All The Latest

I've badly neglected the blog over the last few months, but since I had some nice pictures to post I thought I'd throw in a little update.

Brooke decided to work at the FatFish Cafe after leaving the Thai restaurant and it's worked out really nicely for her. Just after our last update, NZ had it's winter school holidays and the restaurant business really picked up. Brooke and I were both getting more hours than we really wanted for a while, so I didn't end up needing to work at the ski shop.

Last week however, I was lucky enough to get to the other side of the lake for some good skiing. Stu volunteered to take me up at his expense just to say "thanks" for my work at the Waterside. Stu has turned out to be a great guy to work for, and he's taught me a lot about running a business - I've been very lucky in that respect.

The skiing was totally unique to anywhere I've skied before. As you can see in the picture, the ski areas are really rocky and tend to slope up and down rather sharply, with plenty of obstacles on the way down. Having spent two years in Austria, Stu is a freakin' good skier, and he was very casual about taking me out onto ungroomed cliff faces that dropped off....well, like a cliff. My legs were only sore for about 4 days.

Brooke and I are both really excited about Jake, Brad and Charles coming over next week. We've made lots of plans for them and it's going to be really nice to have some good friends from home to share this place with. After spending two weeks with the guys, Brooke and I are taking a 12 hour train ride on the Overlander from Auckland to Wellington in the far south. It's supposed to be a beautiful, relaxing ride through the North Island's best natural scenery. They announced recently that this train will be shutting down next month due to the competitive price of airline tickets, so we're very happy to have made time for the trip while it is still available.

We've made it through winter as the weather has cleared and warmed over the last few weeks, and we're eager to get out and enjoy the country more with our friends.

Look for another update around the last week of August.

BTW - I've realized it might not be so easy to use our Fotki picture site I've linked to on the right. The best thing to do is click on the set of pictures you'd like to see, then click on the "slideshow" tab to see all the pictures in a larger size. It's only worth clicking on the individual thumbnails if you'd like to save them to your own computer, which you are welcome to do.

Winter in Taupo

It's been a while since our last update. Winter has officially arrived in New Zealand and has brought with it a few changes for Brooke and myself. Restaurant business has slowed significantly, and both of us are having to work a little harder to make money.

Brooke left her job at the Thai restaurant soon after they finished the renovations. The idiot owner hired more staff thinking that because he had a prettier restaurant he was suddenly going to be much busier. Since that didn't happen, Brooke was left with far fewer hours to work, and we decided it was best for her to find something else. At the moment, she's deciding between working full time at a small waterfront cafe or splitting time between the internet cafe and a local daycare center. Because things are slower at the Waterside as well, I've been having to work more shifts just to get the same number of hours. I've talked a few times with the manager at one of the ski shops in town, and I'm hoping I'll be able to work with him in the mornings during the ski rental rush. Then I would have the opportunity to get some cheap rentals for myself and meet some people to ski with.

All this talk of skiing would lead you to believe that it's gotten very cold here, but the weather actually is pretty mild. We do have to deal with a constant wind blowing right off the lake, but on a calm sunny day, the weather is pleasant for winter.

Our biggest challenge has been keeping warm in a house with single-pane windows and little insulation. (It's not that we don't live in a nice place - there are million-dollar houses in this town built with sub-standard materials. Central heating, double-pane windows, window screens and the like have just never caught on here.) I've had to teach Brooke about closing off all the rooms that don't need heat in order to keep warm - something you wouldn't be used to if you've never spent much time in a house without central heating. Even though it's not as comfortable, there is something romantic about spending the evening sitting on the couch with blankets and thick socks and the heater close by. Lately the whole outdoors smells like burning wood, and around dusk you can look across the rooftops and see thin layer of smoke billowing out of every chimney. It's enough to make me smile every afternoon, and remember all the little things that I like so much about this country.

There is hope for the restaurant business because it's looking like a big ski season. With every rainy day in Taupo, the snow on the mountain gets thicker and moves closer to the base. Looking out on the lake on a rainy day, the fog is so thick that the mountains are completely hidden from view, and a stranger would never imagine big Mt Ruapeheu was even there. Then, like magic, the weather clears and the mountains emerge on the horizon covered in a fresh layer of snow. I've posted a few pictures of Ruapeheu, taken about 3 weeks apart, and you can see how the snow has built up recently. We drove up to the ski fields on the first of June, and took a lot of pictures there as well. Heading south from Taupo, the landscape becomes more desolate and rocky, and you can see that in the pictures.

We'll get in another update once all the job hopping has settled. Keep sending emails, and let us know about things at home. We miss ya'll!

Auckland and the
Ben Harper Show

We drove 3 hours to Auckland on Monday to see the Ben Harper show and spend a few days playing in the big city. Thanks very much to Ann and Craig for putting us up in a nice hotel for two nights! Brooke just loved her big bed that "wasn't on the floor!"

The concert was an acoustic show with one of Ben's bandmates on guitar and 4 members of the NZ symphony joining in for several songs. Of course there was no way to get good, clear pictures in the dark, so I played around with some extended exposure settings and did some editing with Photoshop when we got home. The picture to the right is one example, but there are heaps more on the photo site if you'd like to see my attempts at doing something artsy. Anyway, the St. James Theatre was fantastic and Ben put on a great show!

On Saturday we discovered the "gold class" movie going experience at the Sky City complex in central Auckland. A gold class theater consists of about 40 huge reclining lazy boy seats with tray tables, electric controls and a button to call a waiter when you want something. Lots of people were having meals and bottles of wine, but Brooke and I stuck with the unlimited free soda and popcorn. The DaVinci Code was the only gold class movie that day, so we needed a comfy seat to sit through that - a pretty long and tedious movie honestly.

The weather wasn't great, so we headed straight home Wednesday morning to get some groceries and settle back in. I had a major wipeout on the wet tile outside the grocery store (who puts tile outside!?), so I'm licking my wounds until I have to go back to work in the morning. I spent today looking for a used propane heater because our oil radiator tripled our electric bill last month and electricity is expensive anyway. I came up with a really sad looking but functional 1970's thing for $65 including the propane (it's amazing how easy it is to find good used stuff in this country!), so we're hoping that will save us some money in the long run.

Otherwise, things are pretty routine around here - we're looking at a month or so of just hanging around Taupo and trying to save up some money. Then maybe we'll finally get down to Wellington.

Waterside Big Day Out

On Monday, I went out with the Waterside staff and left Brooke at work. But don't feel too sorry for her - given the choice between work and two hours under water in sixty-degree weather, Brooke was happier at the Tasty Thai. Regardless, I was still very lucky to be given a free day of river rafting, and we had a great afternoon. We took a party bus filled with beer and wine, and had nearly as much fun riding in the bus as we had in the water. I definitely needed a few beers to take the edge off on the way up - Brooke and I did a level 3 to 4 river in February and that was intense. Monday we did a level 5 rafting trip, and there was definitely some danger involved. However, everyone escaped the river safely and even the scardycats had to admit it was a lot of fun. We Americans could all do with a little more of the Kiwi spirit and take a few more risks in life. Anyhow, I've posted some great rafting pictures at the usual location. We'll have a full update on things after our trip to Auckland next week. Ben Harper and two nights of sleep on a real bed!!!

Just Another Day In Taupo

Since our journey around the east coast, things have been back to normal for us here in Taupo, but I suppose "normal" really isn't for most of you reading our blog. It's funny when I think of all the adjustments Brooke and I have made since we arrived in January because our life here does feel normal now. We've learned to share a car. We've learned to drive on the wrong side of the road. We've learned new words and new manners. We've learned to sleep on an air mattress. We don't wake up and think "wow, we're in New Zealand!" Sometimes we do wake up and think "wow my back hurts!", but we're just as much at home here as we were in our apartment in Raleigh. We miss family and friends, and lots of little luxuries, but in terms of habit, we are at home.

On an average day, Brooke and I will hang around the house until mid-afternoon, then drive two miles into town to run a few errands before reporting to work around 5pm. We generally get off work around the same time - whenever business dies off - and Brooke will walk next door to meet me in the Waterside bar while I have a few free employee beers. We'll go home and make dinner (Brooke usually has some Thai food from work), then sit down to watch a movie or two. See - pretty normal, hunh? Of course all the pictures you see in this blog entry were taken right outside the restaurants, so the views are a nice bonus.

Our next big plan is to head up to Auckland on May 22 for a Ben Harper concert and spend a few nights in the big city. Auckland wasn't so nice to us last time, so I've got my fingers crossed that everything will go smoothly this time around. We're really looking forward to our trip and the opportunity to report back home on something exciting. Until then, please keep in touch and drop us an email when you get the chance.
We miss you guys!

On The Road - Part 3
Maraehako Bay, Whakatane, Tauranga and Hamilton

This is the final entry of our journey around the central North Island a few weeks back. Two-thirds of the way around the East Cape, we spent the night in a most unusual hostel - Maraehako Bay Retreat. When we approached the sign pointing the way to the hostel, there was literally nothing else around. We went down a long dirt road (not so different from the long path down to the lake house in Roxboro) and at the bottom of a very steep hill, we found ourselves on a small bay by the ocean. One of the first things you see as you walk up to the hostel is a sign that says "Welcome. Find yourself a bed and make yourself at home." And that's pretty much what we did - we settled into a small room within spitting distance of the ocean and relaxed. The hostel and the surrounding 6,000 acres, we learned was owned by the Maori man running the hostel, and he was happy to make us a fire and tell us all about the history of the area. We got a great night's rest listening to the ocean crash against the rocks, and I was very sorry to leave the next morning. Maraehako Bay may be a necessary stop when the boys come over in August.

A few hours down the road in Whakatane (fah-ka-taan-e), we stopped for lunch and some petrol before heading on west (now following the northern coastline) to Tauranga. We hadn't heard much about Tauranga, but it was a beautiful town, bordering the coast on three sides, with lots of nice pubs and restaurants bordering the coast. We chose Tauranga to splurge and have a nice meal out. Shame we didn't take any pictures there, but it's another place we'll have to revisit at some point.

From Tauranga we left the coastal scenery and headed south-west to our final destination - Hamilton. We really didn't like Hamilton. I admit we were tired by this point, and the weather sucked. But the town also has bad traffic, few places to stay and not much to do. We had planned to attend the annual hot air balloon festival, but it turned out to be pretty lame. Fortunately, we were able to use a gift certificate Brooke had been given (Thank you Sawchaks!) to take a relaxing dinner boat cruise down the Waikato river. We cooked our own meals at the table with a stone grill, and it was delicious! The next morning, we packed our bags - a day earlier than planned - and headed home. We had a fantastic time but were so glad to be back in Taupo!

In our next post, we'll give an update on things here in Taupo. Don't forget to check out the new pictures!

On The Road - Part 2
Gisborne and the East Cape
We left Napier for Gisborne on day 3 under sunny skies, to start the first leg of almost 400 miles of coast-side driving. The two lane roads ran over and around green, bushy mountains with the coast popping in and out of view to the right. The Blue Ridge Parkway will never be worth visiting again. Most of our pictures come from the times when Brooke and I found oursevles in the middle of nowhere surrounded by such amazing scenery that we just had to get out of the car and take a look around.
Kiwis seem to find a way to make a sport of everything, and we think it must be the same with driving. The roads often take big, sweeping turns when it seems quite reasonable that they should go straight, or they go over the mountain when it seems they could just go around. It's as if the roads are designed to keep drivers on their toes and show-off the best views available. If we had done nothing else, the driving would have been worth the trip.
We spent only one night in Gisborne, a small coastal town. It's the only logical stop before venturing out onto the East Cape, so we had a walk around town, enjoyed an Indian dinner and a bottle of wine we brought with us from Hawke's Bay, then got a good night's sleep.
Leaving Gisborne and heading north, all roads lead to the town of Whakatane, but there are two choices - Highway 2 - a direct, 2 and 1/2 hour route north-west, or SH 32 - north-east around the East Cape, hugging the coast in a huge semi-circle, and leading you to Whakatane 6 hours later. We were in no hurry, so we thought, "Why not take the long route?"
The East Cape is an absolute backwater - there are various small towns (population 1,000 or less) along the coastal road, but there is almost nothing other than farm trails off that one road, leaving most of the inland East Cape completely unpopulated. A large amount of the entire country belongs to Maori tribes (Polynesians that beat the English here by several hundred years), but nearly the entire East Cape belongs to Maori.

A quick (if somewhat under-informed) aside about the Maori - They make up
a very large minority of the Kiwi population, live in all parts of the country,
and are generally well integrated into the "Western" way of life. However
Maori are allowed to govern tribal land somewhat independetly. Tribal land
(and waters) are owned collectively and any use and development of that land
must be agreed upon by the group. On the East Cape, Maori have chosen to
prevent development, preserving their land and agrarian lifestyle. Maori
land ownership in more developed areas (like Taupo) makes for all sorts of
oddities uniquie to NZ, but that's for another time.

Needless to say, we headed onto the Cape with a full tank of gas (we needed every drop to get the whole way around), and we may have passed 3 petrol stations in our first 4 hours of driving. Each time, the establishment served several purposes such as post office, public rest stop, laundrymat, restaurant and/or grocery. Each time we stopped, it was amazing to think that everyone within 50 miles has to come to this one place for food and gas. A few times we ran into heavy traffic, in the form of livestock being hearded right down the middle of the road. It was cool to see the dogs keeping them together and moving them to the side of the road to make way for traffic. In areas like this, livestock are not generally fenced-in, and small packs(?) of horses run wild like deer. Crazy. Our final destination for the day was Maraehako Bay, about 2/3 the way around the cape. More about our experience spending a night in the boondocks next time...

Don't forget to check the pictures!

On the Road
We've just returned from a 7-day, 1,400km (870 mile) whirlwind trip around the North Island, and we have lots to tell - this will be the first of three posts over a week or so. As each post goes up, corresponding pictures will be posted to the Fotki photos link on the right side of the blog.
We left Taupo on a rainy Sunday morning for a 2 1/2 hour drive south-east across the mountains and into Hawke's Bay - a famous NZ wine region - and Napier City. It was some of the steepest driving we've had to deal with and the old Subie struggled to maintain speed on some of those hillsides! The rain cleared off late in the afternoon and we were able to walk around the city and decide what we would do the following days.
Due to a huge earthquake in the 1920's, Napier was completely rebuilt in a strict Art-Deco style, so it's a really interesting place to see - lots of rounded windows, columns and arches all painted in pastel colors in a city right on the ocean. But Napier is really not what you'd call a "happening place" and we spent most of our next day there exploring the countryside. We visited six wineries and found some really nice wines that are exported to the U.S. (A "Seleni" brand Merlot or Sav Blanc is our recommendation). Regardless, it was really sweet to drive from spot to spot drinking free wine and seeing lots of beautiful country in between. We ran into some of the same people at several wine cellars that were enjoying the sport along with us.
After our wine tour, we spent a nice evening with a cheap outdoor meal, watching the sun go down. We got up the early the next morning to check out the museum on the earthquake and local Maori history, then had another look around the city. Tuesday afternoon we filled up with petrol and headed north, up the coast for another long drive for a day in Gisborne....

New Photos Posted!
We got the bungee photos posted today. They're a bit grainy because we would have had to pay for the high-res digital copies, but they'll do. Just check out the "Our Photos" link on the right. As a bonus, we've put up some pictures of the Bay of Islands that we took back in January, just before our computer was stolen. Enjoy moms!

All Settled In
We've had a lot going on since our last update. A few weeks ago we made the decision to stay in Taupo for at least the next five months and use it as a home base for traveling. At our jobs we've worked out an agreement where we'll be able to take a week off every 6 weeks or so, allowing us to travel and see the rest of the North Island. We'll have a lot more stability knowing that we won't have to find new jobs and a new place to stay every few months. I think we'll also learn more and make some real friends by staying in the same area long term. Knowing that we'll be here for a while, we've shopped around in the paper and at auctions and found some used couches, and a television and dvd player to make us a bit more comfortable. It's so nice to have a couch to sit on after a long night at work!
We've already made plans to leave town for 8 days on Sunday, April 2nd, and we're in the process of deciding exactly where we'll be going. The rough plan is to begin by heading southeast to Napier for a winery and vinyard tour, then head north, up the east coast through Gisborne to see what is supposed to a beautiful stretch of coastal driving. From there, we want to cut across to the west for some "black water" cave rafting in Waitomo (where the glow worms are), and ending in Hamilton for a hot air baloon festival. Hopefully we can fit it all in!


Last Saturday was locals day at the Taupo Bungee, so I talked Brooke into jumping tandem with me. It was pretty scary - a 170ft drop off the side of a cliff, right into the river. I didn't know how scared I was going to be until the second the guy pulled my hand off the guard rail and I looked down the side of that cliff with our weight shifting over the edge. It took about 30 minutes for my heart to slow down to normal again. We have some pictures of the jump, so I'll get those scanned in and posted this week.
We're continually surprised by the cost of things here - I never know what to expect. I took the car in for an oil change and inspection today, and while I was waiting I found two great coats (one light and one heavy) for $60 total. Then, I went to pick up the car and it was $50 just for the freakin' oil, not to mention the labor and filter. I couldn't believe it, but you have to do what you have to do.
We've just dropped back an hour for the worldwide conspiracy we call "daylight savings time", so we're now 7 hours behind home instead of 6 (actually 17 hours ahead, but let's not be technical). We'd still love to get some phone calls from time to time - best between 7pm and 12am east coast time. It's pretty cheap with the right calling card. Our number including country code is 64 21 705 467. You know you've got nothing better to do after work, and we'd love to hear from you!