Taranaki - Part Deux

This is a picture overlooking Back Beach right in New Plymouth. This is where Scott went surfing.




We did a short hike along the White Cliffs walkway near Urenui, just east of New Plymouth. The first part of the loop was over private farmland, which was really interesting because we had to walk through the field where the farmer was out baling hay. I had never seen the machine that makes those giant rolled bales of hay in action. The farmer would be driving his tractor, pulling a hay baler along, and when the baler was full he would stop and the machine would pop a hay bale out the back. This is the view from the top of the farm, looking back over the field we walked through.















Maribeth using one of the stiles along the White cliff walkway.




















This is Scott on a bridge halfway through the hike.




















The second half of the loop was along the beach. This is a picture of the high cliffs and black sand beach on the walk back.




















Overall it was a great trip, Scott is already planning our next visit. Hopefully we'll get better surf next time though. This weekend we're off to the Coromandel, at the north end of the North Island. We'll be on the road for about ten days, so look for some more photos in a couple of weeks!

Taranki, part 1

Rather than sit around windy Wellington on boxing day, we decided to make a run for the Taranaki area. It was a long 5 hour drive, but definitely worth it. The weather was so much warmer and the winds were far tamer. This spot is without a doubt a great place to pass a few days (or many days). This is the iconic Mt Taranaki, located smack in the middle of an oversized peninsula.

The waves in the area are legendary, and arguably the most consistent and best in all of NZ. Unfortunately, we were unlucky and the swell kind of died when we arrived. There was enough left over to catch a few small ripples. Here I am groveling in some Great Lakes sized surf.















Golf anybody? After you sink your triple bogey putt, you can chase the sheep to blow off a little steam. I think the Kiwis have things figured out.













Here is a picture representative of the rugged Taranaki coastline.















We're tired from all the driving so that's all for today. We'll try to post some more photos from the rest of the trip in the next day or two.

Christmas in NZ

It's Christmas day in NZ! We decided to get a tree the other day because we weren't feeling much holiday spirit. It's a bit of a Charlie Brown tree but it brightens up the living room. Radiata pine is the standard Christmas tree here, no firs.















We went to the beach this morning and took some photos of the pohutukawa trees. They're known as New Zealand Christmas trees because they always bloom this time of year. They are beautiful trees and the hillsides turn red when they're in bloom. Very festive!















Jason made us eggs Benedict for breakfast and we drank mimosas this morning. Scott got to surf this afternoon and now we're baking a ham for dinner. Overall it's been a very nice Christmas. We miss you all though!

Karori Wildlife Sanctuary

We visited the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary over the weekend. It's a preserve just outside the city of Wellington, mostly for birds but they also have habitat for tuatara (ancient lizards) and weta (giant bugs).




















Maribeth at the gate headed beyond the fence into the Karori bird sanctuary. The fenced boundary gave it a Jurassic Park feel.

The fence really isn't this tall throughout the park but it is effective at keeping certain predators out of the park. It is tall enough to keep the possum from leaping over and has an over hanging top hat to keep animals from climbing over. The fence is also tight meshed to keep smaller animals from squeezing through.

Here is the fence from afar.




















This is the Kaka. I believe this bird was virtually extinct from the main islands of NZ, but has made a small comeback due to the formation of this reserve.




















This is the Tui. This bird probably has the most interesting and varied bird song. It is known to mimic other birds and other animals as well. The populations of the Tui in the Wellington area have increased substantially since the completion of this sanctuary.

Castlepoint and other highlights

We had a beautiful sunset in Wellington the other day. This is the view from our deck.

















We went to the Wellington Botanic Garden last weekend. The garden is a mix of formal gardens and native bush with lots of trails throughout.

This waterfall and plaque are part of the Peace Garden. The little pagoda houses a flame from the fire created by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The flame was given to New Zealand by Japan in recognition of NZ's efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

This weekend, we drove out to Castlepoint, on the east coast of NZ. The rock reef and headland form a small lagoon and protected beach. We decided to try out sleeping in the back of the station wagon Saturday night. It seems to work pretty well, so we may not get a tent while we're here.















We decided to go exploring from Castlepoint, so we drove north along the coast on the only other road in the area. Most of it was unsealed (gravel) but it was a beautiful drive and there were quite a few deserted beaches. Lots of nooks and crannies. There isn't much development on that portion of the coast, mostly oceanfront sheep farms and forests (which is quite nice).

























The surf wasn't that great on Sunday morning, but there were a few waves coming through. The water was cold but Scott went in anyway. There is a trail along the top of ridge around the lagoon and out to the top of the headland, so we went for a walk on Sunday before heading back towards Wellington.

Owhiro Bay

Hi all, we've been neglecting the blog as of late, but we've been busy. We've been busy buying cars (see below), chasing huge waves (see below) and just basically hangin' around trying to figure out what we are going to eat (there's no Mexican here).



The colorful shacks seen here are actually boat houses right on the beach. They double as club houses for guys that want to elude their wives.















Believe it folks this is the biggest wave I've seen in the last couple weeks.















Another scenic coastal shot.

















Maribeth posing for the November shot in the Extremely Used Car Calender

Wellington's Badlands

We finally got out of the city today. One of my coworkers is out of town this week and left us the keys to her car (thanks Marianna!) We headed out through the Wairarapa (home to lots of sheep and wine) and then down to the coast.


It was a beautiful day for a hike so we walked up to see the Putangirua Pinnacles, Wellington's badlands. We didn't have much time for wine tasting on the way back through the Wairarapa after the hike so we'll have to go back for that. It's supposed to be a good region for producing Pinot Noir (like Oregon.)

We're looking forward to getting our own car soon so we can get out of town more often. There's so much to see!

Oriental Bay etc.d

Hey all,

Mb and I went for a walk around town, as we do often because we don't yet have any mode of transport other than our feet. We enjoyed a great day in a part of the city we haven't been. Here are a couple colorful pics (courtesy of Mb), one of Oriental Bay, and the other of some oranges from the local vegetable market.

The Bucket Fountain

The Bucket Fountain returned to Cuba Mall on Thursday. This was apparently very exciting news.

The fountain is located right outside of the office where I work so we got to watch them reinstall it, with it's shiny new fresh coat of paint. And now I get to listen to it splash all day. Much of it's charm seems to stem from the fact that it doesn't work properly and tends to splash water all over the sidewalk along with any unsuspecting pedestrians that get too close.

The fountain has quite the following. It has it's own Wikipedia page and a webpage devoted only to the Bucket Fountain, complete with souvenirs and screensavers!

If you're curious, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bucket_Fountain
http://www.bucketfountain.co.nz/index.html

Things we have learned this week...

New Zealand is a great place to be gluten free. There are plenty of gluten free options at the grocery store, however no corn tortillas or all natural peanut butter. We're looking forward to going to the veggie market in the city on Sunday.

Oregonians are everywhere. We met some folks from Eugene while attending an election party at a bar on Cuba St. It also seems that everybody here is excited about Barack Obama.

November is not summer in Wellington. Apparently the weather doesn't get nice here until around Christmas (hopefully). Spring is very windy.

Non-profits don't pay very well. Two of my new coworkers have resigned this week to take better jobs. There were only ten of us to begin with so that's pretty high turnover.


More photos from Island Bay (and Scott). As far as I can tell, this is a Maori wood carving (or in the style of a Maori carving) similar to a totem pole.

Welcome to Wellington!

Island Bay

We arrived in Wellington on a beautifully sunny Friday morning. Suzi and Norman and their daughters Manu (6) and Roma (3) very graciously offered to put us up for a few days at their house in Island Bay until we found a more permanent place to live. Island Bay is a suburb of Wellington, directly south of the city center. It is so named for the island in the bay (who would have guessed?) and there's a view of the South Island from the beach on a clear day.



View of South Island from Island Bay









The weather seems to be very fickle. After a lovely day on Friday, it was raining sideways in 40 to 60 mph winds on Saturday. Sunday was beautiful, but the wind started to pick up again on Monday and now (Tuesday night) it is raining sideways again. This will take some getting used to. I haven't taken many photos since the weather has been so bad but I've posted the few I have. Hopefully in the next week or so I can take some more.



Waterfront in Wellington