Our First Guests!

The newlyweds Laura and Tim Goffred : )  Dan and I loved having them around, Dan had drinking buddies and I got to play tour guide, when I wasn't stuck at work.  It was great to reminisce, chat about the states, and laugh over good food and drinks.  I know Laura made a laundry list of new recipes she plans on making in the states, including Dan's mom's pizza recipe. I will definately be knocking on her door for some homemade hummuss as soon as I get back!  

We miss them dearly and hope they are left with many memories of good times.

Pictures from left to right.  (1) Our guests unpacking and making themselves feel at home.  Clearly excited to be in Sydney or maybe delusional from the 24hr flight.  (2) On the way to Jenolan Caves Laura somehow spotted a Kangaroo in the bush.  It was the first time we all had seen a kangaroo in the wild and were lucky enough to watch it hop around and even box the air.  Think this came after Tim had repeatedly said how it was afraid of snakes so of course I yelled snake, never seen Tim jump that high.  Cruel joke I know, but it was a good laugh.  (3)  In the Blue Mountains at the Three Sisters.  Soo freaking cold.  (4) Opera house on the way to see the Music of John Williams.  The Sydney Symphony Orchestra played a collection of his best hits.  We all had the theme song to superman stuck in our heads for days.  (5)  At the Jenolan Caves.  The pictures do not even capture how awesome these caves were.  (6)  Too tall Tim having to duck while we were on our 2hr tour of the caves. 

Running Wild

It all started with the 7k Dee Why to Manly sun run.  Then came the much anticipated race of the year, city to surf (http://www.city2surf.com.au/) back in August.  A 14k run starting in Sydney CBD going through the eastern suburbs and ending in Bondi Beach.  A challenging run with spectacular rewards.  The final few ks are down hill which views over looking the eastern beaches + the KPMG tent with beer at 9am.  Now we signed up for the Sydney Running Festival (happening tomorrow morning).  Dan had wanted to run the half marathon but all spots were full.  So he was left with either the full marathon or doing the 9k run with me.  He chose the 9k.  When we had gone to pick up our race packs, Dan asked if any spots had opened up.  The woman checked, and came back with a red bib.  Dan had the biggest grin on his face!!  Run is over the Sydney harbour bridge, through the city, botanical gardens and ending at the steps of the Opera House.  Wish us luck! 

Vivid Sydney

Back in June Circular Quay, The Rocks, and the Opera House were lit up at night with spectacular light shows.  The cold weather was perfect for enjoying warm drinks, sitting by the harbour and watching the visuals displays on the Opera House.

We are alive!

Hi friends/family - We promise new and exciting posts will be coming shortly - so stay tuned!

Joanne's New Obsession

Yoga.  For the past 2 months I have been regularly going to a hot yoga studio here in Sydney (http://homyoga.com.au/).  I have fallen in love with the practice to the point of being a crazed fanatic.    Lying down on my back in savasana my mind runs wild with fantasies of becoming a yoga instructor, opening my own studio,  and having mommy and me classes (this one is a bit in the future).   Of course this would all require a month long retreat in Thailand or India to become a certified instructor and get deep into my practice.   If only ..........

Must Read

A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz.  It's an Australian based novel about a quirky family that has some of the most ridiculous characters.  I couldn't stop turning the pages!!

Credit for recommending this book to me in the first place - Sandra Tong, Sydney born native and lover of books.

AGNSW

Art Gallery of NSW is one of my all time favorite museums.  Not only is it free they always have new exciting exhibits on display and various events.  Recently I (Joanne) took a hour guided tour of the new contemporary art exhibit. It ended up being just me and the woman giving the tour.  Awkward.  Felt like I was back in Sarah Rich's Art After 1945 class.  She would quiz me about the artist, technique, and about events that took place in Sydney 10 yrs ago.  Not sure how I deceived her, but I had to remind her that I'm originally from the states and was only 16 at the time whatever it was that took place. 

One of the best parts (after being free from the tour) was a drunken clown dressed in 80s workout clothes - check it out below.  Second best was a painting of a man on a farm which reminded me of my father and poland : )

Locks of Love

We took a beautful scenic costal drive from Sydney through the Royal National Park down to Wollongong. Best part of the drive was walking on the Sea Cliff Bridge which is well deserving of its name.  What surprised us both were hundreds of locks on the bridge's railings filled with engravings of love, relationships, and long (assuming happy) marriages.  Before leaving Australia we've decided to add a lock of our own to the bridge.  Making sure we each have a set of keys just in case ...  j/k!

Joanne’s New Obsession

Strawberry vanilla tart from Bourke Street Bakery!!!!   Words can’t even describe how delicious this tiny treat is.  The top is a thin crispy layer of sugar simpler to crème brulee.  The bakery is a 35min walk away, but come this July they are opening a store right in Potts Point!   There goes my weight loss….

http://www.bourkestreetbakery.com.au/

Easter Chronicles

6 days, 3 cities, 4 times bad luck ....   Fraser to Brisbane.

Fraser Island

First destination was Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world.  Our plan was to fly to Brisbane, rent a car and drive it up to Hervey Bay to catch the ferry to the island.  Near our apartment is an airport shuttle that runs every 30 min.  Because it was Good Friday they decided that they were only going to run it whenever they felt like it, unfortunately, we had no clue and when we found out the only other option was to hail a taxi.  Thinking that we live near Kings Cross (a popular clubbing/going out area) we shouldn’t have any issues.  First strike of bad luck.  6am and the Cross was packed!  No cabs in sight, people all over the place.  We finally see a cab and Joanne has to battle it out with a girl – in the end we got it. All else was smooth sailing.

Fraser Island seemed like  “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer”.  Only option to get on or off the island was the ferry.  The resort we were staying at (Kingfisher Bay Resort) was eco friendly and each room had a private balcony that was enclosed by nature. We went to sleep listening to the crickets and woke to birds chirping.  The first night we swam in the pool and were astonished by how clear the sky was and the ability to see the Milky Way.  Second strike of bad luck.  The only way around the island is by 4WD, we tried renting one but they were all out.  Too stubborn to do a tour we decided to walk, turned into a 40k hike in one day.   First 12k were fine b/c we stopped by Lake Mckenzie, one of the most breathtaking lakes ever.  Sand was pure white, water was crystal clear, and there were hardly any people!  We  could’ve spent our entire day relaxing but we were determined to see as much as possible so we went on to Central Station (only rainforest on a sand island in the world) which was 13k return trip.   By the end of it we had run out of water and could barely move..... but we had no other option.  So Joanne begged someone for water and we moved on. The last 15k was absolutely brutal.  We didn’t see a soul in sight, were exhausted and all we could think about were iced cold slurpees.  When we finally reached the Mckenzie Jetty and the ocean it felt like we were saved.  5k’s later we were sipping on beers, cola, and water.  Surprising the next day we were doing OK,  so we spent the afternoon fishing in the ocean drinking Coronas.  Caught nothing but had alot of bitters that kept eating all our shrimp.  Had a nice Easter dinner that night chowing down on kangaroo, emu, alligator (all Dan) and barramundi. 

Noosa

Noosa is a cool beach town on the Sunshine Coast.  We snorkelled for a bit, visibility was bad but we saw some neat crustaceans on all the rocks.  Because we love to walk, we did a hike in the National Park that took us around Noosa Heads and along the coast.  Listening to the waves was so soothing that we didn’t make it very far on our walk and spent most of it hanging out on the cliffs staring out to the ocean and then watching the sunset.    We had less than a day in Noosa and had one streak of luck when the Thai restaurant we ate told us we were the last ones to be seated that night b/c they were running out of food.

Brisbane

The size of Brisbane was equivalent to New Brunswick, NJ.  We stayed in the Valley which is the happening area.  Got breakfast at an ultra crunchy (hipster) cafe, called the Flamingo.  Walls were painted hot pink.   Spent most of the day shopping and checking out the stores.  There were heaps of design shops that Joanne wanted to buy everything for our old apartment in Bayonne.  The rest of the day was spent eating/drinking and somehow ending up listening to a heavy metal band perform, which were awful! 

Last day in Brisbane and our trip was spent checking out Black and Spiro (Sule’s favourite design store/blog), eating delicious hot cakes and eggs at Au Cirque cafe, walking through South End, then through the city down Queen Victoria.  To take shelter from the rain we went to St. John’s Cathedral.  Loved the fact the seat cushions were all unique and seemed to have been sewn by the church ladies.

B/c the town is so small we had accomplished all we wanted to by 1pm and had 5 hrs before our flight.  So we decided to eat lunch at The Vietnamese in the Valley, drank 2 bottles of wine and got dessert from Jocelyn’s Provisions (dubbed the Magnolia of Brisbane).  Third strike of bad luck.  Phone call from our airline that our flight had been cancelled and the best they could do was get us on a flight in 2 days.  Too bad we both had work and that all other flights to Sydney were booked.  So again being stubborn we rented a car and drove the 10 hours (starting at 6pm) from Brisbane to Sydney.  Fourth strike of bad luck.  On the way to pick up the rental car, a magpie was sitting on the side of the road and attacked Dan right in his eye.  To the point that it knocked out his contact and popped a blood vessel, he now looks like the Terminator.  Luckily his vision is fine.   All in all quite the adventurous trip but we made it back to our place safely (minus the fact it was 4am and we had to be up at 7am for work) and have fantastic pictures to show for it.

Sydney Opera House

Finally we got a chance to go inside and enjoy some of the culture the Opera House has to offer. We saw Madame Butterfly (a ballet).  Both of us found the story touching, but w/o reading the program beforehand we would’ve had a hard time figuring out what the hell was going on.  Overall, it was a great time.  Ate some delicious potato wedges with cream cheese and sweet chilli sauce from the Opera Bar beforehand and downed a glass of wine (Joanne)/beer (Dan) during the 15 min intermission.    We both could’ve done without the guy few rows behind us blowing his nose ever 10 minutes.  Gross!

Nielsen Park to Watson Bay

Think the pictures speak for themselves, but we did a 3hr walk from Nielsen Park to Watsons Bay that took us along rocky cliffs, hidden beaches, and neat little harbours.  We thought we were lost half the time b/c the walk took us through the wealthy suburbs of Sydney and b/c we didn’t have a dog or a baby we definitely stood out.   One of the best parts of the walk was going over the suspension bridge at Parsley Bay.  Bay area was enclosed by rocky cliffs and seemed like a perfect place to go for a swim and a picnic.  At the end of our walk we treated ourselves to fish and chips at pretty much the only restaurant at Watsons Bay, Doyles.

Wine Country

I must say it’s nice to know that so close to the city we can escape to Hunter Valley, a large area of wineries, and enjoy free tastings. It should have taken us an 1 ½ hours, but I think fate was testing Joe and making sure he could drive in all possible conditions (traffic – damn Lionel Richie concert, hills, rain), so instead it took us 4 hrs. (Side note: Dan just taught Joe how to drive a manual the day before.) Which meant we only had a few hours to get our drink on and we sure did! We went to 3 vineyards and between the 4 of us left Hunter Valley with 25 bottles of wine. They all tasted so good and it was really hard to resist. Finished the day with KFC, Subway, Dan’s famous chicken wings, homemade mac n cheese, and a couple bottles of wine....... and Kim K.

We love Melbourne

Melbourne was a great city.  It had a somewhat European feel.  We both agreed that the Tram system reminded us of Warsaw, Poland.  I think the laneways (side streets filled w/ cafes and shops) and arcades (small malls) made the city unique in itself and a cool place to go w/o making plans and instead just to wonder the streets.  Only set plan we had was the Carlton Brewery tour our first day.  It was cool to see the mass production of lots and lots of beer.  At the end, when we were sampling the beers they had a trivia challenge.  Dan ended up dominating and winning himself a cricket shirt.  After then we ate and drank heaps!  Probably gained 5lbs while we were there but it was sooo worth it! 

Starting from right to left:

Queen Victoria Market – This market had everything to offer.  It’s an indoor food market that is split between meats, seafood, dairy, veggies, and other misc areas.  We bought an everything bagel that was no more than bread shaped like a bagel.  Bottom line it was awful and didn’t even come close to the bagels back at home.  Beside the bad bagel, we loved it and both wished that Sydney had this market b/c we probably would go every weekend. 

Section 8 – Found this outdoor bar along Tattersalls Ln (a tiny alleyway off a main road).  We felt like hipsters hanging out at this place.  Bar was a converted lunch wagon, seats were shipping crates and the ceiling was really non-existent.  Still a great place to grab a drink and people watch.   http://www.section8.com.au/

Madame Brussels - Went here on our second day in Melbourne. It was so freakin hot that Madame Brussels was a nice escape from the heat.  We sat outside on the rooftop and sipped on a pitcher of iced tea (alcoholic).   http://www.madamebrussels.com/

Fritz Gelato – Yummmmmm!  After going to St. Kilda (the nearest “beach” to Melbourne) and being disappointed (b/c Sydney beaches are awesome), this gelataria made the trip to St. Kilda worth it. Gelato was definitely some of the best we’ve had in Australia.  If anyone ever goes definitely splurge by getting 3 scoops.  http://www.fritzgelato.com/

Little Creatures Dining Hall -  We were both initially attracted to this place b/c it had Little Creatures (a really good Western Australia beer) and some other good options on tap. We started to drink at noon so we ordered a few small plates so to not get too drunk too early.  The pumpkin and goat cheese dip with flatbread was incredible! https://www.littlecreatures.com.au/Melbourne/melbourne/menu-id-67.html

Lanes edge cafe and bar – A good stop off spot for a few drinks.  Awesome decor in the back outside area;  chinese lanterns, red string dividers; and tropical plants. 

Other places we stuffed our faces at that were really good but we didn’t want to flood this page w/ pics are:

Trippy Taco.  One of the best vegetarian Mexican food EVER.  We stumbled across this food spot when we were heading to the Carlton Brewery and needed a fast place to eat.  Joanne is gushing over the special quesadilla which was made with goat cheese. 

Shakahari – Vegan/dairy free/gluten free restaurant in Carlton (and yes we did eat this for dinner the same day we had Trippy Taco for lunch – Dan was going through meat withdrawal).  Restaurant was recommended by a friend and we would both pass the recommendation to anyone who doesn’t mind some veggies and spices.    http://www.shakahari.com.au/

Cookie – Modern Thai restaurant. Setup is ultra posh.  We went on a Saturday night and it was great place to get there early and drink at the bar.  Food was good.  Wasn’t exactly classic Thai, but if you’re adventurous its a good combination of ingredients.

International Cakes – Greek bakery with a window display of heaps and heaps of cakes.  We went on the recommendation of friends that the chocolate baklava was to die for.  We made the mistake and tried some other desserts and dreaded the decision so much that we went back and got the chocolate baklava.  It was delicious! 

MoVida – Tapas place situated in the graffiti covered alleyway.  Apparently you need to reserve 3 months in advance but we were able to score a hightop table at the bar.  Food was really good.  After going through the meat withdrawl Dan ordered the steak tartar and is still raving about it.  http://www.movida.com.au/

Monsieur Truffe Chocolate – Delicious chocolate bars and almond chocolate clusters.  Located in Collingwood (right near Trippy Taco!!)

Breadtop – A neat Asian bakery where you grab a lunch tray and pick out pastries from the display cases as you walk down the line. 

Cafe Cavallino – Italian restaurant located on Lygon Street in the Italian district.  The street was full of restaurants and it felt like Little Italy where ppl stand on the street enticing you to come eat at their restaurant.  We had made bookings at 2 separate places and when we passed both they were deserted.  We took that as a bad sign so walked around some more and decided on Cafe Cavallino b/c it was packed on a Sunday night.  Food was quite good.  Pizza was the best we’ve had since arriving in Australia.  It was a pleasant surprise b/c we’ve pretty much lost hope on having a decent pizza unless we make it ourselves.

Other activities/sites. Starting from right to left:

Queen Victoria Market – Diary section.  Just a glimpse into how the market was setup.

Queen Victoria Market cont – Polska!  This is for all of Joanne’s family. 

Fitzroy Gardens – Lovely tree-lined park.

Laneway – One of the many laneways

Graffiti – The graffiti was on everything, garbage cans, railings, the street and spanned across a few of the side streets.

Arcade – Shopping mall.

National Art Gallery of Victoria – Largest stained glass ceiling.

Melbourne!

Melbourne in less than 6 hrs.  We're flying Tiger airlines which is a low fare airline - they charge you for anything you could imagine. Somehow we managed to pack our things in bookbags for 4 days.  I think we're becoming pros at traveling : )  Apparently Melbourne is a European styled city so look out for tons of pictures! 

Certified Scuba Divers!

We are officially PADI certified in scuba diving.  After completing our pool dives, getting A's on our exam and completing safe open water dives at Shelly Beach we are good to go.  It might be time to book that trip to the Great Barrier Reef in addition to the night dive and boat dive we already booked.

I've got to admit it was easier than expected, even though Dan is apparently very bouyant and needed 27 pounds of weight to sink, we both did really well under water. I think Joanne found her calling, she was in her element. We were able to see some pretty cool stuff down there; stingrays, big blue groppers, sea urchins, a motorcycle (not a type of fish, an actual motorcycle), an emoray eel, and a wobbegong shark that almost took off the hand of our instructor.  After the course was completed the school treated us to BBQ and beers...my kind of place.

Now that the course is complete and we have a free weekend, we are headed to Melbourne for this upcoming weekend, should be a blast.

Hellloooo

In case anyone was thinking something happened to us b/c there hasn't been many posts lately, just want to let you know we are alive and doing well, just really lazy.  To all our "followers" we promise to increase the posting and make it worth your wild to check in on us ; )  Tomorrow we start our open water scuba certification and you know the camera will be there to capture the moments.  Till then, <3 D and J

Living the Life

We’ve been silent these past few weeks b/c we’ve been enjoying the beautiful Sydney summer!  Emerging ourselves in the culture, Sydney Fest events, and getting to know our neighbourhood. 

Manly Beach.  Once the lifeguards are away you can break out the cooler.  Night was followed by a hilarious game where everyone writes a celebrity/famous person name on a post it, stick it on the forehead of the person next to you.  Then you go around, ask questions to try and guess your person.

Walking the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Adding another bridge walk to the achievement list!  After crossing to the Northern suburbs we checked out the Kirribilli market (pretty awesome vintage clothing/homemade goods) and took in the views at Bradfield Plaza.

   

Sydney Dance Company & Australian Orchestra in Parramatta Park.  Nice night with a few bottles of wine, an incredible full moon, and of course the live entertainment.

Australia Day! KPMG secondee bbq in Esplanade Park, Manly. Dan somehow found himself manning the grill and showed the Aussies what real buffalo wings are. 

Chinese New Year.  Foods stands with some pretty interesting food that neither of have ever tried if it weren’t for the free samples like achacha fruit and aloe juice.

Driving Range at Moore Park. Joanne has a shot of becoming a pro golfer. Sike!

7k Sun Run from Dee Why to Manly beach.  Hottest day in Sydney in 50 years!  Luckily run started at 6:45am but the hills were brutal. 

Random.  Drinks @ Opera Bar, meat and cheese @ Avido Restaurant in Paddington, drinks @ Grandmas in CBD (thanks for the tip Naysa!)

(our favorite Sydney couple!)

So Proud of My Man!

I have to let everyone back at home know this - that I am so proud of Dan!  He has been kicking butt lately with his workout classes; boxing, circuit training, and running a 7k next weekend.  I snuck these pictures of him during one of his boxing classes in Rushcutters Park : )

Closing Note

Besides all the things we saw/did above some of our memories will also be from the time spent driving through the island eating fresh oranges and constantly finding something more breathtaking , hearing all the great NZ vocabulary ‘sweet-as’, and knowing that the smell of sheep my not always mean you’re near a sheep farm it could be that you’re driving behind a truck filled with sheep and they are spilling shit onto your windshield.

p.s. check out FB for all photos from trip.

See ya New Zealand

6 - 7 January 2011 

The next day was our last in New Zealand, so we headed to Rotorua (smells like rotten eggs=sulfur) to go  to the Thermal Wonderland, where we got to see a Geyser and some spectacular “natural” thermal activity. You could skip if you ever go, turned out to be like an science experiment where the guy dropped soap into the geyser to make it erupt.   For the rest of the wonderland, there were pools of yellow and orange water and bubbling mud all over the place, very cool.  After we left we went to find Keresene Creek, a hot spring that isn’t marked on any map and is supposed to be for locals.  After about 30 minutes we finally found it (even though it was 5 min down the road from the wonderland) and took a nice dip, water was about 105 degrees and there was small waterfall that had created a chest deep pool which was quite nice.  With this, we packed our things and headed back to Dan’s cousins house in Auckland. The next morning we left to go back to Sydney.   

Pushing Our Bodies

4 - 6 January 2011

The last stop was at Lake Taupo, its in the center of the island and is referred to as Great Lake Taupo, since it is pretty big. Our first day there we went to the Huka Falls, a waterfall at the end of some crazy rapids. We decided to hike the area and go north  to prep for our long hike the next day. On this hike we came across a couple of black swans and then finally a creek that drained into the river. It looked normal until you put your hand in and realized the water was about 120 degrees, but the area where it collided with the river was like a hot tub, we decided it was time for a break.  It was great people watching spot too - saw guys floating down the river using coolers and people’s reaction when they feel how hot the water was.  After an early night we woke up at 5:30am to get the bus that would take us to the Tangariro Alpine Crossing, what is said to be the most beautiful day walks in the world…it was, though its hardly a walk (18.5km up/down 2 mountains).  The Crossing starts at the base of an active volcano, Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt.Doom) from Lord of the Rings.  Takes you up the mountain thru the South Crater, where there are some incredible views (on a clear day you can see both the Pacific Ocean/East and the Tasman Sea/West) from the top, it was pretty clear but the clouds were below the mountain top that day. Next we went to the Red Crater, which made the walk up Mt. Tongariro a little scary for Dan since there was a several hundred meter drop to the right, once at the top we rested and started the descent.  The climb down was wild.  The ground was real loose so the best approach was to dig your heals into the ground and do a slight jog down.  People were whipping out left and right (Joanne even took a spill).  This took us past the Emerald Lakes, the most breathtaking views we have ever seen.  Finally we walked thru the Central Crater, down the side and into the forest to the end.  It took us 6.5 hours to complete the Crossing and though it was very challenging, it was one of the most rewarding experiences of our lives.  That night we had a great dinner and some beers to recharge.

Defining Classy

2 -4 January 2011

The following day we drove up the east coast to Napier to visit the wineries that are all over the area.  Our tour guide/taxi picked us up at our hostel and drove us around for the next 4 hours or so. We stopped at probably 6 places and enjoyed a nice mix of wines, even bought a few bottles.  Neither know much about wine other than how to drink it, so we might have gotten a look or two for being unrefined but in all honesty does anyone really know how “shape” their favorite wine is? FYI – we used Grape Escape as our tour guide – we don’t recommend it, should’ve know by the name.  After wine we got a surprise visit, Dan’s cousin Shannon and her husband Doug had come down to Napier to celebrate their 1 year anniversary, so we all went out to dinner together.  Not sure if we’re just too fast/logical being from the Northeast, but to get a table was such a big ordeal.  Hostess basically said there were no tables, we then had to ask the next logical question if they were taking names or if it meant they weren’t seating anymore.  It came down to us taking a table from a couple with a baby. Sorry.  The next day we went shopping and found something Joanne has searched for high and low, a scratch map, we also bought some things to prepare for the final part of our trip. After shopping we headed to beach and then to a scenic outlook on top of a smaller mountain. The views of rolling hills, rivers and the South Pacific were pretty remarkable. That night we decided to go to a Turkish restaurant (In your honor Sule) and have a nice meal with our bottle of wine that we got from one of the wineries we visited, unfortunately the place had run out of falafel and bread so there was nothing on the menu for Joanne to eat. At 8:30 everything in the town was closed, we walked the streets until we stumbled upon Joanne’s Mecca, Pizza Hut.  We got 2 pies, garlic bread and French fries (it was a deal) and sat there eating them while drinking our nice wine out of a paper bag, super classy J

Finally a City!

31 December 2010 - January 2 2011

The next stop on our trip was Wellington, the capital city dubbed the sister of San Francisco. Here we treated ourselves well. We walked the streets shopping, eating and drinking…we could think of no better way to end 2010.  On New Year’s Eve we went out to a romantic dinner on the waterfront at Shed 5.  Shortly before midnight we left the restaurant and went on a  stroll down the boardwalk, hoping to see some fireworks. Though there were no fireworks, we did catch a native tribal band playing in the square had a quick little celebration before heading out to Molly Maloneys, that’s right an Irish Pub.  Clock striking midnight was a bit emotional for Joanne, missing her family and friends, luckily she had Dan by her side.  The next afternoon we decided to check out Te Papa, a science, culture and history museum.  Very cool place and probably one of the best free museums we have ever gone to in my life, recommended.

Exploring Begins

28 - 30 Dececember 2010

After Auckland we drove for several hours on a very hilly winding one lane “highway” down to the Waitomo Caves, on the way stopping at Mike’s Brewery and sampled/bought a few delicious organic beers and we took a detour to Kawhia which was recommended by Shannon as a great local hot water beach.  Unfortunately, you have to time it right otherwise the tide is too high and it covers the beach area where you would need to dig your hole for the “hot” beach.  Finally  at the caves we abseiled into them, did some caving in tight spaces, saw some glow worms (exactly what it sounds like, worms that glow in the dark), did some rafting and then finally rock climbed out of the caves. It was a pretty cool experience, the rock formations inside the cave were spectacular and it is definitely something we would recommend. If anyone’s interested we used Rap, Raft ‘n’ Rock as our tour guide.  After the caves we headed to Plymouth and not only got to see a colorful sunset over the Tasman Sea but went to the park for the festival of lights...kind of trippy.

Kiwi Christmas

24 - 28 December 2010

Without any further ado we are pleased to share with you some details from our holiday in the North Island of New Zealand.  We started out by spending Christmas with Dan’s cousin Shannon in Auckland and it was incredible.  Tons of food, homemade apple pie and Budweiser beer (it’s a delicacy) were a nice touch, but the fact that Santa found us there made the day even more special.  After exploring the city and the Domain Park on Boxing Day, we went to Shannons for a family BBQ..awesome.  We even played Scrabble; which we could’ve won except for all the bogus 2 letters words that got you 55 points ‘Za’?

Sneak Peak

Sorry we're late blogging about our trip.  We have too many pictures and stories to tell so it's been a bit challenging; plans are to finalize this week!  Till then below is a picture from our 6 1/2 hrs tongariro crossing in Taupo, NZ.  It was very physically challenging but also very rewarding.