Time for a laugh

With only 4 days left til we leave the country, we thought we'd comment on "the state of things." By this of course, I'm not meaning the panic that is starting to set in as we realise how much we have left to do and how short of time we have to do it. No, by "the state of things" I really mean the current condition of Bruce's pathetic wardrobe. Yes, we live in the bush and spend a lot of our weekends working, but come on - how long can a person go before they give in and get a new pair of jeans???

Relief for itchy feet!

Just when the weather and garden start getting good, we decide to uproot and move onwards! The hyacinth have had their day, the daffodils are in bloom and hundreds of tulips are on their way. It's finally hitting 15 degrees on a regular basis and summer is around the corner, but no, why would we be content to chill out in the beautiful NZ sun, having bbq's at the beach and swimming in the ocean?

Instead, we've finally made the decision to sell our car, rent out our house, go for a two month visit to Colorado and then move to Hong Kong for at least a year. While we don't have a job placement yet, we're hopeful that Hong Kong will be the location for us, but we've also put South Korea and Japan on our list as well. All we know is once we're there, we'll be teaching English and travelling through SE Asia (maybe even further!)

Why now, you may ask. Why not, I reply. Seriously though, we've been considering it for some time, and with our jobs ending in just over a month the timing seems perfect. And no, for all you real estate agents out there who are reading this, we're not selling our house! ;o) We love the privacy, sun, birds and bush that we can have here, and after a year in the most densly populated city in the world, we might just be ready for the R&R this place can provide.

Thanks to all our friends and family for your support, it really does mean the world to us. The only way to cure itchy feet though is to scratch and who knows, before the end of next year maybe one of our posts will be in Cantonese!

Hmmm, it's been awhile...

Well, I'd like to tell you about my new nephew, Keean Alan Fox born August 16 and weighing in at 8lbs 4oz. Alas, I don't have any photos to share yet so the next post I'll make sure to include his photos.

We've had a lot of ups and down the last few months. I'm sure you don't want to hear about our search for jobs or the rain that will never end. Seriously, we've had 42 inches of rain this year! No rain will stop a good party though and we had a great time celebrating Adrian's 'special' bithday in late July. We managed to have a big family dinner and David and Sandie flew down from Auckland to suprise the birthday boy. I will never forget the look of shock on his face when he walked into the lounge and saw them. I must admit though, inviting them down was actually motivated by a certain selfishness as we always have a great time visiting with them.

Spring is around the corner and that means the crocus and daffodils are blooming and our trip to the States is just around the corner. We're looking forward to our visit, but also thinking we'll need a break from our break as basically every day of the 5 weeks is planned. Between a TEFL course, photography course, wedding, 30th birthdays, 80th birthdays, and so much more - it's going to go way too fast!

Eccentric Embelishments by Bruce Part 1

“Scientist discovers “Sex Rocks”

Ever find yourself asking, “What’s next?”

Well, I’ll tell you. A recent article in the medical journal Wild Things has reviewed human reproduction and now proposes the theory “Sex Rocks.” In this theory, Dr. James Boulder discusses how new technological advances can promote the well-being of women (when are they not well?) which should be of utmost importance in this modern age.

Dr. Boulder relates the anecdote that brought about this theory. “My wife, let’s call her Pookums, is extremely terrified of giving birth, therefore we are as of yet, childless. One day she turned to me and said “Dooky, I’m terrified of giving birth!” What else could I do but find a solution to this problem?”

Fearing that unless he came up with a remedy he would be sleeping in the garage or worse yet, the doghouse, Dr. Boulders put his enormous brain to work and viola- Sex Rocks! Thanks to Dr. Boulder, millions of women across the world will now never know the pains associated with childbirth.

At a recent presentation in New Zealand, Dr. Boulder revealed this new way to give birth and explained the process of “Sex Rocks” to a stunned but thrilled audience of women.

Not wanting to confuse you, dear reader, with all the scientific jargon, we were able to take a picture of a live birth in progress, which I believe does ample justice in explaining the process.

For more information on this revolutionary discovery, please see Moeraki Boulders.

Lake Tekapo photos

Once Upon A Time

Dusting away the cobwebs of my mind's filing cabinet, I found a good story to tell you...

A long, long time ago (ok, it was actually 48 days ago) a handsome prince descended from an ancient rajasthani family in India decided to take a long sojourn to a far away land known as Ohakune to begin a new adventure. He packed up all his belongings, stole a beautiful princess from neighbouring lands and drove his rickshaw for hours and hours til he arrived at what appeared to be the ends of the earth. Here there were no people, no civilisations, and no showers or cooking apparatus.

Throwing the beautiful princess into a small floating vessel and ordering her to paddle, the two set off to explore these unknown lands. For days and days they toiled down the mighty Whanganui River with only feral goats and the birds for company. However, after a bend in the river, they discovered all of the native inhabitants of this strange land were on the river for their annual Easter pilgrimage. Befriending two of the natives, Lucy and Ian, the prince and princess learned new and wondrous things. They found to truly survive such an arduous journey, one must take careful preparation beforehand in order to have at least two different flavours for every meal.

Suddenly, realising he had been slightly poisoned by his evil brother back at home, the handsome prince fell violently ill and began to desire his own cosy creature comforts. He lay down in the floating vessel and slept. Upon waking, his fairy godmother appeared and offered him a strong elixir, promising him the poison would slowly leak from his body through his nose. With many thanks, the prince and princess set off again down the churning river through rapids and whirlpools in their small, extremely-difficult-to-steer vessel.

They passed amazing sights such as the Bridge to Nowhere and set up camp in precarious places amongst the natives who seemed to think sandflies, hauling heavy barrels up steep hills and swimming in frigid water was great fun. The prince did note that the natives didn't smell nearly as bad as his beautiful princess did, having gone without bathing for so long.

At long last, the couple reached the end of their adventure and toppled out of their vessel, desirous of chocolate, Twizzlers and a hot shower. Looking to his princess with a wide smile on his face the prince said, "Well love, same time, same place next year?" The princess nodded gleefully and replied "you betcha, but next time you get to do all the paddling!"

$100 of underware!

And not just any underware... we're talking THUNDERPANTS underware - guaranteed not to ride up your bum!!!

Right, so what am I on about anyway? A couple of weekends ago our friends David and Sandie came down from Auckland for a visit. On Sunday, the four of us and several friends from The Rock participated in the annual Round the Vines in the Wairapara which is a fundraiser for the local school. Basically, it means you get decked out in a funny costume and then walk 10 kilometers through vineyards while sampling some fantastic wines and eating way too many grapes, finally finishing with a picnic in the park.

Our whole group went as Ward 13, and David, Sandie, Bruce and myself went as South Station. Sandie went as the pharmacist, prescribing drugs for patient David who was lying on the bed (Bruce and I). See our wheels?? At the end of the day, spot prizes and awards for best costumes are given including weekends away, nights at local cottages (Penny and Adrian won this), bottles of wine, and adventure activities. The big moment came, and YES! our names were called! We proudly stode forward to claim our prize and what did we get? $100 worth of Thunderpants. I'm not joking!

Actually, I find I'm quite attached to them...

Smoking hills and lunar landscapes

The Tongariro Crossing: supposedly one of the finest 1 day walks in New Zealand. And after Saturday, we can attest that it is! Simply put, it's like no other place I've been to. Not only does it have the lunar landscape, it has red craters, smoking hillsides, smelly sulpher, conical volcanoes, crystal clear blue and green lakes, and what seemed like millions of people.

After attempting this walk two weekends ago only to have it cancelled due to windy weather, Paul, Bruce and I were keen to get an early start and met the shuttle at 7am. The Crossing is officially over 19 kilometers long, but we took an extra side track to climb Mt. Tongariro, one of the three volcanoes found in the National Park. We had hoped to climb Mt. Ngarahoe (Mt. Modor to those of you who are Lord of the Rings Fans) but alas, Bruce and I weren't in as good of shape as we hoped.

We climbed Devil's Staircase, crossed our first crater, gazed up at the perfect cone that forms Mt. Ngarahoe (pronounced Nar-a-hoe-ee), climbed the crater rim, walked along the ridge and up to the summit of Mt. Tongariro, passed the Red Crater, scaled down the side to the Emerald Lakes, passed the Blue Lake, crossed our second crater, and then wandered through the bush for a couple hours. In all, we walked 14 miles and shed a few pounds along the way.

If you ever get the chance to do this challenging tramp - DO IT! Although there are so many people you'll think you're in China, it is completely worth it and something you're not likely to soon forget.

If you'd like to see some more amazing photos, check out Paul's gallery at http://www.pominnz.smugmug.com/gallery/4480603_yeLK8#263549573 and marvel at the beauty that is Tongariro National Park.

And the fun continues...

What a great weekend! Bruce's sister, Sheri, and her boyfriend, Royden, came for a visit this weekend and we had a great time showing them around. Of course we did the usual things tourists do when visiting Wellington such as the fantastic museum Te Papa and taking the cable car up to the Botanic Gardens, but we also did a few of the more unusual things one can do.

After a huge pancake breakfast on Friday, we drove out to the Wairarapa to see a glowworm cave that is located on private land. In the past, the farmer that owns the land has been kind enough to let locals onto his land and through the cave to view the glowworms, but unfortunately for us the cave is now closed to the public and it appears as though the land is for sale.

We pushed on though, and decided to climb Putangirua Pinnacles which is quite a sight to behold. Following the two hour walk, we drove on to Cape Palliser where there is a great lighthouse and seal colony. I've had to relinquish my camera along with my job, but our friend Paul has been kind enough to allow me to 'borrow' some of his photos for our blog.

We didn't climb the stairs up to the lighthouse, but next time we're out there we will because the views must be amazing. Penny and Adrian know how amazing the views are - this is where Adrian proposed!

The seal colony was great as well. We saw both pups and adults lounging in the hot afternoon sun. I think Royden startled the pup with his wild gestures as the pup got up, jumped into the ocean and glided away. Soon after, numerous adults joined in the frolicking and the water was teeming with graceful seals all playing about. They look so funny on land trying to jump from one rock to the next, but get them in the water and they are absolutely magnificent.

Gone Missing

I've been off work now for 3 weeks and what crazy, hectic weeks they've been! We've managed to accomplish a lot in this short time and I'm definitely looking forward to the next few months.

The weather has been cooperating this summer which means we've been able to make some major changes outside, but more on that in the next post!

While mostly it's been a great time, one not so great thing happened to us just over a week ago. Usually, we put our 1997 Toyota Corolla wagon in the garage at night, but last Friday night we went to bed without checking. Lo and behold, the next morning we go to take it to the farmers market only to find the entire wheel missing and our car propped up on two bricks! Some funny joke alright. And only $180 later we were able to replace the tire (or tyre depending on your preference), the rim, hubcap and lug nuts. Not the best surpise we've ever had to say the least...

Anyway, I'm now on a new mission to convince Bruce we should buy a different car, one with an alarm. What do you think, will I have any luck convincing him this is the one??? I'd probably have a better time of it if we didn't have such itchy feet!

The end of an era

Today is my last official day as a full-time, permanent employee of Professionals real estate where I’ve been working for over 2 years. I now embark on the life of a contractor which means no steady hours (read: income) and no set agenda.

My last formal assignment was taking night photos of our building at 9:30pm last night; at least it was a beautiful evening. There have been times I’ve been out in freezing, howling wind, barely able to keep the tripod standing!

Gotta say, I’m definitely looking forward to my first day of freedom. I won’t be bored, that’s for sure. I’m planning on getting my NZ license in the morning (I know, I’ve been here 2 ½ years already and should have had it a long time ago!!), meeting Bruce for a swanky lunch somewhere, and then a massage in the afternoon. Sounds like a tough day, doesn’t it?

Cheers to a life lived well and to Bruce who’s willing to support this decision!

Grocery Store or Farmers Market? (AKA Ode to the Farmers Market)

As the price of groceries (and the cost of living in general) continues to skyrocket here in beautiful Aotearoa, Bruce and I have had to make a hard decision: do we pay $150+ a week for groceries at the store or go without eating??

Luckily, some astute immigrants have come to the rescue. That’s right, the blessed farmers market on Saturday morning - now we don’t have to choose between the two! Even in the dead of winter you’ll find the market set up and it’s possible to get all your fruits and vegetables for half the price or less than the grocery store.

During the week, we went to the grocery store to get enough milk, bread, eggs, meat, cheese, chips, etc to tide us over til the weekend and spent a whopping $76 for what you see here.

On Saturday, we went to the Riverside Market and gave a nice Chinese family $8 for cherries, bananas, carrots, apricots and strawberries. No complaints here! Now if only the farmers market sold meat…

Love long weekends!

This past weekend, Bruce and I took a quick flight to Christchurch on the South Island to celebrate our 2nd anniversary (only 6 months late!!)

We spent two days in the largest city of the South Island, enjoying heaps of great food, lots of sun and an International Busker festival. There were acts from all over the world, but I enjoyed the acrobatic clowns from Sweden and Ireland, Tumble Circus, the most.

Having heard that Akaroa (1 ½ hours south) is the place to swim with the smallest dolphin in the world, we donned wetsuits to go and visit the Hectors dolphins. They proved to be more elusive than thought, so alas, we will have to return another day to play with our frolicking friends.

In Akaroa, we stayed at a farm hostel which meant lots of hiking along the harbour shore and sleeping in a stargazer hut – perfect for those cloudless, starry nights, bad for sleeping in! Two of the ceiling boards are replaced with glass so you can see through and look up at the night sky, very peaceful…

All-in-all, it was a fantastic escape and we can’t wait to return to Christchurch again!

Togs, Jandels and BBQ's

Ahh, summer in New Zealand. Being a Northern Hemisphere girl, having summer during winter and Christmas “dinner” on the beach has taken a bit of getting used to. No sleet, no snow, and a Santa with sunglasses…

Christmas Day becomes a week-long affair for most people. We took our cue from the Kiwi’s and spent the week in Auckland with Bruce’s family. And what did we do for Christmas dinner? That’s right, we had a BBQ on Cornwallis Beach, played volleyball and cricket, swam in the ocean and drank bubbly!

While swimming, I happened to look back at the tree-lined beach. One of the things I have truly come to appreciate about December and January in NZ is the beautiful pohutukawa trees that bloom throughout the month and Cornwallis beach was no different. Known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree, they bloom a brilliant red and are iconic of summer.

We’re lucky enough to have 2 of these native trees on our property and they are in mid-bloom right now. Our neighbour also has one which means I no longer loathe washing the dishes as at least I have a beautiful view to look at!

The beginning of the blog in the middle of the journey…

Technically speaking, this journey began more than 6 years ago when I asked Bruce to join me at the local coffeehouse in Goshen, Indiana for a hot chocolate. If you had asked me then where we would end up, how we were to get there and all the sights we’d see in between, I don’t think I would have believed you.

Yet here we are, starting a blog about our itchy feet after having lived in New Zealand for more than 2 years. Looking at us, you might think we’re quite domesticated having purchased a home over a year ago and holding steady jobs to pay the mortgage. But, a storm’s a’brewin’ so watch this space for further details.

And as we all know, you can’t contain Bruce in a box, or a square of any kind. So we’ve given him a spaz-out corner and from time to time this blog will feature “Eccentric Embellishments by Bruce.”

Hope you enjoy!