In Review: FINAL

Having been back in the States, we have been gained some perspective but it is still hard to completely sum up experiences or feelings in a few words. Besides being full of amazing adventures, our time in New Zealand has really been a 'real life' test.  Newly engaged, we set off for a country where we knew no one and set ourselves up with very little help.  We budgeted, bought a car, wrote papers and got jobs. We had an amazing time playing tour guides for our friends and got to do so many unforgettable things like caving, hot springs, jet boats and skiing. Still though, we had our own crisis to deal with when we were stranded with a broken camper van! I am proud of us making it through the tough times and am grateful to all the friends we made who made us smile along the way :)


I have done a fair amount of traveling, but I realize now that that is different than living. Living in New Zealand has definitely given me a feel for the country better than touring would have. This is something I realized when our friends would come for such short periods of time. From understanding the Maori culture to Paua shell I feel I really got to know the country and the Kiwis. The closest I had been to living somewhere before was when I studied in Spain, but then I still was having my meals made for me, I wasn't paying bills and I did not have a job. I think my jobs here have given me some of my best insights. Not only did I work with kiwis, but as my jobs were bar tending and product promotion, I have interacted with quite a number and variety of locals.

Things I'll miss

Mountains

I am really going to miss that just about every scene in this country has a mountain in the background. Or, if not, usually some great natural marvel. After being here 9 months it was easy to become complacent, but I have loved that my walk home from the grocery store had a distant mountain range and that we could walk on volcanoes. New Zealand has come truly wonderful landscapes and I feel lucky to have gotten to explore them.

I know I leave with a greater sense of adventure than I had before, partially due to this and partially due to being around such intrepid and fearless kiwis!

The All Blacks

I will miss them not because I am a new rugby fanatic (though I do enjoy it) but because of the amazing way I have seen them be something that the whole country gets behind and creates a positive notion of nationhood that I have not quite seen before.

Great lollies

Cadbury, Whitakers, and snake lollies. Enough said.

Indian food

I know you can get Indian food in the states, but here, fast food Indian and restaurants here are as popular as Starbucks in the states. Even more popular are the local fish and chip shops and although it is fun to get a quick meal in a paper parcel, it is the easy access and relative cheap Indian food we will miss more. Sauces to make your own are in every store- and not even in the 'ethnic section' (which is where you'll find tortillas). Especially for Wells is the butter chicken. We have tried multiple restaurants and every sauce in the grocery store and the gold medal goes to the take-away in the food court of Westfield Riccarton in Christchurch.

Things I missed:

Before I left I made a list of things that I thought I would miss. Looking back, here's what I think:

Dance

I know for sure this would be something I'd miss. I can't wait to take a class, I am feeling quite deprived and not to mention not as flexible! I have learned that I can live without dance but that I'd really prefer not too :) Plus,  the litle people in my head are still going to dance anyways!

Holiday Dinners

Luckily I did not have to worry too much about this since my parents came! On New Year's Eve the four of us had Christmas dinner: New Zealand lamb, roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding. The way it should be :)

Although we didn't really make it ourselves, we did get into some cooking of our own!

Shortbread

Again, saved by my parents' visit! They managed to get us some through! Very luckily since we definitely were not living in a place large enough to even try to roll out dough!

My iPhone

I really really did miss this, and for a number of reasons. First, going back to predictive texting was painstaking. Second, the phone charges here are outrageous. How, you may ask? So much so that when I got an interview for a job, I got it in a text because no one calls as it is so expensive. Actually thats not completely true, they 'drop call' here. Meaning, they hang up before anyone answers so you don't pick up and use their minutes, but they've got your attention. Not to mention that even getting service in a lot of the country can be trying.

It has really felt like stepping back in time, a bit to far back in my opinion for such a developed country. On the bright side, I am excited to be looking at the world of my iPhone through new eyes. Hello future!

Spanish

I knew that there was not going to be too mich of the language around these parts but I did not realize that I was going to be so deprived of the food! Mexican and Sanish restaurants were few and far between, and when you did find them they were normally quite expensive places. Also, I only found one drinkable margarita ($14 I might add). Though wells and I have made more than our fair share of quesadillas, tortilla espanola and paella, I am really looking forward to some great Cuban sandwiches and a margarita.

Also, I'm ready to hear more Spanish- I'm getting quite rusty!

[Insert Sentiment Here]
Although I have had time now to reflect on my amazing trip, I can never find the right words to sum up this blog. So, to keep it simple, I will just say that I feel amazingly lucky to have had the ultimate trip of a lifetime. I'm glad for all the highs and lows as I feel we grew from them but I am especially touched by the people who made their way out to see us- deep friendships and amazing times!
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my ramblings and experiences, it was nice to know we were being thought of 'across the ditch'. Ta!

Nomadic Adventures

By the time this is posted I know I will be home already, so I apologize for the delay.  It's not my fault though! Oh so much has happened since the last time I wrote and we have hardly stopped moving- or had wi-fi for that matter! Through our end adventures it is not a case of what did we see, but what didn't we.

Since I last posted we:

• Toured the North Island with Elliot
• Traded our car in for a rented campervan and did some exploring (and ife lessons, and crisis) just the two of us
• Picked up two new friends, Ryan and Tarik, and retraced our steps back to Wellington

For the sake of everyone's 21st century attention spans, I will be brief in my writing and let the pictures do the talking!

Part 1: Elliot's Trip
Elliot joined us in the beginning of May in Wellington and left us in Auckland. Our first stop after the capitol was Tongariro National Park in the center of the North Island. The next day (after waking up in our tent which had frosted over in the night!) we began the 7-hour Tongariro Crossing which took us over and around 3 volcanic mountains:

It was quite a feat and luckily we hadn't sent Elliot running for the hills already!

The next day we did a massive swing through a canyon by Taupo. I'm glad Wells and I did it together, I dont know if I could have done it alone! We ended our day in sulfer-smelling, geothermic Rotorua after rolling down the hill in a giant H2Ogo ball filled with water.

Taking the Plunge!

Waitomo Caves: a truly amazing experience with abseiling (repelling), cave exploring and glowworms.  It was great to test the boundaries of my comfort zone, especially when it turned out to be such a great day! I had nothing to be nervous about, only amazed:

Magazine worthy!

That night we headed to Raglan, a small surf town with surf breaks professionals come seek out. We stayed at the Eco lodge in a converted caboose (though apart from some gardening we learned 'Eco' meant 'excuse to have to power outlets'. Noted.)




Our next stop took us to the beautiful bay of Islands north of Auckland where we took a fun sailboat ride in Pahia and Wells caught dinner!

So happy!

We hit the Auckland art gallery and found a cool exhibit that gave us this fun shot

Part 2: Campervan Living

When we were still so excited..

As we had nowhere to live and the prospects weren't looking promising, we sold the car and rented out a campervan... for a month an a half.  As we had to pay upfront, the rental quite nearly broke the bank and we had no money for insurance. This later came back to bite us. However, it was a great way to set out exploring, stay in some interesting places and Wells got a lot of surfing in.  We spent most of our first month in the Northland, north of Auckland.

Undeniably Beautiful

 A couple of the more unusual places we spent the night in our quest to Freedom Camp:

A parking lot by an oil refinery and a wood chipping plant... Hey, they had a bathroom.

A cemetery. As the local who told us about it said: "No one will bother you there. At least no one alive."

Part 3: The Boys' Trip
We picked up Wells's high school friend Ryan and his friend Tarik from the Auckland airport midway through June and made our way back down to Auckland.  Although we hit some of the same places we had with Elliot, our experiences were different ans equally amazing.

They love to be proud.

First, we hit Hot Water Beach in the Coromandel Peninsula.  Digging in the sand uncovers boiling, volcano heated water!
Next, we hit Hobbiton, after making a quick stop to see the shrine to NZ's own soft drink "Lemon & Pearoa', or L&P.  "World famous in New Zealand."

We passed though Rotorua again to take a dip in the free natural hot springs on our way to the Waitomo Caves. Even though we had done this with Elliot, we had a totally different experience with different caves. Green Glow Eco-Adventures was seriously one of the most amazing things we did in New Zealand and worth every penny.  Paul is a wonderful guide and, again, an excellent photographer!

Yes this is a real photo! Glowworms galore.

Tiny crawl spaces!

After this we continued retracing our steps so that we were back in the Tongariro National Park area, where we had done the alpine crossing with Elliot. Except this time there was snow!

Enough snow for some ski, but really nothing beyond the bunny slope.

Lack of snow was bad on the mountains but, it meant that the Alpine Crossing could still be done (with ice axes and crampons).  Wells led the boys through the mountains and I went with them as far as I could before turning around and picking them up at the end.

Luckily, when Wells and I passed through a week later (on our way up to Auckland after the Fulbright ceremony in Wellington) there was definitely enough snow!

Final 'In Review' post to follow!