Birthday Week

My birthday week was started when Janet and Will came back to Auckland for their final weekend in NZ. On Saturday we took the ferry over to Waiheke where we did several amazing wine tastings (my new favorite hobby...) The weather was perfect, it was so werid to go from "big city" Auckland to an island with very few people on it, most of them hippies. Compareble to Laguna, Corina and I decided our mom should move there.

Arriving at Waiheke

View from one of our wine tastings.

wine tasting nibbles.

My actual birthday was pretty low key. But the following weekend was a four-day weekend for Easter and Kasey, Kellie, Elle, Corina and I all went up North to Whatuwhiwhi (still not positive on how to pronounce it). Corina, Rambo and I drove up on Friday, even though we knew it would be like a 5 hour drive, it still felt like it lasted forever. Partially because Corina and I thought we were lost for a solid hour.

A random rooster walking around at the gas station

Saturday we went up to Cape Reinga, which is the very top of the North Island. It was stunning. And of course, Corina and Kasey ran into someone they work with.

Corina, Kellie and Rambo admiring the view.

The Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meeting. You can't really tell from this photo, but the waves were crashing into each other head on.

Cape Reinga lighthouse

According to Wiki

"According to mythology, the spirits of the dead travel to Cape Reinga on their journey to the afterlife to leap off the headland and climb the roots of the 800 year old tree and descend to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland of Hawaiki, using the Te Ara Wairua, the 'Spirits' pathway'. At Cape Reinga they depart the mainland. They turn briefly at the Three Kings Islands for one last look back towards the land, then continue on their journey"

Luckily, no dead people sightings.

My favorite Rambo photo.

The walk we didn't do because we didn't bring the appropriate shoes.

I also got a lot of driving practice while up North, the roads were perfect. Except I was going too slow and almost turned into the wrong side, but only once! Needless to say, it was nice to be driving again.

That night was filled with a roast chicken, mexican food with curry seasoning (I bought and used curry powder instead of cumin, Corina later pointed it out), and lots of wine! Eventually followed with a chick flick.

The next day we went to KariKari Estate Winery where we did a wine tasting. And then we found this amazing beach that was completely empty! We didn't see one human on the beach the entire time we were there.

Views from our bach

If you look very closely you can see Rambo jumping here....

The drive back wasn't as bad, partially because we stopped Paihia for lunch, a cider and a stroll. Where as luck would have it, Elle ran into someone she knew!

Queenstown

I have a feeling my blog post about Queenstown will not be as entertaining as Janet and Will's (http://janetandwill.blogspot.com.au/) I will try....

I arrived in Queenstown Thursday morning and was already impressed before I left the airport. Besides the amazing mountains that surrounded me and the fresh crisp air that greeted me as I stepped out of the airplane, I had a strawberry chocolate muffin that was probably the best muffin I've ever had in my life (actually not kidding right now).

Janet, Will and I started out exploring downtown, interestingly enough Will ran into one of his coworkers! He had forgotten that she was taking a family trip to NZ. Small world. We didn't waste any time checking out Fergburger, which I was a little disappointed about. There was way more bread than meat.

We did the gondola ride up the mountain. Janet and I decided to walk down, which was the worst idea ever. Besides getting lost, the trail was way too steep and we could hear in the distance trees being cut down. There also wasn't a view. But the time up on the top of the mountain was amazing! After an afternoon exploring we headed to Te Anau for the night.

beautiful Queenstown

The next day we drove to Milford Sound, which was beautiful. Just amazing. After Milford we took our time getting back to Queenstown, stopping a few times to check out Mirror Lake, the Chasm and a few other short walks. Of course we also counted road kill and deer and sheep farms while driving back. Yes friends from the States, they have deer farms here. It's weird. No Kea spottings unfortunately.

Almost perfect...
waterfall in Milford


Milford Sound

The Chasm




Queenstown

Friday night we went to Moon's Thai (dad I figured you would appreciate that, more appreciation will come later...) where the waitress asked how old I was. For those unfamiliar to NZ, most restaurants and bars have signs that say "Please don't be offended, but if you look under 25 you will need to show ID." So basically the waitress refused to serve me because I said I was 23. Janet had to go up to the manager and explain the situation and eventually the laws of NZ. But the story ended happily, because I was served!


After that we went to the Mac's pub by the water and watched a little Rugby. Saturday morning Will go up early to go sledging, while Janet and I had breakfast, walked around town and went to a local crafts fair (nothing "crafty" about it). Then it started raining, hard. So we went back to the hotel, waited for Will to get back and then went to Gibbston Cheesery, for a cheese and wine tasting, of course! Not just any wine tasting, but my very first wine tasting! I've decided I'm a sauvignon blanc and riesling kind of gal.

After Gibbston, we went to the Winehouse where I remembered why I don't like red wine. Then to the Kawau bridge. Janet, Will and I got hooked watching all the bungy jumpers. And before we knew it we were all planning how we would want to jump. I would want my hands to lightly skim the water, while Will liked the idea of jumping with a few other people to get a good bounce....I think you know where this is headed...

And if you know me at all, you know there is no way in hell I jumped!

But Will did!

Will gets ready to bungy jump!

After the jump, we went back to town and had dinner. After dinner we went to Winnie's (dad, more appreciation here). I met a German guy, who was nice, but also kind of annoying me at the time so we went to look for a local bar to watch the Otago vs Australia rugby match. But eventually we figured out that there are no locals in Queenstown. All of the bouncers we asked for local bar tips were all foreigners and everyone just looked like tourists. So we ended up back at Mac's to watch the rest of the rugby game.

I've decided that I could like rugby, if I knew the rules. It's kind of like a car accident, with all the injuries, but you still just have to watch. Blood seems to be all over their faces and clothes at the end during their wrap-up interviews, while others faces are so swollen you can't see their eyes. It's disgusting, and yet strangely entertaining...

Anyways, Sunday was my last day so we had breakfast in front of a fire in Arrowtown (probably the best pancakes by a fire that I've ever had) and walked around the town. Then we ended up doing more wine tastings! And eventually I made my way back to the Queenstown airport.

Basically the best weekend ever. I never wanted it to end. I loved traveling with Janet and Will too.