North Island Part 1

Our North Island adventure began on Friday, December 19, as soon as we got out of work. We had packed everything in the car before work and were able to take of right at 5pm. We drove about 5 hours to a town called Cheviot, just north of Christchurch. We got to our campground at 10.30 and were greeted by a slightly creepy, slightly drunk man who showed us to our plot of grass. Everything was fine, warm night, didn’t rain til after we set up camp and were sleeping. Early in the morning, we awoke to the sound of roosters crowing seemingly very close to our tent. I took this as a sign I should get up to use the loo. Upon crawling out of the tent, I saw about 10 chickens and big black roosters about 10 feet from our tent. No wonder they were loud!
That began day 2 of our trip. It was pretty rainy all morning on our drive north toward Picton, and the ferry to Wellington. We got to the town with no problem and checked in at the ferry terminal, where we were directed to 6 lines of cars waiting to get on. And there we waited for about 3 hours. The ferry was delayed due to rough seas. Finally, cars started moving for all of about a minute until the poor girl next in the line beside us realized her car wouldn’t start. So, not only could she not move, but neither could the rest of the cars. This must happen frequently though because some men in yellow reflector vests came running out with a batter charger. After 3 unsuccessful attempts at restarting, they tried doing it by pop-starting it, which was equally unsuccessful. So, the car was pushed out of the way and the last we saw, was sitting on the side, probably not boarding the ferry.


Ferry

We carried on though, and drove up a ramp onto a huge ship where we parked, along with about 100 other cars, some RV’s, and a tractor trailor. Pretty impressive! From there, we went up some steps into the “lounge” area. There were several large flat screen TV’s on which a couple of movies played, some chairs, couches, and a café. There was also access to decks outside and when the rain stopped, we were able to enjoy some great views. The ride was uneventful and 3.5 hours later, we docked in Wellington.


Unloading

From Wellington, we drove to a campsite in Tongariro National Park. Well, I should clarify. Craig drove and I slept for the last 2 hours or so. We arrived at 12.30 am, put up the tent, and went to sleep. We had planned to get up at 5am the following morning to hike Tongariro Crossing but the trip, thankfully, was cancelled due to bad weather. So, we slept in the next morning and then spent the day exploring the area. We found a cool 2 hour hike to Taranaki Falls and finished that in the rain. Then we hike around a large lake for a couple of hours and headed back to camp for some English muffin pizzas, showers, and an early bedtime. Oh, I almost forgot, as we were leaving the lake hike, a small wild pig meandered across the parking lot and up the trail! I’m hoping to see some more of those while we’re here.


Taranaki Falls

Monday morning, we woke up at 5am for the 5.45am shuttle to Tongariro Crossing. The skies were clear and promising for a great day. We were on the trail by 6.15am. This hike is known as New Zealand’s greatest day hike, and now we know why. After about 3 hour of hiking uphill, we reached the summit (1800 metres) and were rewarded with the most amazing views of surrounding volcanos, Emerald Lakes, and beautiful landscape. The volcanic nature of the area made the scenery unlike anything we had ever seen. Hopefully the pics can describe it better than I.


Top of Volcano


Crater of Mt Tongariro


Emerald Lakes

After a short break on the summit, we moved on toward a hut that was supposed to have great views of Lake Taupo and surrounds. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the hut, the clouds were rolling in and we couldn’t see anything. So, a quick sandwich and off we went, this time on a 2 hour downhill hike to the carpark to meet the shuttle. Fortunately, the clouds moved up past us about 15 minutes down and we didn’t miss the views of Lake Taupo.


Lake Taupo from the Hike

After that, it was all down hill (literally). Really pretty the whole way, and we made it back to the carpark a half hour before the shuttle. The whole trip took us about 7 hours, and it was well worth every minute. The shuttle met us at the trail end and drove us back to camp, hitting a bird (possibly a tui) along the way. Sad day for the bird.
We packed up the car and drove about 45 minutes north to Taupo, a decent sized tourist town on a big, beautiful lake with a view of the mountains and volcanoes. We found a campsite, showered, ate some dinner and then went into town for a walk. The next day (Tuesday), we drove around to all of the tourist sites around Taupo. First was the Aratiatia dam, which was releasing when we arrived. The Waikato river is responsible for the production of 22% of New Zealand’s energy supply. Pretty impressive! While the dam was releasing, the river below was humongous, raging whitewater (class VI for those of you kayakers). It was turquoise and white, really beautiful. When the dam stopped releasing (it releases every 2 hours for 30 minutes), the water immediately dropped (not enough water to run it in a kayak) about 12 feet and was much calmer. It really was amazing to see.
We then left the dam and drove to do a geothermal walk. However, we were informed it would cost $13 per person for a 30 minute walk so we passed. Instead we were given some free food to feed the “birds” outside. So, we wandered out and were met by a peacock. We took turns feeding it and next thing you knew, Craig was surrounded by an increasing crowd of chickens and roosters, all wanting a nibble. It was pretty entertaining! Luckily, we got it all on video.


Rapids


Craig and his Chicks

Then we drove down the road to a “lookout” on our map. The lookout turned out to be a view of the Wairakei Geothermal Power Plant. It was composed of miles of pipeline carrying scalding hot water and steam. Interesting to see.
Next was Huka Falls. These waterfalls are famous for their color, turquoise again. Again, really pretty.
Finally, we were back in town where we spent the afternoon wandering around, enjoying the nice sunny day. And also enjoying some refreshing gelato. Great way to end the day.


Huka Falls on the Waikato River

We hopped in the car and drove to Ohakune where we are leaving for our 3-day kayak trip of the Whanganui River tomorrow, Christmas Eve. So, I write this sitting in our room at the hostel we leave from, after packing all of our stuff for 3 days into 2 kayaks. Unfortunately, we don’t have internet access so I can’t post this but we hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Pix from the First 4 Days (Sorry there is a ton)

P.S. We will update the blog a few times this week since we had bad internet access and connections during our trip. We were diligent to write them all but didn't post them.

Moving up

We have moved into our new house! We were supposed to move in on Friday evening but, due to remodeling delays, didn’t get in until Saturday afternoon. Happily, this meant we were free to meander the farmers market for the first time in a few weeks. At the market, we were greeted with lots of new vendors selling fresh raspberries, strawberries, cherries, all of which we purchased. And all of which were super sweet and tasty. We can't wait to go back for more. In the meantime, they are also selling them on the streets during the week :)

Back to the house. The remodeling included taking down 2 walls to open up the kitchen and lounge, filling in 2 doorways, taking out the carpeting, and sanding and staining the hardwood floors. All of this was finished except for the floors. So, right now, they are just wood with carpet glue and junk on them because the worker neither sanded nor stained them when they were supposed to. Supposedly it will be done while we’re away on holiday.
Other than that, the move went smoothly. We don’t have much stuff and got it all shifted in four reasonable car trips. We’re not unpacking anything but clothes until the floors are done as it will be quite dusty.


Living Room and Study

We’re already enjoying having a whole house and a little yard. It has 3 bedrooms, a study, a living room, kitchen, front patio, back patio, and backyard. We plan to plant some veggies in the little garden and there is a ton of mint growing for mojitos! Craig can’t wait to have a fire in the log burner. Probably he won’t have to wait long, the house is fairly drafty and gets chilly. We plan to plug up the spaces around the windows before winter to help keep the cold out. And, in addition to the fireplace, we have a heatpump to keep us nice and toasty! Happily, we are still able to walk to work in only about 5-10 extra minutes compared with our last place.


Front Patio

The move was our excitement for the weekend. Now we are getting ready for our holiday vacation. We leave Friday and are gone until January 3rd. We’re planning to camp the whole time, which requires some careful planning and packing. The trip should be great, with tramping, kayaking, caving, and lots more on the itinerary. We will be posting lots of pics from that I’m sure!

The New Pad

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays. Don’t be offended when you don’t receive a Christmas card from us this year. They’re too expensive over here! And for those of you in snowy states, build a snowman, go sledding, or throw a snowball for us!

Quiet Crazy Week

For a week with nothing planned, this one ended up being pretty busy and eventful. It started off with a letter from the Physiotherapy Board arriving in the mail, with my name on it. Yay! Well, at least that's what I thought until I opened the damn thing. It was all downhill after that. The letter did not confirm my registration. On the contrary, it stated that I have not proven competence in the area of Cardiopulmonary Physio and that I have 3 options: Submit more evidence (my 23 page paper was not sufficient), take a competence exam (a practical exam on a real patient, with an entire textbook of info up for questioning), or withdraw my application (but not get my $600 back). After discussions with the Dean and the Cardiopulmonary professor, I decided I should submit more info and see what happens. The Dean is also trying to get the board to give me a special scope license which would enable me to teach but not treat. Hopefully that works out. In the meantime, I'm going to be using my creative bone to come up with more evidence of my competence. At least I am not alone. I have met several other people who have had their registrations denied for the same reason. So basically, nothing is resolved and the game goes on.......
On a brighter note, Craig and I checked out 3 flats/houses this week, settled on one, and got a phonecall thursday that our application for the house was accepted! It's a 2 bedroom, 1 study house with an open kitchen/living room and a log burning fireplace. Also, a nice patio in the back, a small one in the front with steps down to a grassy yard, and a basement for storage. It's being remodeled right now so we'll have brand new hardwood floors and carpeting. It seems to be exactly what we need and we're excited to move in, hopefully next week. The house is on the exact other side of the city from where we are now, so we'll have a new area to explore but can still walk to work. Keep checking for pics of the new place!
Other than that, we were busy at work this week with our school hosting a Research and Disability Colloquium. Craig was busy with graduation on Friday and Saturday. He got to wear his borrowed maroon academic regalia, which made him look like a Harry Potter wizard. I guess that would make me his witch? A good one of course. Anyway, he attended some more Maori festivities on Friday, and then we went to the Dean's house for drinks Friday evening. Saturday, Craig attended graduation tea and awards ceremony and then his duties were done.
Saturday night, we met our friends at a Japanese restaurant called Jitsu for dinner. It was pretty good, but not as good as our favorite, Jizo. On Sunday we were invited to a BBQ at another faculty member's house to celebrate her PhD. The drive there was made interesting (and long) by the Santa Parade for which the main street in and out of city center was closed down. This meant that crossing it to get up the hill to the party was not easy. By the time we finally arrived, everyone had eaten, including dessert! We were lucky though, they re-fired up the grill and served us the best german sausage ever, with leftover cucumber potato salad and a bean salad. It was, you got it, Yummy! Craig and I plan to order some of the German sausage for ourselves. The usual grocery store sausage here is inedible.
After the party, we came home and started planning our Christmas/New Year's trip to the North Island. Lots of fun in the works! And, since it's light and warm out til nearly 10pm now, we took a nice night-time walk in the park. It's really feeling summery now :)

Mt COOKing Chicken

Last week brought another package from home, this time from my mom. Our favorite almonds, some Christmas fun, and MORE deodorant were included. Craig and I will now be stink-free for the remainder of our time here, and probably for at least a year after! Thanks Mom. And Happy Birthday!
For Thanksgiving, we cooked up some chicken, homemade stuffing, mashed potaotos, and veggies for a pretty decent meal. Actually, we both agreed the stuffing was the best we had ever eaten! So, all in all, it wasn’t bad for a turkeyless Thanksgiving. We did miss all of our family and friends, and were sad to miss the Conklin Family Dinner though. But, we are extremely thankful to be here in NZ, to have each other, and to be able to talk to our friends and family even though we can’t see them.
For the weekend, we had planned to go glacier kayaking in Mt Cook/Aoraki National Park with our friends Dan, Emily, and Lexi. Craig had to attend a clinic opening ceremony for the uni on Friday, so while he partied with the Maori, I ran home and packed up the car. Here is Craig to tell about the Maori festivities:

The clinic opening had a big Maori (New Zealand aboriginal people) component consisting of two blessings, a whakawatea, which is for the pounamu and one for the clinic. A pounamu is the Maori word for jade and there is a new wood carving holding a big pounamu right in the entrance of the clinic. When someone enters the clinic it is customary to touch or rub the pounamu. Friday after work was the clinic opening and blessing which was also done according to Maori tradition. The clinic was set up with two groups of chairs facing each other. Maori people sat on one side facing the Pakeha (non-Maori people). There was a Maori leader who spoke in both languages. Both sides would have a leader or elder speak and then a song would be sung (in Maori) by the group of people whose elder just spoke. This went on for about 45 minutes. After all the speeches were made and songs were sung we performed the hongi. A hongi is what Maori would do to make peace or an agreement with each other, in this case, that the clinic was opened for all to use. A hongi is a greeting in which you place your forehead and nose to another person's while keeping your eyes open and touching or shaking hands. This is first done by women and then men. So for the ceremony all the pakeha women performed the hongi with all the Maori women first, then men. Then all the Pakeha men went through the line. It was a little communion like. The meaning behind the hongi is that both people are sharing the same air through their nose and this communal "breath of life" binds these people. It was interesting and a good cultural experience to have attended.
Link to local newspaper of opening

After I picked Craig up, we drove north toward Ashburton to pick up Craig’s surfboard, stopping on the way to pick up the “world’s best fish fry” for dinner. And it really probably was the best fish fry I’ve had. Blue Cod and chips, YUM!
After strapping the 9.5 foot board to the roof rack, we drove to a campsite for the night. It was a perfect night for camping, warm and dry. We woke in the morning, ate some oats, and hit the road for some Mt. Cook fun. On the way, we got to drive past Lake Tekapo, one of our favorite views, and on to our cabin on Lake Pukaki, another favorite (see pics from Lake Tekapo). We couldn’t check into the cabin yet so we went right to the Alpine Village where we were to meet our friends for the kayaking trip. Upon arrival however, we were greeted by a sign stating, “Kayak Tours On Hold.” ☹ We met with our guide who at first gave us hope that we would still go, and then 5 minutes later cancelled the trip due to high winds. Bummer! She suggested we put our names on the list for the Sunday morning trip and hope for better weather so we did.
Since we now had some free time, the 5 of us decided to check into our cabin and then go for a hike. We found a cool sounding trail, Hooker Valley Track, and set out for the 4-hour tramp. Except for the strong winds, the weather was great, warm with big white puffy clouds. Our hike provided some amazing views of a usually hidden Mt Cook/Aoraki. Aoraki is the Maori name which means "cloud piercing". If you look at the peak of the mountain you can see a face which represents the sons of one of the Maori gods who were turned to stone.


Mt Cook/Aoraki from a distance


Aoraki (look close to see the face)

The trail took us across multiple rivers, 2 very high suspension bridges which were fairly scary with the wind, and out to the terminal face of the Hooker Glacier. Once there, we settled on some rocks for snacks and scenery before heading back. The suspension bridges were much more enjoyable on the return trip as the wind had died down considerably.


Swing Bridge

Upon return to town, we went into the only restaurant for dinner, Old Mountaniers Café. It was pretty pricey (Craig’s pizza was $30) being the only food source in the “town” (it was more like a compound) but the food was really tasty, especially after all of our exercise and fresh air. After dinner, we headed back to the cabin to relax for the evening, but not before a little side trip to check out the Tasman Glacier, the glacier we thought we were kayaking by the next day. Dan drove us up the road to the Tasman Glacier Trail, and then kept right on driving past the sign that said something like, “enter at your own risk.” What is should have said is, “the so-called road is made of boulders, is very narrow, and is flooded at one point. You need a tank to get through.” Needless to say, it was an adventurous ride, especially when we reached a pond preventing further access and had to back the car all the way back down the road. It was pretty hilarious though!


End of the "Road"

When we finally got back to the actual road, we hopped out for a hike up some steeps to see the glacier. It was really cool! There were tons of icebergs and the glacier itself was pretty impressive. Well worth the hike up. After a bunch of pics, we started back down so we could get to the cabin and shower.


Icebergs

The “cabin” consisted of 1 queen bed, 2 single beds, and a folding bed that was harder than the floor, all in a room the size of the average hotel room. Luckily, Craig got the sympathy vote for his height so he got the queen bed which of course works out nicely for me. There are some advantages to having a giant fiancé!
It was Emily’s 30th birthday so Craig and I brought a little mud cake and a 30 candle to celebrate. After some showers, mud cake, and beer, we were all ready for sleep. Luckily, nobody snored in our tight quarters.
In the morning, we awoke to some cloudy, foggy skies, but limited wind so we were hopeful the kayaking trip was on and it was! We piled into a van which shuttled us to a trail that we hiked down to the Mueller terminal lake where there were camouflaged kayaks waiting for us. This was not the lake we saw the night before and thought we were going to paddle.
After a quick lesson on how to paddle a kayak (Craig, the whitewater paddler and Dan, the former sea kayak guide, especially benefited from this lesson), we set out on the lake, toward Mueller glacier. There was one little iceberg on the way, and lots up close but we weren’t able to paddle close to the face of the glacier. Apparently, there is a river flowing from the top of the mountain, under the glacier, and comes out under the lake we were on. The water causes large chunks of ice to break off on its way out, and the chunks of ice pop up to the surface of the lake unexpectedly, making for dangerous kayaking conditions near the face. So, we had to view from afar. It was still pretty amazing. The lake we were paddling was actually completely covered by glacier 30 years ago. The glacier and surrounding landscape changes daily, and we paddled up to a river that was not there the day before. It really is intriguing!
It was a nice paddle, and the clouds even cleared a bit for great views of Mt Cook. We heard tons of ice and rock falling (sounded like thunder) and even saw 2 avalanches up on the mountain! There was a surprisingly loud rumble, and then we saw tons of snow tumbling down the mountain. Really cool to see!


Kayaking Couple


Views from the Back of the Boat

After we got back to the village, we all hung out and had some snacks in the parking lot. Our friends headed back home and Craig and I followed after one more short hike out toward Kea Point.
On the way, we stopped to buy some fresh salmon at a salmon farm, and we got to feed the fish for free which was fun. We cooked the salmon last night and it was really really really good! Nothing like fresh fish.
As for the apartment hunting, we looked at three this week and 2 are good options. We hope to pick one in the next day or so. So that’s going well. Craig is gearing up for graduation weekend which will be busy for him. And we’re starting to plan for our upcoming relocation and North Island Trip. It’s weird to see Christmas dec’s and hear songs and not be getting super into the holidays. No tree, no shopping, saves money but feels weird. Plus, it’s light out til almost 10 o’clock now which is not normal for our USA holidays!
We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

All the pix