Windy Wellington

This past weekend, we (Jen and Pete) were able to spend a couple days down in the capital city of Wellington. We drove Lauryn down for a soccer tournament to be held in Lower Hutt, which is a fairly large city just north of the port city of Wellington.  But, since Lauryn was with her peers, and kind of shooed us away each time we ventured inside the teenage bubble surrounding her...we had the weekend to ourselves.  Which was great.

We stayed with David Coplon, an American Kiwi who was born and raised and schooled in USA, then emigrated to NZ with family for a job, and has now lived in NZ for the past 30 years. We connected with David through Pete's Mom and her friend Adele.  This was our second time staying with him (last time we also got to see Adele, who was visiting) and we enjoyed the visit very much with him.  He lives in a lovely home with a yard filled with flowers and fruit trees in Whitby, a small suburb just outside of Porirua and 30 minutes north of Wellington.  Thanks for the great hospitality, David! (He also kindly reads our blog!)

Wellington is a beautiful city set on verdant hillsides that rise up steeply from the Pacific Ocean. With a population of 200,000 it has the feel of a miniature San Francisco. It is very hilly and also has colorful Victorian houses built on alongside crazy steep curvy narrow roads.  Indeed, one road we were on was a bit like driving a 2 km long Lombard Street.  Except it was also two way!  Wellington is most famous for its wind, as it gets over 160 days a year in excess of 32 knots!

Our first excursion was to Mt. Victoria Lookout, which is a hill that affords gorgeous panoramic 360 degree views of downtown Wellington and the surrounding bay.  Incidentally, the slopes of the hill provided one of the settings for LOTR.  Atop the hill is a monument to Richard Byrd, who was a Kiwi explorer and the first person to fly over the South Pole in an airplane. We enjoyed the vista although Pete almost lost his hat to the wind.

Here are some pics from atop the lookout, looking out on Wellington Harbor and the city "skyline."

Our next destination was the national museum, Te Papa.  It is quite an impressive and informative museum and well worth the visit.  We had limited time so only saw "Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War".  It is an incredibly detailed and interactive exhibit detailing the tragic and failed invasion of Gallipoli (Turkey) by the Allied forces in World War 1.  The exhibit was done in concert with Weta Workshops, which is a special effects and prop company based in Miramar, New Zealand, that produces effects for television and film.  The company, founded in part by Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame, designed incredibly lifelike, proportional soldiers depicted in war scenes, and all abut 3 times the real size. Note the person in the background of this pic...

It was a very moving and emotional exhibit, describing the horrific conditions for the soldiers, the casualty rates and the decisions made by the military leadership. Very sad.  Long ago we had seen the movie "Gallipoli" starring Mel Gibson (before he was a star, incidentally) and so had an impression that this was largely an Australian tragedy.  But, in overall terms, the highest casualty rate was that of the New Zealand regiments, who lost nearly a fifth of their soldiers to death, and suffered a nearly 87% casualty rate of combined injured and dead!

On a happier note we got to see Lauryn play some very good soccer at the national trials for New Zealand's Under 17 national team.  Lauryn was on one of 7 regional teams from NZ that were trying out.  Her team finished third, with one heartbreaking loss when the other team scored a last minute goal.  It was quality soccer with lots of talent and technique on display, and Lauryn was challenged to play in a different position of outside midfielder.  She scored a really nice goal as well!

Lindsay goes to El Rancho Camp

Lindsay had the good fortune to go to school camp in early November with her year 5 and 6 classes from Carlton School.  The camp was near Wellington, the capital city of NZ, about 2.5 hours from Wanganui.  Quite an experience...and here it is in her own words...

You make sound like such a big deal, Dad. Quite the intro. Little too many periods for my taste, however. Oh, yeah. I'm supposed to write about the camp? Here goes.

So, my school sends the year 5 and 6 kids to a camp somewhere on the North Island (only on the North one, bit of a bummer when I found out) close to Wanganui.  This year, everyone went to a camp called El Rancho. So, Mexican, right? But when they cooked "Mexican food" on the first night, it was less of, "Awesome!" and more of,"Ugh! What is this?". But other than that experience, the camp was pretty cool. I'll give a description of what we did each day.

We departed Tuesday and the day was balanced with both activities and sitting on a bus, which consisted of asking the teachers when everyone were going eat, and reading. The activities were all fun and interesting, if not slightly dangerous. We had 6 activities during the stay at El Rancho, spread out over the first two days. On Tuesday, I had go-carting, archery, and low-ropes. After we finished that, we had dinner (the horrible Mexican one).

Wednesday was the same thing, but instead of lounging on a bus,  I exchanged it for a super muddy beach walk. We didn't even reach the beach, which was a bit of a bummer, especially as many kids'  shoes were ruined.  I had a quick lunch and moved onto the activities. That day I had Team Initiatives, Water slide, and Kayaking.  Team Initiatives was a course where my group had to work as a team to complete the challenges. Water slide was cancelled (sadness), and the pool I kayaked in was freezing(we had a swim afterwards). After taking a warm shower to get my body temperature back up to normal, I had dinner and watched a movie.

Thursday was probably the most fun and exciting day of all. It was the day I went down into Wellington. After an hour and a half ride, the bus pulled up at Wellington Zoo. Everyone was allowed to explore the zoo, which had everything from kiwis to scorpions. We also had a tour guide who showed us some cool exhibits, like the HeroHQ animal house that had all different kinds of bugs and amphibians. After the tour guide finished giving us a tour of the Nest, a veterinary service, the teachers shepherded us out. A quick bus trip took us to our next destination. We split in half, one went to Te Papa museum (the national museum of NZ), and the other went to Capital E. My group went to Capital E, a company that shows kids how to use different video designer websites like Atmosphir. Then we went to Te Papa, which has to have been the coolest museum I have ever been to. It had so many exhibits, like the Giant Squid and the Gallipoli (Scale of Our War).  After a long day, I trudged back onto the bus for the long expected and much dreaded ride back to camp. After getting back, we ate dinner and went to bed.

Friday was the day we returned. After an early wake up call, everyone boarded the bus. An hour and a half later,  the bus stopped for lunch and a swim in a town called Levin. After an hour or so, I was back on the bus. Finally, I began to recognize the landmarks, and before I knew it, we were back at my school, tired, but really glad I got to make the trip!

Lindsay

Three months in!

We have now been here over three months!!!

The Weather has settled into a nice pattern, raining every 4th or 5th day for a solid day, but otherwise a pleasant mix of sun and clouds.  It is very windy here, a "southerly" breeze that blows off the Tasman Sea.  But whereas it was cold and raw when we arrived in winter, Spring has been very temperate, mid-60s during the day, mid-50s at night, and the house is the right temp such that we rarely need a fire.  So a pretty typical Spring as we understand it.

Our gardens continue to produce tons of silver beet (swiss chard), lettuce, kale and cabbage.  I have planted tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers but the wind is not their friend, so they are not yet thriving.  Our citrus trees have stopped yielding fruit, but the pear and plum trees are budding, so we are hopeful for that.

Jen had a terrible cold last week : ( which put a dent in her fitness plans.  She had been working out and lifting weights very regularly at a local gym, and also doing some running, all before work.

She and Kendra went backpacking two weekends ago in the Ruahine Forest Park - a mountainous area that runs through the south central part of the north Island - and hiked in to a primitive hut at the top of the tussock in the park.  I hope they will blog about that soon.  The highlights were the views, and the lowlights were the crying baby in the middle of the night, and worse, the "world's loudest snorer".  They were a little bitter and sleep deprived when they returned.

Lauryn and Lindsay continue to play soccer for the local "reps" team.  Lauryn was able to try out to make the regional NZ team at her age group, and made it! (There was no regional team at Lindsay's age group.)  So, Lauryn moves on to phase two - which is one team comprised of the central part of the north island - the Taranaki area (New Plymouth), Hawke's Bay and Gisborne on the East coast, and Wanganui and Palmerston North.  There are now seven regional teams for all NZ in this Phase 2 - Auckland, Northlands, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Wellington, one for the entire South Island, and then Lauryn's team (Central Football). She will play with this regional team from now through April, at which point they select a national federation pool of players. She just played in her first regional weekend yesterday, and the level of play is very high and very pleasing to watch.

Lindsay is really enjoying her local school, Carlton.  I recently blogged about the Tough Kids Challenge.  On the heels of that, they also had their version of field day - 50 Meter sprint, a half km run, long jump, high jump, shot-put, and a long throw.  She finished first in all the running/jumping competitions, but the force was not strong with her in the throwing comps.  This Tuesday she goes to the city-wide competition for this event.

Kendra just completed the Insanity workout video series, a twelve week set of 6 or 7 per week videos that seem to be quite painful and difficult.  I say "seem to be" because I have not participated but rather just watched and supported.  Very proud of Kendra!

I continue to cook, golf, keep things organized, and do a little fishing.  I have started to catch some kahawai at the river mouth of the Wanganui River, right at the Tasman Sea.  Kahawai is the term given the Australian salmon here in NZ, and is a good sized (4-6 pound) and excellent fighting fish.  From wikipedia...

Kahawai is the traditional maori name which when translated means "brave" or "strong" (kaha) water (wai). This in reference to the kahawi's tendency to jump and fight when caught. In New Zealand it is often caught in abundance at river mouths and is a highly popular sports fish that is widely regarded to "punch above its weight" in terms of challenge to land.

It can often be caught on a spinning or surf casting reel, although it is not unheard of for fishermen to use lighter lines and fly fishing rods for a real challenge.

Full disclosure: I used the surf casting reel, with a large spinner and treble hook, and I long cast and then reel in.  The fish are striking a swift moving target on the surface of the water.  When they strike, they typically head down but then come back to surface and jump.  Its pretty exhilarating.

The first time I got one up and on land - I am casting off of a crude kind of pier, and after tiring the fish (and myself) out, I had to swing the fish overhead and flop it down on the pier - this maori guy asked me whether i knew what to do next (I must have looked at a loss...)  So he walked over, grabbed my fish and ripped its throat out from between its gills, and then snapped its head back and "bled the fish"  out upside down.  He also pulled out the guts, and, wiping his hands on his pants, went back to fishing.  That took him about 15 seconds.

I proceeded to catch another one right away, and realizing I was under pressure to perform...tried my best to mimic what he had done and indeed ripped out its throat and snapped its head back and bled it out (though I didn't gut it the way he had - a bit much with bare hands for me).  It was not that easy, but made me feel a bit tougher, even though it probably took me 3 minutes.  There was thankfully no comment from the peanut gallery. I then spared my pants, went down to the ocean and washed off my hands, and then drove home.  Here I am with my catch...(note my awesome gumboots)

Anyway, at home I filleted them and we had more than enough meat for a couple dinners. They are a very tasty fish, firm but not too strong a flavor.  So far we have crumbed and fried them in oil, and also lightly fried them in butter and lemon after my second successful outing.  They would also be good grilled or smoked, or oven baked.  I am hoping for a good catch this Wednesday and then to throw them into fish packets with rice and swiss chard and an Asian sauce.

As we head into Thanksgiving week, we are thinking of our friends and family!  We are inviting 20 or so people over Sunday for a football game and then a feast (Thursday is a regular work day of course!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Most AWESOME School Event EVAH

The Tough Kid Challenge was quite possibly the most awesome kids sporting event ever!  Lindsay, along with over a thousand other elementary school kids, got to participate in this huge obstacle course. Local community groups and businesses transformed a local stadium into the ultimate playground for the kids to run, jump, slide and race through.  The kids started out by running around the track while getting sprayed with water hoses by the local fire department. (I bet the firefighters really enjoyed that.) Then the kids onto the field to tackle the various obstacles-

- scrambling over piles of tires 

- crawling under various nets commando style 

- climbing over or between crude wooden or net fences 

- running through inflatables that had been slicked up with soap and water 

- going through a steeplechase of muddy water backwards

After all that, the kids ran up a long grassy hill. At the top, which was about 200 feet above the stadium field, there was a 70 foot long strip of black plastic that was constantly being soaped and watered by volunteers.  The slide had an angle I guesstimated to be about 25 degrees.  VERY steep.  The kids would either fling themselves at a run, sit down cautiously, or just fall onto the slide and then zoom down. Predictably, the boys were much more likely to take it a full run than the girls, who tended to stop and sit down carefully first.  But the best part was at the bottom. It was hilarious to watch how some kids tumbled off and did unintended somersaults. Or a kid, most likely a boy, would slide off and try to get up only to have his feet taken out from under him by another kid slamming into him from behind.  Not that I wanted anyone to get hurt but this was like one of those hysterical You Tube videos about puppies! See for yourself...

This last video is of Lindsay coming down.  She later regretted taking a running jump onto the slide because she got up quite a bit of speed and was unable to slow herself down on the slippery plastic. When she hit the bottom she skidded along in the mud and got a giant MUD WEDGIE!

Some things I really enjoyed about this day:

1. Watching kids have so much fun!

2. The incredible level of messiness, which resulted in total destruction of Lindsay's shirt and shorts.
3. The danger element. I had a hard time imaging this happening in the US due to concern for injury and liability.  American kids probably would have been outfitted in helmets and mouth guards!

4.  Seeing kiwi fashion out in full force. Admittedly we live in an agricultural area but the number of adults wearing the combination of gumboots, short shorts, tank top, and a brimmed hat was too high to count.  Kiwis definitely value practicality over high fashion.

The End of the Road (Trip) - Ohope Beach

Our last stop on our Spring Break trip was Ohope Beach, just East of Whakatane, on the Bay of Plenty. We stayed in an ocean front apartment 50 meters from the dunes and a short walk to the beach. Being at the end of an exhausting trip, we spent most of the time reading, playing games, and cooking and eating indoors and enjoying a relaxed time at the beach.

The water was a bit warmer in Ohope, but was still too chilly for us wimps.  So we rented wet suits one day and were able to use the boogie boards that the house had. The surf was not huge, and perfect for everyone to catch wave after wave without fear of getting sucked under or tossed about too much.

Leaving Ohope Beach that Sunday to drive home gave us some mixed feelings.  We were all a bit exhausted from the travel and being on the road for two weeks, but it had also been quite the two weeks!

Anyway, we hope we caught you up on our travels.  But...we would make another plea to update us on your happenings!  It has been a while since we heard from many of you and feel a little lost on USA happenings (yours specifically).  So, drop us a line and let us know what's up, what you did for Halloween, travel plans, how soccer or dance is going...

With love, Peter, Jen, Kendra, Lauryn and Lindsay

From a Hot Beach to a Cool Cove

Leaving the Coromandel Forest, we headed for the East coast of the peninsula.  We were a bit delayed arriving at our final destination because we didn’t realize that the ferry from Whiting to Shakespeare Cliffs was just for people. You would think that the words “pedestrian ferry” in the tour book would have alerted us but we missed that crucial bit of information. So we drove down to the dock and then still spent about 5 minutes pondering if a very small ferry with just people on board could possibly carry our car. After finally admitting the obvious, we drove the long way around the small bay and changed our camping location from a more primitive location to another Top 10 Holiday Park at Hot Water Beach. To be honest, the kids were fairly relieved by this decision as they really wanted to have hot showers (and Jen was not too bummed either).

We had heard a lot about Hot Water Beach. It is a popular tourist spot because of the thermal springs located just under the sand.  If you dig down a bit at low tide, hot water springs up, mixes with the cold ocean water and makes for home-made hot tubs.  We speculated that in the US such a phenomenon would have been commercialized for sure, requiring an admission fee, and would be surrounding by tacky tourist shops. But here in NZ it is free for anyone to use. Sweet As!

As the next low tide came at 9 PM, we had a nice dinner at our campsite then donned our geeky headlamps and ventured down the boardwalk to the beach.  We had expected a larger stretch of beach so were surprised to find that the thermal springs are only about 75 meters wide.  As per usual, we found mainly young Germans tourists, about 20 of them, all crammed like sardines into one pool, laughing and drinking alcohol (not that sardines laugh or drink alcohol). BTW, that was the first and last time we came across anything resembling a party during our entire trip as people are very low key here and the holiday parks don't tolerate partying.  Although the Germans invited us to join them, we opted to walk down a bit further to find our own stretch of beach (and we were not totally sure all of them were completed clothed either).  Using the handy spade we rented from the holiday park (very essential to have this) we dug down into the sand to create a shallow depression, built up some wall to keep the water in, then laid down to get out of the chilly wind.

We were having a lovely relaxing time, when Jen made the mistake of digging a bit deeper only to unleash a torrent of truly scalding 150 degree water! The rest of the night was comical - alternating fits of perfect temp, then chilly gushes when we would let in too much cold water, then OH MY GOD MY (fill in the body part) JUST BURNED OFF! Seriously. At one point Pete was walking through the pool when he suddenly made a vertical leap he hasn’t hit since he was in high school, and proceeded to speak in tongues while wondering how many layers of skin had burnt off his foot (thankfully none). Finally, a family vacated a more temperate nearby pool and we quickly moved in before some some Germans could grab it.

As we lay back in our little salty hot tub, we gazed up to behold a clear sky filled with brilliant but mostly foreign constellations. Being in such a rural location, there were no lights obscuring our view.  It was slightly disconcerting to be missing the familiar Big and Little Dipper and other such constellations that I can never seem to learn the names of but yet are familiar friends that hover above  every night.  We spotted the Southern Cross, which despite the hype of the Crosby, Stills and Nash song, is just pretty much just 4 stars low on the horizon.  Seeing it for the first time did not really "make us understand just why we came this way."  But every time I think of the words "Southern Cross,"  those lyrics still come unbidden into my head!  We did recognize the constellation Orion, even though it is upside down so that the hunter appears to be standing on his head.  Another spectral treat are two white patches called the Magellanic Clouds, which are actually satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. Behold, the Southern Cross (well I do admit, CSN, that the bottom star is pretty bright)...

We headed back to the beach the next morning at next low tide, but struggled to find a good spring with the right temp. The pools we tried to dig were simply too hot, or too cold, or too big or too small (just call us GoldiLocks). Eventually three friendly Kiwis took pity on us and invited us into their tub.  They own a vacation house nearby so were hot water beach veterans (and also seemed to have skin made of asbestos as the occasional hot geyser had no affect on them). We had enough space for just 3 of us at a time, so dared each other to dash into the chilly ocean, and then would make space for the returning person to jump in and warm up again.

In the afternoon it was on to Cathedral Cove which we all agreed must be one of those 50 most beautiful places in the world!  It is just up the road from the Hot Water Beach but requires a 45  minute downhill walk along a path, thus eliminating the unfit from visiting this gem of the North Island. The beach is simply stunning, with coves of white sand, rock formations in the water and framing the shore, and several giant caves and archways you can walk through. The water is crystal clear and aqua blue, and to top it off, at one end of the beach there is waterfall that falls down along the limestone, creating small rainbows against the cliff. Really?

Thanks to it being a relatively down time of year, the beach was fairly empty (and strangely lacking in German tourists; maybe they were hung over from the boozing at Hot Water Beach)?  The ocean was too chilly to be in for long, but everyone got in up to their knees and Pete even attempted a trip to a rock 60 meters out in the surf. He got about 15 meters there before deciding that there would be witnesses to his drowning.  Actually, there was no thinking other than "my lungs are collapsing...must get back to shore." Oh well, we stayed on the beach for a good while in the warm sun and got some great pics...

Stairway to Heaven? The Coromandel and Pinnacles Track and Hut

We were sad to leave the Northlands area, but excited to move on to the Coromandel Peninsula.  We had heard much about this "playground," as it is a popular summer vacation destination.  Doing this trip in the Spring, we missed out on some of the fun because the ocean was still quite cold, but, on the other hand, we were fortunate to have relatively little in the way of crowds.

After spending a night in Thames, we did our big backpacking trek of our Spring Break -  a 3.5 hour tramp to the Pinnacles Hut in the Pinnacles area of the Coromandel. Prior to departing, we had been warned about stairs that never ended. They were right to try to prepare us. Warning aside, at some point all of us gave Lindsay a class in how to curse (figuratively) and we were all wondering how many more stairs there could possibly be to climb. In truth, it was an amazing hike. The DOC had built a hiking track with suspension bridges over rivers

and then carved stairs into rocks going up these very steep hillsides. Occasionally there would be railroad ties and 1.5 foot stairs built in. Very steep. Very long. Pretty wet, too, as if they had built the hiking trail right where the stream would naturally fall down the hillside. The weather was pretty nice and fortunately the hike went  through pretty dense bush, keeping things comfortable. Here are some pics from along the Webb Creek Track, the path we took on the way up to the hut.Notice that the first pic below is from the start of the hike.  All smiles.  The latter pic is toward the end, and Kendra has a look that says it all...

The payoff for this hike was incredible. The Hut is considered the crown jewel of the NZ hut system, a beautiful hilltop hut set above the hills and forest. There were 80 bunks split in two bunk rooms, and then a nice kitchen with eating areas, and some great outdoor decks with tables to take it all in. For services the hut had running water only, and outhouse bathrooms, and everything was pack-in, pack-out. So fairly primitive, but also ridiculously scenic. Heres a family shot of us in front of the hut.

Looming above the hut was a daunting 45 minute hike to the Pinnacle, a set of rock outcroppings that are the high point of the area. We did the hike at sunset the day we arrived, and it was truly epic. The wind was gusting at the top about 40mph at least, and the hike was a combination of stairs, ladders, ropes and rock scrambling.  You can just make out some of the ladders in the first photo, and the second shows some of the ladders built into the rock from up close.

Incredible views up top, as it was thankfully clear. You could essentially see out to the Pacific on one side and toward the Firth of Thames on the other side. But as beautiful as the scenery was, we were more than a little glad to be down and out of the wind and the scrambling we had to do. Here is one last pic of the sun setting on the Pinnacles.

On the way back down to our car the following day, we took the appropriately named Billy Goat Track. I think the consensus was that it was easier to climb the first day than it was to descend on the way out. Ouch. We discovered muscles that we didn't know existed.  Apparently we were not used to doing 4,000 squats a day.  Still, to make it a bit more fun, we did a cool NZ Frenzy excursion on the way out.  We found a small unmarked path off the main track, and this led to the top of a waterfall. The “waterfall’ was more like a series of waterfalls and pools that you could crisscross until it finally took a huge plunge downward at a pinch spot.  You could get perilously close to the top of this last waterfall and look over, which was pretty exhilarating.

At the top of the pools and waterfalls...

Here's a pretty pic of Jen at the last and largest pool (the pools go on for about a quarter mile).

The girls at the end of the trail, and top of the last waterfall.  They are on the lip of a 100 foot drop!

We spent over an hour having lunch and exploring, with the help of these ropes that were built into the hillsides to help you scramble around. Below is a pic of Pete in what can charitably be described as awkward. Thanks for taking this shot, Jen!

And the entire time we were in this spot, we saw…the five of us. No one else. Incredible solitude for such a beautiful no-named off the beaten track spot.

If you ever get a chance to hike this track, do it! But also start prepping by using "Stair Master 2020" at the gym...

Ninety Mile Beach Superhighway

We can now cross off of our bucket list “driving an old family van at high speeds along a deserted beach”. Yes, crazily enough, “90 mile beach”, which is located at the Northern tip of the Island, is legally a highway. We had mixed feelings about actually driving on it with our van, a 1998 Toyota minivan with 2 wheel drive.  We had read several guide books and asked various people at the holiday park where we were staying in Ahipara Beach. But as is typical in NZ, we got varied answers-everything from "What kind of car do you have? Hmm, I wouldn’t drive the beach in a 2 wheel drive" to "You'll be fine. It's much faster than taking the highway over land."  The main advice was to drive on the hard packed sand just above the water line as the tide receded - venture up too high and you get stuck in the soft sand. Too low and you are obviously in the ocean. Also, keep the wheels moving and don’t stop on soft sand, specially when entering or exiting the beach.  Confusing matters was the equally important advice...don’t keep spinning the wheels if you do get stuck or you just go deeper in the sand. Our go-to-guide book assured us that it a snap to drive the beach and only drunken idiots got stuck in the sand. Pete reassured everyone he was neither drunk nor an idiot, though a drink may have helped to calm the nerves…and his idiocy is in question for taking his family driving on an ocean beach.

At any rate, Pete had a moment of bravery (or foolhardiness) wash over him and we ventured out onto the sand at Ahipara Beach at a receding low tide right off the main paved road in town early in the morning.  Soon we were doing something that you have to see to believe - cruising along at high speeds (high for our van anyway, over 80 km/h) on a deserted stretch of beach.  The whole time on the beach we probably saw about two backpackers, two other cars with fishermen, and the occasional washed up dead seal - sadness : (

The beach is fairly featureless as NZ beaches go, with surf to our left and low dunes to our right. Here we are on the beach.

We had to cross the occasional small stream and slow down for a few bumps here and there but were otherwise making our way without any trouble until we hit a surprise bump at about 80 kph. All of a sudden, our van turned into Chitty Chitty Bang Band and we were airborne for a very brief moment. We thumped down onto the sand and various foodstuffs flew out of the back of the car and smacked Kendra in the back of the head. She was a good sport about it and once we had stopped the bleeding scalp wound (JK) and checked the car’s suspension (Pete actually has no idea how to check the suspension, so he just looked at the front of the car and said in his most reassuring manly voice, “uh, yup, looks fine”) we were on our way.

The next tricky part was finding the exit to the beach. There were a couple places where you really DID need a four wheel drive, as you had to drive uphill slightly over some soft sand.  The main destination for 2 wheel drive cars was Te Paki Stream, a real stream that winds between sand dunes for about 3 km from the central part of the peninsula and empties into the ocean.  Once again Jen’s terrible directional skills waylaid us but Pete eventually took hold of the map and we found Te Paka Stream (we knew we were in the right place because we saw signs everywhere telling us how hazardous it was to drive in the stream!?!). So obviously, here is where it gets real crazy. Yes, we drove out along a stream bed through beautiful tall desolate sand dunes.

The water was flowing toward us, but the stream bed was pretty flat and hard packed. Family Van saw us through the flowing inches of water to the actual road. The only really hairy part was when the stream split into two narrow paths, both about a car width, one that looked a little muddy, and the other seemed to have a fairly deep pond of water. Pete was told to never stop so he just barreled on at about 20 km/hr, made a split second decision to go right, no, left, no, right (!) and had everyone in the car screaming at him, and then went plowing through the high water/pond option with no real problem! A quarter mile after that bit of exhilaration we were exiting the stream bed for a real dirt road (YES!) and we stopped at the car park by the huge sand dunes to explore and for Pete to get some blood back into his white knuckles. (There are still little indents on the steering wheel from Pete's grip pressure on the wheel- see pic above.)

We climbed up on the dunes

and had a blast jumping off the edge and sliding down.

Getting back in our car we still had a half hour or so of driving to arrive at the northern most tip of the North Island, Cape Reinga. This point holds special spiritual significance for the Maori, as they believe it is THE location where the spirit departs for the afterlife. To our eyes, it was yet another example of God’s great glory in creating such a beautiful location. The cape lookout and lighthouse is up on a cliff and as you look down you can see the waters of the Tasman Sea to the left and the Pacific Ocean to the right. Where it meets, the water forms a beautiful grid pattern of aqua blue waters as the surf collides (see google earth, or our pictures below hopefully do this justice). And, just beyond the lighthouse, there is a tree believed to be 600 years old that is impossibly perched out on the tip of the last rock. You can just make that tree out in the pic just below.

We finally left the lighthouse area, and since the ocean beach road would have become impassable due to the coming high tide (there were occasional warnings made about cars being trapped in the advancing surf and becoming a permanent feature of the beach or sea) we drove home on the windy, hilly land highway, a trip that took twice as long as the beach highway did! The dinner at our campsite that night was to die for, and we gave many thanks for our safe passage that day. What an experience!

Waitangi Treaty Grounds

Across the Bay of Islands from Russell, via a short car ferry, is the town of Paihia, which is really just a  strip of hotels, tourist shops and restaurants.  Just to the north of this town is a beautiful peninsula where the Waitangi Treaty Grounds sits.  The Grounds are on the location where the English Governor of the New Zealand territory resided in the 1830's and where the Teaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 by representatives of the British crown and local Maori chiefs from the North Island. It is considered the founding document of modern New Zealand.

The grounds are a lovely park, with expansive views of the surrounding islands and bays. In the middle of the grounds sits a flagpole commemorating the three different flags that have flown in NZ - the union jack, the first NZ flag (which is still recognized as a maritime flag), and also the current NZ flag.  Interestingly, right now there is a big controversy here in NZ as the current government has commissioned the country as a whole to consider adopting a new, as yet undecided flag. As they say...keep tuned...

The grounds were not marked or preserved in any way after the signing of the Treaty in 1840, and by the early 1900s had actually fallen into disrepair.  Indeed, the entire area was to be sold to developers for development as small plots for homes/farming.  Fortunately in the early 1900s a Governor of the area understood the historic nature of the area, purchased the land and donated it to the NZ government.  The home of the Governor was refurbished and a Maori meeting hall was built.

On the grounds is also have a traditional Maori "canoe" - actually about 100 feet in length.  If you watch the movie Whale Rider you might get a good understanding of the significance of these boats to the Maori (namely that their ancestors traveled from Polynesia to NZ in such a boat.) These boats are used annually on the treaty Day celebrations.

A museum has been built explaining the Treaty and the history of NZ, and we took a wonderful and informative tour with a Maori guide who walked us over the entire grounds, ending at the Maori community hall.  There at the Hall we saw the Haka and then once inside we watched a musical performance by some locals.  Lindsay was in the front row and was a little spooked actually!  There was a lot of yelling, intimidating poses and weapon play, and also some acrobatics with sticks.  Very in your face, and very expressive.

At the end of the performance we even got a picture with the performers as a family!

And now we will do our best now to summarize the historical meaning, significance, and controversies of the Treaty (and apologies if we get any of this wrong.)  For a fuller explanation here is the wikipedia link.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Waitangi 

There was actually a mutual desire from both English and Maori to have an agreement about how the British would govern the area.  For the Maori people, the sheer numbers of settlers arriving, combined with the lawlessness and criminality of some of the British settlers, and the brutality of a local group of French settlers, impressed upon the Maori chiefs the need to have some sort of understanding of how the British crown would govern their subjects, as well as protect Maori lands and interests from the settlers and also from the French.  For the British, the treaty formalized their desire to claim governance over New Zealand and to come to an agreement with the local, non-British peoples over the terms of that claim.

The Treaty is actually relatively short, and consists of a few principles.  First, that the Queen of England would have "sovereignty" over the area and establish "governance" over the area (more on this later).  Second, that the Maori chiefs would retain "possession" over their lands and if they chose to sell lands at an agreeable price, it would be to the British crown or its subjects. Third, that the Maori people would in fact be granted full rights as British subjects.

The writing of the Treaty was done in English, translated to the Maori, and most of the versions that were signed were in the Maori language.  The interpretations of the Treaty on both sides is made more difficult given the fact that at the time the Maori was a more oral than written language, and also that there were not perfect translations between english and Maori to describe "sovereignty", "Governance" or "possession".  For instance, whereas the Treaty in english granted the Crown sovereignty and governing authority over New Zealand, the Maori believed they were signing an agreement meaning the British would govern their own subjects, and that the local Maori would retain oversight and sovereignty over their own peoples. The source of much of the controversy and misunderstanding stems from these issues.  Indeed, after the signing of the agreement, there was much warring  and disagreement between the British and Maori in the 1840s.  The distrust and disagreements continue to the modern era, with specific protest movements occurring in the 1970s and 1990s.

The influence of the Treaty on modern day NZ is actually pretty remarkable.  As we have mentioned before, the country really has a very strong feeling of integration between European/Western and Maori cultures, compared with that of US and Native American cultures for instance.  In fact, that doesn't seem to even be a fair comparison.  We would say it is more like that of a very integrated, multicultural society such as in New York, San Francisco or Honolulu.  This seems an apt comparison given the amount of immigration from Eastern Asian (Thai, Chinese) and Polynesian (Samoan) cultures to NZ, with most of those families working in service industries.

To be sure, the Maori feel marginalized and there is quite a difference in socioeconomic levels between Maori and non-Maori peoples, but the attempt by the more dominant white culture to incorporate Maori language, culture and tradition is still laudable, in our opinion.  And this stems from the signing of an agreement back in 1840, which attempted to enter two peoples into an agreement to live and govern together with some kind of mutual respect.

We hope that gives you some background on NZ history and culture!

We interrupt our usual programming....

Quick sports post...three awesome sports things I am following right now...

One, Go Cougars!  Evergreen boys soccer is heading into the boys soccer playoffs with a great record, and ought to get a top seed.  Looking forward to a deep run into the playoffs!  Best wishes to Ross and all the boys as they try to get that championship!

Two, Lets Go Mets!  A lifelong Mets fan, I am so excited for the Mets first World Series since 2000.  I have found a bar that is showing all of the games, live, and may get a bad reputation around town for spending so much time in the middle of the day in a bar...but, hey, the Mets only make it this far every so often, and have only won the Series once in my lifetime.

And last, Go All Blacks!  The All Blacks (NZ's national rugby team) face South Africa in the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup this Sunday at 3:30 AM NZ time (pretty sure the game is on early morning in the US Saturday) but this is a big deal here and I plan to worsen my reputation around town by dropping by the same bar in the middle of the night to watch the All Blacks take another step toward defending their World Cup title, and perhaps have a beer as well : )

Lauryn just read this post before I published and said, "Dad, four in the morning? You're going to have beer?"  OK, Coca-Cola it is...but go All Blacks!

Hope everyone is well!

UPDATE!!!  The All Blacks beat South Africa this morning and are on to the Finals next weekend, against the winner of Australia and Argentina!  If you do get a chance to watch the game...make sure you are in time to watch the very opening.  Minutes before the match starts, New Zealand does the traditional Haka on the field, in front of the opposing team.  Specially since rugby is somewhat of a mystery to me...this is my favorite part of the match!  Haha.  Very intimidating, very loud, it sets the tone for the team in their days' match.

Hellhole of the Pacific? Uh...no! The heavenly Bay of Islands

Our next port of call was Russell, a small town in the Bay of Islands. It is a quaint charming village that sits on a harbor dotted with small islands as far as you can see.  The water is a gorgeous color of aqua blue.  Russell was the first capital of New Zealand and dubbed the “Hellhole of the Pacific” in the early 1800's due to its abundance of brothels, drunken sailors and criminals. Rather than forget its sordid past, the town embraces it with an annual 2 day celebration where time turns back to the 1830's and actors roam the streets telling tales of pirating, reenacting famous duels and  exemplifying general debauchery. Just in case your visit doesn't coincide with "Hellhole" weekend, there are life sized cardboard cutouts of pirates, strumpets and missionaries scattered through the town year round.

Once again we found a lovely Holiday Park right inside the town. After unpacking and setting up the tents, we took a short walk with intentions of going down to the main beach but then spied a small path heading off in the opposite direction.  Being brave explorers, we decided to follow this alternate trail and were rewarded with a lovely secluded cove.  We only saw two other adults strolling up the beach while two girls played around in the water at the far end of the beach.  Our kids amused themselves by hunting for the most unique and beautiful seashells.  As we left, we could've sworn that the other girls were sans clothing.  When we got back to our campsite, we consulted "NZ Frenzy" and sure enough, the cove is known to be a nudist beach.  The kids were just thankful they were not subjected to viewing any naked elderly tourists!

We then hiked to the top of the highest hill in Russell and were impressed by the gorgeous 360 degree view of the Bay and Pacific Ocean. On top of the hill is a flagpole erected by the British after the signing of the Waitangi Treaty (the founding document of modern New Zealand).  The British flew the Union Jack from the pole instead of the agreed upon NZ flag, and the Maori people responded by cutting down the flag not once but 4 times!

Also at the top of the hill was a large sundial, which sat on a incredibly detailed mosaic tile map of the Bay. Who knew that the shadow of a sundial in the southern hemisphere goes counterclockwise! (On the northern hemisphere it goes clockwise.) We do now that we have seen a huge one! It took us about an hour of using physics to figure out why that is...but we will leave it to you to figure this out yourselves!  Instead, here's a pic of the girls lounging on the sundial...

As the forest surrounding the sundial is known to have several kiwi living in it, Jen and I planned to get up that night and go hunting for the birds.  However, the weather turned unpleasant so we opted for keeping cozy in our tents. The sound of the rain was a pleasant way to drift off to sleep.  In the middle of the night, I woke abruptly to the sound of snuffling and something rooting around outside.  Being from Colorado, my first thought was "bear!"  Once I got over the initial adrenaline rush, I remembered that we were now in predator-free NZ.  So I bravely poked my head outside the tent flap and spied a little brown animal rummaging around near the picnic table.  It was a little hedgehog!

The following day we drove along a part of the coastline nicknamed the Million Dollar View Road. It more than lived up to its moniker. Being a clear day we had gorgeous views of all the beaches and shoreline as well as the scenic hills and dales.  Every five km or so we encountered yet another beautiful sheltered cove, with its accompanying quaint village.  It felt like we had gone back in time and traveled across the world (hey, we are actually across the world)! We only passed a few cars the entire day.  Here is a pic or two from that drive.

We stopped at the furthest drivable point of the area and walked down onto the beach, where the girls scrambled around the rocks and tide pools hunting for starfish, shells, and other little creatures. Living in landlocked Colorado, the beach is a foreign wonderland to us!  It was fairly windy so Jen tried to warm up by running up and down the beach, while singing the theme music from "Chariots of Fire." It was quite apropos, because that scene was in slow motion and that is actually how fast Jen runs in real life!