Day 4 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DAY: Kairkoura to Greymouth through Christchurch

We woke up early Thursday morning in Kaikoura, a little beach town on the East Coast of the South Island. Our goal was to catch the sunrise on the beach, which we had accidentally found by taking a wrong turn on the way to the restaurant the night before. A happy accident indeed.



We scrambled out of our hotel room with our bags, looked up, and saw this, which we had missed the night before because it was dark when we got into town:

The view from our door as we stepped outside.

The beautiful sunrise on Kaikoura beach.

We actually saw the sunrise on one coast of the Island and set on the other in the same day.

We thanked God for the beauty of His creation and the blessing of getting to experience this.




Then we set out on the drive to Christchurch, one of the biggest cities on South Island. Here are pictures from the drive there. Check out the mountains. They were everywhere! We kept pulling over for pictures.

We got into Christchurch around 10:30 in the morning and messed around for a little bit trying to find a helicopter tour because the city is known for it's breathtaking views. We stopped at the library to check email and update Facebook, typical. We did find the helicopter tours but they were CRAZY expensive. We decided to press on with our driving tour of the landscape and just enjoy the day.

We ended up crossing over these some of the huge mountains, which was quite intense.

Then we went through a place called Arthur's Pass, a pass between two mountains of the Southern Alps.

We stopped a little scenic overlook to take pictures.

While Patrick was finishing up taking pictures, I decided to go back to the car.

Until I noticed a couple of these birds on top of our car and started screaming!

Patrick looked over to see why I was screaming and said, "Oh yeah, I saw a sign that said something about not feeding the birds." He tried shooing them away, which didn't work. Finally he made a mad dash for the car and turned it on. They flew into the street CLOSER TO ME. I was freaking out, so Patrick wheeled the car around and I jumped in very quickly.

Patrick asked the man at our hotel that night about the birds and he said that even though you're not supposed to feed them, many people do. So they come around anytime there's a car looking for food. He said you had to watch them because they're sort of aggressive and will try to pull your windshield wipers off! I don't know if you noticed in the picture but that is exactly what that little guy is doing!


After the bird crisis, we continued on through the pass towards Greymouth, where we planned to stay for the night. More gorgeous scenery as we drove.

We stopped on the side of the road to take a picture and found this goat! He had apparently gotten loose. There was a house was nearby and people outside so we asked them if it belonged to them. The lady was supposedly a physic (that's what the sign outside said) but didn't know her goat was missing. Bad for business I would say.

The sun was beginning to set just as we got into Greymouth, another beach town but on the West Coast.

The sun setting over the beach. Beauty.

We checked into the Alpine Rose Motel, the nicest of the three since we'd left Auckland.

Sorry for the mess. I keep telling Patrick to take pictures of the rooms BEFORE we unpack.

We had dinner at Subway, which in New Zealand also serves fine coffees and offers diced lamb with mint sauce as a sandwich option. They were out. We were ok with that.

We came back to the room and Patrick did lots of schoolwork while I tried to type up the first of these posts, journaling our trip. I forgot to hit save and lost everything I typed, hence the reason I'm a little behind on days. I quit after that and watched the Sex and the City movie on TV, made a cup of coffee with the fresh milk provided by the innkeeper, and relaxed until bedtime.

Day 3: Palmerston North to Kaikoura; Crossover to South Island via Ferry

After our night in Palmerston North, we got up really really early to try to make the early ferry to the South Island. Turns out, we got up for nothing because we realized we would never make it in time. We decided to wait out the sunrise and then hit the road.





So glad that we did. The little man from the hotel had suggested that since we had some extra time we should try to take the scenic route to Wellington, "just through the Gourge there," he said. Patrick and I looked at each other...Gourge?





This is what he was talking about:

Seriously, how gorgeous is that?

We took this Gourge through Ashurst to Woodville, where we stopped at a little roadside coffee stand. Patrick waited in the car while I picked us up some coffee. The man at the coffee stand was incredibly chatty and interested in my trip. He was thrilled that we were on our way to South Island. Apparently that's where it's at (it was, indeed). He suggested we try to see the West Coast and avoid tourism traps. Done and done.

Here's a picture from our arrival into Wellington, the second largest city in NZ. Also where Peter Jackson lives for you LOTR fans.

Patrick and I on the Wellington Ferry. Moments before I became extremely motion sick.



I tried to be brave and not take Dramamine.



Bad idea.

I was miserable.



Patrick took pictures while I slept in the backrow of the movie theater room.

Finally, Patrick came and got me and said, "I found the perfect seat for you. Trust me."

I was furious that he wanted me to move at all.

Furious, I tell you.

I begged and pleaded.

He continued to say, "Trust me."

I'm glad I did.

The seat was outside, where I could enjoy all the gorgeous views with him.

Sidenote: outside made me less motion sick but it was so cold before, hence the back row of the movie theater.

This perfect seat though, was outside AND right next to the smoke stacks.

Warm, cozy, and less motion sick.

Lovely.

The view as we pulled into South Island.

Me in my cozy spot, probably breathing in thousands of toxic fumes and not caring one bit.

Beautiful South Island. How we loved thee already.

We made it off the ferry around 5:30 and drove to Kaikoura. Again we were saddened by the darkness because we could see nothing of the landscape.

I picked the hotel in Kaikoura and thought I had done a pretty blah job, but we got a clean room and saved quite a bit of money.

We drove into town and got a bite to eat at a warm and cozy little Irish pub. We had a much needed and delicious hot meal and a good cold beer. I had baked pasta with pesto sauce and Patrick had a steak. We drove back to the hotel and again went promptly to sleep. All this overwhelming landscape is just wearing us out.

Day 2: Auckland to Palmerston North, through Hobbiton

We left Auckland around 9:00 a.m. headed south. We knew we wanted to catch a tour of Hobbiton, the Shire set of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy which is near Matamata, somewhat in the middle of the middle of the North Island. We had a beautiful day to drive, as you can see.

We grabbed some breakfast and discovered the joy of Toasties at a little roadside takeaway shop. The couple who owns the place is South African and we enjoyed chatting with them for a while while they prepared our food. We talked about the World Cup, how they wished they were there to see it in person, and they gave us some good tips for getting around New Zealand. Some were traffic tips, like who yields to who in intersections. They also informed us that New Zealanders do not drink drip coffee ("filter coffee" as they call it) and for us to stop ordering it haha. We fully embraced this mentality and have delighted in the wonderfulness of their coffee culture. You know we are fiends; it was bound to happen.

Coffee in hand, we jumped in the car, headed to Hobbiton. This is what we saw along the way.

There are sheep farms everywhere. It is beautiful! Patrick has decided that the perfect picture combination is sheep, mountains, and water. This picture is lacking water, but you get the idea.

Unfortunately, I cannot post any pictures from our Hobbiton tour.

But in the meantime, here is me feeding a baby sheep! (lamb?)

Back in the car, we were headed to Palmerston North to spend the night and see the sights along the way.

This is Lake Taupo. We were in awe.

Awe.

We took about 78 pictures.

I will spare you.

And this is the final stretch to Palmerston North.

This is our first glimpse at the snowy mountain ranges. It was majestic.

We were sad when it got dark because we couldn't see anymore landscape. We had no idea what we were missing.

But we checked into a quaint little place called the Aztec Motel. These Mom-and-Pop sort of places are the basic here. There are few chains like in the States.

The man who runs this place was so hospitable and nice, as all New Zealanders have been! He helped us carry in our luggage, turned on the heater (because the room was FREEZING), and brought us fresh milk for the fridge. I was confused by the milk, but we later learned that it is customary here to make sure there is fresh milk in the fridge when a customer checks in. It's for the coffee. They take the milk thing very seriously. They take coffee seriously. Have I already said that?

Day 0 - 1: The Send Off and Arrival to Auckland

Hello from New Zealand! I absolutely cannot believe we are here. It's been a crazy and awesome first few days. I've been dying to post some pictures but the internet in a few of the places we've stayed has been a little spotty. Tonight, we're staying at the Duxton Hotel in Wellington, a pretty bustling city at the tip of the North Island. We just arrived via ferry from spending a couple days on the GORGEOUS South Island and will be headed back towards Auckland in the morning.

It will probably take me a couple posts to catch up from the past week. Also, I will spare you the oh, I don't know, 850 pictures we've taken already. I will try to narrow it down for the sake of your time and my sanity. I'm hoping this will create somewhat of a travel journal for us, which will be awesome to look back on!

We've rented car at the airport and have been basically road-tripping it all around, trying to see as much as we can in the little time we have. I'll start with our send-off and try to post a little about each day we've had here. Thanks for sharing in this trip with us! We've appreciated all your prayers for safe travels and great memories.

Brian, Beth and family came to the airport to see us off, which meant a lot! Beth let me get one last baby-fix before I left by letting me hold Sayge as much as possible. He's too cute! They all are!

Mom was our lovely chaffeur to the airport.

This is what we saw when we "hopped off the plane at LAX..."

Our lovely Mitzibushi Lancer. We love our little car. I've nicknamed him Lance. Patrick says I'm weird. Notice the stirring wheel...on the other side. We keep forgetting and going to the wrong sides of the car. We've now learned to play it off and Patrick pretends like he meant to do that to open the door for me. Ever the gentleman.

Arrival in Auckland at 6:00 A.M. I'm looking cold already.

Patrick, of course in shorts like usual, waiting to rent our car.

Learning to drive on the left side of the road was a little stressful for all involved. When we first got in the car Patrick said something like, "Ok. Do not talk me. Do not give me directions. Do not yell at me. I don't know what I'm doing here. I need to concentrate." About 2 seconds into the driving he yelled, "Where am I supposed to go?? You have to give me directions!!"

We've worked through it. We now feel somewhat like pros. By we, I mean Patrick. I've only driven once for about 50 kilometers.

We finally arrived via several alternative routes at the Hilton in Auckland which was Very. Nice. Located on Princes Wharf overlooking the water.

We destressed by sharing a yummy pizza for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water. It was a pretty chilly and overcast day.

The view from our hotel room balcony.

Where I spent most of my time the first day trying to recover from jet lag.

We had a great corner room overlooking Auckland.

The view from our room at night.

We had a fancy date-like meal at The Wine Chambers. It was AMAZING. They gave us free wine samples. That is a picture of what was left of my white chocolate ginger cheesecake. Patrick was all aglow in the wonderfulness of his latte.

We walked back to our hotel and promptly fell asleep into what I happily refer to as a food coma.

Successful Arrival!

We're here in New Zealand! Safe and sound...and a little cold. It's winter here, so temperature is around 45 degrees at night. During the day it has been like a lovely early spring day, my favorite :) . We've had an AWESOME first couple of days and hope to get pictures uploaded soon. It's taking a little long trying to do it at the hotel where we're currently staying. I'll try again tomorrow!


Thanks for all your prayers for safe travel and well wishes!

Vacation Eve

His

Hers

Our flight leaves at 4:15 in the afternoon tomorrow.

Pray for us!

It is going to be a LONG flight.

But I have packed a lot of things to do.

And we will sleep.

At least, that is the plan.

We should arrive in Auckland, New Zealand at 6:30 Sunday evening.

Except it will be 6:30 Monday morning to us.

But fear not!

We have plans for a good comfy bed and then a great dinner out.

Here we go!

Travel to Australia: Step 2

Hire someone to clean your house.

And then hire them to come again right before you come back so that you can enjoy the post-vacation glow for a little while longer.

Totally worth on it on the budgeting side of things. (I'm thinking of the cost in terms of giving up 2 dinners out. Sooo worth it.)



This may be the smartest thing I have ever done.

"I have seen the devil, and he publishes a magazine called InStyle."

As someone who struggles hard with materialism and a covetous nature, this article was particularly encouraging. I particularly liked this part about trying to keep us with other people:

I can't tell how many of them are just pretending, as I once did, that they can afford to eat out seven days out of seven, take cabs hither and yon, and wear whatever "Sex and the City" dictates. Nobody talks about money.

It's just assumed that you have more than enough of it. To indicate otherwise is gauche, embarrassing and somehow sets you apart. You're supposed to be keeping up with the Joneses, even if you have no idea who those Joneses are. Just keep your eye on what everyone else is doing (and spending) and do likewise.

Patrick and I have tried to be better about our money. We started a budget, use a budgeting program (into which I'm constantly forgetting to enter my receipts...bad bad bad), and really tried to be more conscious of our spending. But it is HARD. Especially when I see other people/friends, who I know make the same or even less money than we do and are droppin' it like it's hot. I have to remind myself constantly that we are trying not to be slaves to credit cards, that eventually I would like to stay home with our babies, that we are called on to give back to our church, and that it is better to give our money away to people that really need it instead of just increasing our stash of stuff. I am so selfish.

I was listening to a sermon by John Piper entitled "What is this Recession for?" as I walked on the treadmill last night. One of the points he made was that economic recession is good for us because it gives us a better sense of the other 2/3rds of the world for whom "recessions don't come and go, they just come and come and come." It was convicting and encouraging at the same time. I will leave you with his words of how God has relocated our joy as Christians. They have also become my prayer:

Our joy is not rooted in circumstances.
God has relocated our joy in his grace, not our goods—in his mercy, not our money, in his worth, not our wealth.

And the celebration continues

with Shannon's wedding!
I love these girls. There are my lifelines.



It should also be noted that Shannon played a significant part (not only in my life but also) in our marriage. She helped Patrick choose my engagement ring!

Congratulations Shannon and Matthew!

Hey, Summertime, I've missed you!

It is officially the first day of SUMMER VACATION!! Woop woop!!! Can I get an amen??

It has been a long time coming. I don't know why but it felt like we'd never get here! I had a great year with great kids who I will miss 100%, but I'm SO happy to have a little time to regroup.

I celebrated yesterday by:

• Doing Week 6, Day 2 of my Bridge to 10K running plan
• Eating ice cream (Low-fat, Skinny Cow. How I love thee.)
• Taking a nap
• Going to Target and browsing for as long as I want with no where to be
• Reading a magazine (instead of my usual 20,000 research papers)

Today I will continue celebrating by:

• Wearing pajama pants for an absurdly long time
• Laying by the pool
• Getting a mani/pedi with my mama
• Having dinner with the best friend
• Watching Twilight (and maybe even New Moon)

It will be a long, hard day but, you know, someone has to do it.

Patrick is in Indiana doing a school session, which is the only reason I have not list "hot date with my husband" in the above lists. Just wanted to clarify.

On Sensible Shoes:

I ordered new shoes to take to Australia today. I set out to order a comfortable, yet not ugly shoe that I could walk in, go to dinner in, be comfortable in.

Something like this:

Then I started to think about the pictures that we will take while we're there. The pictures we will show everyone who asks. The pictures we will share with our kids and grandkids someday. Do I want to look at my pictures and say "Ugh, why did I where that outfit?" or "This would have really been better had I worn cuter shoes." Do I want to be forever immortalized as the "Girl with the Comfortable Shoes"? No!

So, this is what I ordered:

Maybe I overthought it.

But I did read all the customer reviews and every single one said something like, "I wear these boots with EVERYTHING!" So I'm thinking that means any outfit I will wear in Australia, correct?

Life is short. Who has time for sensible shoes?

Because I don't have enough to do.

So, in the midst of grading 349,857 research papers (again, slight exaggeration...) and about the same number of exams, packing up my classroom to move down the hall, and getting our affairs in order to leave the country for a month, I have decided to begin the 10K training schedule. Not because I'm looney (although, I might possibly be) but because running has become the thing holding my sanity in place (along with doing laundry and inhaling the fumes of Downy Spice Blossom Dare).

After doing and LOVING the Couch to 5K running plan that I completed in April, I decided to continue on the same path and work on the Bridge to 10K, which is put out by the same people. I cannot say enough how much I love these people for coming up with these training plans. They gradually build up to running the full amount. Though I've now been running 3 miles regularly, I will go back to intervals with some walking in between the running parts so I don't wear out my joints/ankles/back/muscles by trying to run too much too fast.

If you're interested, there are actually two plans shown on the page of this link. The Ease to 10K starts on Week 1 and is for running who are just starting out and haven't yet even completed a 5K (although I would recommend just going with the Couch to 5K if you are a beginner, and I, by the way, still consider myself a beginner). The Bridge to 10K starts on Week 6 on the chart and is for people who have finished the Couch to 5K program and are ready to add on.

There is an app for iphones, but of course I still live in 1998 and do not have an iphone. Therefore, I have just bookmarked this page on my computer and constantly refer back.

Today I completed the first day (Week 6, Day 1) of Bridge to 10K:

Warm-up walk: 5 minutes
Run: 10 minutes
Walk: 1 minute
Run: 10 minutes
Walk: 1 minute
Run: 10 minutes
Walk: 1 minute
Run: 10 minutes
Cool-down walk: 5 minutes

It felt great! And translated to about 3.6-3.8 miles. (I accidentally pulled the stupid emergency stop clip on the treadmill and it restarted the entire thing, so that is why I'm estimating my mileage there.) Having a training plan is really the key for me to keep this up, I have discovered.

I'm supposed to do this 2 more times this week. I don't know if this plan is going to hold up in Australia or not. My brother-in-law is a runner and said that I will have plenty of opportunities to run and even offered to run with me, so we will see! I am not going to stress if I don't get to go as often as I would like and have to pick back up in August.

I have measured out my life in coffee spoons.

Patrick has a new hobby.

He made that coffee spoon.

Well, the wooden part of it anyway.

On this cool little turny thingy that his friend has.

(Of course, that is not what they call it, but I can't remember the name.

So, cool turny thingy it is.)

Distractions

So, you know it's the end of the school year when I start looking for ANYTHING to distract me from having to grade thousands (slight exaggeration) of research papers in my free time. Lately, my distraction has been laundry. I have jumped at the chance to do even the smallest load. I've ironed my clothes for school everyday (I usually am not an ironer. I'm a stand-at-the-dryer-like-a-puppy-and-grab-those-suckers-when-they-come-out sort of person). Anything, really, to keep from having to write another note about internal documentation or MLA format. Pathetic, I know. On the flipside, every piece of clothing in our house is clean and smelling fresh and I'm on fabulous terms with my husband, who loves a good clean shirt in his closet.

So, in honor of this week's distraction, I thought I would show you my laundry team. I'm not gonna lie, one reason I choose laundry as a formal distraction is that the clothes smell so dang good. I really am a Tide girl. Powdered Tide with Bleach. Have been since my first day of laundry. Recently, though, I went out on a limb and tried the new Method pump detergent. Let me tell you, the smell combination of these two beauties is pure heaven. HEAVEN. Please try it. You will understand why laundry is my distraction and that I really am not the wackadoo I make myself out to be.

I pair it with Downy Spice Blossom Dare. This was pure coincidental. The superhuge one was on sale at Sam's. But it's so good, I'm never going back.

I also really like Mrs. Meyers Ironing Spray. Unfortunately they have discontinued it, which is really sad, and means I have to ration what I have left very slowly.

So there you go. Wacko Laundry Girl. Better than losing my mind grading, right? RIGHT??