Your favorite kiwi travellers just got back from quite the adventure. Are you ready for the rundown? I sure hope so....
Orphans Christmas parties in our waterfront aparment. Sunbathing and cooking a feast on Christmas day. Waihieke Island for wine tasting (We may or may not have hitchhiked to one of the wineries. Yes I know, we are classy). A night/day in Whagamata. Sea Kayaking to hidden beaches on the surrounding islands in Whangamata (Think Pirates of the Caribbean but in real life!). Camping on the side of the road on the way to Rotorua (not as sketchy as it sounds, we promise). Using up the rest of Clem's clubhouse tab ($150) at Wairake golf course in Taupo by having Jackie pretend to be his wife. Gisborne for two nights including sneaking into the 3 day Rhythm and Vines festival on New Years Eve to be the first to bring in the New years with a bang (and lots of dancing). Camping on the beach and watching the sunrise at the eastern most point in New Zealand (first to see the sun!) Crashing a party in a $1200/night penthouse suite in Tauranga. A stop off in Whangamata on the way back to Auckland...and here we are again getting the last things taken care of before we move down with the Clements in Whangas for the month of January.
Exhausted yet from reading that? Cause we sure are from doing it all. Luckily for us where we're headed has a lot of time on the beach in store for us..and maybe a couple hours of work a week at a cafe. Yeah yeah we know, we have it rough.
Hope you all had a very happy and healthy and restful holiday season and that 2010 is treating you well!!
Sending lots of kiwi love!
Anna, Alissa, Jackie, and Kyle
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Monday, December 28, 2009
Yuletide Greetings!
Never mind the fact that this is coming after Christmas, for the record it was written before and only slow internet connections stood in our way of posting it earlier. In any case; hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas (though arguably a little less merry since we all were not there) and we hope you enjoy our Christmas poem!
Christmas Tidings!
‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the free waterfront penthouse apartment
It was just a bit more cozy than our beach camping at
Our time so far in
From mud pits to sheep sightings (lots), spring skiing and long drives
We have visited ancient Kauri trees, conquered volcanoes, seen dolphins, and explored near and far
All from the luxurious comfort of Stewie, our car
This holiday season, we miss you a lot
And wish we could be with you with all that we’ve got
But know we are healthy and happy and hope that Santa treats you right
And whether you have been naughty or whether you have been nice; 
Saturday, December 19, 2009
'tis the season for blog updates.
Things have been fantastic here in Auckland. Everyone is happy and healthy and we're all getting ready for christmas. (and by that, i mean we have procrastinated our Secret Santa gifts until the VERY last seconds.) Its strange to not be with family and friends at home, but its really good that we have each other... and some amazing friends here in Auckland. My brother came in almost a month ago now so our three is four for a while too.!
Work has been super busy for Anna and I- The pre-christmas rush of office holiday parties and (rich) kids on their school breaks have kept the restaurant super busy. We have worked a few twelve hour shifts already this week... but our last day of work is on the 23rd, so its nice to get the hours since we're not sure what jobs will be like for a while after we leave Auckland. Alissa is getting to the end of her swim teaching time as well... And all the parents of her little fish are sad that she wont be coming back. but we're moving on to bigger and better things....
We've been living in Andrew Clements' business partner's apartment since we left Jan's house/ spent one week renting two rooms in some random kids' house. Geoff was kind enough to let us move in to his unused apartment for the time we are in Auckland- its right on Prince's Wharf. google it. It has been So nice to have free housing... everyone is saving money and we are right downtown so we get to walk most places we go. So we're here until after Christmas then we have a bit of adventure planned.
We have an orphans christmas all organized. A friend from work is from Ireland and his flatmate said we can use her parent's bbq.... so we have invited and gathered all the "orphans" we know, and we are going to do drinks together Christmas Eve at our house then Christmas day seafood on the barbie at Dwayne's house. Some friends of my good friend from college are volunteering in American Samoa and are coming to stay with us for a few days and are joining in for Christmas festivities as well.
Then were going to Waiheke island for a day of wine and sun on the 26th/27th where a friend's parents own a house and are taking us in. Then we will start our journey to Gisborne where we will stay at another friend's parents house for New Year... maybe some backyard camping is in store. There is a huge 3 day concert that everyone flocks to (we don't have tickets but want to go down to party and participate.) We will take a few days getting down there stopping on the way and camping or staying with friends then after the new year we will do the same making our way home. Then we'll say farewell to Auckland and head to the Clements house in Coromandel for some surfing and adventures!
SOOOOOOOOO. thats the update on our kiwi travels.
Keep an eye out for one more update before Christmas.
we miss and love you all.
feliz navidad.
looooooove,
jackie kyle alissa and anna.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
I think its the 5th day of christmas now?
Seasons Greetings,
We just wanted to let everyone know that we are alive and well and we found a place to live. Holiday Cheer,
Jackie, Alissa, Anna and Kyle.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Everyday is an Adventure, right?
I know its been a while since we've updated the blog, but we were too overwhelmed by responding to all of your comments and messages about what we have posted already.
So here are a few updates:
Housing: If you would have asked us about 2 hours and 10 minutes ago about where we were currently living, we would have answered, of course, Stewie. For a semi-stressful but thrilling 30 minute drive or so, we officially were homeless. We were testing the car seats to see how far back they leaned, wondering how cold the Auckland night would be inside Stew's comfy interior, and just generally wondering about where we could park to sleep undisturbed by any urban police officers. Luckily, we spent that drive moving from the NorthShore where we had been living at Jan's house since the day we started housesitting (and of course all the subsequent time that they let us crash in their extra room) to downtown to meet a guy we texted at around eleven this morning whos friend had posted on the internet for him saying that he MIGHT have space in his house if anyone wanted to rent for a short 2 week period. ummmmm. YES PLEASE. did we mention we were HOMELESS. FOR 30 MINUTES?!? It was exhilarating. But seriously, homelessness is a serious issue facing countless individuals around the world. Just think, the next time you pass by a homeless individual on the street you could be passing by the Annas and Jackies and Alissas of the world. Just looking for a place to stay....and maybe some booze. Needless to say, we have a place to crash for the next week thanks to some "roommate drama." (whatever that means, we didn't ask)
Adventures: So you do realize that we do only usually post the highlights on this blog right? We don't go caving every day or get put up in some really nice beachfront property in the Coromandel (well, wait... we did do that two weekends ago)... In real life, we work during the week days (Tuesday/Wednesday depending on the week thru Saturday nights) then have Sunday-Tuesday to find something productive to do with ourselves. We sleep. We go on yogs (read that with a really soft Y). We walk around small towns in the area to find good cafes to drink coffee in. We explore hiking trails with friends of friends we meet the evening before we go. We aquire phone numbers, then high five that we made a new friend. *When those numbers come from customers at work, we usually don't high five. then we just hope those people we never call don't return to La Zeppa. Sorry Danny and Carl and Andrew and Travis+Friend and guy who told me he was from "seattle area and moving to Auckland."* We sit on beaches in the middle of November. We try Rasberry flavored beer from the first MicroBrewery in Auckland. We lounge around libraries. We teach liars dice to EVERYONE. We don't go yogging enough to feel ready for the 1/2 marathon that we will be running in less than 2 days. we pack extra dinner from work so it doesnt go to waste. we go to free boxing class. (thats a new one, and it hurts to raise our arms, hold anything, and type.) and we SURELY don't reread over our scuba diving manual before going diving with a group of strangers this weekend.
We are about to get the boot from the internet. We love you all and will post pictures soon.
Kiwi-love,
Jackie/Anna and Alissa.
So here are a few updates:
Housing: If you would have asked us about 2 hours and 10 minutes ago about where we were currently living, we would have answered, of course, Stewie. For a semi-stressful but thrilling 30 minute drive or so, we officially were homeless. We were testing the car seats to see how far back they leaned, wondering how cold the Auckland night would be inside Stew's comfy interior, and just generally wondering about where we could park to sleep undisturbed by any urban police officers. Luckily, we spent that drive moving from the NorthShore where we had been living at Jan's house since the day we started housesitting (and of course all the subsequent time that they let us crash in their extra room) to downtown to meet a guy we texted at around eleven this morning whos friend had posted on the internet for him saying that he MIGHT have space in his house if anyone wanted to rent for a short 2 week period. ummmmm. YES PLEASE. did we mention we were HOMELESS. FOR 30 MINUTES?!? It was exhilarating. But seriously, homelessness is a serious issue facing countless individuals around the world. Just think, the next time you pass by a homeless individual on the street you could be passing by the Annas and Jackies and Alissas of the world. Just looking for a place to stay....and maybe some booze. Needless to say, we have a place to crash for the next week thanks to some "roommate drama." (whatever that means, we didn't ask)
Adventures: So you do realize that we do only usually post the highlights on this blog right? We don't go caving every day or get put up in some really nice beachfront property in the Coromandel (well, wait... we did do that two weekends ago)... In real life, we work during the week days (Tuesday/Wednesday depending on the week thru Saturday nights) then have Sunday-Tuesday to find something productive to do with ourselves. We sleep. We go on yogs (read that with a really soft Y). We walk around small towns in the area to find good cafes to drink coffee in. We explore hiking trails with friends of friends we meet the evening before we go. We aquire phone numbers, then high five that we made a new friend. *When those numbers come from customers at work, we usually don't high five. then we just hope those people we never call don't return to La Zeppa. Sorry Danny and Carl and Andrew and Travis+Friend and guy who told me he was from "seattle area and moving to Auckland."* We sit on beaches in the middle of November. We try Rasberry flavored beer from the first MicroBrewery in Auckland. We lounge around libraries. We teach liars dice to EVERYONE. We don't go yogging enough to feel ready for the 1/2 marathon that we will be running in less than 2 days. we pack extra dinner from work so it doesnt go to waste. we go to free boxing class. (thats a new one, and it hurts to raise our arms, hold anything, and type.) and we SURELY don't reread over our scuba diving manual before going diving with a group of strangers this weekend.
We are about to get the boot from the internet. We love you all and will post pictures soon.
Kiwi-love,
Jackie/Anna and Alissa.
Friday, October 30, 2009
The Marathon is on the 21st...and here's what you just ate
Our next weekend adventure takes us to Whangerai (pronounced Fawn-ger-ay) where we had once again secured ourselves a couch to crash on through couch surfers. Said couch surfer host told us that the one thing we had to do in the area was go and see the Whangerai heads. How could we refuse?
After a couple hours drive we begin our journey out to the coast and the Whangerai Heads. We hiked up on a small reserve, found a lone picnic table and had ourselves a picnic of, what else, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!! After lunch we made our way to a nearby beach to watch some surfers (I exaggerate, there was only one surfer). Among the other things to entertain us on the beach were a large group of teens clad in DHL rash guards training to be surf lifeguards, and an equestrian training and riding her horse.
We then find our way back into town to find our accomodations and on the way get a text from our host, Matt, saying that we had all been invited to a "dinner party". Now as many of you are probably thinking, dinner party brings forth images of posh little get togethers in only the finest of attire. We are all wearing shorts and T-shirts from hiking earlier and so share in quite the laugh as we contemplate how this dinner party will go over.
Turns out the New Zealand dinner party is quite the casual event and we are quite properly dressed for the occasion. When we get to the house, flatmates Matt and Stu greet us and we all sit down over a beer to wait until we leave for dinner. Amidst this friendly sit down, we find out what we will be eating: A wild pig that the host had shot the day before.
We made it to said host's house ("John Boy") and found out that the beer supply is dwindling and another dessert is needed to complete this night. So Stu and the three of us set off to the nearest grocery store, Woolworth's. Jackie and Stu get in line to pay for the Heinieken while Anna and I wait behind them to pay for the apple crumble we found. Jackie gets ID'd at this point by the supervisor at the counter, who as she is pulling out her ID, turns to Anna and I and says, "I'm going to need to see all three of the ID's. No exceptions". Well turns out I haven't brought my passport with me and we have to leave bearing only an apple crumble. Apparently we look like under 18 year olds, who came in to the grocery store with the old man we convinced to buy us beer and observe and take part in the whole act...right. We end up giving the money to Matt who goes back and gets the beer for us :).
Later we feast on delicous wild pig, and during dinner conversation, Anna and Jackie agree to do the Kirikiri half marathon on November 21st. And this is where our title inspiration comes from because John Boy emerges from his room and hands the girls a brochure for the marathon and says, "Here's the info for the marathon on the 21st, oh and here's what you just ate for dinner" as he hands us this picture:
Our way home the next day is spent exploring local bays and beaches and then visiting the "Honey centre" which we had skipped on the way because we didn't want to experience the bitter dissapointment that had come hand in hand with Candyland once again. Let me tell you, the honey centre was no candyland. We had some of the best ice cream ever...boysenberry honey, macadamia nut honey, banana honey are only a few of the flavors. Way better than fudge.
Love,
Alissa, Anna and Jackie
After a couple hours drive we begin our journey out to the coast and the Whangerai Heads. We hiked up on a small reserve, found a lone picnic table and had ourselves a picnic of, what else, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!! After lunch we made our way to a nearby beach to watch some surfers (I exaggerate, there was only one surfer). Among the other things to entertain us on the beach were a large group of teens clad in DHL rash guards training to be surf lifeguards, and an equestrian training and riding her horse.
We then find our way back into town to find our accomodations and on the way get a text from our host, Matt, saying that we had all been invited to a "dinner party". Now as many of you are probably thinking, dinner party brings forth images of posh little get togethers in only the finest of attire. We are all wearing shorts and T-shirts from hiking earlier and so share in quite the laugh as we contemplate how this dinner party will go over.
Turns out the New Zealand dinner party is quite the casual event and we are quite properly dressed for the occasion. When we get to the house, flatmates Matt and Stu greet us and we all sit down over a beer to wait until we leave for dinner. Amidst this friendly sit down, we find out what we will be eating: A wild pig that the host had shot the day before.
We made it to said host's house ("John Boy") and found out that the beer supply is dwindling and another dessert is needed to complete this night. So Stu and the three of us set off to the nearest grocery store, Woolworth's. Jackie and Stu get in line to pay for the Heinieken while Anna and I wait behind them to pay for the apple crumble we found. Jackie gets ID'd at this point by the supervisor at the counter, who as she is pulling out her ID, turns to Anna and I and says, "I'm going to need to see all three of the ID's. No exceptions". Well turns out I haven't brought my passport with me and we have to leave bearing only an apple crumble. Apparently we look like under 18 year olds, who came in to the grocery store with the old man we convinced to buy us beer and observe and take part in the whole act...right. We end up giving the money to Matt who goes back and gets the beer for us :).
Later we feast on delicous wild pig, and during dinner conversation, Anna and Jackie agree to do the Kirikiri half marathon on November 21st. And this is where our title inspiration comes from because John Boy emerges from his room and hands the girls a brochure for the marathon and says, "Here's the info for the marathon on the 21st, oh and here's what you just ate for dinner" as he hands us this picture:
Our way home the next day is spent exploring local bays and beaches and then visiting the "Honey centre" which we had skipped on the way because we didn't want to experience the bitter dissapointment that had come hand in hand with Candyland once again. Let me tell you, the honey centre was no candyland. We had some of the best ice cream ever...boysenberry honey, macadamia nut honey, banana honey are only a few of the flavors. Way better than fudge.
Love,
Alissa, Anna and Jackie
Rawr Rawr Ka-Kaw
Less than ideal spring (that's right spring as in almost summer) weather had us looking for adventures that wouldn't leave us standing outside in the pouring rain. SO we chose to head south to the Waikato region to seek shelter in the region's network of limestone caves. It was here that we were to get one of our first real adventure-tourism as well as rural kiwi experiences...
The highlight of the 2 1/2 or so hour drive down was definitely the mini-detour to Candyland: "The Largest Working Candy Factory in New Zealand." And no, it wasn't as cool as it sounds and yes the candy was FAR from amazing. The disappointed hushed silence after we each bit into our first piece of fudge I'm pretty sure said it all.
We couchsurfed at the home of Marcus and Alice Gower who also have a 18 month daughter named Grace and a dog named Ms. Tickles. Or Mrs. Tickles as they had started calling her since she was pregnant and as they jokingly remarked, didn't want their dog to have illegitimate puppies. They were all great hosts and even have a lamb feast waiting for us on our arrival. The only condition for the use of their couches was that we cooked them a dinner one night while we were there. We are happy to report that we impressed them with our Mexican food cooking skills, which I'm pretty sure helped us to get an invite back. And for all of you at home scoffing at the thought of us cooking food good enough to merit an invite back have obviously not tasted my enchiladas, Jackie's guacamole, and Alissa's gourmet nachos. So take that. (As an aside, Alissa shredded the chicken with her bare hands. That's right ladies and gentlement, Alissa Hays had her hands allll over a chicken - woooo.)
As an additional aside, couchsurfing.org is a social networking site that connects travellers with hosts to put them on their couches, spare beds, fold outs, futons, etc. Don't worry parentals, you have to fill out a lot of information about yourself and you can can choose the people you stay with based on their profiles. The website is www.couchsurfing.org and you can even search our profile if you want. Its a sweet site and a really cool idea; bringing the world together, one couch at a time...
But back to the excitement....caving was awesome. But that may be an understatement. It took a lot of cost/benefit, price analysis of what we would be willing to spend on caving (cause, come on, there are two econ majors in this bunch) but we ultimately settled on the 7 hour Lost World Ultimate caving adventure (their title, not ours). The trip consists of a 100m abseil (rappel) down into the cave and then taking the wet way out following an underground river upstream.
Writing about all the details of the trip probably won't do this experience any justice but seeing the sunlit mist of the cave mouth while suspended in the air, watching the sunlight disappear behine us, climbing up underground waterfalls, jumping through holes into the river below, eating a chocolate fish in the middle of the cave, and laying back and watching the lights of glowworms appear suspended about us like stars in the night sky are experiences that I wil definitely never forget. It was such a fun yet challenging yet rewarding and unique experience on that we are so lucky and thankful to have experienced.
We concluded the long weekend with a hike up another volcano that looked out over the Waikato river vally and a drive up the Western coast of New Zealand. It was a very pretty drive overlooking some beautiful coastline and pretty waterfalls. Not so many paved roads though. Apprantly there aren't too many of those in the boonies of New Zealand (which pretty much means anywhere about 20 min outside of a town.)
Oh and the Rawr Rawr Ka-Kaw in the title was our call that we incessantly called out to each ther and thought it was hilarious, especially with the echo from the cave. We stole it from the movie Up!, its ok, no one in our group had seen it either....
Your favorite spluenkers. Out.
Anna, Alissa, and Jackie
The highlight of the 2 1/2 or so hour drive down was definitely the mini-detour to Candyland: "The Largest Working Candy Factory in New Zealand." And no, it wasn't as cool as it sounds and yes the candy was FAR from amazing. The disappointed hushed silence after we each bit into our first piece of fudge I'm pretty sure said it all.
We couchsurfed at the home of Marcus and Alice Gower who also have a 18 month daughter named Grace and a dog named Ms. Tickles. Or Mrs. Tickles as they had started calling her since she was pregnant and as they jokingly remarked, didn't want their dog to have illegitimate puppies. They were all great hosts and even have a lamb feast waiting for us on our arrival. The only condition for the use of their couches was that we cooked them a dinner one night while we were there. We are happy to report that we impressed them with our Mexican food cooking skills, which I'm pretty sure helped us to get an invite back. And for all of you at home scoffing at the thought of us cooking food good enough to merit an invite back have obviously not tasted my enchiladas, Jackie's guacamole, and Alissa's gourmet nachos. So take that. (As an aside, Alissa shredded the chicken with her bare hands. That's right ladies and gentlement, Alissa Hays had her hands allll over a chicken - woooo.)The View from the Gower's Backyard
As an additional aside, couchsurfing.org is a social networking site that connects travellers with hosts to put them on their couches, spare beds, fold outs, futons, etc. Don't worry parentals, you have to fill out a lot of information about yourself and you can can choose the people you stay with based on their profiles. The website is www.couchsurfing.org and you can even search our profile if you want. Its a sweet site and a really cool idea; bringing the world together, one couch at a time...But back to the excitement....caving was awesome. But that may be an understatement. It took a lot of cost/benefit, price analysis of what we would be willing to spend on caving (cause, come on, there are two econ majors in this bunch) but we ultimately settled on the 7 hour Lost World Ultimate caving adventure (their title, not ours). The trip consists of a 100m abseil (rappel) down into the cave and then taking the wet way out following an underground river upstream.
Just hanging out
Our group...
Cave Monster
Our group was a good one featuring two Kiwi guides, 3 Spanish commercial pilots (who didn't realize that we spoke Spanish until after we accidently laughed outloud to one of their jokes meant only for them...we have since been invited to stay at their place in Madrid w00000), us (straight ballers, obviously), and two women who are professional poker players from LA (no don't check your initial sterotypes, they were a bit oblivious, blonde, - although that is in no way necessarily connected to the previous adjective, and "thought they were going to die" on several occaisions in the cave, despite being warned about needing a certain fitness level to complete the trip. Someone clearly did not do their research...)
Writing about all the details of the trip probably won't do this experience any justice but seeing the sunlit mist of the cave mouth while suspended in the air, watching the sunlight disappear behine us, climbing up underground waterfalls, jumping through holes into the river below, eating a chocolate fish in the middle of the cave, and laying back and watching the lights of glowworms appear suspended about us like stars in the night sky are experiences that I wil definitely never forget. It was such a fun yet challenging yet rewarding and unique experience on that we are so lucky and thankful to have experienced.
We concluded the long weekend with a hike up another volcano that looked out over the Waikato river vally and a drive up the Western coast of New Zealand. It was a very pretty drive overlooking some beautiful coastline and pretty waterfalls. Not so many paved roads though. Apprantly there aren't too many of those in the boonies of New Zealand (which pretty much means anywhere about 20 min outside of a town.)
Oh and the Rawr Rawr Ka-Kaw in the title was our call that we incessantly called out to each ther and thought it was hilarious, especially with the echo from the cave. We stole it from the movie Up!, its ok, no one in our group had seen it either....Your favorite spluenkers. Out.
Anna, Alissa, and Jackie
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