Well, we have nearly completed the exterior renovation of the house and it is looking pretty good! The painting is complete and the scaffolding is gone. We have a bit of landscaping to do, but we are very happy with the overall effect. A few of our guests have driven by the house not realizing that is was ours. No one has told us that they miss the pink asbestos siding and we have a quite a few new neighborhood friends :)
I managed to squeeze in a visit to Boston to attend my 10th college reunion in early June. My beautiful friend Courtney was there along with her husband Tim (actually from my class, Courtney is a poser from the class of '95) and their twin daughters Olivia and Delancey. I also got to spend some time with my roommates Leslie and Bethany (both of whom are now engaged to great guys) and old friends that I hadn't seen since the last reunion. There were plenty of people that I had hoped to see that didn't make it. The weather was horrible and while the tents they had set up for the events protected us from what was falling from above, it did not cover the ground which was soaked from weeks of rain. Some of the events turned a bit muddy! I scoured Harvard Square looking for rainboots to spare my shoes only to be turned away at every turn. All in all, people looked very well. The biggest noticeable difference was the number of childen running around and on the way. I guess it's that time! Here are a few more photos.
Long time no post, the work on the house proceeds, and it's looking pretty good so far. We've been hampered by a few wet days, but this week is looking pretty good for starting the painting. The porch has been fully functional for 2 weeks, and it's great to have it back. Pretty dark inside now with the windows taped up, but the painters are doing a great job.
This weekend Bonney was invited to play with another team at a soccer tournament in Los Angeles. The day I arrived in LA, I got to visit with my brother Mack who had recently moved to Laguna Beach. We visited thet gardens of the Getty Center after driving an hour in traffic. Welcome to LA! As for the tournament, the fields that we played on were not great (there were "critters" popping up out of their holes during the games), but the competition was good and we had a blast. 5 games in two days--needless to say we were pretty exhausted by the end. We struggled through our first two games, but then turned it around and came in second place! More importantly, all the ladies on the team got along great and Kerry Rae and I felt very welcome.
We've started our house renovation! About 2 weeks ago, the scaffolding went up, and our front porch came off (all but the roof). We were a little nervous, but intensely curious as to what was exactly under the Asbestos siding. Although we had taken off a bit under the porch to reveal clapboard siding, we didn't know if it was all intact, or what damage might exist.
Waking up in Waitomo, we quickly got ready and headed to the Blackwater Rafting company, our guides for the days adventure. Today, we put on wetsuits, rapelled 150 feet into a cave, and hopped on inner tubes for a ride down an underwater river! Amazing, and full of great experiences like riding a zip line through the dark without knowing where it would end, and jumping off a cliff into the river, landing on top of your inner tube. The highlight, though, would have to be the glow worms, tiny larvae that hang from the ceiling and emit a phosphorescent glow that looks like a starry night, amazing in the pitch black cave. We then spelunked it up and got back, exhausted and starving. What a great day, one we'd been looking forward to and dreading, if only because our trip ends tomorrow. Tonight, on to Auckland and Piha beach.
The weather finall began to clear (amazing weather had pretty much been ours up to this point, so we can't complain!), and we visited one of the spas in Rotorua, with several hot spring baths and a lovely setting on the lake. The lawn bowlers weren't out due to the wet condition of the fields. We also managed to see a traditional Maori Haka, a dance that is used to greet visitors. Our trip is winding down, but we're feeling very relaxed, and excited about our next day in the caves, on to Waitomo!
Well, plans change with the weather, and ours had to be changed for today, unfortunately. One of the best hikes on the north island is the Tongariro Crossing, a one day hike over volcanic terrain with incredible views of the Tongariro National Park. It's part of a 4-day Great Walk. Weather today was not so good, though, very cloudy and threatening rain. We arrived a little later than we'd hope to, and decided today was not the day for a crossing.
We woke up to a clear and beautiful morning, a big contrast from the weather the night before. Wellington is an amazing city, and quite reminiscent of Portland, in size and friendliness. We spent a good portion of the day at the Te Papa museum, an amazing place. One of Bonney's favorite items was the sheep shearing exhibit, where you could test your skills on the sheep manniquin covered in bar codes, which you swiped with a reader! We set off for Tongariro in the late afternoon, and the sunset was beautiful.
Today was another travel day. After doing our laundry and walking around Nelson a bit, we hit the road for the port town of Picton, on the the northernmost tip of the South Island. It was a pretty drive along the fingertip shores of the island. We stopped for another salami lunch at a pretty viewpoint.
OK. So we managed to drag ourselves out of bed and make it down the road to the kayak tour company in time for our trip. We slathered on the sunscreen and hopped in their van to head for our boats on the shore. In retrospect, we should have just rented the kayaks and given ourselves the tour. We somewhat underestimated our kayaking ability and had to sit through an hour of basic kayak instruction. We took a week-long sea kayaking trip two years ago and that was probably sufficient training. After the boats got in the water and everyone figured out how to paddle we were on our way. Another great weather day! The sky was blue and the waters were a beautiful emerald green. Abel Tasman is renowned for its beautiful waters and pristine beaches and we were not disappointed. The water was pretty calm and there was very little breeze. We paddled along the shores, inlets and caves all morning in peace. The early kayaking bird does get the worm. After beaching our boats, we took a nice swim (ok, Bonney took a nice swim and Patrick took pictures from the shore). We were water taxi-ed back to our starting point where they drove the whole water taxi with all the people inside right up on the back of a tractor trailer that took us back to our cars. After a lovely fish-and-chip lunch (we think that fish-and-chips might be the national food here) we made our way to Nelson. Our on way, we drove through part of Nelson wine country and partook in some great and some not-so-great wines. Our favorite vineyard was run by a single woman who does most of the growing by hand. She makes small batches, but all the wines that we tasted from her cellars were fabulous! Unfortunately, it is nothing that we could get in the states. We would have to do with the precious few bottles that we took away with us. After a big food shopping trip in dowtown Nelson, we made our way to a beautiful campground situated on a lovely creek on the outskirts of town. To go with the wine, Bonney crafted a delicious dinner of local tarahiki fish fillets encrusted with potato chips leftover from lunch, broccoli and roasted potatoes. You can do quite a bit in this little campervan kitchen. Tomorrow we make the crossing to the North Island! We can't believe how quickly time has passed - over 3/4ths of our trip is complete.
To view more pictures from Day Twenty One, click here.
Today was a big driving day. After a morning viewing of the Pancake Rocks and a delicious breakfast of pancakes (but of course) at the local cafe, we headed up the coast a bit and then turned inland to drive towards Abel Tasman National Park on the northern shore of the South Island. It was another narrow and curvy road. Patrick is getting very good at driving on the left-hand side of the road! We stopped for a quick lunch on the in a small town, visited the longest swing bridge in New Zealand (but did not pay the $5 that someone saw fit to charge to cross it) and pulled in to Kaiteriteri Beach late in the afternoon. The beach was packed! Apparently, it was a holiday weekend in NZ and everyone was making their way to the beach. We got one of the last spots in the campground and headed for the beach. 6pm is a great time for Patrick and Bonney to go to the beach. We can actually expose our sun to the skin at this time of day. For all you doubters, we both have the workings of sandal tans! After dinner, we made arrangements for our kayaking trip the next day and hit the sack early. In ocean kayaking, the early bird gets the worm. Or so the tour people told us when they said we had to be there at 7:15am. Ouch! That is not vacation time.
We arrrived late last night at Haast Beach after a long, steep and windy drive from Wanaka. We must have crossed about 15 one-way bridges! Fortunately, there was very littler after-dinner traffic. Our first glimpse of the west coast of New Zealand and the Tasman Sea came in the morning upon our waking at Haast beach.
