Impossible to Believe!!

This is, technically, our last full day in New Zealand. Our plane takes off tomorrow at 11PM. Neither one of us can believe it. We've been talking a lot about all the mixed emotions that going home has been bringing up. We're so excited to know that we get to see Paddington in two days. And because Justin's dad will meet us at LAX during our three hour layover and Justin's mom is coming to Houston for a visit our fist weekend back in Texas (and we'll see my mom and dad while driving through Colorado) we're going to get to see all our parents in the span of one week. Neither one of us can remember that feat since our wedding! Of course it will be nice to be back home and get unpacked and get settled into a bit more of a routine  but, we've just so enjoyed our nomadic time in New Zealand. Most of all our time together. Things are going to get a little nuts once we get home. Justin has taken a job on the Motivia project which is in Port Arthur, Texas. That's an our and a half drive from Houston. We're not quite sure yet how we're going to set up shop. We'll be keeping the house and renting an apartment in Beaumont or Port Arthur. Justin might have Fridays or ever other Friday off. We imagine we'll spend long weekends back home. I think I'll be spending a part of the week in Houston on my own with a sewing class I've signed up for, my routine "bootcamp" and yoga classes and getting involved with the local fruit and veg co-op. We'll see how things go and make adjustments as we see fit.
We're sure we're going to miss NZ tremendously. The climate has been great, the scenery amazing and the Kiwis are such fun folks to be around. Then of course there's the real fruit ice cream. I'm not sure what Justin will do without it. A few other items that will be missed:

Really Good Peanut Butter
This name doesn't lie. We picked this up at the Nelson farmer's market where it's made. It really is by far the best peanut butter either of us has ever had. They do have a website reallygood.co.nz so if we're really hurting we could always bite the bullet and pay a hefty shipping fee.
 RJ's Natural Licorice
Not sure where along the trip Justin discovered this but it became a staple for him ever since. I'm not sure a huge licorice gal but even I have to admit that it is tasty and very soft.
Bendaberg Ginger Beer
This is actually an Australian product. But it really was the best drink on a hot afternoon. It's a non-alcoholic drink akin to ginger ale, but much more gingery.
Tamarillo Chutney
This stuff is GREAT on a sandi (and a whole host of other things that I tried it on).
Huffman's Hot Sauce
This stuff is AMAZING. My favorite hot sauce I've ever had and it ranks pretty high for Justin aka the hot sauce hombre. He found it in Dunedin and since then we've been rationing it carefully. Alas it didn't last and despite dozens of trips to grocery stores (some not even to buy anything, just visited with the sole purpose of trying to find more Huffman's) we never did find it again. If we had been able to find another source I'm quite sure I would have purchased the whole lot and shared it with everyone at home for Christmas. But alas all I can do is to tell you that if you ever see this at a store or your find yourself in New Zealand get some!! It's spicy without loosing it's yummy sort of vinegary tangy taste.

Bay of Islands

Sorry that there haven't been any new posts in a while. we've been having way too much fun in the Bay of Islands! One week from today we'll be heading back to the States. Neither one of us can believe it. Going home to Houston is going to feel so strange, odd that home feels seems foreign while New Zealand feels familiar and comfortable. Having these two months of traveling together has been such a wonderful gift. We're really going to miss spending every single waking second with each other. But we are looking forward to seeing our Paddington.

So, the Bay of Islands - We are in Northland, the northernmost section of New Zealand. The Bay of Islands is a large-ish area with lots of bays, inlets, isthmuses, peninsulas and islands. The vegetation is lush and dense and the topography steep. It feels very much like the Caribbean. The area is well known for it's beautiful beaches and excellent sailing. The Bay of Islands also has a very rich history for New Zealand as this is where the first European settlements were and where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed (when the Maoris basically handed over NZ to the British).

Paihia
This is where we've made our base. The town is peaceful and small with great views over the bay and across to Russell as well as the Treaty signing grounds. We've been hiking, walking, lounging on the beach and exploring lots. We went out for the whole day on The Edge, a very large catamaran. We explored a bunch of the beaches and small islands and went swimming, Justin rode the inflatable tube behind the tender and saw a large pod of bottle nosed dolphins with a few very cute babies. There were about 20 of us on the boat and it was great fun. We also spent an afternoon visiting the Treaty of Waitangi treaty grounds. This included a live cultural Maori song and dance performance which was neat to see. They also tried to teach us a few moves. Our favorite was seeing the huge canoe.
Maori Dancing

The gorgeous house of the British commander and site of Waitangi Treaty signing.

Maori Meeting House

Maori Canoe or Waka

The stump of the Kauri tree that was used to make the canoe

On board the Edge catamaran


Kerikeri
One morning we drove about 20 minutes north to Kerikeri to check out the famous local produce (citrus and kiwifruit). They have a big farmer's market on Sundays that we checked out. It was a good turn out of stall selling great produce, bread, cheese, coffee, baked goods, honeys, jams and more interesting goods such as hotcakes and tadpoles.

Russell
There is frequent short ferry from Paihia to Russell which is right across the bay from us. Russell is adorable. It used to be known as "the hell hole of the Pacific" and was notorious for the whaling and sealing boats that would call into port for R&R and the debauchery that went along with those sailors. There's no sign of that now with a quaint little street of shops and restaurants in the shade of Puka trees right along the beach. There is a beautiful old church, Christ Church, that we saw and I later read that it's the oldest church in NZ and one of the founding individuals of the church was Charles Darwin when he was in Russell during his voyage on The Beagle.

Cape Reinga
We decided that we should engage in some good ol' fashioned tourism while we had the time up here so we signed up for the full day Dune Rider bus. It turned out to be a great day. The bus (not really a bus but a semituck cab with a customized stadium seating passenger area and four wheel drive) at 7:15 and headed north. First we stopped at an ancient Kauri forest. This is an area at the turn of the 20th century that people were harvesting gum (what we call amber, or petrified sap). The stumps were buried buy a giant (2km high, 600km/hr) tsunmani and so they were preserved by sand and swamp. The trees' stumps measured 20m in diameter. It was really interesting to learn about the history of this area. Then it was about an hour and a half drive to Tapotupotu Beach where we had a nice picnic, stroll and some people went swimming. A short way up the road we came to the Cape Reinga lighthouse. while it's not techniqually (just by a hair) the northern most point in NZ, it may as well be. In Maori it's called the Place of Departing Souls. They believe that when a Maori person dies their spirit makes it's way to this point and leaves for mystical island of Hawaiki (which is also where the Maori's believe they came from). It was a good walk out to the lighthouse and so neat to see where the Pacific Ocean and Tasmen Sea meet. Instead of driving back on the highway we drove down 90 Mile Beach (it's actually more like 70, but I guess the person naming the beach wasn't great at measuring). We stopped at some beautiful sand dunes and everyone broke out the boogie boards and surfed down the sand. On our way back we stopped in a beach town (famous for the great white sharks that occastionally cruise into the bay) for fish 'n' chips. These were the best fish 'n' chips we've ever had. The batter was so light it wasn't like eating fried fish at all. Sort of similar to tempura. By the time we got home it was nearly 7pm and we were pretty spent. But it was a great way to get out and see more of the area.

Book Reviews
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson read and reviewed by Felicity
I happen to love Bryson's ironic, sarcastic and sometimes dark humor. His observations about everyday life are always so colorful in description. In this book he tackles the physical world around us. It was a wonderful refresher on chemistry, biology and physics and a wealth of new information on topics I knew very little about: geology, astronomy and the history of our own species. It's a book that I would whole heartily recommend. While very detailed and on the longer side it's a very quick and entertaining read.

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood read and reviewed by Felicity
This is a book that I read some time ago but I don't think I finished it because I couldn't really remember it. (Note: this is VERY VERY unusual for me. I nearly ALWAYS finish a book that I've started even if I'm not loving it or all that interested in it. I'm sort of compulsive about the finishing.) Well, Atwood is one of my favorite authors and after a recent conversation with a friend about a newish book of hers we got talking about this one and somewhere along the road I thought I should really give it another go. Well, I'm sorry to say that I couldn't finish it this time either. I just have a really hard time reading about appalling things and this book's world is full of way more ugliness that I can stomach. I'm sure I'll continue to read Atwood because she really is great but this one's just not for me and wouldn't be one that I can recommend.

Now reading Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

back to the beach

Auckland's been fun but we're both pumped to get back to the beach. The weather forecast isn't looking great but we've got our fingers crossed.
We enjoyed Avatar (some more than others), I think seeing it on IMAX in 3D really made the experience exciting.
Justin rocked the double glasses look (triple if you count the sunglasses hooked into the shirt):

He's also mastered the man of leisure lounging at a cafe on a Thursday afternoon look:

Our goal for the next 14 days is to RELAX before we head back state-side. The great news is that the woman I bought the van from is going to buy it back for $650 less than I bought it for. Pretty amazing considering that I doubt you could even rent a camper van for a month for that amount! We feel great about the deal.
We'll post as we can over the next 10 days as we are able to.

16 Days

We loved our time at the beach on the Coromandel Peninsula. Justin was totally in his element, commenting about every five minutes that he wants to one day live at the beach. After Mt. Mounganui we went to Bowentown where we were supposed to stay at a cute little B&B right on the beach to give ourselves a break from the van/tent but when we arrived we found out that we had been double booked. This was a gigantic bummer since this is the high season and it can be very tricky to find places to stay. We ended up camping two nights at the Bowentown Holiday Park which was a great location - between two amazing beaches - but it wasn't very peaceful. Our neighbors, all Kiwis, were taking full advantage of being on holiday and carried on most of the night laughing and drinking. We were pretty beat without a good night's sleep in far too long so instead of camping on the beach at Opoutere we checked into a little motel in Whangamata for a night. After a long walk on the beach, a good night's sleep, a great morning run and some breakfast we are felt renewed and refreshed and ready to head up the peninsula to Hahei. We stayed two nights at the holiday park which might be our last camping.
While in Auckland we're trying to get the car cleaned up and see if the dealer I bought if from would like to buy it back, we did about 25 pounds of laundry this morning and tomorrow we're seeing a movie Justin's really excited about: Avitar in 3D on IMAX. I'm a little dubious, but game.
Our friends Jon and Sara are currently traveling in Japan. If you'd like to check out their adventures they have a blog (that's super creative and fun to read- we're hooked): http://whitesquarereddot.tumblr.com/

Catch up on Book Reviews:

Mudbound by Hilary Jordan
 I read this book while on the West Coast but I guess I never got around to reviewing it. This novel is really a beautiful and heartbreaking piece of fiction. Set in 1940s Mississippi the book navigates the hardships of farm life, the strain of family and of course the failure of so many to act humanely to one another. Somehow Jordan manages to gracefully and rarely over dramatically or graphically navigate her way through the tragedies born of the race relations of this time and place. Not a light and casual read but certainly one that I would recommend.

The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
After Mudbound I guess I needed something quick and somewhat silly to sink my teeth into. While not nearly as fun as Angles and Deamons, The Divinci Code or Deception Point, The Lost Symbol was interesting. It's a typical mystery book based on Mason lore it has all the requisite twists and turns to keep a reader engaged.

Currently reading: A Brief History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson - so far really interesting and remarkably entertaining!  Justin's working on Tipping Point and a book about the history of the CIA in Afghanistan.

Pictures as Promised:
Bowentown

Hahei

Cathedral Cove

Justin's hasn't tired of the real fruit ice cream yet:

Auckland

Sorry for the recent lack of posts. We've been without internet while enjoying the Coromandel Peninsula. We've just arrived in Auckland. The weather is great. We're going to stay here 4 days and try to get a buyer for the van and a few items that we picked up (tent, camping chairs, mattress, cooking stuff, ect). Then we'll head north to the Bay of Islands and Cape Reinga. We'll be posting a good long catch-up post tomorrow.

Vitamin D

Ohope Beach was a great spot to be for a night. The holiday park was HUGE and PACKED with Kiwi families on vacation but it was a really fun atmosphere. The beached stretched on and on and on. We had a great time body surfing and lounging in the shade of our beach canopy.

Then it was onto Mount Maunganui where we are now. It's a cool, busy beach and surfing town that's busy this time of year. Mt Maunganui itself is a volcano barely attached to the mainland by a small spit of land which is where the town is and has beaches on either side. Very neat! We are considering a surfing lesson for this afternoon depending on the weather.
Last night we enjoyed a spectacular sunset.

We have another night here and then we're moving onto Bowentown on the Coromandel Peninsula.

Soaking it Up

Taupo and Rotorua have been great: most of our time has been spent in the hot springs! (This place was very well done.) We stopped off at the VERY impressive Huka Falls en route to Rotorua (I'll post pictures in a following post because I don't have my camera connector with me at the moment). Over 50% of the North Island's power comes from harnessing the hydropower of the Waikato river. Just amazing - but not a place I'd want to boat or swim!
Today we are heading out of Rotorua (a day early to hit the beach) and going to Ohope Beach in the Bay of Plenty. We are so excited for some sand and surf. Then we make our way up the Coromandel Peninsula to soak up the sun. We'll be sending our warmest thoughts to all of you stuck in the cold front sweeping the states.
Next post will be coming to you with sand between our toes.

Epic Day

The drive from Wellington to Tongariro National Park was beautiful. We could make out the three dramatic volcanos and the saddle that we'd be hiking in the morning, Tongariro Alpine Crossing . We woke at five to catch the van that the holiday park supplies to drop people off at the start and pick up at the other end in the afternoon. It was dark and so foggy and misty that I could only make out Justin's headlamp and nothing else from about 50 yards. Maybe that should have tipped us off that the weather wasn't too great but we both figured that if it was bad at the top the van wouldn't go or the holiday park folks would warn us. We got to the trail head and the mist was still very thick and we were told that the wind could be gusty and there could be some showers throughout the morning. The hike takes about 7 hours up the side of a volcano and across some beautiful terrain near lakes and craters. Too bad we didn't see any of it. We trudged for about 2 hours up, up, up (literally up stairs for the last 45 min - that's how steep it is) and we were soaked. From about 20 min into the hike even with "waterproof" jackets we were absolutely soaked to the bone. When we got to just below the highest point along the hike the wind was so strong that it threatened to blow us right off the side of the volcano and the rain was just poring down - in short the hike had gone from a fun adventure to a miserable slog. We decided the best and safest option would be to turn around. Not an easy choice when the vertical climb was accomplished and we had to turn around into the wind but I'm so glad that we did because we were so FREEZING when we got to the trail head that the four hour trek from where we turned around to the pick up location would have been painful. Thankfully there was a Department of Conservation ranger at the trail head who gave us a lift back to the holiday park. It was a bit of an epic day in all.
The real kick in the pants was getting out of the tent this morning and seeing the 100% CLEAR gorgeous day. Boo. We missed the weather by a day. Oh well, we drove to Taupo and went to the farmer's market, had a picnic and did the hot springs. Tomorrow we're on our way to Rotorua for two nights and then Bay of Plenty and the Coromandel Peninsula before the Bay of Islands and Cape Reinga. Didn't take ANY pictures on the hike for fear of ruining the camera but here's some pictures from the road near our holiday park:

Catching Up

Sorry that it's been so long since I've done a proper post. We've spent the last three nights in Wellington and today we head north.
Since my last post we have covered a lot of ground: the drive from Greymouth to Westport wasn't very scenic due to cloudy, rainy weather. We did get a beautiful day for the lovely drive from Westport to Moetuaka. Justin got to experience the amazing sandwiches at Toad Hall and we both sampled "real fruit ice cream" for the first time: two scoops of vanilla frozen yogurt with a few scoops of your choice of fruit (raspberry and strawberry for me, blackberry for Justin) then it all goes into this neat machine that mixes it all together. It was delicious and such a great concept that you may find Justin's Real Fruit Ice Cream Mobile Trailer in your driveway soon! Then it was up to Able Tasmen National Park. We rented a double sea kayak and caught a water taxi to the northern boundary of the park and then kayaked to Observation Beach where we pitched a tent and rang in the new year in style. There were two other families on the beach - no crowds or fanfare for us. Just brilliant stars and a dip in the ocean. It was great. The following night we spent in Nelson and Saturday morning we hit up the amazing local market. Everything from fruit to felt to massages to magnetic toys it was a little bit of a zoo but everything was locally and mostly handmade. We picked up some hand painted canvas bags, some roasted seeds, a big jar of local peanut butter, some black currant jam and a half kilo of the best freshly picked blueberries ever. Then we made the drive to French Pass which was a little disappointing because there was so much fog. But it was worth it because the town (if you can even call it that) is so out in the middle of nowhere that we really did feel half way around the world. We jumped off the pier and went for a very cold morning swim and then drove to Picton along the scenic Queen Charlotte Drive. After a night in Picton we caught the ferry to Wellington where we've been exploring the city on foot. We've walked between 5-8 hours for the past three days. Window shopping, checking out the great museums and parks, riding the cable car, we watched the movie The North Face (which is a great German film if you find it in your area) and sampling a few local restaurants and cafes (Flying Burrito Brothers was our favorite).
Pictures as promised:
Tranzscenic Train from Greymouth to Christchurch (over Arthur's Pass):

Monteith's Brewery Tour in Greymouth:
tasting the barley and hops-

inspecting the tanks:

sampling the goods:

Abel Tasmen launch:

Observation Beach New Year's Eve Camping Site:

New Year's Eve:

Up next: Tongariro Alpine Crossing
next blog post in about three days