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.