Lance and I celebrated our New Zealand birthdays together since they are only 3 days apart (Nov. 11 and 14). We hired our FIRST BABYSITTER! Well, 'hired' is probably not the best description since it was Lance's co-worker who offered to watch him. But still. I handled it well. James did very beautifully- played, ate, and slept.
We just took 3-4 hours and went kayaking and to lunch. All of the beautiful weekends we have, and the day we decide to kayak it's stormy. Our kayak hire had been for two separate kayaks, but with winds being as strong as they were I was worried about getting separated from Lance. I don't exactly have the strongest arm muscles in the world. So we opted for a double kayak. Lance regretting it immediately when I started splashing water back on him from the front. In my defense, we were soaked from the rain and wind anyway. And he even made fun of me for wearing my wetsuit! Now who's laughing, honey? Lance and I aren't the most in-sync team you'll ever meet on the ocean blue. There was a rowing team out practicing and they were beautiful to watch. We, on the other hand, couldn't go in a straight line for the life of us. The waves and current were buffeting us all around and we looked the worse side of bedraggled by the time we brought the kayak back in. We hired it for 2 hours but only managed a little over one. We were pretty proud.
Lunch at The Attic in Mission Bay and we headed home.
Sorry for the lack of pictures. We weren't looking good so I don't think you missed out.
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Can we borrow your shovel?
We are extremely behind on our postings. James has started to crawl the last three weeks and any spare time I have has been dedicated to either planning our Christmas trip to the South Island (we leave on Friday!) or Christmas presents. With the little guy commando crawling like a champ, 'spare time' is getting hard to come by.
Back on November 8th we decided to head to a well-known area of the Coromandel Peninsula (where we went camping) that has two attractions: Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach.
Hot Water Beach is located on top of a natural hot spring, right at the edge of the ocean. It is only accessible for an hour or two on either side of low tide, so with low tide at 2:30 we had to plan accordingly.
First stop was Cathedral Cove, which is a beautiful beach about 15 minutes from Hot Water Beach. It takes about 30 minutes to hike to the cove, so we thought we were right on schedule when we arrived, only to find the parking lot for it was dinky and...full. Lance dropped us off and went to park the car further away. Unfortunately the parking lot is at the top of a very long hill. He had to run uphill for 1.7 kms (1ish miles) to get back to us. Poor guy. On the plus side, I had plenty of time to suncreen and hydrate James!
The hike to the cove provided plenty of beautiful views of both the ocean and its plentiful islands, but also the rolling green farmland inland.
Thirty minutes later we were at Cathedral Cove. What a fun place to spend a day relaxing and soaking up some sun! The sand is lovely and soft, the water is sparkling and blue, and the big archway that gives the beach its name makes you feel lucky to live on Earth. Nice job, God.
Our time there was too short, but we needed to allow time too get to Hot Water Beach, otherwise we were going to miss out on the low tide. About an hour at the cove, hike back (including a long jog downhill for Lance), and we were heading to the beach. Now, I had read ahead of time to bring a shovel to dig your own pool. Having left all of our digging utensils state-side, we thought we could get away with our hands. We were wrong. The sand filled back in faster than we could dig. And by 'we' I mean Lance. Someone had to hold James! Just trying to find an empty area to dig was cutthroat. We walked up at the same time as another family and both stepped into a recently vacated, pre-dug pool. Apparently I didn't sit down quickly enough, because I blinked and it was full. We wandered around, dipping our feet in cold pools. We found a lukewarm one, borrowed a shovel from a family in a pool that was steaming, and got to it. The more we, ummm, Lance, dug, the colder it got. Not wanting to look aimless, we sat in the cold water. James was starting to look a little chilly when the family who lent us the shovel told us they were leaving and we could have their pool. Score! Ahhh, nice and warm.
James enjoyed splashing in the water. The perfect kiddy pool.
As the ocean crept into our lovely pool, we packed up and headed home. Later that week we were talking with our friend, Ashley, who moved out here the same day we did. We told her about Hot Water Beach and she said her Kiwi boyfriend was complaining about all the tourists that don't bring shovels. Such a pain. "Oh yeah, can you believe those people..." Oops.
Back on November 8th we decided to head to a well-known area of the Coromandel Peninsula (where we went camping) that has two attractions: Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach.
Hot Water Beach is located on top of a natural hot spring, right at the edge of the ocean. It is only accessible for an hour or two on either side of low tide, so with low tide at 2:30 we had to plan accordingly.
First stop was Cathedral Cove, which is a beautiful beach about 15 minutes from Hot Water Beach. It takes about 30 minutes to hike to the cove, so we thought we were right on schedule when we arrived, only to find the parking lot for it was dinky and...full. Lance dropped us off and went to park the car further away. Unfortunately the parking lot is at the top of a very long hill. He had to run uphill for 1.7 kms (1ish miles) to get back to us. Poor guy. On the plus side, I had plenty of time to suncreen and hydrate James!
The hike to the cove provided plenty of beautiful views of both the ocean and its plentiful islands, but also the rolling green farmland inland.
Thirty minutes later we were at Cathedral Cove. What a fun place to spend a day relaxing and soaking up some sun! The sand is lovely and soft, the water is sparkling and blue, and the big archway that gives the beach its name makes you feel lucky to live on Earth. Nice job, God.
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| Just after this picture James took a wave full on in the face. Great job, Dad. |
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| He was not amused. |
Our time there was too short, but we needed to allow time too get to Hot Water Beach, otherwise we were going to miss out on the low tide. About an hour at the cove, hike back (including a long jog downhill for Lance), and we were heading to the beach. Now, I had read ahead of time to bring a shovel to dig your own pool. Having left all of our digging utensils state-side, we thought we could get away with our hands. We were wrong. The sand filled back in faster than we could dig. And by 'we' I mean Lance. Someone had to hold James! Just trying to find an empty area to dig was cutthroat. We walked up at the same time as another family and both stepped into a recently vacated, pre-dug pool. Apparently I didn't sit down quickly enough, because I blinked and it was full. We wandered around, dipping our feet in cold pools. We found a lukewarm one, borrowed a shovel from a family in a pool that was steaming, and got to it. The more we, ummm, Lance, dug, the colder it got. Not wanting to look aimless, we sat in the cold water. James was starting to look a little chilly when the family who lent us the shovel told us they were leaving and we could have their pool. Score! Ahhh, nice and warm.
James enjoyed splashing in the water. The perfect kiddy pool.
As the ocean crept into our lovely pool, we packed up and headed home. Later that week we were talking with our friend, Ashley, who moved out here the same day we did. We told her about Hot Water Beach and she said her Kiwi boyfriend was complaining about all the tourists that don't bring shovels. Such a pain. "Oh yeah, can you believe those people..." Oops.
Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Around the Town
Tēnā koutou! That's Maori for hello. Maggie here.
After so many weekends of driving to the surrounding areas of Auckland, we decided we needed a weekend in town exploring Auckland's neighborhoods. There are many lovely neighborhoods, most of which are on the coast. When you live in a city with as many inlets and bays as Auckland, the chances of your neighborhood touching water is pretty high.
Saturday we decided to walk around the neighborhood of Devonport. It's one of the 'fancy' neighborhoods with streets of cute cafes, well-maintained parks packed with children, and upscale housing that actually have yards larger than postage stamps.
Kiwi houses are practically built on top of one another. When you walk down the street you will frequently see three driveways in a row. One leads to the house closest to the street, another leads to the house directly behind it, and the third to a house behind that. So the streets are pretty far apart, houses are crammed together, and yards are pretty dinky. I don't know what in their history prompted this housing style, but there it is. Auckland is also extremely hilly, so some of these driveways are INTENSE. They are lucky they don't get snow here because Aucklanders (Aucklandites?) would be in trouble. We are talking steep. The front fender of our car scrapes every time we pull into our driveway because of the sharp curve combined with the steep incline.
Some of the tallest isolated hills in Auckland are in Devonport, so the views are 360. This made them ideal for lookout posts and disappearing guns in WWII. One of the original guns in still in place and you can walk through some of the underground tunnels, barracks, and kitchen during certain hours.
North Head Hill:
Mount Victoria:
Sunday we went to the other side of the bay to the neighborhoods of Mission Bay and St. Heliers. There is a long waterfront walk that connects all the neighborhoods in that area, and also passes by several yachting clubs and the aquarium. Boating clubs are very popular with the tweenagers here (from what I've observed) so many times when we pass by a yacht club (they're everywhere here) there are little clusters of sailfish playing follow the leader. We've watched them come in before and it's fun to see how the boats break down and transport. My parents gave Lance a yacht club membership for his birthday, so we need to find a yacht club close by. They aren't exclusive and highfalutin like in the States. Pretty much every neighborhood that touches water has one. We've been told most of the clubs rent out the little sailfish for $5-10 to members. Score! We've also been told about something called the Rum Races, but that will be a different story for another day.
We have to appreciate the beauty of the city itself, not just it's surrounding areas. No complaints here!
Some of the tallest isolated hills in Auckland are in Devonport, so the views are 360. This made them ideal for lookout posts and disappearing guns in WWII. One of the original guns in still in place and you can walk through some of the underground tunnels, barracks, and kitchen during certain hours.
North Head Hill:
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| 3D map of Devonport |
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| 3D map of Hauraki Gulf (encompassing Greater Auckland) |
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| James and I ate lunch at the top. |
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| Well, I ate lunch and James slobbered on my wrapper. Mmm, crinkly. |
Mount Victoria:
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| Old bunker vents are decorated like mushrooms all over the top of the hill. |
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| This picture doesn't look like much, but the trees lining the whole path were beautiful! |
We have to appreciate the beauty of the city itself, not just it's surrounding areas. No complaints here!
Shout out to the Weber Crew / Happy Thanksgiving
After a bunch of posts by Maggie, I'm (Lance) finally getting back into it. As Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching and may be here by the time this post gets up / gets read; Maggie, James, and I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
A special shout to the Weber Family who this year will be congregating at Aunt Susan and Uncle Tim's again up in Frankenmuth. It's been a few years since I've been able to be home for Thanksgiving, but it doesn't hold any less special place in my heart. The entire Weber Family has been getting together since I was born, and we take turns rotating the hosting duties between Frankenmuth and Shelby. I wish you all the best this Thanksgiving and hope that someone can occupy Olivia and Tyler enough so that Kyle can fully soak in the Bears loss as the Lions (in a rarity) dominate on Thanksgiving Day. I'll be watching on Slingbox out here- might have to go in late for work that Friday to catch the game, especially since I haven't been able to see one yet this year. There's really nothing better than a Holiday that incorporates the 3 Fs: Food, Family, and Football. The Kiwis can say what they want about sitting on a beach in November, but Americans really make Lemonade out of Lemons in celebrating such a great holiday at such a lousy point in the year (weather wise). (Buckle) Hats go off to you, Pilgrims. You set the foundation for greatness, and like always Detroit followed it up with excellence.
James and I have been trying to get in at least a little bit of College Football since the games on Saturdays are technically on Sunday here. Even though it's a been an atrocious season (most disappointing in my lifetime), James and I are still bleeding Maize and Blue.
So as you all gather around the Turkey this upcoming week and check your iPhones for all the latest Black Friday deals, know that Maggie and I wish we could be with you and give thanks for all the Good Lord has given us. Here's some of the things that I'm thankful for (Letterman Style for Top 10) this Thanksgiving:
1. Family
2. Friends
3. Good Health
4. #Merica
5. Soft Pretzels
Pretzels.....
6. Coney Dogs
Lafayette is better
7. Fresh Air
8. Cold Beer on a Friday Night
9. Fresh Cut Grass on Bare Feet in the Summer / Fresh Powder Under the Skis in the Winter
10. Keeping on down the road of life!
Go Blue!
Go Lions!
Go Wings!
A special shout to the Weber Family who this year will be congregating at Aunt Susan and Uncle Tim's again up in Frankenmuth. It's been a few years since I've been able to be home for Thanksgiving, but it doesn't hold any less special place in my heart. The entire Weber Family has been getting together since I was born, and we take turns rotating the hosting duties between Frankenmuth and Shelby. I wish you all the best this Thanksgiving and hope that someone can occupy Olivia and Tyler enough so that Kyle can fully soak in the Bears loss as the Lions (in a rarity) dominate on Thanksgiving Day. I'll be watching on Slingbox out here- might have to go in late for work that Friday to catch the game, especially since I haven't been able to see one yet this year. There's really nothing better than a Holiday that incorporates the 3 Fs: Food, Family, and Football. The Kiwis can say what they want about sitting on a beach in November, but Americans really make Lemonade out of Lemons in celebrating such a great holiday at such a lousy point in the year (weather wise). (Buckle) Hats go off to you, Pilgrims. You set the foundation for greatness, and like always Detroit followed it up with excellence.
James and I have been trying to get in at least a little bit of College Football since the games on Saturdays are technically on Sunday here. Even though it's a been an atrocious season (most disappointing in my lifetime), James and I are still bleeding Maize and Blue.
So as you all gather around the Turkey this upcoming week and check your iPhones for all the latest Black Friday deals, know that Maggie and I wish we could be with you and give thanks for all the Good Lord has given us. Here's some of the things that I'm thankful for (Letterman Style for Top 10) this Thanksgiving:
1. Family
2. Friends
3. Good Health
4. #Merica
5. Soft Pretzels
Pretzels.....
6. Coney Dogs
Lafayette is better
7. Fresh Air
8. Cold Beer on a Friday Night
9. Fresh Cut Grass on Bare Feet in the Summer / Fresh Powder Under the Skis in the Winter
10. Keeping on down the road of life!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Go Lions!
Go Wings!
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