Anyhow...Karen came back for a second visit and we had another great adventure. She spent a ton of time with the boys, even taking Elias on a backpacking adventure. Liz and I also managed to trick her into watching the boys for four days while Liz and I went to Sydney. We had an amazing time, and the boys seemed not to miss us much at all. We also had a couple of Thanksgiving parties to share a little of the USA with the Kiwis.
Another visit from Karen, Kiwi Thanksgiving, adventures in Sydney, and other great things.12/18/2013 Well, as usual, I'm several weeks behind on the blog, but better late than never. Or maybe never is better. Now I'm getting self-conscious about my blogging. Look what you've done to me! Anyhow...Karen came back for a second visit and we had another great adventure. She spent a ton of time with the boys, even taking Elias on a backpacking adventure. Liz and I also managed to trick her into watching the boys for four days while Liz and I went to Sydney. We had an amazing time, and the boys seemed not to miss us much at all. We also had a couple of Thanksgiving parties to share a little of the USA with the Kiwis.
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We got tickets to see Mary Poppins in Auckland! Since we were headed north, we continued on up a couple hours to Waipu Cove. We stayed in a small one room "kitchen cabin" right off the beach. It was very fun and relaxing. The morning we were hanging out on the beach, there was a jet boat race that was entertaining to watch. Since we won't be able to build snowmen this year, we wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas with our little sand/snow people. The shells on the beach were awesome and made a great bikini for my sand woman:) It was also a fun change building our gingerbread house on the front porch. We were joined by some Taupo friends the second evening which was great fun for us all, especially the boys. Early the next morning we saw Gannet birds fishing; they dive straight in the water full blast. Jared got himself a Christmas present while we were in Auckland and had a good time trying it out on the beach. We headed back to the city and had fun sight seeing in Auckland. We took a ferry to a town called Devonport. It has neat old architecture and shops and an old fort. Of course the boys enjoyed "shooting" the cannons and got a good shot at Daddy. The Mary Poppins show was excellent! The boys had enjoyed the movie and Elias was completely entertained the whole three hours. Cohen on the other hand needed some extra snacks, luckily the show was pretty loud most of the time:) We stayed in a great bed and breakfast while in Auckland and made our first native New Zealand (Maori) friend. Elias and I have been learning about their culture and she was very patient and kind to answer questions for us. She posed in one of their native stances with Elias. After wrapping up my orientation week in Rotorua, I skipped out of work just after noon so we could explore the area a little further. We decided to do the ultimate New Zealand tourist trap and visit the Lord of the Rings movie set.
The set is located on the Alexander family farm in Matamata, about 45 minutes drive from Rotorua. The 1200 acre farm consists of rolling hills surrounded by the Kaimai mountains. The site was chosen by director Peter Jackson during an air-tour of the North Island to scout for shooting locations. According to our guide, Jackson rang at the Alexander's door during an All Blacks rugby match and was told to hit the bricks; they were more welcoming when he returned with a check. Thirty-seven hobbit holes were created around the lake and enormous "party tree." The entrances of the hobbit holes were initially constructed of painted styrofoam; today they have been identically rebuilt using local timbers. After the success of the first film, they decided it would be better to make them more permanent for the subsequent films. Three versions of the important holes exist. One small one to make Gandalf look large, one large to make the hobbits look small, and now one even larger to make the dwarves in The Hobbit look smaller yet. The boys seemed to like the tour. Elias had his mind well set to stay as close to the tour guide as possible. I think Elias was mesmerized by his mustache. It was a great place for them to wander around in. All the little foot paths were enough to keep them occupied climbing around Hobbiton. The tour mostly involved walking around the sets, which were surprisingly large. The hobbit village itself was probably 15 acres or so in size. The views of the village and the surrounding landscapes are impressive. The green of the hills is remarkably vivid. It's hard to capture in pictures, let alone words. The premier for The Hobbit movie is in Wellington in November, so Liz and I are trying to scheme a way to go. After the tour Elias got to bottle feed a lamb. Mostly he got slobbered on, but it's all clean fun, right? Based on my knowledge of hobbits from my reading and now seeing where they live, I'm fairly certain that if they existed, I could easily dominate them and become a sort of supreme leader or demigod in hobbit society. I would rule over them, but in a benevolent dictatorship in which they served my commands and feared my extreme wrath, but also loved and respected me for my wisdom and physical prowess. If that ever happens, I'll be sure to let you know. Jared has been commuting to Rotorua for orientation this week. It's about an hour north from Taupo. The hospital offered to put us all up in a hotel so we could explore the area and be closer to Jared, so of course we took them up on it! We got here Wednesday morning and the boys and I explored yesterday and today while Daddy worked. Rotorua is known for it's volcanic activity causing steam vents and hot pools everywhere. There is a park in town where you can get close to this steam and see what's happening. It's mostly bubbling clear water. They also have pools that fill with this water and you can soak your feet in them. The boys and I checked out one such pool yesterday. As you can imagine boys in a pool of warm water, It wasn't long before the foot soak turned into a full body soak! They ended up with wet clothes and one wet shoe that fell in. Luckily our luggage was in our car so it wasn't a big deal to go change afterwards. I don't know if it's ok to play in the pools in your underwear, but we were some of the only people there since it was around 9 in the morning:)
By the way, since we have the car and are excited to see the area, but Jared is working, that means I am now forced to figure out driving here. The steering wheel is on the left side of the car and we drive on the left side of the road. Yesterday especially it was very stressful. There are a lot of round-a-bouts and narrow roads. I'm driving in a fairly busy town and I don't know my way around. Add those together with the fact that I'm directionally challenged, and it equals stress! Luckily, the boys were well-behaved in the car so I could fully focus on what I was doing. I don't like being the first one in line at the light because I'm not confident about which way to turn etc.. I'm getting there, but I had trouble turning right at a light. I got in the turn lane and when my light turned green I assumed the oncoming cars still had red? And since I was the first in line, I just went for it. The cars coming the other way went for it too and we were staring at each other as we both pulled forward. Luckily they stopped and yelled while I pulled on through... Whew, lesson learned. Anyway, today I feet better. At least I haven't driven on the right side of the road..... yet.... Today we went to a beautiful forest park called Redwoods. It is a huge man made forest. It was planted by prisoners in the early 1900s after a volcano nearby erupted and wiped out the forest that was there. They planted all sorts of different types of trees to see which ones would thrive there. The California Redwoods have grown huge quickly. There are 15 acres of them along with a variety of ferns and all kinds of tropical looking trees. I've never seen the ones in California. I guess the ones here are not as huge, but they were beautiful and smelled so good! In tribute to the Palmbos family, Kendal, Sky, and Simone, we decided we should build a fairy house in this forest. It sure seems like a place where they would live, so Elias and I got to work and Cohen supervised. We were pleased with the result. We probably walked about a mile, but with all our stopping and exploring we were out for almost 2 hours. It was cool, about 50 some degrees? it was 12 degrees Celsius... still trying to get the conversion straight. Anyway, it was a good time. I think Jared will get to explore some more hot pools with us tomorrow... |
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