November 25, 2008

The last few days have been so incredible I can't even begin to describe it.
First, we found Elwyn Richardson and had such an amazing time talking with a man who had known my family many years ago. He had such fond things to say about Boulder, Grandma, and everyone he met there and such sadness associated with it for having to leave it. He had a lot of very interesting stories to tell and was so welcoming to these three ragged Americans who just showed up on his doorstep unannounced. It truly was a special day.
Then we camped at a car park on one of the most amazing beaches...but they've all been amazing. It was called Piha. A real surf town with an amazing sunset. We were parked next to a little inlet with ducks and these little babies came right up to the car and played with us and ate out of our hands. Ari was lying on the ground and they climbed all over him. It was so cute!
The next day we made our way back to Auckland. To our fabulous "free" night at the Hilton Hotel out on the water. It was so nice. We all took nice hot long baths and the boys swam in the heated outdoor pool with a glass side that looked out into the bay. I saw Sir Roger Moore..he was staying at the hotel too. I saw him because his chauffeur started chatting me up in the lounge. The chauffeur's involved with a lot of tourism apparently and invited us to a Thanksgiving Dinner event this past Sunday with the American Ambassador and all these other Chancellors and people, but we would have had to pay and we were going to be out of town anyway.
Saturday morning, Ari and I went to the ferry building downstairs and met up with a group of about 30 people to go on the Maori Weekend. Which turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life. These 30 people were some of the most amazingly cool people ever! We met Jen and Gentiana (we had met them earlier, but not gotten to know them) they work for the program we're on. Then we met Arne, Nana, Crisitan, Gianluca, Jasmine, Rocky, Natalie, the list goes on and on. All of these people are so amazingly unique and special and have some of the most profound worldly views I've ever experienced. We were taken by two people, Cailhee and Neille (Nail), the two owners of the company taking us on this trip out on a boat to Waiheke Island to a Marae there. A Marae is basically a Maori sacred area with meeting houses and it's tribe related. No one can just go to a Marae, you have to be invited. Since Cailhee is a descendant of a Chief that was married there, she is able to get invited and bring people. So, we went to the Marae and were ceremoniously greeted onto the land. We couldn't just walk in, we had to be called in when they were ready. Women int he center flanked by the men, everyone quietly walking in heads down while the Maori chanted and called us in. We then sat across a grass area from them, men in front and women in back. We then took turns singing chants to one another to show respect, honor the history and differences between us as well as honoring what was to come between us. We then were welcomed on to the land officially and we all had to line up to be greeted by each person of the tribe. The Maori ravear the head as sacred, so what this means is that you clasp arms and touch the tips of your noses and your foreheads together. It is a symbolic way of breathing in each other, acknowledging the life forces that exist between you and giving and taking a little of each other. When family haven't seen each other in a long while, they will often stand in this position for a very long time.
We then placed our bags outside the meeting house and were called into the townhouse by chanting for lunch. The food was blessed and then we all sat and eat and got to know one another. The nice thing about this tribe is that it's about the people and the culture, not the religion. It's like the Unitarian Universalist Maori tribe. That is why they are able to allow all of us to enter without proving lineage. Each person stood up and introduced themselves and said what they hoped to get out of the weekend. It was very much clear that this weekend would be everything we put into it. We were expected to participate fully in every aspect from cooking, to cleaning, to activities. I was on bathroom and dish duty way more than once. We went on guided walks, did flax weaving, poi dancing, singing, silk screening, cooking, general hanging out and talking and getting to know each other. It was so amazing because they weren't offended by our questions and open to answering anything and politely correcting us when we verged on offense because they recognized that we were coming with no knowledge and we were there to learn. And they did teach...very well. I learned so much about the history of the Maori people, the way they think, why they think certain things. I told them about certain things I'd seen or been told and they were very eager to correct or explain and clarify anything. IT was really great. The first night we participated in a Hangi. Basically, we dug a big hole in the ground. Then we put big logs around the bottom to make a square. Then all kinds of big and little rocks, lava rocks and other rocks. Then around that we put all kinds of other sticks with particular types of wood for the types of flavor the smoke makes. The fire burned for about 3 hours making the rocks very very hot. Meanwhile we were busy cutting and preparing metal baskets lined with tinfoil with lamb, beef, chicken, potatoes, carrots, kumara, everything. After 3 hours, they pulled out all the bigger sticks and spread out the rocks evenly in the log square. Once this was even, they put metal grates over the rocks and then put the baskets of food covered in tinfoil over the grates. Red meat on the bottom, then chicken, then veggies. At this point, there was nearly any fire left, it was mostly just very hot rocks. They then took wet cloths like tablecloths and layed those over the baskets so that the rocks steamed. Then they took wet mud covered cloth potato sacks and covered the cloths. The final thing was to take the dirt and cover the whole thing so that there was no steam escaping anywhere. The food then steamed for 4 hours. We did all kinds of things during this time like learning the Haka (war dance), rowing a Waka (canoe), and just getting to know people like Millie and Robert (Maori husband and wife who came to help teach us things and are two of the kindest, loving souls I will every meet). We spent a lot of time talking with Neille and Cailhee. They run two businesses out of their home. One is a consulting company because Cailhee used to work for Ernst and Young...so she and Ari had a lot to talk about. And the other is Time Limited (www.timelimited.co.nz) which is the tour company that does Maori time and also does fishing and hiking adventures. Neille invented a form of Kite Fishing and people call him and ask him to take them out for weekend private trips for Kite Fishing, or Kayak fishing, or fly fishing, or anything. He has said the next time we're in Auckland or he's in an area we're in, he'll bring extra poles and tools and we can join in whenever.
We all slept in the meeting house on mattresses on the floor. I forgot to mention after 4 hours, we dug out the Hangi and at some of the most delicious food I'd ever eaten in my life. And while we were waiting I helped make Fry Bread!!! I was really wishing I'd brought my Frybread shirt that day. But I didn't tell anyone the FlyBread story.
Anyway, that night in the meeting home with about 49 other people sleeping in the same room, was the best night's sleep of the entire trip here in New Zealand. It really was such a heart-warming, special event. We were welcomed in as part of a family and the joy that everyone found in it was intoxicating. Of course you had the couple people who were just sort of stuck up and snotty, but everyone recognized it and just maneuvered around them and left them alone to be that way.
Girl Scouts came in handy because I had learned Poi dancing way back then for some silly badge, so when it came to learning poi dancing everyone was so amazed like "how did she pick that up so quickly?". In the beginning of the day we had been divided into four groups and that is how we were assigned duties and then we were also told there would be a Maori Idol show in groups. My group came up with everyone singing the first two lines of their national anthem. Another group did a Maori song and dance. Then Ari's group did the charades game where people act out household appliances and the audience guesses what you are. Ari made very good dirt. :)
Everyone was given the same score, so we had to have a tie breaker. So, the judges picked the Poi dance we had learned as a tie breaker. Each team was to pick the person they thought was the best on their team and that person had to do the best one they could with what we had learned. A very weighted challenge since I already knew the dance! But the two other people, Arne and Gentiana, were so awesome with theirs stylistically, I thought they should have won. Mine was apparently bad word fueled, but I was so focused on my movements I wasn't thinking about things coming out of my mouth and I am quite embarrassed by it, but everyone had a good laugh. Anyway, I won it for my team..Quite proud of myself.
We came back Sunday evening on a very rocky boat ride with Jen almost falling off and some of the dirties funniest conversation I've ever been in. When we got off the boat it was rainy and gross and we were all so sad to leave, so we went to a bar together instead of parting ways. It was really great and we all exchanged numbers. Jen is going back to Canada on Wednesday (tomorrow now) and we were so sad to have only just now gotten to know her because she really is an amazing person) and so she let us know she was going to have a pub meet celebration because on Monday she was also finally getting her permanent residency. So instead of leaving, we decided to stick around one more day. We were going to try and find a hostel, but then Cailhee and Neille called and said they didn't like the idea of us staying in the van in the weather and insisted we head to their house in devenport and stay the night. That is just a perfect example of NEw Zealanders (well, Neille's an Irish German by birth). They have only known us 48 hours and welcomed us into their home and let me do laundry and get on their internet to do homework and made us breakfast..it was so kind. They are amazing people.
Not to toot our own horn, but we really were part of the favorite group and I don't mean that in a snobby way, but we really made an effort to meet people and really gave a part of us to everyone and we received a part of them back. One of the Maori tribe invited us to come and stay with him whenever, said his buddy has a vineyard and he'll get us a job, and another woman said we could come stay with her and just help with daycare or housework.
So, we stuck around and went out last night for Jen's going away party. It was so amazingly fun! One of the best times here still. Everyone was SO drunk and I just documented it all :) These people are just so funny and warm and likeable and I'm so appreciative that I've gotten to know them and that I can, after only 3 days, call them my lifelong friends.
Anyway, Mitch didn't make it home to the hotel last night...haha...so we've stuck around one more day. Tomorrow we are heading out again for real. Two more weeks and then we'll be back in Auckland. This time we're heading a bit south. Coromandel, Napier, Taupo, ending in Raglan and a Surfari..no joke..that's what it's called. Then back to Auckland for a couple days. Then we'll pick a spot and stay there. And Gentiana is already arranging our New Years Trip. She has a connection to an awesome lodge and we will be hiking the Tongariro Crossing. It's an 11 hour hike, but it'll be a great way to start off the new year! :)
Anyway, it's 5pm, IEP is closing, Gentiana (who's from Aspen) is letting us stay the night with her and I'm being kicked off the computer. So...
I'm glad to have finally made it in to do a real post!
We're having a great time!
I miss everyone and I love everyone!!
Happy Thanksgiving week!!!
xoxo
Alissa

November 20, 2008

So, I've been trying to update for some time, but something always seems to get in the way.

We are now in a little beach area called Maiwai just outside of Auckland. It took us 2 weeks to get to the top and we are trying with all our might to take as along as possible to get down the west coast, but it is proving to be a difficult task. Yesterday we drove the longest stretch from Dargaville where we had spent the night camping by Kai Iwi Lake. It was so clear and shallow for so far out and then all of a sudden the water got dark and the sand dropped off and got really deep. It has been so cold and windy, but the sun was out so the boys decided to go for a swim. Then they got their sleeping bags out and took a nap on the grass outside the car. When the awoke I decided to join and we talked about the next steps of our adventure and then had some righteous games of sleeping bag wars. Lots of fun. 

This past night we stayed in a camp with pay hot showers and we managed to figure out the code for their office's wireless. :)  gotta love it people who use 1234567890 or 0123456789.  :)

Anyway, today we are off to Taupaki to inquire about a man named Elweyn Richardson my grandma used to know and then we will head into Auckland so that I can get work done and we can get caught up on bills and bank accounts and work IDs and all kinds of stuff we've been putting off for as long as possible. Luckily for us, Mitch has done a lot of travelling for work and earned a lot of points with Hilton, so he got us a room there on Friday night. :) and then Saturday Ari and I are going on a Maori retreat. I don't really know what's going to happen after that, but I think we'll head up the Coromandel and do a quick tour of central North Island before we decide where to settle down in that region somewhere.

I'll keep ya'll posted.

I love that everyone reads this and we love the comments. It helps to feel connected to everyone still! 

xoxo

Alissa

November 16, 2008

Oh my word what a whirlwind couple of days!
So we drove up the coast and we went up to the first campsite up at Spirits Bay. We were eaten alive by mosquitos, but it was a beautiful place with horses and wildlife. On the way up to the campsite, we went to a beach called the White Sand Beaches. it was so beautiful! The sand was like flour! It was so amazing! The weather wasn't that great, it was wet and grey,but it was so fun walking out to the beach in the rain and walking down the beach in the drizzil and the water was so clear and so shallow, we decided to take a walk out into it! It was so great! Our original plan was to camp at the site there, but the site wasn't that great and it was far from the beach, so we continued on to spirits bay.
We camped out, but none of us slept well. The mosquitos were rough and we were all bit up all over the legs and feet. And the moon was almost full and the skies were amazing, but the swarms of mosquies made us paranoid and constant biting was waking us up. We took showers that morning...cold outdoor showers... Ari had to do a type of war dance to get psych himself up to jump in...it was SO cute. mitch took his sweet time and even shaved! I don't know how he did it..it was SO cold.
The next day the boys decided to hike to the next campsite and I would meet them there. 21 hours and a tiring-restless-cold night, two very haggard looking boys showed up at the campsite.
So, we decided not to take the slower road and drive all of 90 mile beach back down. We went up to Cape Reinga...which was BEAUTIFUL! and saw where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea and waved home. We finally made it to the most northern point of the North Island.
Then we drove down to a little town halfway down the penninsula and got gas and then we cut over to the 90 Mile Beach. We drove out onto the sand and drove all the way along the waves down to Ahipara. It was amazing! And so beautiful!
because none of us had slept or eaten in about 24 hours we found a really nice luxury boutique hotel with a nice living room and kitchen and two bedrooms (for only NZ$150..super cheap for the quality). We took hot showers for the first time in about 5 days and we went out to a very nice seafood dinner in Kaitaia.
I have no idea where we're going today...but somewhere. we have to be back in Auckland by Friday...so we'll see what happens.
Have I mentioned how they repair or pave roads around here? I took a picture, but I can't load it at the moment. they do the entire road at once. So, basically you just drive through a construction site. ravel, rocks, people, machinery moving everywhere! It's quite a dangerzone, but everyone works with it and they look out for you and you look out for them and somehow it all works. And everyone waves as you pass...EVERYONE. other drivers, people on the streets, construction crews...everyone.
And remember a while back I mentioned about how trustin they are. Yesterday I went to get gas and instinctively went first into the station to give the man cash. He said "what are you doing? Just put key in the amount and pay me later." I completely forget...you pump and THEN pay....how many of us back in the states would pump and then run? seriously? you know you would have all thought of it or not had quite enough cash and so you would take the chance and bolt. I'm sure i would have at least once.
i think we're all getting a little tired of being on the move. Next weekend Ari and I are going on a Maori adventure for a weekend. We'll be living in a hut with a Maori group for a night and participate in a Hangi (traditional meal cooked in a pit in the ground that the community helps prepare) and go for a ride in a Haka (canoe) and do some sort of art stuff and just get to know the culture. mitch is going to go on to taupo so probably we are going to meet him there after our weekend and then we'll figure out where to go from there. I think we'll proabably settle down somewhere for a while and Ari might do a dive master program while I work to try and put some food on the table.
that's all for now..we're going to play some cards and drink some tea and we're going to keep on moving.
xoxo
Alissa

November 13, 2008

So, we have slowly been making our way up and up the coast. We stopped in a couple little bays up the road ending in a little bay called Maitai Bay. It was absolutely beautiful!!!
The night before that we found a little bay that we were planning on staying on, but then the security came and kicked us out. But not before seeing one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen. The sun was behind us, behind a hill, but the color changes of the sky over the water were so surreal!
We haven't had a real shower since we left Paihia (3 days ago)...I need a real shower. Last night in the cold windy rain, I finally sucked it up and quickly showered in the outdoor cold shower at the campground in Maitai. Thankfully it's off-season still, so we're getting into all of these campgrounds with noone manning them, and we're not paying. It's really nice...quiet, private, and free...until we get caught.
Today we are making our way up the tip. We will stop half way up to Cape Reinga at the white sandy beaches on the West side. Tomorrow we will make it all the way to Cape Reinga. We will probably spend a couple days up there. Then drive back down. Now, here's the thing. There's a sand drive down 90 mile beach (not really 90 miles). But it has to be timed perfectly so as not to get caught in the tide. I think we might risk it...we'll see.
So, I probably won't be in touch for a few days...wish us luck! I promise to post lots of pictures or snorkelling, sand surfing, and white sandy beaches when we get back. :)
xoxo Alissa
ps...today is Isabel's due date...Love you!!!!

pps...I found a way to hange the settings so you don't have an account to post a comment! So leave us lots of love!! and sign your name to it!

November 11, 2008

So, yesterday we left Paihia. But not very far. We drove out to a forest can camped in the forest. It was really fun. We set up a tarp so that we had covering and that took us a while because we couldn't figure out the best way to do it..it's a HUGE tarp. But eventually we conquered the tarp. Then we started a fire, but for some reason wouldn't really get it going properly. Mitch made delicious grilled cheese sandwiches and we played cards until almost dark. We piled into the van and watched three episodes of heroes. We are so excited! We found a pirate website that we can access and watch the new episodes. Unfrotunately, for copyright reasons, cbs.com, nbc.com, fox.com, all of our favorite websites for viewing are all blocked. At the break of dawn we were awakened by a very rude and very loud rooster hanging out near our somehow still smoldering campfire. I coulda killed it...and had it for dinner.
Today we are in Keri Keri. I belive we will be making our way slowly northwards to hit Cape Reinga in the next couple days. And see where the two oceans meet! :) And there's a drive down the beach...on the actual beach...that can take you all the way down the west coast tip of the island. This is why we got a 4WD vehicle.:)
xoxo
Alissa

November 9, 2008

Last night Ari and I went on our date-night cruise. 

It was so much fun! Not what we had expected, but still so much fun. It was a small boat and the seating was around the sides, so everyone faced the people at the opposite side of the boat. Everyone had to go around and introduce themselves to the whole group and we were the only Americans. The whole evening was a social event. You walked around the boat, gathered around the chefs to get the appetizers and drinks and receive your entree orders. We talked with people from Australia, New Zealand, and CAnada. There was a group of co-workers and their wives and husbands and they were all rowdy and some serious drinkers. But it was so nice. Lots of good conversation, dinner under a waterfall, some quiet private time as we ate dinner and we were so lucky that the weather cleared up a bit, so it was chilly, but clear skies and no rain. 

They didn't accept credit cards onboard the boat, and we didn't have enough cash. When we docked, the woman said "no worries, there's a bank up and down the street, just run up and we'll be here when you get back. As we walked up the dock, we were amazed at how trusting. I had actually said to Ari, 'should I stay here as collateral?" No one in the US is that trusting. And in the US, we probably would have hit the dock and run.  We paid $20 on a $36 tab. But here, they trusted us, so we took that trust, grabbed the money and went back to pay them off with a very nice tip. (people don't tip in New Zealand) It's too bad more societies aren't like this. Everyone is so incredibly nice, caring, open, and trusting. The only cranky people we've seen have been americans.

Anyway, after the cruise, we went and grabbed some coffee in a little sleepy shopping alley and then walked back to our nice hotel room. It was such a relaxing night. 

This morning I woke up to the realization that we had to check-out in 1 hour, nothing was packed up, laundry wasn't done, and I still hadn't submitted my paper to my online classroom--I hadn't even written it yet. So I wanted to stay another night...but I was out voted...and I got cranky. Ari was so sweet and packed up everything and did the laundry while I wrote my paper. Then the boys went on a little trip around town while I sat outside on the patio of the hotel room using the internet and finishing my homework. Then we went up to Haruru Falls (where we'd been on the boat the night before) and took a 10K walk through the islands and marshlands near Paihia in the Bay of Islands. It was exhausting, but so incredibly beautiful. 

Then we came back to Paihia and started walking around. The boys found another hotel room better than the last one, but without a view, but so much cheaper. 

So here we are, on the net, making dinners, having a comfortable time playing cards and watching tv..just like home. :)

xoxo.

Alissa

Since we have free wireless

because I had some time to post some pictures....

November 8, 2008

So, we didn't make it Paihia on the 6th. We made it to Opua. This tiny little sleepy town on the beach looking out to the East. We found a little market and the man made us fish and chips for dinner. We asked him where would be a good place to sleep that might be free and he said 'well, you're not supposed to sleep on the beach, but no one will ever care really.' So, we meandered our way down the beach. And too my surprise there were these two vans...and we knew them! When we had bought our van in Auckland, there was a car inspection stand and there were two women buying a van and having their inspection right before us. I saw them again in Shakespeare park at the Wharehouse. I saw them again when we went snorkeling in Goat Island. Then we saw them again when we stopped at a little bay near Tutukaka. And we actually introduced ourselves to Eva and Ana. And another girl they had met along the way, Fabian. Turns out we were all travelling the same route at about the same speed. We all talked about our vans and it turns out-ours is by far the best for the best deal. So, they went on their way and we said "oh, well, maybe we'll see you up on the road somewhere, we're all heading up to Russell today." But then we decided to pull off early into this little sleepy town and-oh my word-they had done the same!

But the roads we took were different...ours was ridiculous! We have planned to not take the highway, or the secondary highway, we are taking the gravel roads the whole way! yes, decaying roads at all. It's been a  bit scary, but the scenery is absolutely unreal!

So, we pulled over and they had met a group of young girls who were from that town. They were so funny!  They were Maori descendants and spoke both English and Maori and were fabulous singers! But they tried to be so ghetto and idolized Bob Marley, T.I., and really any famous black rapper who claimed to be a 'thug'. They were so funny and we had a really great time talking to them, learning about their culture, laughing, singing, it was really nice. We exchanged e-mails and everything. 

The next morning, we woke up to the fresh sea breeze and an awesome sunrise!  I can't even explain the beauty we've seen. And we had back the car up, so we opened the back and continued to sleep as the sun rose in the east and the breeze filled our car. 

When we got up and about we had breakfast at the same market. Ham and cheese sandwiches, ham and pineapple sandwiches, steak and egg sandwiches. It was delicious. Eva and Ana joined us for tea and coffee and we taught Ana how to play Shithead with us. (Did I mention Eva and Ana are French? So sometimes it's really funny to hear the things that come out of their mouths. They are pretty good at English, but lack some.) They then left and we sat around a bit more before getting dressed and freshened up...did I mention no showers???--  I walked over to a man chopping some wood next to a big canoe type thing and asked if he was building a boat. My mistake...it's not a boat...it's a haka. Kind of like the Maori version of a canoe. he said he was making it so the young people could go out and surf and collect food like the old people used to do. And when they come back, they will all build a bigger one together. He was making it from two trees. The longer front of the boat was made from a young tree and the back of the boat where the young people will sit on or stand to surf was made from a stronger older tree. I found that so incredibly symbolic and absolutely loved it. 

When we got back to the van we had a note from Eva and Ana said "Just in case" with their phone number. Fabian's van was still there..she was still sleeping. Apparently Fabian and Eva were up until 4am drinking 2 bottles of rum and gin and a lot of beer. 

So, we left her alone and went on our way up to Russell. But not without first going down a southern peninsula to Helena Bay and up another northern peninsula to Rawhiti. Finally we made it to Russell and went to the top of the hill to the flagpole that was constantly chopped down when the British were trying to take the land over and create treaties with the Maori people. There was a view of the entire Bay of Islands up there. It was fabulous! So we sat and talked and watched the sun get lower. 

Then we went to the pub to try and get something to eat...and ran onto Fabian!

She was getting some coffee and nursing her severe hangover. She said that she was going to meet the other two just north of Paihia and we should come along. But we said we wanted to eat first, but would maybe meet them up there. So, we grabbed a Spiced Lamb pizza (basically lamb kebab in the form of a pizza) and some beers and sat out on the beach and ate. When we got back to the car, there was a note on our car. "Just in case.  It'd be great to travel together for a few days-Fabian" with her number. We're already making friends. :)

So, we meandered down to a little town just below Paihia and took a car ferry across to Opua and headed up to Paihia. The plan was to park somewhere in Opua Forest, but we went up and down the highway and couldn't find the darn turn off and it was full on night, so we decided to find a place in town to park. We found a camper parking lot that was a simple pay meter, so we parked there. I tried to find a place to pay, but it wouldn't take my card, so we gave up. 

It was cold and ridiculously uncomfortable. 

So we woke up at 7:30am to go pee and luckily I spotted the parking guy started to check for payments, so we jumped in and hi-tailed it outta there...wooohoooo and other free night of sleeping.

So, we decided that we wanted a real shower and a real bed and since ari and I were going to have a date night, we were going to get a hotel room somwehere and mitch was going to go off on his own. But in looking for hotels, we found a room that looks out over the bay of islands, with a little patio. One bedroom with a separate living room with a bed and a kitchenette. NZ$125. Divided by three...heck yea!

We get to shower lots and do laundry, and cook, and look out on the ocean, and sleep in real beds, and get some privacy from one another. We are so excited!

Tonight ari and i are booked on the dinner cruise. unfortunately, yesterday's nice weather has blown over and we're back to rain, but I think it'll still be a nice night! 

I'll tell you all about it tomorrow!

xoxo

Alissa 

November 6, 2008

YAY OBAMA!!!!
Did prop 8 pass?? I thought it had to have 60% of the vote to pass.....I'm confused...
Last night we ended up staying in Whangarei. We slept in the parking lot of the visitor's information office in front of a lovely park. Yesterday was Guy Fox Day, so there were lots of fireworks and we went to the very top of a mountain overlooking the entire city at night and there were little fireworks going up everywhere and people were setting them off in the park near our van. It was a lot of fun. The sun came out today and we got hot showers at the visitors center. I will never take a hot shower for granted again.
Today we are going to head up to the Bay of Islands. Ari and I are feeling a lack of alone couple time so we are going to take a 2.5 hour dinner cruise of the islands. I'm really excited.
I'll write more from there.
xoxo.
Alissa

Nov. 5, 2008

We're off to the WWOOFING office.  To become Wwoofers! :)

GO OBAMA!

November 5, 2008

People keep asking us form the US "You're a day ahead...who wins?" We're a day ahead, but we're only paralleling in time!  We aren't seeing the future people!

Last night we slept in the van on the side of the road in Waipo Beach...it was actually a lot of fun and really comfortable..for me at least. We found a park on the water that was posted "no overnight camping" but didn't close until 10 and had really nice bathrooms. At the edge of the park was a row of thin trees and the other side was an emergency pull-out. So, we made dinner in the park.  Rice, beans in tomato sauce, garlic, onion, and Spam Turkey...yes, we had spam.  Add a little pepper and the onion and garlic and it didn't taste so much like cat food. It was actually pretty good. We've decided that when this is finished we'll get rich by Ari making a gourmet on the road out of a van cook book. :)

I was thinking last night about these blogs and how we are driving around all over everywhere. In actuality I haven't talked about the actual driving. We have been rotating days. I drove the first day, Mitch the second, and Ari the third and today is my day again. But this is no normal driving. We're talking gravel roads.  And that's not all. Imagine driving a steep windy gravel road on the right side of the vehicle on the left side of the road....and not letting your rear tires slip over the right hand edge because you're pulling to the right instinctively. I can't tell you how many times we have gotten in the car and reached over the left hand shoulder and grabbed at air. I want you to actually do this: Imagine sitting at the wheel and reach with your LEft hand over your right shoulder for your seat belt.  Feels ridiculous and awkward, doesn't it!?!?

Last night, in the van, it poured rain again.  It's been raining all day. It's cold and wet, but still absolutely beautiful out here!  I've really been loving waking up to thunderous rain...it's so natural out here and so nice to be away from the city life. But it's a bit of a challenge too. It's hard to have no internet or connection to the outside world. I made the boys come to a real city today so we could keep an eye on the election and I could do some homework. Still doing well in school...somehow.  :)  We have made it to Whangarei (Fangarei) and I'm not sure how much further north we'll go today. I think we will get to Bay of Islands and see about getting some work to get a little cash. But we might just keep going, too. Who knows.  

Nopvember 4, 2008

It's been a while...but I've been writing.
It starts with a couple days ago..

Sunday the 2^nd

Today we finally left Auckland. The goal was to make it to Leigh and Goat Island. On our way we stopped on a very cute side street with amazing beach views and found a bunch of cliffs to climb on. They had some of the coolest shells every! It was the most awesome little private beach ever with conque shells and clamshells everywhere! The boys had seen a regional park on the map, so we drove through Manly Town and took a slight detour and stopped for lunch in Shakespeare Regional Park. We sat on a grassy bluff eating baguettes with ham/chicken luncheon meat and dijonnaise, looking out onto the ocean with cliffs on one side and water and trees all around. Ari took a quick nap and Mitch perused around and spotted a sign that said “Waterfall Gully 5 mins” So, of course we had to head off down the trailhead towards the waterfall gully 5 mins and lookout point 30 mins. We had no idea what we had stumbled upon. Within 1 minute up the trail, we were in a forest with a small river winding through it. The coolest trees I’d ever seen winding here and there and everywhere. We made it quickly to the gorgeous waterfall and then decided, we can’t stop here! Ari had found a map of the area we were in and we discovered there were a whole bunch of different trails that went around the whole park-ocean on one side, and ocean on the other. So, we decided to keep going and see where we found ourselves. All of a sudden we came to a clearing up a hill...and cows-lots of cows. And the path went straight through them…so we started walking up the pasture. They would come really close without even really taking notice that we were there. It was awesome! We were going to pet them, but didn’t want to risk being charged. We got some really great pictures, though. As we made our way up the cow pasture, we realized that this pasture led into another pasture…SHEEP!

!! FINALLY!!!! Lots of them! Tons! And babies! So, we walked through cow and then sheep up to a lookout point. Sea all around, green pastures between us and the water, and sheep and cow everywhere...this is what we imagined New Zealand looking like….we were not disappointed. We then headed out further toward another bluff down to a beach. And the boys walked out into the water…ridiculously far out and it barely touched their waists. Then we walked through more sheep pastures and when the tide went out we made our way through the tidal pools. Before returning back to the car we walked the marshes and up the driveway back to our car. We couldn’t believe our luck! In the last three hours we had gone from beach side bluff to pastures, to ocean, to tidal pools, to wetlands. The terrain was amazing! And beautiful! We decided we didn’t want to go any further and would stick to finding a campground around there. We went to the information office and met a very nice man who loves his job and instead of charging 10 a head, he charged us 10 total for the site and gave us a great insider trip around the entire north island to follow. It’s basically the trip a park ranger takes w

hen they want to see awesome stuff. So we scoped out a site, and then went to try and find a market for dogs and mallows. We found cheese dogs and nothing for mallows. L We went back to the site, got some wood and started a fire wit some beers in hand and armed with being in the middle of nowhere with bird calls we had never experienced before. Just as we were finishing our dogs and thinking of heading back to the tents to pack it in, the weather changed and the rain started in quickly. We all jumped in the car and decided to put on a movie to wait it out since we hadn’t even unpacked our sleeping bags or changed into sleeping clothes yet. Ari fell asleep 5 minutes into the movie (of course) and Mitch went out to his tent after an hour and a lull in the rain. Ari and I are still in the van and ari is still asleep. I think we’ll stay in the van tonight. Otherwise we have to unpack everything in the wet dark and move it into the tent and get sleeping bags unrolled, pillows created, and keep things organized. So not going to happen….oh well. It was an awesome day. Tomorrow we head to Leigh and Goat Island and we’ll 

go diving and snorkeling and maybe do some fishing, We’re going to try and get a little more self-sustainable tomorrow so that we can cook our own food and catch our own food. I’ll let you knowhow that goes!

Xoxo

Alissa

Tuesday the 4^th

Today is election day….well, not really…it’s still the 3^rd in the US. Very disconcerting.

The first night in the van….sucked. I was cold with no blanket a

nd uncomfortable all night. I kept waking up feeling like someone was watching us. Turns out the campground used to be a Maori burial ground. Figures.

So, we packed up camp and headed out to find a Wharehouse (Farehouse)—when the Maori write their language in English, they didn’t like the letter ‘F’ because it symbolized some evil being. So, anything that is ‘Wh’ is pronounced ‘F’. We spent way too much money buying another sleeping bag, eating tools, gas stove, gas, blow-up mattress, pillows, tarps, knives, utensils. I can’t even think of what else we bought, but it filled up two shopping carts and our entire van. After three hours there, we went to the grocery store and picked up rice, beans, packaged noodles, and boxed non-perisha

ble milk (yea…it makes me a little nervous too), and we are now fully self-sustainable. All we need is a place to park. J

The system for paying for things is really interesting. Prices are labeled to the penny, but the smallest coinage they have is .10 cents. So 2 bottles of soda is NZ$5.99. But when you go to pay, everything is rounded. So NZ$5.99 rounds to NZ$6.00. But it comes back to you in the situations like our groceries came to NZ$34.02. So we only had to pay NZ$34.00. Weird.

So we then headed out. Stopped at some really cool beaches. When the tide goes out, it really goes out and you can walk out as if you are walking on the floor of the ocean. It is one of the most amazing experiences. We finally made it to Leigh and Goat Island. (By finally I mean we drove another half hour…we really are taking our time with this, but that’s the point.) We went to a really odd campground that was up on a hill overlooking the bay and Goat Island. I hid in the car so we onl

y had to pay for 2 people instead of 3. It’s a rip-off really. Why are we going to pay NZ$12/person when we have 1 van and were all going to sleep in it?!?!

Anyway, we parked the van and Ari and I (okay, I) decided we wanted to sleep in the tent, so I pitched it and got it all set up with our sleeping bags and pillows while the boys unpacked and organized the car and all of our new possessions.

Ari then made up delicious pasta in the kitchen and we sat on a table watching the sun go down as we ate. It was absolutely breathtaking.

The boys have taken to talking in accents…mostly they sound like really old British women…but it makes for great laughs and good driving entertainment.

Last night it poured rain again. It was so cool. We wer

e lying in the tent in the middle of nowhere with the sound of the beach, the sound of the birds, and the pouring rain. It was really serene.

Until I woke up at 4am this morning having to pee really bad!!! And it was no fun listening to the rain hoping there would be a lull soon. Then the birds started waking up and one of them sounded like a woman from Saw V screaming uncontrollably. It was awful. Finally I fell asleep again. Woke up around 8:30, we made oatmeal, and headed to the dive shop. This area is supposed to have some of the most amazing snorkeling and diving for anyone. So, we grabbed our gear, rented suits (it’s cold, but not nearly as cold as Monterey, so 3mm suits felt like nothing!) and we headed out to snorkel. Mitch isn’t scuba certified, yet. So we only snorkeled...and it was enough. We saw HUGE fish...and they thought we were so cool they followd up everwhere. Blue Morae, Red snapper, eels, jellies, stingrays, and lots of things. It was amazing. Sometimes it was a little difficult because the water was 

still choppy from the weather, but it was still so clear and absolutely beautiful.

We are still having a really great time. Having three people means that everything has to be debated and making decisions can be rather laborious some times, and we are getting a little tired of it, I think. But we all make a pretty good team and we are open about it and talk about it when we’re getting frustrated, so I think we’ll be okay.

It’s getting late now, but we are going to try and make it the Whangarai (I think that’s the proper spelling…I don’t have the map in front of me.) So…hopefully I’ll be able to be in decent touch, but we are trying to take the beach roads (which means gravel and no internet anywhere) so it’s a bit of a challenge. But we do have the phone now so anyone can call.

01164211732453

xoxo

Alissa

I'll add pictures later.