Wanderings

Hello World! I’m back! I know that it’s been a while but it’s been a busy month here in Seattle. I got home from New Zealand safe and sound. Customs didn’t even give us any trouble going either direction. We had a wonderful time, Catherine and I. I came home with another lifetime of memories and over 1,200 images to sort through. I’ve trimmed the collection significantly and placed it on flickr for easier viewing. Trying to put that many photos on this blog would be way to difficult for both you to look at and me to post. It really is best for everyone this way, trust me. Anyhow, here are some of the photographic highlights from the trip in chronological order. I’ll let the photos do most of the speaking for themselves, but I’ll add in a bit of narration here and there as well.

The trip was great; short, but great. We flew into Auckland a full 4 hours before we would be allowed to even think about checking into our first hostel. We found a great little place outside of the city center called theBamber House. It was a sweet little hostel with a good, homey feel to it. However, we still had the hurdle of our bags and nowhere to put them to overcome. Even after baggage claim, customs, and a shuttle ride, we still had over an hour to spare before the office opened for check in. Luckily, we had a nice little mountain that was just asking to be climbed right next door to the hostel! So, bags and all, we climbed to the top of Mount Eden, the highest of the extinct volcanoes in Auckland. Claire, the manager ofBamber house, probably still thinks that we’re daft for trying such a thing. What can I say, we’re just that hard core.

The next day found us back at the airport; this time, catching a plane down to Christchurch on the south island to make the best use of our time. Christchurch is a cool little town. I’d liketo spend more time there some day. There’s a nice big park, a beautiful little botanical garden, and more references to English landmarks than you can shake a stick at (myfavorite of which is the River Avon.)

Once again, we had very little time in Christchurch, but we got to see plenty. We even made it to the Christchurch Cathedral to attend the Sunday Evensong service. I love cathedrals. I’m sure that some people find them photographically cliche, but I don’t care. There’s always something a little different that’s worth taking a closer look at no matter how many you’ve been to.

We spent one whirlwind day in Christchurch but two nights. We spent our second day on the south island getting our geek on on a Lord of the Rings tour! There’s a tour company that has a fleet of six, yes six, wheel drive vehicles that takes tourists out to Mount Sunday which is the filming location for all of the scenes ofEdoras in Peter Jackson’s movie adaptation of The Two Towers. I still can’t believe that this place exists! It fits Tolkien’s description to a “T.” Words don’t even do it justice:

We took a train—this is Tuesday now, I believe—up the coast to Picton to catch the ferry up to the north island. After a quick lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Le Cafe, we boarded the ferry for our three-hour tour across the Cook Straight. All-in-all, we spent about twelve hours total in Wellington which is a shame because it’s another cool city that I’d like to spend more time in.

Wednesday, was a long drive to Rotorua with nothing to report.

Thursday we spent some time exploring one of the thermal areas around Rotorua. The highlight, however, was Zorbing. What is Zorbing, you ask? A Zorb is a seven-foot diameter sphere within a twelve-foot diameter sphere that you climb into and get pushed down a hill. It’s a blast. I want one.

These next two photos are from our hike in Waitomo. Waitomo is the epitome of small towns. It’s a farming community with a village that exists almost solely to support the Glow Worm caves. The entire region is pockmarked with limestone caves that you can take tours through. We managed to spend almost five full hours underground on our tour but spent our first day in the area hiking through farm land taking pictures and scaring cattle. I’m a fan:

Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take cameras with us in the caves for liability reasons. You’ll just have to imagine what a 300′ abseil looks like when you can’t seethe bottom of the cave that you’re entering. It was an amazing experience but I don’t think I can do it justice especially not with words alone. We capped our trip off with a couple of days in the Bay of Islands hanging out, sailing, and basically unwinding before our long flight home.