Kiwi Christmas and New Year

We had a lovely Christmas heralding the official summer holidays here in the southern hemisphere.  The official Christmas tree is the huge, red-flowered pohutukara. http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/pohutukawa-flowers.  We spent Christmas Eve in Auckland with a FOF (friend of a friend) in an open-air church gathering singing Kiwi carols where the 12 days of Christmas included 5 big fat pigs, 4 huhu grubs, 3 flax kits, 2 kumera, and a pukeko in a pongo tree.  Afterward we munched on mince pies (the suet-free version) and watched a glorious sunset at 10 pm.

Earlier that day we visited two of the major Auckland attractions: the Auckland Museum and the Sky Tower.  In the museum we saw incredible Maori carvings and a live Maori dance.  Maori now number 250,000 out 
of a total population of 4.5 million.
   

After the show we went to the city’s Sky Tower – the highest structure in the Southern Hemisphere – where we were just a little too late for the girls to make bungee jump from the top.  “No worries” as they say here.

On Christmas day, we headed out of the big city; 20 minutes out and the landscape turned desolate and exotic.  The GPS unit we brought along helped with directions but it didn’t steer us from driving on the wrong side of the road.  A few white-knuckled hours later and we arrived at our quaint cottage on Coramandel Peninsula.  We unloaded our suitcases, picked up beach towels and a small shovel and headed off to catch low tide at the Hot Water Beach.

For a while we thought we were the only humans outside the city.  (They say humans make up only 5% of the NZ "animal" population). Then we saw the lines of cars, campervans and mini-buses.  People from all over the world had gathered at this isolated inlet along the South Pacific Coast. This tiny part of the coast is heated by a geothermal spring that makes extremely hot pools of water on the beach when the tide pulls out.  

Five minutes from the Hot Water Beach is a hiking spot that leads to Cathedral Cove and some other smaller and less famous inlets.  The setting looked like the famous pictures from Guilin, China. http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1280&bih=709&q=guilin+china&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Jellyfish we saw snorkeling

December 26 is Boxing Day which would mean after-Christmas sales (like Black Friday) and lots of packages or “boxes.”  On the seaside it meant the official start of the summer holidays.  Of course we had to do the famous glass bottom boat ride in Whitianga (pronounced Vit-e-anga).   This was where the Narnia movie “Prince Caspian” was filmed. We got to snorkel off the side with two British sisters and a young Cambodian family.  

We are glad Audrey and Nina took marine bio in school last semester so they could identify the stingray and trigger fish and the swarms (school?) of stinging jellyfish. 

After 2 days of beach fun (covered in SPF 50) we headed south to Rotorua -- a lakeside town known for its geothermal sites and significant Maori population (one third of the 68,000 residents).  The whole town smells like sulphur but we got used to it, sort of.  The girls soaked in a mineral pool which was very hot, a little smelly, and filled with strange floating gunk that grossed us out.  At least they tried it.

The rain gave us a chance to see some indoor sites.   We ventured to the “agrodome” that was mostly a tourist site showcasing the sheep/wool industry.  We saw 19 varieties of sheep.  Yes, sheep is big business in NZ. Audrey got feed a spring lamb from a bottle. 

The sheep shearer offered to give Audrey's partner a haircut

The girls were looking for some outdoor adventure after our first rainy day, so on the drive to Hastings in Hawkes Bay we stopped for a jet boat ride near Huka Falls.   The rowdy boat driver taunted us with 360 degree spins just in front of the falls and all along the river.  Jill got dizzy right away and wisely jumped ship.  

We dried off and moved further down the coast to our current location in the wine and fruit growing region where we have our own small cottage with an incredible view out our front door.

Our neighbors are mostly bovine

Successful Take Off and Landing

We finally got off the ground after a last night at home spent wildly over-packing, followed by a sobering final hour spent unpacking after we weighed our luggage and realized the overage would cost as much as another seat on the plane.  Still, we ended up with more than we need.  So far though I am glad we brought a few essentials:  duct tape (put to use on day 1 to fix the handle of the overstuffed carry-on), multi-function Swiss army knives (Nick would never allow us to leave home without one) and Kindles and headphones (for a little quiet time in-between all this togetherness).

do you think we over-packed?  

Before the ocean crossing, we spent 2 days in L.A. to transition from home.  We had great visits with friends and family and a few last American meals. The hearty burgers and pb+j milkshakes http://www.8ozburgerbar.com/#/gallery should keep our cholesterol high enough to affirm our US citizenship for 7 months.  

We took a late-night Qantas flight (Mike and I got champagne to wash down our Ambien, the girls went coach). 15 hours later, we landed in Auckland. Before the jet lag could catch up to us (it's tomorrow here), we were out in the sunshine touring the city and harbor.

How can two control freaks ride a tandem?  

Auckland and the South Pacific Ocean

Audrey and Nina with NZ 6 pointed sea stars

Getting Ready

14' F = -10' C

We are not Down Under yet but we are ready to go.  We are starting to think in Celsius and when we see -10 degrees here in Chicago, we realize that it is time to head to the balmy southern hemisphere.

How are we preparing for our adventure?

• Finishing up school (Nina and Audrey), projects (Jill), Foundation work (Mike)
• Trying to eat the last of the perishable food in the over-stocked Costco pantry
• Getting in some good wear on our winter clothes before they go back in the attic for another year
• Downloading lots of books and music for the long days of travel 
• Confirming plane tickets, visas, 40 nights of  hotel reservations before we find a home in Melbourne
• Saying goodbye to friends and family who we won't see for 7 months unless they come visit us!