New Zealand- The North Island

Ok, ok we know it's been too long.  It's really crazy how fast time flies when you're having fun...well that and we haven't had the best internet connection to upload all the pictures we wanted to share.  We are going to try to post smaller events more frequently from now on.

Until this point we felt that we had timed everything quite well.  While we could’ve stayed longer in some places and forever in others, we felt we acquired a real feel for the towns and were ready to see what was in store for us next.  We have been leery about New Zealand since our time in Fiji when people told us, nicely of course, that there was no way 18 days would be enough time in New Zealand, especially not to see both islands fully.  So we made the conscious decision to see what we could and enjoy what time we did have, not exhausting ourselves tying to fit everything in.

That being said, we absolutely loved the North Island and our favorite part might have been the drives between cities where we were in the middle of nowhere and were the only humans within miles, surrounded by the most beautiful scenery you could ever imagine.

We started our journey in the city of Auckland where we enjoyed a steaming bowl of delicious, GINORMOUS mussels, and maybe a few Belgian beers.  We didn’t spend much time in the city proper but what time we did we liked the vibe.  We rented a camper car and continued on from Auckland about 2 hours south and inland a bit to the volcanic lake town of Rotorua.  Once in Rotorua we realized there was a large Maori (the local indigenous population) festival that weekend and every hotel room, hostel, and motel you could think of was booked.  Well, lucky for us our car doubles as a camper!  So yes, we actually spent the night in our car.  It was actually quite comfortable once we put the seats down and set up the mattresses.  The problem didn’t come until about 3:00am when we both woke up absolutely freezing!  We threw open our backpacks and put on as many clothes as we could and slept like babies after that.  The next day we were both a little creaky but took a nice walk around Lake Rotorua and the somewhat smelly but beautiful and steaming Sulfur Bay.  We then went to Waimangu Volcanic Valley and took a 2 hour hike throughout the stunning valley of volcanic and other geothermal features.

The next morning we drove an hour further south to the town of Taupo.  We drove right to Huka Falls Walkway and hiked about an hour to view the falls.  There are no words...just check these pictures out!

In Taupo we also took a sailing trip at sunset and saw both the sun set and the full moon rise, a rare occurrence and something we have never seen before!  On the sailing trip we also saw Maori carvings in the cliff side and Wes took a very chilly swim in the lake. 

We enjoyed coffee and a muffin by Lake Taupo the next morning and soaked in the stunning scenery and absolutely perfect weather.  Then we moved on to Turangi to go whitewater rafting!  Turangi is about an hour south of Taupo and by this point Wes has really gotten the hang of driving on the other side but he still struggles a bit with the windshield wipers and turn signal on opposite sides....lets just say we have some very clean windows!  We rafted the Tongariro River and had a blast!

We spent the night in the cute river town of Wanganui where we stayed in a large victorian home with our own private balcony overlooking the river.  The next morning we continued south to Wellington.  We enjoyed walking along the riverfront and a great meal at Sweet Mother’s, a New Orleans inspired restaurant. 

The following morning we took a car ferry to the south island.  I know you are sick of hearing it but the views and scenery were just unbelievable.  We landed in the town of Picton and we will update you later on our journeys in the south island of New Zealand! 

1 Year and LOVING LIFE!

We can hardly believe that one year has passed since we said "I Do" at our amazing wedding surrounded by family and friends.  We couldn't be happier together and are incredibly blessed to have each other.  We wanted to share this video from our special day with you all.  This is also a great opportunity to hear and see the both of us blubbering again, or for the first time if you didn't get to see the teary eyed spectacle live!  Click the link here - http://vimeo.com/56757883

Thank you again to all of our family and friends that were able to share our celebration with us.  We love you all!
 

Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road

Hello again!

The sophisticated and artsy city of Melbourne didn’t grab us initially.  On our first night we headed into downtown and wandered around a bit.  This is what we normally do when we reach a new city and it usually works quite well for us, but not so much in this case.  Maybe it was because we were STARVING!  Well, once we found food it became tremendously better.  It is wonderful what a delicious steaming plate of Thai noodles can do for your mood.

Melbourne caters to the tourist so they have a free bus and tram system that take you all over the central areas of the city and they both served our purposes well.  We explored the Docklands neighborhood, which is an area of industrial wharves converted into condos, shopping, and funky restaurants and cafes.  We then explored the Southbank area, Royal Botnnical Gardens, and War Memorial and surrounding grounds.  Throughout Melbourne, street art and interesting sculptures are in view everywhere! 

Free central district tram

Soldiers memorial

Memorial grounds and view of downtown

What city doesn't need a few cows stuck in trees?

 

One of the many pedestrian bridges across the Yarra river

This is a very large wind powered mobile and quite fun to watch in action

After a well deserved rest from walking most of central Melbourne, we had drinks at a rooftop bar with a former Rockette friend and her Australian fiance who now reside in the city.  It was so nice to see some familiar faces from home!

Queen Victoria Market was one of our favorite spots in Melbourne.  You could probably guess that it has something involving food!  It is made up of rows and rows of stalls with people selling everything from fruits and veg (that’s what the locals call it), fish, cheese, butchered meats, cured meats of all kinds, boutique chocolates and candies, and local trinkets and souvenirs.  Here’s a rundown of what we enjoyed...bratwurst and sauerkraut from the German shop, smoked salmon and cheese roll up from a smoked fish shop, spinach and feta burek from the Turks, peanut chocolate brittle from a handmade candy stall, and delicious homemade doughnuts from a converted RV!  Not bad for an hours work!  We then continued on to St. Patrick’s Cathedral which was equally as impressive to New York’s.  Next we moseyed our way up to Fitzroy which reminded us a lot of Park Slope or Williamsburg in Brooklyn with its sidewalk cafes, restaurants, and boutique shops.  Our stomachs were calling out for the next meal so we made our way home and enjoyed a delicious brick oven pizza.

One of the many produce aisles

Cured meat vendor

Not quite Brown's doughnuts but darn tasty and a very cool truck

The following day consisted of a long morning at a neighborhood cafe making phone calls and sending emails back home, making further travel arrangements, and drinking very potent coffee.  Lunch was at a traveller recommended Vietnamese noodle shop for some very tasty Pho (rice noodle soup) and dinner was spent eating Malaysian cuisine.  As you can tell the Asian food culture is quite influential throughout Australia.

The Pho soup only gets better the closer we get to Vietnam

Finally, The Great Ocean Road!  Heeding the advice of others, we booked a tour so we could enjoy the scenery and avoid driving and boy was it fantastic!  We saw the 12 Apostles and London Bridge rock formations.  Also along the way were Bells Beach which is a location of some of the largest surfing waves in the world and a famous surfing competition, and a rainforest walk in the Otway mountains.  While stopping to look at a few Koala bears munching in trees, Wes made friends with some wild Cockatoos.  Pictures are the only way to describe how beautiful everything was and even they have a very hard time doing it justice. 

This is beside the road outside of Melbourne

While Melbourne got off to somewhat of a rocky start, I guess it kind of ended that way too, but much better ;)  We had an amazing experience in Australia and could certainly have stayed much longer.  That said, we are very excited to update you soon from our next stop on the North Island of New Zealand!