Hello again from Down Under!
If I've learned anything on this trip, it's that I'm NOT a good blogger! It's much easier just to jump on Facebook and post something here and there. I have friends who currently have great blogs (this means you, Jess!), but I just don't have the patience. Maybe it's because we are always on the go here...but in reality that should just give me MORE to write about! That being said, here's our latest update...
I wrote about Day 8 in the last entry...Hiking in Abel Tasman....so...
Day 9: After the water taxi took us back to civilization, our next stop was St. Arnaud, which is a quiet little town in the middle of a National Park (pretty much all of NZ is in a National Park!). We stayed at a cute little place called Alpine Lodge in a simple little room. We (meaning me) were tired from the hike, so we had an early dinner in their restaurant. We basically ordered off the kids menu...I had pepperoni pizza and Dannie had Mac n cheese!
Day 10: Wow! Not sure how I got talked into this one, but today we did a HARD hike! Mount Robert! I don't know the specifics, other than it seemed like it was straight up the mountain for an hour and a half. At the bottom it was cold, then so hot we had to strip a few layers, then all of a sudden it was like hurricane strength winds! I literally had to stop and hold on to a bush because I thought I was going to get blown off. I was so thankful when we made it to the hut at the top where we had lunch. A hut is where hikers spend the night...they have bunks and cooking facilities. We visited with a guy from NZ and 2 French girls while we ate. Then it was time to go back down the mountain. Again gale force winds! But, it was also fun (and funny)! Dannie hiked ahead of me to get the car...while I took a wrong turn and added another 1/2 hour onto the hike. That part was easy, though. The views on the hike were AMAZING...you
could see forever!
In celebration of the hike, we spoiled ourselves and stayed at a beautiful oceanfront resort called Punakaiki Resort. The view from our room was beautiful and the sunset was gorgeous. Dannie went off exploring the beach before dinner (the boy never sits still!). We ate at their restaurant and had a table overlooking the ocean. That night, we sat on our deck and had an incredible view of the stars. The Milky Way always amazes me!
Day 11: the next morning, Dannie took me an a mini version of his beach exploration. Let's just say my comfort zone is a little narrower than his, so we turned around early. After we checkout out, we went to visit the "Pancake Rocks". Its hard to describe (try Google), but basically they are huge rocks in the oceans that have visible layers from the water beating
against them. We visited here last time and they are very cool!
This time we did a very easy, beautiful hike to a waterfall. The trail was basically all under cover so it was even cool. There weren't many others on the trail, but one guy we passed was from Madison!
Our next stop was St. Arthur's pass, where we intended to do a couple hikes. We stayed at a cute little cabin and I made dinner that night...steak, corn on the cob and risotto. Oh, and lots of WINE! After dinner we played Sequence. Dannie won the tournament, but then we realized we played wrong, so I don't think it should count.
Day 12: like I said, we planned on doing a couple hikes here. NZ weather had other plans. We woke up to rain, which totally counted me OUT for hiking. Dannie went ahead and did a BIG hike called Avalanche Trail while I stayed back, wrote in my journal, checked Facebook...and even did laundry. That night we went to dinner at a cute cafe called The Wobbly Kea. A Kea is a NZ parrot.
Then...the fun began! We went to another bar for a nightcap. It was a lodge-like atmosphere...roaring fire, beamed ceiling...even a couple "pub dogs". We started talking to a group of 9 guys from Australia who were doing a biking trip here. They were quite entertaining! One of the guys, Max, was supposedly a poet and we got him to stand up a couple times and recite some funny poetry. Even got some video. He reminded me of the Gorton's Fisherman for some reason! We had a blast with them!
Day 12: Woke up to more rain! We decided to do a little hike anyways to a waterfall...one Dannie did the day before ( so my earlier post was wrong...today was the waterfall hike...the other one was along a river). The hike was easy and the waterfall was incredible! The weather was just not cooperating and we had to decide which direction we were going to head next. Flipped a coin to decide...but then headed in the opposite direction!
Our next stop was to see the Franz Joseph Glacier. Last time we were here, we actually did the hike ON the glacier. It was really foggy and we couldn't see the top, but since the glacier is slowly receding, we thought we'd check it out once more. We stayed that night near a different one called Fox Glacier. It was rainy and foggy, so we didn't really see it. We had a cool little cabin and I made dinner again. I don't know why, but in NZ there are few hotels with bath tubs. This cabin had a Jacuzzi tub, which was pretty exciting!
Day 13: awoke to....more rain This time it was pretty heavy. Most of the day was spent in the car with me being scared! It was like hurricane strength winds and rain. At one point, a huge tree fell across the road and we coiled barely drive around it. The scariest part was that we had just driven past that site but decided to turn back and get gas. Driving on the windy roads along cliffs with no guard rail is not my idea of fun. Dannie was having a blast, though, because the heavy rain was producing huge, beautiful waterfalls.
Today we were headed to my favorite town in New Zealand...Wanaka! Its a quaint town on a beautiful lake that is surrounded my mountains (some snow capped). There are cute shops and great restaurants! We went to one of our favorite places from last time...a movie theater called Cafe Paradiso. Its an eclectic little place where the seating is various chairs, love seats, airplane seats, pillows...even an actual car you can sit in. They serve food and drinks and at intermission they have HUGE cookies right out of the oven. We had a pizza, bottle of wine, and 3 cookies! The movie was "My week with Marilyn", which was good (but the movie isn't the reason you go!). After dinner we had a night cap at a sports bar overlooking the lake.
Day 14: Guess what...more rain! We decided to hike in the rain anyways. Last time we did a great hike to the Rob Roy Glacier. It was sunny and we had a picnic at the top. This time...we were drenched and a little cold, but the picnic at the top was still fun! The glacier was a little fogged in, but we could see better than we had anticipated. Well worth it!
That night we went to an awesome restaurant called The Cow, which surprisingly, wasn't a steak place. The inside was stone with beamed ceilings and a fireplace. Perfect for a chilly night. We shared a VERY yummy pizza. Afterwards we had a night cap at a neat little bar. I just love Wanaka and would LOVE to live here!
Well, thats it for week 2. Time to go check the laundry while Dannie is out hiking. More later!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Hiking in Abel Tasman National Park
Today is the day we start our first big hike! In New Zealand, they have what's called the "8 Great Walks" and these are various multiple day hikes throughout the country. Last time we did 2 of these and we are doing 2 more this time. Anyways, this hike is called the Abel Tasman Coastal Track (their word for trail). My husband is the BEST and arranged for my heavy backpack to be transferred by boat, so all I had to wear was a small waist pack! That made a huge difference! The first day was about 22 km and it was beautiful! We walked along the ocean, up the mountain though incredible greenery and even had to take off our shoes to cross some estuaries. We stopped for a picnic on the beach but the sand flies were terrible so we ate quickly. On this trail we had 2 choices of lodging. There are huts you can stay in, which have bunk beds and a big kitchen for everyone to share, or you can bring your own tent. This time we decided to use the tent...more privacy and it just adds to the adventure. We arrived at the camp site 6 hours later and were relieved that my backpack had been delivered. We set up the tent and it was literally about 20 feet from the beach- beautiful! The name of the area was Bark Bay, but we renamed it Beagle Bay! The beach was very private and we basically had it to ourselves. Dannie is in charge of camp cooking and whipped up a great meal of salmon, rice and Mac n cheese. I was the bartender!
Small world story!
Six months ago, Dannie did a hike called the West Coast Trail, which was on Vancouver Island, Canada. He met a lot of great people from several different countries. Fast forward to our hike. As we were finishing dinner, 2 boys came walking into camp (when I say boys, I mean one was 19 and the other about 24). We said hello and chatted for a minute. One was from the States and the other from Canada (can you see where this is heading?). Long story short, turns out the 19 year old, Hector, was on the West Coast Trail the same exact time Dannie was...and they had actually met and hung out on the trail! Dannie even has pictures of Hector on Facebook from the hike! This revelation only took about 30 seconds...since as soon as Hector said he was from Canada Dannie told him he had just done that trail. Such a small world! What are the chances that 6 months later, these 2 would meet on another trail in the Southern Hemisphere across the world. Bizarre! We invited Hector and Matt to join us at our site and they made dinner while the two told stories about the West Coast Trail. Such a small world!
Later that night, Dannie and I laid on the beach, completely alone. It was a little cloudy, so we couldn't see as many stars as we hoped for. But just laying there, alone, on a secluded beach in NZ, loosening to the crashing waves....was so amazing! We could have slept out there if it weren't for the nasty sandflies (that found me in the tent anyways!).
The next morning we made soup for breakfast, said farewell to the boys and got back on the trail. The place we were supposed to be picked up by the water taxi was expected to be too windy, so we hiked a shorter distance to be picked up. Conveniently, this location just happened to be a 4 star hotel called the Awaroa Lodge. Cheapest room is $400/night. We got there early, so we enjoyed lunch overlooking the mountains...and also finished off a bottle of wine! Dannie went off to explore while I sat on the patio and updated my journal. Then it was time to walk down to the beach to catch the water taxi. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were on the boat for almost 2 hours, as we had to stop and pick up people/kayaks along the way. Our boat driver took us to an island where there is a seal colony, but it was a little windy for them and we only saw two. Back at the water taxi office, I was glad to see my backpack arrived safely again. Too bad I can have it transported EVERY time!
Small world story!
Six months ago, Dannie did a hike called the West Coast Trail, which was on Vancouver Island, Canada. He met a lot of great people from several different countries. Fast forward to our hike. As we were finishing dinner, 2 boys came walking into camp (when I say boys, I mean one was 19 and the other about 24). We said hello and chatted for a minute. One was from the States and the other from Canada (can you see where this is heading?). Long story short, turns out the 19 year old, Hector, was on the West Coast Trail the same exact time Dannie was...and they had actually met and hung out on the trail! Dannie even has pictures of Hector on Facebook from the hike! This revelation only took about 30 seconds...since as soon as Hector said he was from Canada Dannie told him he had just done that trail. Such a small world! What are the chances that 6 months later, these 2 would meet on another trail in the Southern Hemisphere across the world. Bizarre! We invited Hector and Matt to join us at our site and they made dinner while the two told stories about the West Coast Trail. Such a small world!
Later that night, Dannie and I laid on the beach, completely alone. It was a little cloudy, so we couldn't see as many stars as we hoped for. But just laying there, alone, on a secluded beach in NZ, loosening to the crashing waves....was so amazing! We could have slept out there if it weren't for the nasty sandflies (that found me in the tent anyways!).
The next morning we made soup for breakfast, said farewell to the boys and got back on the trail. The place we were supposed to be picked up by the water taxi was expected to be too windy, so we hiked a shorter distance to be picked up. Conveniently, this location just happened to be a 4 star hotel called the Awaroa Lodge. Cheapest room is $400/night. We got there early, so we enjoyed lunch overlooking the mountains...and also finished off a bottle of wine! Dannie went off to explore while I sat on the patio and updated my journal. Then it was time to walk down to the beach to catch the water taxi. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were on the boat for almost 2 hours, as we had to stop and pick up people/kayaks along the way. Our boat driver took us to an island where there is a seal colony, but it was a little windy for them and we only saw two. Back at the water taxi office, I was glad to see my backpack arrived safely again. Too bad I can have it transported EVERY time!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
New Zealand - Week 1
Well, we learned three things when we landed in NZ last Sunday.
1. US Passports have thick lamination and are hard to scan, which makes you be detained by Immigration while they try to clear you.
2. Just because it is Duty Free, doesn't mean we need to buy 3 huge bottles of Absolute in order to get a free gift (mini martini shaker).
3. Even if you have a Beagle at home, it is still illegal to take a picture of the Beagle drug dog at the airport. You may be asked to delete the photos from your camera.
Internet has still been a pain, so I'm just going to give the daily highlights from our first week in paradise!
DAY 1:
We arrived at 1pm, picked up our rental car ( a gold Nissan we named "Goldie"...real original!). For the next 2 nights we stayed at an amazing lodge in the mountains called Wairua Lodge. The property was amazing...we especially loved the tree top bath house, which was basically an open-air jacuzzi tub overlooking trees and a stream...very romantic with candles, music and a bottle of wine! Dinner that night in a town called Whitianga.
Day 2:
Went to 2 different beaches. Chum Beach, which was only accessible by a hike across the water, boulders and trees, but had a huge payoff with a pristine beach, beautiful views and only a few people. Then on to Hot Water Beach, which is a big tourist spot. You arrive in early afternoon and dig. Hole in the sand to make your own little jacuzzi. Its hit or miss if your spot is boiling, hot, warm or cold. Our first one was literally boiling so poor Dannie continued to dig and we ended up with a hot one. Just added a few buckets of ocean water and it was pretty nice. My favorite watch decided to fall out of my shorts and may never be seen again. :(
For dinner, we bought some filets, corn on the cob, mussels and risotto and prepared it in the lodge's community cabana kitchen. We were the only guests that night so it was perfect. Dannie says that is his favorite meal so far! Another trip to the tree house bath house after dinner!
Day 3:
Woke up to a beautiful day, said goodbye to the wonderful owners(Charles and Tam) and started our LONG drive up around the coast to Gisborne. We were in the car for about 11 hours with just a couple short stops. There were literally NO gas stations along the way in the middle of nowhere and we arrived in "Gizzy" on fumes! The next hurdle was arriving at the motel at 9pm only to find the office closed at 8:00. We had pre-paid, but there were no keys left in the box for us. The caretaker's house was on the pro pert with a tall wooden fence around it. After dialing the emergency after-hours number multiple times with no answer, I opened the gate and walked up to the guy's door and knocked. Told him our problem and he was super nice, came up to the office and took care of us. He ended up being from California. In NZ, most places shut down real early and we ended up "dining" at KFC! The chicken there is SMALL because they don't use any steroids on theirs. Big difference from the States! Back to our room for some sleep before the SHARK CAGE DIVE the next day! I was awake most of the night, except for a couple scary dreams about sharks!
Day 4:
SHARK DAY!!!! We were told by the "shark guy" to be there at 7:30. When we arrived at his office /house, the door was open so we walked in...just as Boyd's wife walks by in a towel! Very laid back in NZ! long story short, the weather wasn't great so our departure got pushed back to 10:00. We went for breakfast at Captain Morgan's and had some great seafood chowder, then back to dive shop. Fast forward to the boat ride, which we had to go 10 miles past the regular spot because the water was so rough. Fun ride, though, and we saw a penguin in the water. The other people on board were a Canadian couple (Stacy, his wife Alanna and their 9 year old Jake). As soon as the boat stopped, my poor husband got extremely sea sick and didn't get to enjoy the adventure. He didn't feel well again until the ride back to shore. Now, I could go on a d on about the details of the dive, but to some it up in one word...UNBELIEVABLE! I've been terrified of sharks since I was little (thanks, Steven Spielberg!) and I really wanted to face my fear. As soon as the first shark came (a little 4 foot Mako), I was ready to go! It was just crazy. We were just feet away from him watching from under the water as he ate the bait. So cool! A little while later, a larger Blue shark came. It took forever to get another shark to come take the bait, even though we were fishing and catching tons of fish (including 3 SCARY Barracuda). We were about to leave and all of a sudden an 8 foot Blue shark arrived and was hungry! I was already dried off and warmed up and didn't really want to jump in again, but after some encouragement from Boyd the shark guy, I jumped in and it was the most incredible thing I've ever seen. Just like on Shark Week. This shark was inches from the cage attacking the bait viciously. Even rammed the cage with his snout! I stayed down there for about 20 minutes just in awe. Jake was in the cage with me and he was having a blast. Because Dannie had been sick the entire time, we didn't get any pictures, but he did manage to take a 2 minute video of me in the cage. And Boyd will be mailing a DVD of the footage he took. Truly and awesome experience which id love to do again. Now I'm not scared of sharks...but I am of those nasty Barracuda! Celebratory dinner that night at an Irish bar!
Day 5:
Today we had another long drive south to visit some friend we met the last time we were here 3 years ago. We stopped at another great beach, Cathedral Cove, on the way. We met David and Helen on one of our hikes and enjoyed dinner and drinks that night at our lodge. They invited us to stay at their house and join them for dinner. Their house turned out to be right on the beach with absolutely incredible views and an amazing sunset. They own an olive oil company called Kapiti Oli(we are bringing some home). We had lots of wine and a great meal of NZ Lamb. Their product was named Best Olive Oil in 2010! We really enjoyed our visit with them.
Day 6:
After breakfast, David took us on a tour of their olive tree grove with 2018 trees. Then we headed out towards the big city of Wellington. We spent a couple days here last time and loved it. This time we just did some sightseeing and had lunch at an Italian restaurant overlooking the harbor. We stayed at a very cool hotel called the Museum Art Hotel and had dinner at their top floor restaurant called Hippopotamus. After dinner we had a couple drinks at a VERY COOL bar called Hawthorn. For those of you who are fans of "Flight of the Conchords", this bar is owned by "Brett" and his brothers. The bartenders were more like artists. Every drink they made was a work of art and they took their time making them just perfect. No mixing vodka with Sprite at this place!
Day 7:
Left Wellington via the Inter Island Ferry to cross over to the South Island. The ferry is enormous and we took our car on board also. It's a 3 hour crossing with AMAZING views, which Dannie enjoyed while I slept in the "reclining lounge". I did join him at the end and got to see several dolphins playing in the water. Arrived in Picton and headed south to Nelson so we could make our arrangements for our first big hike tomorrow. Today is St. Patricks Day and NZ has a huge Irish population, so its been fun. Stopped in Havelock and had lunch outside while listening to a band at the festival nearby. We got to Nelson and booked our hike on the Abel Tasman and also the water taxi that brings us back. I must admit, I'm a bit happy we are only having one night on the trail. Tonight we had a great Italian meal (mushroom pasta for me...salmon ravioli for him) and a couple drinks. We had to come back to our very cute lodge to pack our backpacks and get ready to get up early. The first day will be about 7 hours (about 12 miles I think). Wish me luck!
Will update more when I get a chance. Haven't had time to add more pictures to Facebook, but trust me, I have plenty! Good night...and Happy St.Patrick's Day!
1. US Passports have thick lamination and are hard to scan, which makes you be detained by Immigration while they try to clear you.
2. Just because it is Duty Free, doesn't mean we need to buy 3 huge bottles of Absolute in order to get a free gift (mini martini shaker).
3. Even if you have a Beagle at home, it is still illegal to take a picture of the Beagle drug dog at the airport. You may be asked to delete the photos from your camera.
Internet has still been a pain, so I'm just going to give the daily highlights from our first week in paradise!
DAY 1:
We arrived at 1pm, picked up our rental car ( a gold Nissan we named "Goldie"...real original!). For the next 2 nights we stayed at an amazing lodge in the mountains called Wairua Lodge. The property was amazing...we especially loved the tree top bath house, which was basically an open-air jacuzzi tub overlooking trees and a stream...very romantic with candles, music and a bottle of wine! Dinner that night in a town called Whitianga.
Day 2:
Went to 2 different beaches. Chum Beach, which was only accessible by a hike across the water, boulders and trees, but had a huge payoff with a pristine beach, beautiful views and only a few people. Then on to Hot Water Beach, which is a big tourist spot. You arrive in early afternoon and dig. Hole in the sand to make your own little jacuzzi. Its hit or miss if your spot is boiling, hot, warm or cold. Our first one was literally boiling so poor Dannie continued to dig and we ended up with a hot one. Just added a few buckets of ocean water and it was pretty nice. My favorite watch decided to fall out of my shorts and may never be seen again. :(
For dinner, we bought some filets, corn on the cob, mussels and risotto and prepared it in the lodge's community cabana kitchen. We were the only guests that night so it was perfect. Dannie says that is his favorite meal so far! Another trip to the tree house bath house after dinner!
Day 3:
Woke up to a beautiful day, said goodbye to the wonderful owners(Charles and Tam) and started our LONG drive up around the coast to Gisborne. We were in the car for about 11 hours with just a couple short stops. There were literally NO gas stations along the way in the middle of nowhere and we arrived in "Gizzy" on fumes! The next hurdle was arriving at the motel at 9pm only to find the office closed at 8:00. We had pre-paid, but there were no keys left in the box for us. The caretaker's house was on the pro pert with a tall wooden fence around it. After dialing the emergency after-hours number multiple times with no answer, I opened the gate and walked up to the guy's door and knocked. Told him our problem and he was super nice, came up to the office and took care of us. He ended up being from California. In NZ, most places shut down real early and we ended up "dining" at KFC! The chicken there is SMALL because they don't use any steroids on theirs. Big difference from the States! Back to our room for some sleep before the SHARK CAGE DIVE the next day! I was awake most of the night, except for a couple scary dreams about sharks!
Day 4:
SHARK DAY!!!! We were told by the "shark guy" to be there at 7:30. When we arrived at his office /house, the door was open so we walked in...just as Boyd's wife walks by in a towel! Very laid back in NZ! long story short, the weather wasn't great so our departure got pushed back to 10:00. We went for breakfast at Captain Morgan's and had some great seafood chowder, then back to dive shop. Fast forward to the boat ride, which we had to go 10 miles past the regular spot because the water was so rough. Fun ride, though, and we saw a penguin in the water. The other people on board were a Canadian couple (Stacy, his wife Alanna and their 9 year old Jake). As soon as the boat stopped, my poor husband got extremely sea sick and didn't get to enjoy the adventure. He didn't feel well again until the ride back to shore. Now, I could go on a d on about the details of the dive, but to some it up in one word...UNBELIEVABLE! I've been terrified of sharks since I was little (thanks, Steven Spielberg!) and I really wanted to face my fear. As soon as the first shark came (a little 4 foot Mako), I was ready to go! It was just crazy. We were just feet away from him watching from under the water as he ate the bait. So cool! A little while later, a larger Blue shark came. It took forever to get another shark to come take the bait, even though we were fishing and catching tons of fish (including 3 SCARY Barracuda). We were about to leave and all of a sudden an 8 foot Blue shark arrived and was hungry! I was already dried off and warmed up and didn't really want to jump in again, but after some encouragement from Boyd the shark guy, I jumped in and it was the most incredible thing I've ever seen. Just like on Shark Week. This shark was inches from the cage attacking the bait viciously. Even rammed the cage with his snout! I stayed down there for about 20 minutes just in awe. Jake was in the cage with me and he was having a blast. Because Dannie had been sick the entire time, we didn't get any pictures, but he did manage to take a 2 minute video of me in the cage. And Boyd will be mailing a DVD of the footage he took. Truly and awesome experience which id love to do again. Now I'm not scared of sharks...but I am of those nasty Barracuda! Celebratory dinner that night at an Irish bar!
Day 5:
Today we had another long drive south to visit some friend we met the last time we were here 3 years ago. We stopped at another great beach, Cathedral Cove, on the way. We met David and Helen on one of our hikes and enjoyed dinner and drinks that night at our lodge. They invited us to stay at their house and join them for dinner. Their house turned out to be right on the beach with absolutely incredible views and an amazing sunset. They own an olive oil company called Kapiti Oli(we are bringing some home). We had lots of wine and a great meal of NZ Lamb. Their product was named Best Olive Oil in 2010! We really enjoyed our visit with them.
Day 6:
After breakfast, David took us on a tour of their olive tree grove with 2018 trees. Then we headed out towards the big city of Wellington. We spent a couple days here last time and loved it. This time we just did some sightseeing and had lunch at an Italian restaurant overlooking the harbor. We stayed at a very cool hotel called the Museum Art Hotel and had dinner at their top floor restaurant called Hippopotamus. After dinner we had a couple drinks at a VERY COOL bar called Hawthorn. For those of you who are fans of "Flight of the Conchords", this bar is owned by "Brett" and his brothers. The bartenders were more like artists. Every drink they made was a work of art and they took their time making them just perfect. No mixing vodka with Sprite at this place!
Day 7:
Left Wellington via the Inter Island Ferry to cross over to the South Island. The ferry is enormous and we took our car on board also. It's a 3 hour crossing with AMAZING views, which Dannie enjoyed while I slept in the "reclining lounge". I did join him at the end and got to see several dolphins playing in the water. Arrived in Picton and headed south to Nelson so we could make our arrangements for our first big hike tomorrow. Today is St. Patricks Day and NZ has a huge Irish population, so its been fun. Stopped in Havelock and had lunch outside while listening to a band at the festival nearby. We got to Nelson and booked our hike on the Abel Tasman and also the water taxi that brings us back. I must admit, I'm a bit happy we are only having one night on the trail. Tonight we had a great Italian meal (mushroom pasta for me...salmon ravioli for him) and a couple drinks. We had to come back to our very cute lodge to pack our backpacks and get ready to get up early. The first day will be about 7 hours (about 12 miles I think). Wish me luck!
Will update more when I get a chance. Haven't had time to add more pictures to Facebook, but trust me, I have plenty! Good night...and Happy St.Patrick's Day!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Tahiti
Hello from the Southern Hemisphere!
We arrived in Tahiti last Wednesday at 6am. We've been on the go since then and haven't really had time to sit and update this blog (Internet access is scarce/expensive, too.).
All 3 of our flights were on time and uneventful, which is unusual for us! We were thrilled that all 4 of our bags arrived...that's unusual for us as well! When we arrived at our resort, The Intercontinental, we were absolutely stunned at the view from the lobby. I'd post a picture, but I can't figure out how to post pictures on the blog from my iPad...I'm slowly adding some to Facebook.
We stayed in an Overwater Bungalow (I called it our FUNgalow) which was amazing. We spent each morning/evening relaxing on our deck that overlooked the island of Moorea. One morning, a stingray jumped out of the water right in front of us. Too fast for a picture, though.
We basically spent our 3 days in Tahiti laying at the main pool, the swim up bar pool and the lagoon. Dannie was more adventurous and rented a kayak and went on a snorkeling trip (I went with him but I'm terrified of sharks so I stayed on the boat...more on that later!). I did manage to climb out of my beach chair a couple times for a trip to the spa and to go snorkeling in the Lagoon Aquarium.
Our first night there we had a romantic dinner at Le Lotus, which is an over water restaurant. One night we ventured into downtown Tahiti for dinner at a local gathering place that has about 12 food trucks that prepare food nightly. I was a bit intimidated at first, but it turned out to be the best meal of our stay! After that, we found a local bar with live music and had a couple drinks.
We really wish we had a couple more days there. We met some fun couples that we had dinner/drinks with a few times. I will TRY to get some more pictures uploaded soon. Now on to our beloved New Zealand for 29 days!
We arrived in Tahiti last Wednesday at 6am. We've been on the go since then and haven't really had time to sit and update this blog (Internet access is scarce/expensive, too.).
All 3 of our flights were on time and uneventful, which is unusual for us! We were thrilled that all 4 of our bags arrived...that's unusual for us as well! When we arrived at our resort, The Intercontinental, we were absolutely stunned at the view from the lobby. I'd post a picture, but I can't figure out how to post pictures on the blog from my iPad...I'm slowly adding some to Facebook.
We stayed in an Overwater Bungalow (I called it our FUNgalow) which was amazing. We spent each morning/evening relaxing on our deck that overlooked the island of Moorea. One morning, a stingray jumped out of the water right in front of us. Too fast for a picture, though.
We basically spent our 3 days in Tahiti laying at the main pool, the swim up bar pool and the lagoon. Dannie was more adventurous and rented a kayak and went on a snorkeling trip (I went with him but I'm terrified of sharks so I stayed on the boat...more on that later!). I did manage to climb out of my beach chair a couple times for a trip to the spa and to go snorkeling in the Lagoon Aquarium.
Our first night there we had a romantic dinner at Le Lotus, which is an over water restaurant. One night we ventured into downtown Tahiti for dinner at a local gathering place that has about 12 food trucks that prepare food nightly. I was a bit intimidated at first, but it turned out to be the best meal of our stay! After that, we found a local bar with live music and had a couple drinks.
We really wish we had a couple more days there. We met some fun couples that we had dinner/drinks with a few times. I will TRY to get some more pictures uploaded soon. Now on to our beloved New Zealand for 29 days!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Bon Voyage!
Today's post is brought to you by my wonderful husband who got up WAY earlier than me and posted a sweet message on Facebook (not to mention took Holly for a hike). I'm stealing his Facebook post:
Wow. Time has flown by and today Kim and I are off for Tahiti and New Zealand. I've been running wide open at the office so big thanks to Kim for getting me packed and to Jim for handing much of the logistics. First 4 days on the beach for some much needed R&R. I'll decompress have some great wine & food and reintroduce myself to my bride. Then off for an action packed adventure of Hiking (Milford Track and Abel Tasmen Track), Bungee, Shark Dive, Zip line, Kayaking, Caving, Jet Boating and whatever else I and can talk her into. (She'll need a vacation to rest from this vacation:)) Visiting with old friends from last visit will make this trip extra special. Believe me those Kiwis really know how to live. We'll try to post some pictures.
From Kim: We'd also like to thank my mom for taking care of Bailey...and do our friend, Mark, for staying at our house and caring for Holly!
Bon Voyage!
Dannie & Kim
Thursday, March 1, 2012
We're Leaving on a Jet Plane...in 5 Days!
Our months of planning are coming to an end and it's almost time to do our final pack, say goodbye and jump on one of 3 flights on Tuesday! I have one more day at the office, then I'm OFFICIALLY in vacation mode! Just a few things to get done around our house to get ready for our pet/house sitter. Also have the added stress of preparing our new rental house to be shown and (fingers crossed) leased while we're gone! All this stress will be worth it once we land in sunny (hopefully!) Tahiti at 6am Wednesday!
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