was saying: hell if I’m here I should be off skydiving and bungee jumping or seeing new towns and new parks everyday. But then I had a wake up call. One day in December (actually the same day as Bill’s funeral) I was on my to work when I saw a pod of orca whales (maybe 4 or 5) swimming along the beach in front of Milk & Honey. I had never seen anything like that before and it reminded me that even though Stu and I have settled for a little while in Napier—a not-too-exciting town, far away from all that we have known prior to Sept 2010-- it doesn’t mean that noteworthy occurrences and adventures have to be a thing of the past. You just have to be willing to notice these things and let yourself get caught up in the daily opportunities for adventure. There are endless things to see and do and experience in any given place, and as long as you use your leisure time toget out there and see new things you will find it’s “worth it” to be wherever you are.

Adventures in December include: a wine tour (for Maggie) with Jo, day hikes with new friends, lots of surfing (for Stu) with Justin, LOTS of trips to the waterfalls near Ocean Beach, lots of trips to the beach (Waiputiki and OceanBeach), culinary experiments (Christmas cookies, broccoli soup), going to the Thirsty Whale…and just walking around Napier. Just seeing the flowers bloom and the waves roll in and the gorgeous birds that are everywhere around here. EVERY DAY is an adventure if you will just let it be.

In other news: Christma s happened. It felt like someone was playing a joke on us because the weather was HOT and SUNNY and it felt like summer. (Actually..it is summer). I did make Christmas cookies with a German friend in an effort to get in the “Christmas spirit” but ultimately we all decided not to try and recreate something that would feel empty and forced….instead everyone at the hostel celebrated in their own way. Stu & I started with a big breakfast (NZ style—complete with their weird Canadian-ham-type bacon and bakes beans on top). Next, a stop at the waterfalls where we both jumped heaps and Stu did a back flip off the waterfall bit in a santa hat!!! Check out facebook for more photos of this. Next stop was Ocean Beach where we napped and snacked and made snowmen out of sand. It was so funny to see little Christmas trees and santa hats all over the beach….We finished up the day with some sausages on the grill (complete with German style fried onions on top) and salad and guacamole on the side. Probably not a day that we’ll ever be able to recreate and not what I would have imagined for a Christmas celebration but an AWESOME day nonetheless.

For now I am working lots at Milk & Honey as things just keep getting busier there. Stu is on a bit of a break from the kiwis and is using the time to get back into the swing of things at the pottery studio. He is teaching a wheel throwing workshop (!!!) there in January so he’s focusing on that for the time being. And of course in all the time that we’re not at work, we’re busying getting caught up in adventures.

Gobble Gobble

I should start this blog post by saying that Thanksgiving is absolutely my favorite holiday, so I was a little intimidated by my own expectations for recreating this amazing day in New Zealand. BUT it turned out to be the absolute best foreign Thanksgiving I could ask for. All us Americans know Thanksgiving is about three things: food, people and being thankful for both so I have dedicated all of the below words to explaining how I had an amazing day complete with excellent food, excellent people, and a whole lot of gratitude.

I’ll start with the food…It took one full day of cooking plus a day of shopping and prep but IT WAS NOT IN VAIN! Stu and I with the help of our friends Laura, Rhian, and especially Jo, made a really freakin’ delicious meal for24 happy travelers. There was enough food for everyone to be properly (over)full (1 big plate plus seconds for most). It was a pretty traditional meal with all the standard dishes but everything was just right, despite some stretches to find ingredient substitutes.
MEAT: We cooked both a turkey & chicken for our main meats. We did both cooked in the oven (with oven bags—thanks to June's advice!) with a few veggies floating around and salt/pepper/olive oil for seasoning. The turkey and the chicken were actually both about the same size (3 kilos or 6ish pounds) and they took 2 hours and 45 min to cook. At the last minute we bought 2 pre-cooked (little) chickens from the grocery store to supplement…which ended up being a good idea. We also had gravy made from the pan juices AND cranberry sauce which our German friend Laura found at the grocery store! We spent ages looking for fresh cranberries and had sort of given up on the idea of making cranberry sauce but on the day of the feast Laura found some jars of it in the international section at Pack’n Save. The cranberry sauce definitely madethe meal complete.

SIDES: For sides we had two different kids of stuffing (one was a Stu’s mom’s pork sausage and cornbread stuffing recipe) and the other was a variation of a recipe got from Sarah Helinek (bread, chicken stock, celery, onion…+ the turkey giblets…that was my Brittish friend Jo’s addition and it was actually really tasty). We also had mashed potatoes that used sour cream, cream cheese, milk, butter, cheddar cheese, chives, and garlic—sort of an amalgamation of recipes (my brother Jon and Stu’s mom). Then we had sweet potato casserole complete with marshmallows on top (epicurous). The next casserole was a green bean casserole with a cornflake/cheese topping (epicurous + creative input). And of course, to round it all out: rolls and salad (apples, cheddar cheese and Mikaela’s salad dressing which I love on the salad). OH and of course we had asparagus. Stu and Kong and Heho had done some asparagus harvesting just that morning and Kong was kind enough to cook us all that they brought home with an Asian sauce and bacon. Though not a traditional Thanksgiving dish, it was definitely fitting given how much asparagus has been part of our life here in Napier.

DESSERTS: For dessert we had pumpkin pie (four of them, each nicely divided into 6 slices) and a BIG cranberry-apple crumble (or casserole depending on if it’s served as a side or a dessert). Stu’s familynormally serves it as a side dish but we ran out of oven space for the main meal…regardless of it’s order of appearance in the meal it was AMAZING and the dried cranberries we used turned out to be just as delicious as fresh ones. Oh and we had vanilla ice cream to go with thedesserts. It was pretty funny to watch everyone eat at this point because everyone was already full (as they should be) but also couldn't let the dessert on their plate go to waste....I heard about 15 different people say "there's no way I can eat this" and then proceed to all but lick the plate clean.

Now onto the people. I should start by saying that we live in a hostel with about 75 people. Obviously, it is impossible to cook for 75 and I have to say it was difficult to narrow things down to 24. Anyway, that aside, it was a wonderful group complete with all the nationalities I’ve mentioned before. I think we had 2 Mexicans, 6 Germans, 2 Americans, 2 Scottish, 1 Malaysian, 1 Korean, 1 Czech, and perhaps 9 Brits? Definitely a disproportionate number of Brittish people…Everyone who ate with us was a long term traveler, so someone we've known for at least a month now and who we will continue to live with through Christmas or the end of January. Out of all those people only 1 had ever eaten a Thanksgiving dinner before (1 of the Mexican guys lived in America for a few years with his family) so being able to share a first Thanksgiving with 21 new friends was a pretty cool experience.

As for appreciating both of these things… I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am. Stu gave a really nice speech at the beginning of the meal. I can’t remember exactly what he said but he talked about being grateful for all that we have and he asked everyone to take a minute of silence to recognized how lucky all of us were to be in a foreign country so far from home, but in each other’s company. I know that the biological family that you grow up with is perhaps the only constant family, but it seems to me that if you are open and honest you can find family almost anywhere you go. I am so lucky to be apart of so many families at this point in my life. I have my Curme family, my Bowles family, my Craft family, my Howe family, my Georgetown family, my Gwynn Valley family…and now Stu and I are a part of this Napier family that is forming. It is made up of travelers so I perhaps this family will not be as permanent as the others, but however transient it may be, it was our family for Thanksgiving 2010 and I am grateful to have shared it with them.

spargel, espárrago, asparago (ASPARAGUS!)

I’m writing to you again from Napier, and I don’t think it will be the last post from here either! Stu and I are starting to find a rhythm to the life here and it’s starting to feel more comfortable every day.

Job updates: Right now we are both harvesting asparagus 3-4 mornings each week with 4 other people from our hostel (2 Mexicans, 1 Korean, 1 Malaysian). This is something at least, but barely enough to cover rent so we’ve been looking for other things too. So far Stu has found pottery (obviously no income yet, but there is a good chance of selling things in the shop attached to his studio) and I have found a job at a café called Milk & Honey. It is a very cool café-independently owned and sort of eco-themed and pretty upscale, right on the beach. I think I will get on there pretty well. In general, things are pretty slow here in Napier on the job front….the restaurant business has not yet picked up for the summer rush and all the rain we’ve been getting has pushed back the start dates for a lot of the orchard work. We’re hoping that I’ll get lots of hours at the café (and if not perhaps a night time bar tender/waitress job to supplement) and that Stu will pick up either a full time orchard job or a restaurant job sometime in the next week or 2. Work is obviously good for the money but it’s also nice for meeting people and having a sense of purpose and structure to our time here. (Look at me, always trying to structure things…)

Life update: Life outside jobs is pretty awesome. It seems everyone (okay…most of the people) staying at our hostel are pretty cool. Like I said before we’ve got people from lots of different countries (Mexico, France, Malaysia, Korea, Germany, Italy, England, Scotland, Ireland, USA, Canada…) though Germany clearly dominates. Even as I write this, I am listening to a French guy try to explain to a Mexican guy about how to kill and cook a pig (something he did recently on a WWOOFing experience), both of them using a language that is not native to them (English). I love hostels. Most people staying here are above average cooks (with a couple full-fledged chefs!) so there is lots of cooking and meal sharing, which I love. Just today I made my own bread (an Italian recipe that I got by way of my German friend, Laura) and made asparagus soup for a few friends (I have eaten so much asparagus these last 2 weeks, I fear I may turn into one). I’m planning on doing a big Thanksgiving feast as well…if any Americans reading this have recipe ideas please send them along!! When we are not working or cooking, we go to the beach or watch movies in the big TV room (I have officially watched all three Lord of the Rings movies while in NZ) or sit around in the courtyard and enjoy adult beverages. It’s a pretty good life really.

Although it seems crazy, I have sort of enjoyed waking up at 5:45am to go to work. I like the feeling of waking up while the rest of the world stays sleeping. Plus when you leave the house by 6:30am you catch the sunrise and the gorgeous early morning light as you drive by the beach and all the orchards and vineyards….I don’t know it just feels nice to be a part of the early bird crew. Plus on days when you don’t have to work, sleeping in past 8am feels miraculous.

Well, that’s all for now. While we are here (in Napier) internet communication might be sporadic. Connection at the hostel is terrible and expensive so we have to go down to the internet café in town…so if you don’t hear from us for a few days you know why!

The Waiting Game

Greetings from sunny(ish) Napier!

We’ve been doing a little traveling since the last entry, making a number of stops as we worked our way south to this lovely beach town. Arron’s return to NZ meant we got to see another familiar face (yay!) but it also meant that our days of Stella watching and free housing were up. Moreover, I was also getting a little antsy to get out of the city and see some new places, so off we went! Oh, did I mention we bought a car?? Our mode of transportation these days is a 1995 blue Mitsubishi station wagon. It only has 115,000kms on it and it’s in pretty good shape and, most importantly, it is OURS.

Our first stop was the Franks. Okay so we didn’t make it too far—not even out of Auckland-- but the Franks’ is at least an hour south of Arron’s so I count this as a stop. It seems crazy that we’ve only spent maybe 10 nights there, but it already feels like our NZ home. As a thank you for all their hospitality and as a celebration for Paul’s completion of the initial fire fighter’s entrance exam we made another round of pumpkin pies. Personally I thought round 2 was better than the first go round. Side note: I can’t wait to cook a Thanksgiving feast here. We spent our last Auckland evening running and playing ultimate frisbee in Cornwall Park with Paul and Dave and Sarah and lots of their friends, many of which we’ve already met! It’s nice to remember people and feel the beginnings of a social network taking shape. Three hours of running around was all it took for me to fall in love with the area—I’ve decided when we go back to Auckland I want to live near Cornwall Park. Frisbee was followed by one last fish & chips takeaway (what else would we eat on our last night in Auckland??) and then back to the Franks to pack up, finish making our insulation-based car bed, and get on the road the next morning!

Stop #2 was Rotorua. The lovely Jodi (07) really took care of us and showed us some of the perks of Rotorua! She even let us sleep on her fabulous airbed for freezies, which is always a perk. Highlights of the weekend include walking around a downtown park full of bubbling mud, sampling beer and chips at the Corner Pub, Jodi’s hilarious roommates and cute cats, yum pizza, the Saturday morning crafts fair, a picnic lunch at one of the lakes near town, meeting a Leprechaun at a headpiece party, and walking through the red wood forest (who would have thought that I would see my first California Redwood tree in NZ??). Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the Zorbing place, but I feel confident that I’ll get back there as “rolling down a hill in a giant hamster ball” is now #1 on my sister’s list of things to do when she comes to visit in March. Also, for the record, Rotorua really does smell. I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised since everyone told me it would, but there really is a distinct smell of sulfur in the area.

Stop #3 was Taupo, where we stayed with Toni, Corban (08) and little Roman (future camper)!!! We also go to see Judy and Alan who were in town for the long weekend (Labour Day). The GV hospitality continued here as we stayed in Toni & Corban’s guest bedroom (one day I will be a real person and my house will have a guest bedroom…) and they showed us around town! Well, mostly it was Corban showing us around as Toni had some big school assignments due at the end of the week plus a 10 month old to take care of. Highlights include: amazing views on the drive into town, yum food, drinks at the Irish pub (Redland beer? my new favorite), the sunny & tidy little guest room in T&C’s real people house, Huka falls (such a crazy shade of blue for a river and SO much water rushing through), picnic out at Lake Taupo with friends of T&C, Roman, Roman, Roman, swimming in Lake Taupo (NOT the coldest swim we’ve had), skipping stones, meeting Corban’s mum and learning more about Maori culture/history, playing with Roman some more, and some nighttime lounging at “the hotspot” (a natural hot spring where you can sit in the pools free of charge).

So now here we are at our final stop for a while: Napier. We came down early Tuesday to try and get started on the job hunt. There were nearly 20 of us that first morning driving to Hastings (next town over—maybe a 20 min drive). Some of them left town to look for employment elsewhere but of those that remain we are all still unemployed. At the moment fruit picking jobs (the kind we were expecting to get here) are a few and far between. Or, at least, there are more seasonal workers than jobs at the moment. An exceptionally rainy winter/spring has pushed back a lot of the work so where seasonal work would usually take off last week and this week, things are starting a little bit slower. In the meantime Stu and I are applying to a whole heap of jobs (mostly café jobs for me, though a few random ones too and mostly random jobs for Stu), exploring the area, and making friends at the hostel. We are confident that the jobs will come—we’ve been promised a job starting Nov 21 at the latest so worst cast scenario we hang out until then but hopefully we’ll work odd jobs until then or land something outside the agricultural sector.

Mostly, we want to try living somewhere outside Auckland and we really like the area so we’re willing to stick it out for a while. The beach is rocky but it goes on forever and there is a grassy area that hugs the beach and is perfect for running or playing soccer (where Stu is right now) There are lots of cool restaurants, neat bars (we’ve already found trivia nights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays!), and cafes. There are some good hikes in the area as well—we’re pretty close to the largest national park in NZ so I’m hoping to do some walks there as we can. We’ve only done one hike so far—16kms of beach walking from Clifton (a town) to Cape Kidnappers, which had some beautiful views from the cliffs at the end and a huge gannet (bird) colony. Plus Hawke’s Bay (Napier is a town, Hawke’s Bay is the larger region) is “the fruit bowl of NZ” so if we are going to work on some farms this is as good a place as any. Plus (and this might be the biggest plus), Stu has found a studio and pottery community that he really likes. We found it totally by chance; we just saw some pots in a crafty looking shop on the way to Hastings so we went to check it out. As it turns out, the land behind the shop is owned and run by a community of artists who share the workspace and sell their pieces in the store. Primarily the community is made up of potters, felt workers, wood carvers, and painters, but there is some space that any artist could rent out to make whatever they like. There is also a community center where some of the artists teach their trade to “at risk” youth (and just some regular youth too) in the community—Stu’s hoping to help out with some of the summer pottery lessons if we’re still here when that’s going on.

Well, that’s all for now. Everyone keep their fingers crossed for a job (preferably two)! I have about a million pictures to put up at the moment so I’m working on sorting through those….look for them on facebook in the next couple of days.

Stella, the bear dog.

Clearly the format of the last 2 posts has been....overly ambitious. Sorry guys, but realistically there is no way we're going to be able to document each and every day of our trip here, so I'm giving up now. Not the blog, but just the blow by blow set up... hopefully it will be even more interesting and less tedious this way.

The last 2 weeks have been relatively calm and stable after the first 2 weeks of GO! GO! GO! We've been staying at Arron's house (GV counselor of 2010) and our current life revolves around taking care of Stella: walking and feeding her twice daily and making sure she's in her cage at night. Well, that's a bit

of an exaggeration...but it has kept us from running off over the weekends or having (too many) crazy nights out. But I'm not complaining! I've actually come to love Stella and this structure has given us plenty of time at the house to surf the net and plot our next steps like finding a car and jobs and a place to live... more to come on all that later.

I want to take a moment to say that Stella has actually been really lovely to look after. I feel like she's been my project; Stu has pretty bad dog allergies I've been the one to walk her and take care of her (he's taken responsibility for the car hunt instead which suits me just fine). She's got a few typical big dog things that I don't quite like (namely the drooling and the pooping) and having to take care of her with such regularity has taught me I'm definitely not ready for a dog of my own. But for 2 weeks it's been quite nice. She really is very easy going (when other cats and dogs aren't around) and generally listens pretty well. Plus she is so friendly...all she wants is a little love and I've been pretty happy to give it to her! She has been a wonderful dog to get to know. Just look at these photos and you guys can see just how cute she really is!

Okay, so in between walking Stella and researching "the next steps" on the net, we did manage to get out a little. Arron was kind enough to put us on his car insurance and let us use his truck while we're staying here so we've been navigating the city on our own! Well...I say we but really I mean Stu. He's really the better driver so we had him put on the insurance and he's been doing really well considering the kiwis drive on the wrong side of the road and he just learned how to drive manual 2 weeks before we left America! It was a bit nerve wracking at first but with the help of the GPS Arron's parent's loaned us and a little practice Stuart has become a pro.

So what have we done with this new found freedom of driving? Well, we went to our first ever cricket game where we arrived just in time to watch our friend bat (I think that's the proper term?). It was pretty fun considering we didn't know the rules or what was really going on in the game. We also went to a big Bathurst (Australian 1000 kilometer motorcar race) watching party with a bunch of people who are involved in motorcar racing (read: people who care about such NASCAR-esque events). The fact that the fellow viewers actually cared and even knew people in the race made the 161 laps a little more interesting than I expected. We also spent a day at the famed "Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter Underwater World" which is an underground aquarium complete with penguins and stingrays and sharks. The penguins were by far the best bit as we got to ride on a little train around their enclosure and hear all about the Antarctic weather patterns simulated within

the enclosure and penguin behavior and all that. We also spent a day hiking around Rangitoto--one of the many volcanic islands just off shore from Auckland. The weather was beautiful that day and we had some amazing views. (2 photos from Rangitoto are included in this post--check my new facebook album for more!) I've also been doing lots of cooking which has been fun. We were finally in a place long enough to really stock up the fridge and we took advantage of having a kitchen to ourselves. No new pumpkin pie endeavors but we definitely ate well and I got to try a few new recipes: chicken fried rice with veggies and pineapple & a tasty white wine/lemon/butter pasta sauce. We also had lots of good

omelets and cereal and plenty of yum sandwiches too.

There were also a few mini-GV reunions over the past few weeks. First Karly (08) came to Auckland over the school holidays (she's a teacher so school holidays means she's off work). One day Judy (08 & 09) picked up Karly and Stu and I for a trip to Piha beach which is apparently still in Auckland but out on the West Coast. Our visit was complete with black sand beaches (typical of NZ's West Coast) and fish & chips from Judy's favorite place. We also grabbed dinner with Mike Parr (10) one night at a little middle-eastern place. After dinner he drove us up to the highest point in Devonport (a neighborhood in Auckland) which offers an AMAZING view of the water and the city all lit up at night. Let's see, there was also a BBQ one night at Rick's (08 & 09) with other GVers (Allison, Paul) and some of Rick's friends. Plus over the weekend there was classy night out on the town complete with dinner and drinks for Judy's birthday which included nearly all our 2008 kiwi friends who live in the area (Judy, Paul, Liz, Rich) and lots of Judy's other friends too. Sunday we went out to brunch with Paula and Grant and their 2 kids. Paula worked at camp for a couple summers in the 1990's and this summer she came back with her husband and kids for one more session at camp and the GV 75th reunion. Considering we only knew them for the week of E session, their hospitality was absolutely INCREDIBLE and really heart warming. They took us out to brunch at a cute little cafe in Devonport and let us relax in their house for awhile which doesn't sound so over the top but we just felt so welcome, almost pampered. Over here I've found the GV connection is such an amazingly strong one, more so than I anticipated before leaving the States. Everyone has been so welcoming and so willing to take us around and let us sleep in their homes and feed us delicious food. Maybe this is just the New Zealand way, but I think some of it has to do with the connection of having both experienced Gwynn Vally. It's amazing to think in August of 2007, 2008 and even 2009 for a quick visit I said goodbye to so many kiwi friends thinking that I would probably never see these people again. But here we are, getting together for dinners and celebrating birthdays and hanging out half-way across the world as if it's the most normal thing in the world. It's a wonderful feeling to find out that the friendships are real and extend beyond the Gwynn Valley Summer Utopia. And to think this is just the start! We hope to meet up with so many others as we continue to journey on through NZ!

I guess that brings us to our next steps. Arron comes back this Wednesday meaning we are relieved of our Stella-care duties and also technically homeless. We have decided this is the perfect time to head out of Auckland for a little while. We found a car (Arron's sister Nicola is selling us her blue 1995 Mitsubishi Station Wagon) so we'll be driving that southward towards the vineyard/orchard job we found in Napier. We will spend at least a month living in a hostel that has deals with a couple of different orchards and vineyards in the area, and they will send us to work wherever the help is needed. On the way down to Napier we plan to stop in Rotorua and Taupo to visit GV friends from 2007 and 2008. Should be exciting to see some more familiar faces and some new places!

There will be more to come as we work our way south and the adventure continues to unfold. For now, I think I'll put Stella up and head to bed.

Living like the Franks (Ruakaka, Papakura, and Waihi)

First off, I should apologize for our lack of contact with the outside world. Stu and I have spent the last 10 days or so either traveling or staying at the Frank’s house where they only have (very slow) dial up internet. It has actually been very good for us because it has made us use our time to do better things than fiddle around on facebook BUT it has made us distance ourselves from you all to the point of worry with some and annoyance with most. Anyway, APOLOGIES. This may happen again especially if we do a big camping tour but we’ll try to give a little more warning if we’re going to fall out of contact.

So…seeing as our last update was at least 10 days ago we’ve got quite a lot of catching up to do.

THURSDAY SEPT 23: Rainy Museum Day

Thursday dawned rainy and wet so Stu and I decided that this would probably be a day better spent at a museum than hiking around Ringatoto (a volcanic island near Auckland). So the hike was postponed, and it was off to the museum! Two buses and a short walk later we arrived at Auckland’s largest museum. The museum has 3 floors and each is devoted to a different theme: the bottom floor is all about Maori culture and history; the second floor is all about natural history and the environment (past and historical) of New Zealand; the top floor is devoted to war history with monuments and tributes to all the different wars in which New Zealand has been involved. I definitely found the bottom two floors were more interesting (though this might have been because I was getting tired and hungry the longer we walked).

After the museum we headed back downtown for a burgerfuel/movie night at the IEP Office (this is the program Stu and I came over with). Every Thursday they show a movie (this week it was Boy—a Juno-esque movie about a Maori boy and his coming of age in dealing with his worthless dad) and order burger fuel burgers + fries for a discounted price. This burger shop has some pretty crazy burgers. Stu got one that had guacamole, beets, mango relish, cheese, mayo (lots of mayo), mustard, lettuce, tomato and, buried somewhere under all that, a burger. I got something a little more tame…can’t quite remember what was on there but I know it was delicious and HUGE. A few kumara (sweet potato) fries to top it all off and we were in business.

FRIDAY SEPT 24-SUNDAY SEPT 26: Little cabin on the beach at Ruakaka

Rick and Paul and Judy all had the weekend free so we decided to take another weekend at the beach! Our weekend crew also included fellow American Allison Burn and Judy’s boyfriend Alan and Paul’s brother, Dave, and his fiancée, Sarah. We Americans find it crazy that New Zealand has no law against drinking in the car…so we decided to test that out on the drive down with a few kiwi brews. The scenery was definitely more impressive with a cold beer in hand. We initially wanted to go to a place called Waipu Cove but the campground there was all full so we headed a bit further north to a campground in Ruakaka. Our camp ground was right next to a river feeding into the ocean and there was a beautiful beach with heaps of birds in dunes. The car with Rich, Paul, Allison, Stu and I got in just about sunset and had an awesome walk on the beach. Judy and Alan showed up a little later with some fish & chips which made a delicious dinner. We spent the night enjoying the fine beach air and each other’s company over some drinks.

Saturday was the day of sports. We played touch rugby, cricket, frisbee, and even went for a run in the morning and a swim at the warmest point in the afternoon. It was one of the first sunny days since we arrived and we soaked up as many rays as possible. We also made friends with the campground cat, Tinkerbell—she sat in the sun (or our cabin) and watched us play. That night we made pizzas in the little campground kitchen and the Americans taught the kiwis some American drinking games.

I think I should take a moment to introduce the best invention I’ve ever come to know: the lunch box speakers. It’s a little plastic thing that looks like a hard kids lunch box. Inside you can close up your ipod and protect it from all the beach elements: water, wind, sand…and speakers that are built into the box play your music on the outside! This little guy and 4 AA batteries kept us with music all weekend long!!

Sunday we packed up and headed back to Auckland stopping by a few beaches along the way (Waipu Cove & Rich’s secret surfing beach) for a picnic lunch and more Frisbee. Once back in Auckland we dropped by Rich’s to pick up our stuff and say our goodbyes before headed down to Papakura where we stayed at Paul’s for the weekend. Our introduction to Papakura began with a Counties game—Paul, Dave, and Dave’s friend Sam were kind enough to take us to the game and teach us the very complicated cheers (basically you just say Couuuuuuuuuuuuuun-tiiiiiiiiiiiiiies for as long as you breath will allow). It was a really exciting game (actually) there were loads of trys (touchdowns) and lots of back and forth action between the two teams. We sat with the real fans, on a grassy hill opposite the bleachers. We rounded up the evening with a delicious dinner at the Frank’s house complete with grilled meat and beets and delicious home cooking from Mrs. Franks.

MONDAY SEPT 27: Let the hiking begin!

Our week at the Paul’s was even more amazing than I could have imagined. There was always loads of fresh food and a huge playground in the backyard and 1 (if not more) always ready playmates. Paul is like an energizer bunny and always up for some outdoor fun. On this first day at the Franks we went on a walk up in the bush behind they’re house—some bush whacking some trail following and plenty of stopping to explore different things along the way. We saw lots of birds (especially wood pigeons, ducks, Tuis, parakeets…) and we had a little stopover at the hut that Paul and his brother build when they were teenagers. It was apparently quite the hangout spot 10 years ago but since all the kids have been out of the country lately it’s fallen into disrepair but it’s still a pretty amazing spot. We finished up the day with a little tennis at the tennis court in the bush; we were all pretty bad but we had some fun out there.

TUESDAY SEPT 28: Liz’s graduation & embracing the gender role stereotypes

On Tuesday the Franks headed into Auckland to celebrate Liz (Paul’s sister) graduating from Auckland University. She finished her degree over a year ago but left NZ right away to do some traveling and work in Canada so she’s just doing the ceremony part now. Anyway, though we were very happy for Liz we didn’t want to intrude on family celebrations so we stayed back at the Frank’s place to do a big hike and a couple things around the house. Strangely enough, when left to our own devices Stu and I seemed to revert to 19^th century gender roles. Stu went out to clear the “yellow stuff” (a terrible prickly weed with yellow flowers that can grow as tall and thick as a small tree—actual name: gorse, sounds like gauze) out of the cow pastures as a favor to the Franks. Meanwhile I stayed in the house to sew up my ripped sleeping bag, bake healthy banana cookies for Liz (as a graduation present), document expenses from the trip thus far (a chapter taken out of the book of Anna Chiemets), and cook a tasty lamb dinner for the two of us. It was sort of bizarre, but satisfying none the less...for the day at least.

WEDNESDAY SEPT 29: Big Hike at Hunua Falls

Wednesday dawned nice and clear so Paul led Stu and I on a hike on some trails near his house. We went to a place called Hunua Falls where a big waterfall can be seen basically from the parking lot but loads of trails go out from there to a couple of dams. We hiked from Hunua Falls out to Correy Dam and back again. Along the way we saw loads of birds (always in NZ it seems) and not too many people, except for a crew from the NZ camp where Paul used to work (all the kids are on school holidays so holiday camps are in session). We also learned about the disease that’s destroying Kauri trees all over NZ. Kauri trees are native to NZ and can grow to be quite tall. In the area where we were hiking, early settlers had logged most of the kauri trees but a few that were too big to be easily removed from the forest were left and today these trees are HUGE. The disease has not yet visibly affected them so the trail managers have put some protective measures to keep these giants healthy (like all hikers spraying their boots with a disinfectant spray on the way in and out). Anyway, great hike.

That afternoon we stopped off for a sushi lunch (there’s heaps of Japanese people and food in NZ!) and then back to Paul’s for some gun shooting and relaxing. That’s right. We shot some guns. Who knew we’d have to leave NC for Stu to have his first shooting experience.

That night I had my first real pang of homesickness—we were watching a show called ‘Too Fat for 15’ and they were doing a story about a fat camp called Wellspring in the NC mountains. Paul, Stu and I all immediately recognized the camp to be in the NC mountains by the trees and landscape but when they showed the sign for 276 at the main intersection in Brevard we KNEW and I found myself missing home more than I thought I would so early on in the trip.

THURSDAY SEPT 30: LOTR and pumpkin pie

Thursday it rained and rained. Paul tried to convince me to go for a run early in the day, but I opted for laziness. Instead of exercise we watching the first…and the second…Lord of the Rings. Extended edition. We were just trying to get in the NZ spirit. (Side note: has everyone heard about the Hobbit filming drama? It might be moved from NZ because the NZ actor’s union is on strike since they didn’t hire enough NZ actors or something…) Anyway, by the time the second one came on I was a little over it so I started cooking for the dinner we promised to make for the Franks as a thank you for housing us for the week. We made a pumpkin pie from scratch; this took the longest, but turned out really well! We also repeated the dinner I made for Stu Tuesday night since it was so good—some minced lamb with diced tomatoes and onions, slow cooked on the stove with couscous on the side and a green salad with apples and cheese. Yum! The one pumpkin we roasted ended up making 3 pies and all were gone by the end of the weekend…I’d say it was a successful first encounter with pumpkin pie for the Franks.

FRIDAY OCT 1-SATURDAY OCT 2: Total Sport Race in Waihi

Friday we headed down to Waihi to help Dave and Total Sport (the company he works for) with a race they were organizing in Waihi. We got down fairly late on Friday so all we really had time for in Waihi was registration and headed out to the campground where Stu and I spent the night. Luckily, the race was based at a campground called Dickey Flat so we were able to spend the night there before the race. The race utilized the trails around the campground to build mileage necessary for the race. There was a 19k run (12 miles), a 13k run (8 miles) and a 8k run (5 miles). Waihi is an old gold mining town so some of the trails are based on old mining tracks and trails and some of the short race (the one Stu and I trailed) even went through come of the underground mining tunnels. Very cool. I sort of had in mind that we would be running, at least for part of it, but as the tail-enders we had to stay behind the slowest person so…. For most of the race we were behind a woman and her 2 children ages 3 and 7. Why on earth you would enroll a 3 year old to do an 8k race is beyond me but he did pretty well considering…it only took us 3 hours to do 8k. I think this was a good exercise in strengthening my patience and ability to go slow and enjoy things along the way--something I’m working on this trip. Paul and his dad both ran the 19k; some of Paul’s friends ran the mid-length race; and Sarah (Dave’s fiancée) ran the 8k with her mom. All in all there were some 350 runners, 100 of which enrolled the day of the race—I think Dave was pretty pleased with the turn out!

Anyway after the race Stu and I went over to Waihi beach with Paul, his dad, and a couple of Paul & Dave’s friends where we went for a very quick dip (3^rd swim of the trip! And it’s only October…imagine March for the Northern hemisphere readers). Then he headed back to Waihi town for prize giving and then back to Papakura to Paul’s house where Rich and couple of Paul’s friends came over for a BBQ and a bonfire using all the gorse (yellow stuff) that Stu cut down earlier this week. The bonfire was a bit of a flop (we couldn’t get it to catch very well) but the sausages and the company were good.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 3: Farewell Franks!

Sunday started out as another beautiful sunny day. I went for a run on the trails behind Paul’s house (talk about HILLS-good grief!) and the boys (Stu, Rich, Paul, Chris-Paul’s cousin, Kieren-Paul’s dad) went out back with tools in hand to clear out the bike trail that Paul made a few years ago but that had become quite overgrown during his travels. Later that afternoon a whole lot of Paul’s family came over for a big lunch celebrating Liz’s graduation—it was awesome to meet some of Paul’s relatives and to see what a NZ family gathering is like. (Pretty similar to ours, I’d say…in case you were wondering).

We rounded out the day by getting a ride from Rich all the way across the city (really—Papakura is WAY south Auckland and Greenhithe is WAY north Auckland—it would be like driving from Ballentyne to UNC Charlotte or from Rosslyn, VA to Rockville, MD). Anyway, super nice of Rich to drop us off. Since then we’ve just been settling in here at Arron’s house, getting to know his dog, Stella. She’s an Alaskan Malamute (looks like a husky) that’s the size of a small bear! But she’s so sweet… Now we’re just catching up on internet life and starting our search for a car and planning our next moves.

.......

I think that’s definitely enough writing for today. I’m bored with it so you all must be! More to come later.

Auckland, Tairua, and a storm the size of Australia!

Day 5. I can’t believe it’s only day 5. I feel like we’ve been here a month!

DAY ONE: The longest day ever.

We arrived on Friday Sept 17—that’s right we left on a Wednesday and arrived on a Friday. After 18 hours of air time, 5 hours of airport time, and 16 hours of time zone difference…we arrived safe and sound in Auckland. The day started at 3:30am NZ time (11:30pm EST) with a tasty omelet breakfast (breakfast 1) on the plane. After breakfast we were pretty awake, given the excitement and what time our bodies THOUGHT it was so we spent the rest of the flight reading (me) and watching Ironman 2 (Stu). The flight landed at 5:30 or 6am but it took us nearly an hour to claim our baggage and pass through customs. After going through customs Stu and I found Paul and Rich waiting for us at the international arrivals area of the Auckland airport. It was so good to see some familiar faces after such a long journey!! Our welcoming party took us back to Rich’s house in the city where Stu and I had showers and our wonderful hosts cooked us up a delicious champagne breakfast (breakfast 2). By 9:30am I was almost ready to go to bed but our day was just beginning--our orientation with BUNAC/IEP began at 10am and lasted until 1pm. There we learned all about our work options, travel options, important tax and document information....it was loads of information but it got both Stu and I really excited about all the places we hope to see and gave us plenty of ideas about how to get there (physically and financially). After orientation we went back to Rich's for a quick lunch and then back into the city to sort out our IRD numbers (basically a social security number) and open bank accounts. Basically....really boring but necessary stuff. Our day ended back at Rich's where he cooked us some chicken pesto pasta for dinner. We had high hopes for a night of catching up with Paul and Rich and Judy (all old camp friends) but Stu passed out on the couch by 9pm so I set up our bed with Rich (a duvet stuffed with insulation left over from a practical joke played on one of Rich's flatmates who was in Christchurch for the earthquake---the bed is actually QUITE comfortable). After moving Stu off the couch we went to bed and we were both out for the night by 9:30pm.

DAYS TWO & THREE: Off to the beach!

Thanks to Paul, we spent our first kiwi weekend in true kiwi fashion--at the beach! Paul, who just recently arrived back in NZ after a year and a half of traveling in US and Canada, was off to see some childhood friends and kindly invited Stu and I to come along. We went to a town called Tairua on the Coromandel Peninsula, just about an hour and a half driving from Paul's house. Despite loads of wind and rain, we were all able to take full advantage of the beach. (Note: NZ is currently suffering loads of bad weather from a huge low pressure front the size of Australia! It's the storm of a century! The bad weather started the day we arrived and is due to continue through the week.) We caught 2 snapper on a long line that Paul swam out far into the ocean, and we ate them within an hour of coming out of the water-YUM. Stu tried his hand at surfing despite the extremely cold water and the faulty wetsuit he wore. He even stood up a few times! Go Stu! I went into the water sans wetsuit, like a fool, and only made it about 2 minutes before I ran back out and sat under a towel until I warmed up. We also had our first taste of authentic fish and chips, which we ate just before a wildly competative game of pictionary Saturday night. Stu and I were on a team with a guy called Matt and we really struggled; I think it took us half an hour to get off the starting square. To be fair, international differences definitely worked to our disadvantage. One round Matt got the word "kick off" and tried to get us to guess it by drawing a rugby pitch which Stu and I interpreted as an elevator..... my incredible drawing skills didn't really help either (my horses looked like cats, apparently). But of course it's not about winning, is it? Just having a good time and making friends along the way.

Sunday afternoon we headed back to Auckland, with an extended stop in Papakura for a lovely tea (that's what they call dinner here) with Paul and his family. We'll be staying at their house in far south Auckland next week and stopping over got me SO excited for that. The live in a highly agricultural area (Paul's dad and grandfather were both dairy farmers) but their land is not really farm so much as forest. The back door of the house opens up in to a beautiful field with a creek running through it and forested hills with trails running all through them. Apparently there's a hut somewhere back in the woods that the Franks men built some years back so if it's not too cold, and the rats haven't moved back in this winter, Stu and I might spent a night out there. Anyway, that's next week. The Sunday dinner was lovely--sausage and beef cooked on the grill, kumara (sweet potato) & beet salad, green salad, garlic bread, and jelly tip ice cream for dessert (vanilla ice cream with bits of chocolate and jello!). Paul's brother Dave and his fiance, Sarah, who live close to Rich, dropped us back in the city to sleep that night. We found a wonderful surprise waiting for us-- a fellow American camp traveler, Allison Burn! We all hung out for a bit and watched a bit of Twilight on TV (you never can escape bad American pop-culture, eh?) until bed.

DAY FOUR: Free tour of Auckland and one expensive jump.

One Monday (Sept 20) Stu and I headed back into downtown to go on a tour of Auckland with a tour company called Stray. They have a pretty neat business that allows people to travel all over NZ with stops in all the major cities and most national parks. You can hop on and hop off their route at any time and the pass you buy is good for up to a year. So you could travel all over the two islands in under a month, hitting all the major sites, or you could take a full year to make that route working in different towns along the way.

One of their pitches is to offer a free tour of Auckland to all the backpackers in the hopes that they'll like Stray's style (which we did) and buy a travel pass. The tour took us all over central Auckland--we drove along the water; we went to the Skye Tower (tallest point in the Southern hemisphere) where one lucky bus member jumped off it for free; we went to the Michael Joseph Savage memorial up on a big hill with a great view of the city; we went to a cool pub for lunch; and we finished up the tour at the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The bridge is one of many places to bungee jump in NZ and when we arrived they asked who wanted to jump so...on impulse....I said yes.

New Zealand is a haven for extreme sports and I knew bungee jumping was something I wanted to do while I was in NZ (along with skye diving and zorbing), but I didn't expect I'd be doing it so soon. However, the Harbour Bridge is the cheapest place to jump and we got an extra discount for going with Stray so it was only NZ$105 for 40m of free fall and a t-shirt proving that I did it. (I know that sounds expensive, and it is, but for some perspective the next cheapest jump is NZ$170). The whole tour group got to walk out to the jump spot--right in the middle of the bridge. This is about 10 minutes of walking out over the water on only a thin metal walkway (you are strapped in with harnesses). Oh, and thanks to the storm of the century, there were 35 knot winds blowing as we walked out. I had plenty of time to think about the upcoming jump (and so did Stu--poor Stu who doesn't like heights was not having a good time of it). I was the second of 2 jumpers and I'm proud to say that I was not shaking like the Irish guy who jumped first. I was quite nervous of course but I stayed calm listening to the Shapeshifter playing and thinking of the most fearless person I know, Lynn Lakin. The fall was like...nothing I have ever felt before. Free fall is just indescribable if you've never experienced it. It's sort of like the falling bit of a roller coaster or that jumpy feeling in your stomach when you're in an elevator but a million times more. I think I screamed louder than I ever have in my entire life, but after a few bounces I just felt AMAZING, hanging from this huge bridge over the water with amazing views of the water, the boats in the harbor and the buildings of downtown Auckland. Amazing. Amazing. AMAZING. Definitely expensive but an experience worth paying for. I was buzzing off the experience all day long.

After heading back to Queen St. (the main drag in downtown Auckland) we headed to the bank to pick up our EFTPOS cards (ATM cards) and managed to take a bus back to Rich's! I was pretty proud of that, figuring out public transit and all. Monday night wrapped up with a big grocery store run (vegetables are so cheap! 4 kiwi fruits for 50 cents and red bell peppers for $99 each!) and pizza making with Rich and his flatmate Mark.

DAY FIVE: Recovery, Reflection, and general Relaxation.

Today (Sept 21) has been quite the lazy day. Stu and I slept in and spent most of the day reading, which was wonderful. We also did a bit of strategizing for our NZ year to come. So far I have only left the house for a quick run which was cut short due to the rain (storm of the century!). Then dinner with Judy and her boyfriend, Alan, and her friend, Stacy, plus Paul and his friend Anya and Stu and I. We went to an Indian place with $10 main dishes on Tuesday night's (hollaaaa) and just had a great time catching up and drinking NZ wine.

Today's the Day and Stories of Home

So today we set off, meeting at the airport at 2:30.  For me today has been laid back, as I finished packing last night, an outfit laid out like it was the first day of school.  Using my last day as one last chance to relax before the excitement of boarding the plane.  Maggie has been running errands (since 6am) and packing, putting the final touches on a years worth of stuff.

Since we left camp we have visited many friends and family, I have been to Atlanta, Asheville and ECU (including the best football game I have ever witnessed) and Maggie has been to Chapel Hill and DC.  Last Night we had a big joint family dinner, celebrating and hanging out, jon even came down for the send off!

But anyways, where maggie is the planner and experienced traveler, I am more fly by the seat of our pants, brimming with (over?)confidence that anything we decide to do will be great and will be nice and smooth.  Except for 2 things, driving a manual car and plane travel.  For me the planning of where we wanted to visit ranked far below learning to drive stick.  My thinking was, we could get really hurt if we dont know what we are doing, so before we are trying to drive on the wrong side of the road, on the wrong side of the car, better get comfortable with driving a manual.  Our first test vehicle was the 1970 Moo truck at Gwynn Valley with farmer arrington as instructor.  I can proudly say that I started it up first time running, despite numerous warnings that it was the hardest manual car to drive, ever.  Im not saying I didnt stall out some, but It was a good feeling. Then maggie got behind the wheel, also with pretty good luck until about 5 minutes in, she jammed the clutch pretty hard, and couldnt get it back into gear.  Luckily Jacob came over and saved the day, as maggie and arrington were already sweating buckets at the thought of telling Dale that they had broken a farm truck.  Lesson over.

Luckily, maggies dad also has a straight drive, a bmw wagon, which he was kind enough to let us practice (learn) on.   So for 3 days we commandeered the car and began taking laps around the neighborhood, focusing on that whole getting into first gear thing.  I think we did a pretty good job.  Soon we were tackling hills and getting onto bigger streets without the fear of stalling as we are pulling out into the traffic.  The running joke became that it was the blind leading the blind, as whenever we had a question would arise that needed answering, neither of us were much help to the other.  Generally we would just respond, why do you think I would know that?  In the end we both learned how to get up and going with enough confidence for the streets of Auckland.

Onto my other fear, airplane travel.  While watching a last bit of american tv this morning my mom came down with both maggie and my plane tickets and pointed out that in the pack they came in it says we need to reconfirm our flight details at least 72 hours in advance.  She thought it was fine that it was going to be only 8 hours in advance, but that we should still try and do it.  So i looked up the number on the usair website and called it.  So after dealing with the automated options, i get sent to an actual person because it cant even find the flight Im on.  Then after finding my flight the woman over the phone tells me that there is no registration for anyone named Howe on my flight. panic level about a 6.  Then after checking again and asking a few more questions, including making sure that Auckland NZ is not in the US, she informs me that I am calling the domestic flight number and she give me the international one.  So call the international number, and go through the same automated numbers until once again I am sent to an actual person.  She also cannot find any record of of a Howe on either the first or second flight. Panic level about 8.5.  After more talking she tells me I need to call travel cuts because there is no Howe on either of the passenger lists, and that travel cuts has somehow made a mistake.   Panic level about 12 on a scale to 10 (im starting to shake, ive already been sweating).  Luckily my persistent are you sure? and what does this mean? and what should I do? she figures out that I have a paper ticket sitting in front of me, even though I have said this a few times, and realizes that paper tickets are on some other list or something and finally reads out a number that is actually printed on my ticket.  So turns out I do have a seat on both flights and that maggie and I are sitting one seat apart on the same row.  Thank god I dont have pre-existing heart conditions.  disaster avoided.

Hours later we check in and turns out we dont even have to pay for our baggage, when we thought that we were going to have to pay 60 bucks each for our to bags.  score.  Then goodbyes to our family, where my mom held it together surprisingly well, and onto the security line.  So happy reading from outside of gate B8 at charlotte airport, we leave in 30 minutes!

also, sorry about my grammar and whatnot, I just have more important things going on than making sure all of my contractions have apostrophes in them

hiking in flip flips (self-titled blog entry)

Dear family, friends and total strangers,

Welcome to our travel blog! Here Stuart and I hope to document our traveling adventures in New Zealand and…wherever else we end up going (options currently on the table: Australia, Southeast Asia). The last few weeks have been devoted to all the things you would expect from two people who are leaving the country. We spent our time eating delicious American meals, visiting family and friends, reading up on NZ and buying things that may or may not fit in our over-full suitcases. We have great hopes for the next 12-24 months, namely that they will be jam-packed with fun and great stories, all of which we will share with you here on the blog!

Today is officially our last full day in the USA and my first thought when writing this first blog entry is “GOOD GREIF where has the time gone?” It seems just yesterday we were graduating from university.... but in reality the summer has come and gone and here we find ourselves on September 14^th: not fully packed, our trip not fully planned, and our goodbyes not fully said. Don’t misinterpret us…we’re prepared for just about anything but part of our mission is to not over-plan. This is especially hard for me (Maggie) but also especially good for me. We are learning how to think and make decisions on our feet, live in the moment, and experience life as it comes. The title of our blog originated with this sentiment. Though we both have hiking boots (Stuart after a bit of resistance) there will inevitably be trails we want to explore when all we have are the flip flops on our feet. So what do we do? WE GO HIKING IN FLIP FLOPS.