2011:07

When I took this picture I knew it was destined for my calendar, and indeed, I think it's my favorite of all the pictures I took in New Zealand last spring.

It's a fence post that we passed when walking into the small village called Ohinemutu. Using a bit of shell for the eye was a brilliant touch!

2011:05

Welcome to May, otherwise known as spring in the Northern hemisphere. This month's calendar picture was taken in May but in the Southern hemisphere, on my trip to New Zealand, as they tipped through autumn toward winter. You sure can't tell it's autumn by my picture of Onetangi Beach, though.

 

The beach is on the north side of the island, giving it the best sun exposure (remember, southern hemisphere!).

Onetangi Beach is part of Waiheke Island, eleven miles northeast of Auckland - a great side trip on a sunny day. This was only our second day in New Zealand and we'd been extremely busy on our first day, but we were up and out in time to catch the morning ferry. 

It was rather exciting to watch the skyline recede - as interesting as a city can be, I am exposed to urban life on a daily basis, and I was ready to see something a little different! After about a 40-minute ride the ferry dropped us off on the island and we hopped on a bus tour, since there were limited options for seeing the island. We'd hoped to go wine tasting but settled for beer and fish and chips on a deck overlooking another bay. 

The Matiatia Malt by the Waiheke Brewery was the best beer of my entire visit, due only partly to the setting!

2011:02

Welcome, February! Unlike much of the country, the Bay Area has been full of sunshine and spring is in full force. Trees are in bloom, and the hillside behind my apartment building is starting to echo with chirping birds around 7 am. (It's a lot less charming when it's light at 5:30am in a few months, and the birds are going nuts at that unholy hour.)

I took my Feb 2011 calendar shot on my trip to New Zealand last fall. Deirdre and I walked around this small village outside of Rotorua, without realizing we were supposed to donate money for the privilege. The building in the above photograph is the church hall (I think) for Saint Faith Anglican church.

The water is steaming but the swans didn't seem to mind in the least. The whole village was located there because the hot springs throughout the area provided handy cooking and heating sources!

New Zealand!

So, I've been to New Zealand and am back again, somewhat caught up on my life. I realized I forgot to do my beginning-of-month calendar post for May and June, so I have a little bit of fodder to catch up on . However! NZ!

Here's where we went:

A - flew into Auckland and spent a full day there
B - took a ferry to an island off the coast called Waiheke
C - drove to a nearly-deserted beach called Whatipu, then continued on to
D - a teeny town called Waitomo Caves, where, yep, we went into caves.
E - is a town called Taupo - we soaked in a hot mineral bath followed by an amazing meal
F - and went on to Rotorua where we saw boiling mud and had another fabulous hot spring afternoon. On the last day we drove from F to G for lunch, then to H to fly back out of the country. F -> G-> H was a bit of a rush, but we made it!

Given that this is the whole country, clearly another (longer!) visit is required someday:

I'll post more pics later. Given my dearth of blog-fodder, I've got to stretch this out a bit!

exciting plans

It still feels very much like a dream, but I'm going to New Zealand next week! I have pangs about the shortness of the visit, but I really couldn't have gone for longer, so I keep reminding myself that I'd rather go now for a little bit, than for a good chunk of time sometime in the next ten years (if ever)!

It's going to be not-that-warm, with temps in the 50s. It's going to be rather rainy, though the forecast shows we may get a few clear days as well! The days will feel strangely short, with sunrise at 7:25 and sunset at 5:12 on our final day there.

And still for all that I'm super excited. I've borrowed a map, and a couple of books, and have more books on the way, and we've booked a car and our first couple of nights and I'm making lists of things I want to do and see. I think we may do a bit of picking our destinations based on the forecast, which feels crazy, yet so doable as it's the off season.

I'm also worried I won't understand a word anyone says to me, but I imagine I'll get by. If nothing else I'll make my travel buddy do all the talking!

roller coaster!

Oh folks, hasn't it been some high highs and low lows lately? I had a very big disappointment yesterday, and am working through being sad and mad and kicking rocks, but I also got to have kind words and shoulders and encouragement and perspective and laughing, so all is definitely not lost.

And then today I kind of went a little crazy and am taking a quick trip to New Zealand  - New Zealand - New Zealand?!?!?! - with a friend. Cheap ticket + feeling blue and restless + willing friend + tight deadline = wow.

We leave in a couple of weeks and will be there for six days and I will take lots of pictures, even if it's of end-of-autumn on the extreme other part of the globe.