January 12, 2008

Daphne just facebook yelled at me for not updating, so here I am!!! :)  haha. I can never say no to that woman. It's a problem. ;-D

So, last I left off I went to Hobbiton with Chris and picked up our friend Rocky for a visit. That night it poured rain so hard our house sounded like it was the inside of a drum and I had to run around at 4am shutting all the windows and moping up floods in the house.  But it was cool. We've had the most awesome rainbows. There was a double one we could see out our window and we could see from one end all the way to the other (which ended in the ocean...SO COOL!!). 

So, the first day we spent a lot of time inside doing not much of anything because of the rain. The next day got a bit more sunny, so we spent a lot of time lying on the beach. 

Saturday morning we woke up really early and Rocky and Ari went out surfing. Poor Rocky had never been surfing and got owned by the waves.  Which were triple overhead over the weekend. The biggest we've seen here yet.

We then came home, cleaned up, and drove to Rotorua. Ari, Rocky and I went zorbing. 

No idea what zorbing is?  You're missing out.

http://zorb.co.nz

youtube it

We then went from the Agrodome (where zorbing is) to the Agroventure where we fed ostriches from our hands. Unfortunately, our food of choice was not the wisest as it stuck to their mouths and they got a bit upset with us.

So we stopped torturing them and moved on to the park which stinks of sulfur and sat in a hot pool. We were quickly swarmed by a very large group of asian tourists. Imagine the most stereotypical scene you can and that's what we were sitting in. Ari took no time in flashing peace signs and mimicking their oohs... this made for some fantastic pictures as we all laughed our heads off...

Had some lunch and then Chris, Rocky, and Ari took a nap on the grass by the lake and I went for a walk.

There was a group of 4 people going on a 5 seater float plane tour. I tried to talk my way on by offering half price to fill the otherwise empty seat.  They didn't go for it....someday I will be on that plane.....

That night we went out and partied downtown where Matt was DJing. The photos are on facebook for anyone who's interested. It was probably one of the most fun nights that we have had out here second only to Christmas Eve. After a fantastic Mexican themed meal of home made fajitas, guacamole, and margaritas, we of course started the night off right with a "friendly" game of Asshole. Even though we are all from the US, the game has so many different interpretations of the rules we agreed to use the official Asshole rules (they do exist). Once good and ready, we headed off to bars where Rocky, Chris and Ari took turns buying rounds of their choice of poison and gaining enough courage with every shot they took to dance up a storm... and when I stay storm I'm talking hurricane. Ari's shirt was literally drenched. He was a dancing machine that night. In fact, he decided that the dance floor wasnt good enough for him and proceeded to entertain the entire bar while dancing on top of tables. A few people tried to join him in the spotlight but they in no way could match his amazing dance skills and were hurried off the "stage." 

Rocky left on Sunday night after more lying out on the beach.

Other than that, it's been quiet around here. The weather goes from sunny to rainy in a matter of seconds, but I love it that way. Breaks up the day.

Oh, I forgot the best news!

I got a job! :)

I'm working at a backpackers hostel down the street about 13-15 hours a week. It's enough to pay rent. But the best part is that I get to do all the flyerd activities for free! Wanna go Bungy in Taupo? No worries..I'm free! :) Split the cost and we all get a deal! ;-D

So, we're excited about that because there go those costs too! :)

So, all in all...things are good. Ari's surfing a lot, we're going for lots of walks around town and around the Mount. We haven't biked in a while...we should start doing that again.

Mitch is still in Taupo and we miss him lots.

So, that's us in a nutshell. :) Our next big trip is Waitomo Caves to go Abseiling and Black Water Rafting. Rafting down rivers in caves and observing glow worms...What's better than that?!?! 

Oh, and the boys are going to visit Mitch at some time coming up to go on the 4 day trek of the Northern Circuit. Crazy...I know.

I will try to keep everyone better posted and get more photos up as soon as possible.

xoxo

Alissa

January 7, 2009

I went to Hobbiton today!! hahaha!

Chris was supposed to go tomorrow, but that's Blues, Brews, and BBQs. So he tried to change his ticket to this weekend, but it's supposed to rain and no one wants to go tour Hobbiton where they filmed Lord of the Rings and the Shire when it's raining! so today was the only other option, but he wouldn't make it in time. That was the only other kick in the butt I needed to accept the fact that I really wanted to go and if Chris was going to be able to do it today, he would need a ride. So Chris and I jumped in the car, drove the 50kms to Matamata, ran into the I-site and jumped on the bus to Hobbiton. And I got to hand feed a baby lamby out of a bottle! It was SO cool!

And it was neat seeing the reminants of an old filming site! 

Such a great day!

And now I'm off the Tauranga to pick up our friend, Rocky, who is coming to visit for a bit. No idea how long, but whatever! Mitch is in National Park now for a month, so we've got a spare bedroom again, so she can stay however long she wants. We offered for her to pay mitch's rent and live with us the whole month if she wants!

That's all for now!

xoxo!

Alissa

January 4, 2009

I've started a picture website. It take a long to upload, but so does this site and any other site and I can't figure out facebook to save me. 

So, check it out..I've only just begun, so I've only got pictures from like the first couple days up..but there's a lot of them! :)

http://community.webshots.com/user/alissaandarinewzealand

xoxo

Alissa

January 3, 2009

Back at home at the Mount. And it feels great. It's warm and sunny and the beach is nice. :) The boys went surfing as soon as we got home.

Last night Ari brought to my attention that I hadn't mentioned anything really about what exactly our hike was like. I swear I did, but I either imagined it or erased it...but either way I'll tell you about it now.

AT 7:15 we caught the bus to the first carpark. It's a 19.5km hike one-way, so you have to arrange transport from the beginning and from the end. The beginning was rather flat and just neat terrain, low brush, small creeks, and little waterfalls. We climbed up slightly and when you turned around you could see all the way to the mountains on the west coast. You could see across the country! That's just nuts!

We then limbed up a ridiculous amount of stairs and ultimately climbed from about 1100meters to about 1500 meters. That part kicked my butt, but Ari and Mitch went flying up them. I don't know how they do it. Gentiana floated around somewhere between the three of us. 

The boys then decided to climb Mt. Ngaurahoe, Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings. It's basically 1500meters to 2295 meters of scrambling up steep lava rock on an unmarked path. Gentiana and I had originally said "oh, yea, we'll go to!" at the very beginning of the hike, but once we got to the starting point we both went "heck no! we'll meet you at the top of the main peak of the trek." So, the boys took off up the side route and we continue up to the peak of Red Crater. It was intense and rocky and there were a couple points where I freaked out, but I made it and I was so proud of myself! It was so beautiful, but high and I couldn't wait to get down. It's that weird feeling when you love something, but need to keep going. 

So, we scrambled down the sand like terrain to the lakes below the crater and sat to wait for the boys. It was really nice to sit and relax and have good conversations. But the whole time we were worrying about the boys and what they were up to. Finally they arrived and looked exhausted, but said they'd had a good time. I was proud of them for doing it, not only were they scrambling up it, but they had to skree ski down it. I woulda fallen all over myself and never made it. 

So we made them sandwiches and allowed them some time to relax and then continued on our way. We still had about 3 hours of hike left. We climbed up a little more to the last big crater lake and when we came around that we could see all the way around to Lake Taupo. It was like a canvas painting it was so beautiful and perfect. Then we snaked down through low brush and a hot steam area. It smelled like sulfur, but the colors of the rocks were amazing. There was high brush that looked like grain plants. At one point we started running down the path with our hands in the brush like some cheesy moment in a film frolicking along, but I was lovin it. And of course, I started it. But then I burned myself out and that made the remainder way more rough than necessary. Oh, before that, Mitch and Gentiana had gone off ahead and we later found out that they ended up running the entire way back...I don't know how they did it...

Finally, mud covered and exhausted, Ari and I got to the carpark. Gentiana and Mitch had run ahead because at least one of us needed to catch the bus to get back to the hotel. Gentiana and Mitch were able to snag it at the last second and Ari and I napped on the grass while they went back and got the car to pick us up.

All in all we are exhausted, I have the worst cramps in my leg, but it was definitely worth it.

And Mitch has decided to go back and live at the lodge for a month. He's going to work there for room and board so that he can do more treks. 

The next big thing we're planning is Waitomo Caves. Black water rafting and abesailing into ravines...it'll be so awesome! :)

xoxo

Alissa