February

We were out of town for a good portion of February, but still managed to enjoy a bit of summer in Auckland while we were here - mostly by being nerds who like doing nerd things!

After a year of near-constant construction, the new library in our town finally opened!  I was able to stop by the opening gala on my way home from work one night.  Isn't our library beautiful?!

Every year on Valentine's Day, Auckland shows The Princess Bride at Silo Park, and almost every year it's rained out.  Lucky for us, this year it wasn't!  "As you wish" still makes me swoon every time.

The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular finally made its way to Auckland!

The Cricket World Cup is being held in New Zealand and Australia this year, and the whole country has cricket fever.  Pictured above is the "Fan Zone" they set up outside our office so people can watch the game. During games it is PACKED with people. The final game is this weekend - New Zealand vs. Australia.  Go the Black Caps!!

22 Hours on The Rock

A couple weeks ago we headed up north to Paihia with some friends, KS and J, to check out The Rock Houseboat, which KS had had on her NZ To Do list for years.  It ended up being the best 22 hour experience ever, resulting in what may be the most picture-heavy blog post yet!

We drove up Friday night after work, stopping for dinner next to a liquor store that turned out to have an expansive craft beer selection. We stocked up for a "beer tasting" and accidentally stayed up until 3am trying them all. Probably not the best idea considering the day we had lined up, but a hearty breakfast and a pot of tea later and we were ready to go!

The top two beers inspired our evening - we did a blind taste test to pick our favourite. Surprisingly, New Zealand won out for 3/4 of us, with Rob being the only one who liked the USA version better. Bottom: That's a lot of beer!

Our boat didn't leave until after 4pm, so we had all day Saturday to explore the area. We headed over to Kerikeri to check out the Stone Store, which is New Zealand's oldest building. It was built in 1819, which serves as a reminder of just how young New Zealand is. We also found a waterfall and the infamous Destroy Wild Gingers! sign.

Shortly after that, it was time to set off on our adventure on The Rock!

Our home for the next 22 hours.  Ain't she a beauty?

The Rock is a floating hostel in the Bay of Islands. It's built on an old car barge, and it's not fancy or luxurious (only has 2 toilets, both of which are downstairs while all the bunk rooms are upstairs), but it is an absolute blast.  The rock can hold up to 36 people, but we only had 13 guests and 4 crew members, so there weren't any problems with overcrowding.

We set off around 5pm, blazing through the water at a max speed of 5 knots per hour. Once on the boat, we had all kinds of activities to keep us busy - shooting at plastic ducks, Connect Four, an unsteady pool table, and, if you're me, knitting by the seaside with a glass of bubbles. Once we reached a bay, we dropped anchor for a bit of fishing. While we were fishing off the back of the boat, the crew got started on dinner (which included some of the fish that were caught).

Once we had feasted, it was time for night kayaking! We didn't go far - just far enough to get away from the light of the boat. This area is one of the magical spots in the world where the ocean has phosphorescent algae, and it lights up like fairy dust when you move your paddle through it. It's impossible to photograph, but it's something I'll never forget. When we got back to the boat we jumped in the water to swim with the fairies. Normally I would never consider swimming in the ocean at night, but I couldn't resist!

Life aboard The Rock. Clockwise from top left: Our lovely little bunk, the downstairs (with toilets to the left), some of the MANY dolphins we saw on our journey, The Rock at twilight during dinner

Fishing! KS and I both caught fish, but they were tiny so we kissed them and threw them back. I think they were perch. Our captain caught some larger fish, which he grilled up for dinner. His method of killing them (stabbing them in the gut while they were still wriggling) kind of made me miss The Judge used by Captain Harry.

Night kayaking! We were welcomed back to the boat with a toasty fire. Bottom right: These lanterns were the only lights we had after midnight other than the battery operated ones in the bathrooms. They had electricity operating from 8pm-12pm our first night, and that was it!

 The next morning we were up bright and early to watch the sunrise. Generally I'm not one to get up before 7am voluntarily, and certainly not after two nights in a row of less than 6 hours of sleep, but somehow woke up before my alarm went off.  The sunrise was spectacular, as promised, and a great way to start what was bound to be an excellent day.

After breakfast we spent some time snorkeling. We were told we might see Moray Eels like that was something to look forward to, but thankfully that did not happen. Our guide did collect sea urchins and then split them open to attract fish, so we got to see some very pretty ones.

After snorkeling, we did some more kayaking over to a beach, where we went for a bit of a walk up to the top of the island. I tried barefoot hiking for part of the trip - it was all fun and games until the path turned into gravel. Thankfully I had sandals with me, so was able to put them on for the rest of the walk - and was rewarded with some stunning views!

Finally, we headed back to the boat for lunch and a rest before heading back to Paihia. The crew gave us the option of trying some sea urchin, which apparently is a delicacy in some countries. I can't say I cared for it - and no combination of breath mints, beer, fish, or avocados could get the aftertaste out of my mouth - but I'm glad I tried it once!

Sunrise outside our cabin

Snorkeling - love our underwater camera!

Hiking along the beach

Some activities aboard the Rock, including pool, paint ball shooting, hanging out and playing Connect Four, and sampling the sea urchin (blech)

We arrived back in Paihia around 3pm.  We were exhausted but exhilarated - I felt like I was leaving summer camp. If you're ever in New Zealand, I can't recommend The Rock enough.  We did so much in 22 hours without ever feeling like we were rushed or pressed for time. My only complaint about it is that we had to leave. I'd love to go again and again and again  - and thankfully - we can!

Waitangi Day in Whangarei Heads

Just two weeks after Auckland Anniversary Day we had another long weekend - this time for Waitangi Day, which commemorates the signing of New Zealand's founding document - a treaty between the British crown and Maori chiefs. In American terms, it's the 4th of July, but in reality, it's a lot more complicated than that (which is a post for a different kind of blog).

To celebrate this divisive holiday, we rented a bach with a group of friends in Whangarei Heads, which is about 2.5 hours north of Auckland.  This area has so much going for it - beaches, hikes, waterfalls, caves - and even a couple brewpubs! Even though it was raining for part of the weekend, we managed to fit a lot in.

Our first day it rained almost the entire day, so we thought it would be a good day to explore some caves, and headed to the Waipu Caves, which are New Zealand's largest non-commercial glow worm caves. Despite being free to get into, they were as good as or better than any other glow worm caves anyone in the group had been to.

If you're unsure about what glow worm caves are, check out our post about black water rafting over Christmas 2013. If you're still curious, just know this - "Basically what we're looking at is the snot and poop from a bunch of cannibalistic maggots" - and it's glorious!

Entering the cave - this doesn't capture just how dark it was, but the headlamps were necessary.  Also pictured - baby spelunking!

More pics from inside the cave - the bottom two are shots of the chamber with the most glow worms. Once this HUGE crowd moved through, we stood in darkness and quiet for a couple of minutes to really appreciate what we were seeing.  Even Baby J seemed to appreciate the wonder of the glow worms and respected our moment of silence.

Trying to capture the wonder of the glow worms. The top right "constellation" of cannibalistic maggot poo looks like a map of New Zealand.

 We had to cut our cave walk short because the only way onward involved getting waist-deep in water, which none of us were prepared for at that time. But by the time we emerged from the cave, it had stopped raining, so we dropped off our non-waterproof electronics and headed to Piroa Falls.

The falls were beautiful, but the water was SO COLD!  I was quite content to stay on dry land with L and Baby J, but when KS jumped in, my FOMO took over and I followed suit.  My body eventually recovered from the shock and we headed toward the falls.

Pictures from under the falls - top right is J explaining to Rob exactly how to swim under the falls (apparently there's a cave behind it - but I was willing to take Rob's word for it).  Bottom row - Rob swimming into the falls and then emerging safely with J close behind him.

The house we stayed in turned out to be even better than it seemed in pictures - and about twice as big. Even though there were 10 adults and a baby, we never felt cramped or in each other's way. There were two levels, and each had its own kitchen and living room.  We were only a 10 minute walk from the beach (if you didn't get lost, which we did - a few times). We spent our evenings playing games - Cards Against Humanity, Catchphrase and a few new ones (including Heads Up, which is an app that C and N introduced us to - I highly recommend downloading it immediately and playing the "Act it Out" category - kept us amused until the wee sma' hours).

Each couple took responsibility for a meal.  Rob and I did our traditional bach meal of gringo taco night, which took a grisly turn when Rob accidentally dropped a very heavy and very sharp chef's knife on my foot. Fortunately I have the reflexes of a cat and was able to dodge the worst of it at the last nanosecond, but I did spend the rest of the evening making sure I wasn't bleeding onto the carpet. As a bonus, I was excused from cooking or cleaning for the remainder of the evening - and now I can tease Rob about it for the rest of our lives (since I have nothing else to go on)!

Top: The view from our balony.  Bottom: The whole group (less J, who had to leave early).

Clockwise from top left: K photobombing our taco night picture; Baby J in a kayak; drinks on the balcony; M and baby J

Nighttime in Whangarei Heads

January

By the time we got back from our Christmas Vacation trip on the 8th, January was nearly a third over. By the time we fully recovered from being away for three weeks (and for over five weeks for me), we were pretty low on energy - but we still managed to get in a few adventures before the month was out.

We were already missing our vacation lifestyle after a week of being back at work, so organised a day trip with some friends up to Puhoi, which is about 30 minutes North of the city. Some of you may recall Puhoi from my birthday post, as that's where the Cheese Factory is located, but we had different plans for this trip. We spent a couple hours picnicking on the beach at Wenderholm Regional Park before kayaking 12km up the Puhoi River to Puhoi. The depth of the river is dependent on the tide, so you only get one shot per day for kayaking. When we first arrived the shallowest parts of the water barely covered my foot, and just a couple hours later it was knee-deep.

One of our friends brought his whole family along, but his wife is very pregnant, so she stayed back at the beach with the 2-year old. I volunteered to share a kayak with him and the 4-year old, H - and we had a great time!  Unfortunately, it was not without incident. We hopped out of the kayak to do some swimming about an hour into the trip, and H and I both managed to slice our feet up pretty badly on some sharp oysters along the riverbanks. I was bleeding the rest of the night and couldn't walk for a couple of days, but am doing much better now!

Top left: The river when we arrived; Bottom left: The river just before taking off - the place where my chair was is completely covered in water!  Bottom right: Some of the leaves were white along the bottom, which made it look like the trees were dusted in snow.

Despite the injuries, it was a great trip and I'd do it again in a heartbeat - but would not recommend getting out of the kayak!

Even though it was less than a month after our three-week break, we had a three-day weekend on the 24th-26th for Auckland Anniversary Day, which is a regional holiday that celebrates the date a white guy from Ireland arrived in the area.  We opted to stay home this year to check out some sales so we could get the two things our hearts most desired in all the world - a dryer and some ceiling fans!!!

As a reminder, we don't have air conditioning OR heat. Fortunately, even when it's really hot during the day it tends to cool down at night, but a fan is still a very welcome addition to any room. Most people here have never even considered putting a ceiling fan in their home, so pickings were slim, but we managed to find something that fit our needs. And then Rob managed to install it himself! Over a month later, they still work and haven't shown any signs of falling down - and they are worth every penny!

The dryer isn't as necessary during the summer - especially one that's been as hot and dry as this one has - but we figured a sale in the middle of summer would be a good time to get a great deal, and we were right!  We got a 2014 model for over 50% off.  We had to pay to have that installed, but again - worth every penny! Being able to do laundry without first checking the weather report is SUCH a luxury.

Hello sexy (I'll leave it to you to decide whether that's directed toward the man or the appliances)

Last but not least, the end of the month brought our very favourite thing in the world - visitors from home!!!  My Uncle J and Aunt P spent a couple of weeks in Sydney and road tripping on the South Island (with just a map - no GPS or cell phone service!) before coming up to Auckland to spend the weekend with us. We took them over to Waiheke Island (of course) to check out Sculpture on the Gulf, which was lovely, but what we did doesn't matter nearly as much as the fact that they were here!

Sculpture on the Gulf - we were pretty disappointed to learn that the wine bar in the bottom right was for display purposes only.

Hiking along the gulf.

It was so great to see you both - we're thrilled that you enjoyed this little country we call home as much as we do!

2014: Year Without Fear

Early March seems as good a time as any to reflect on the previous year's resolutions and goals, right?

The waterfall that started it all.

On New Year's Eve 2013, we went white water rafting on the Tongariro River. As part of our trip, we 'got' to climb up a rope and then jump off a waterfall. I am terrified of heights, but try not to let myself miss out on things that otherwise sound fun because of it.  So I scrambled up that rope, took a deep breath, and jumped. I was fine physically, but still felt shaken up a bit, and then disappointed that I hadn't let myself enjoy the experience.

Generally I don't make New Years resolutions, but this one made itself. I decided 2014 was going to be the year I got over my silly irrational fears, and declared it the Year Without Fear!

This started as a resolution to get over my fear of heights, which is easily my biggest irrational fear, but an opportunity presented itself in Australia in June to attempt to tackle my second biggest fear - snakes!  

At the Featherdale Wildlife Park in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney, they had a python out that people could hold. Historically, I have had trouble entering the reptile house at the zoo because I know it has snakes in it, so the idea of holding one seemed a little fantastical.  But there was a little girl holding this python, and so I thought - why the hell can't I? And so I did. Not without reluctance or uncertainty, but I did it!  I'm not saying I'm going to adopt a snake anytime soon, but they no longer hold the power over me they once did.

Thanks to Rob to capturing the stages of holding a snake - denial, reluctance and acceptance.

My first attempt at letting go of my fear of heights came on the 4th of July. We were out with friends and passed a big bungee ball next to the Sky Tower that sends people up 100m at 180kph. On an impulse we decided to give it a go. I was terrified at first, but once I let myself stop being afraid, I had a marvelous time.

Of course we had to get the photo package - goes from sheer terror to glee to bliss.

The most consistent test I faced was with flying. As a kid I loved take off, but somewhere along the lines (probably when I started watching Lost), I developed an intense fear that at one point required medication. I've been fighting with it for a long time, but this just led to the even more irrational fear that if I wasn't vigilantly fearful during take-off, the flight gods would smite me for my hubris, and down we'd go. So before I could learn to not be afraid, I had to learn that it was okay to not be afraid. It was a bit of a convoluted mess, but I got there in the end.

The grand finale for the year was meant to be paragliding in Wanaka over Christmas Vacation, but the weather didn't cooperate (I swear I would have gone!).  But I did the next best thing (or just the best thing) and voluntarily took a 45-minute Cessna flight from Milford Sound to Queenstown - and in the co-pilot seat! As I've said before, it was one of the high points of my life - and one that pre-resolution Megan probably would have passed on.

I'm not claiming to be cured entirely, and I certainly have no interest in things like bungee jumping, but I'm pretty proud of how far I've come since jumping off that waterfall. I have a new, mostly unrelated resolution for 2015 that so far is proving even more difficult than this one, but I'll let you know how it all turned out in 2016!