Milford Sound and Te Anau - MP

We've been pretty lucky with the weather as we travel through the South Island! Just two days of constant rain while we left Christchurch and stayed in Omarama. We had our fingers crossed for our visit to Milford Sound since it rains 200 days of the year in Fjordland.

As we drove 1 hr and 45 minute from Te Anau to Milford Sound we stopped at the Mirror Lakes to take in some of the scenery.

We arrived to Milford Sound to have a quick picnic lunch and hop onto our cruise. We try our best to eat meals at home or as picnics since eating out is trés expensive!

Milford Sound is also known for its Sand Flies. They did not dissappoint. They were bad on the mainland but did not follow us onto the boat. 

Our cruise was magnificient. Milford Sound was majestic and full of awe! The waterfall on the left of the above picture is 150 m tall to give you an idea of the heights of the mountains. Later in the cruise we nestled right up under it!

We cruised right out to the Tasman sea and them back again. The two hour cruise was so interesting. It just flew by.

It was a calm, cloudy day. We saw a seal colony and many waterfalls. We spent most of the time on the bow of the boat taking pictures and soaking up the stunning views. 

The bigger looking mountain on the left of this picture is Mount Phillips and behind Jonah and Siena is Mitre Peak the tallest mountain in Milford Sound. We took this picture as we walked to the boarding docks.

It was difficult to comprehend the size of the mountains until we saw toruing planes fly past. The planes looked so small as they flew by the large mountains, under their peaks.

We had a fantastic time in Te Anau staying in a Backpackers with our own family room, ensuite bathroom and shared kitchen space. The kids now understand the difference between camping, a hostel, hotel and AirBnB. The above picture is Siena jumping beside a sculpture of a Takahe. Just south of Te Anau is a small bird sanctuary where they protect some of these Takahe. They are about the size of a chicken, not 7 feet tall.

The kids have been going to bed later and getting up later since dusk happens until past 9:30 PM. This is the sun setting over the Kepler Ranges across Lake Te Anau.

With the kids (and Lynn) getting up later, I try to sneak out for morning runs and workouts. This was my run along Lake Te Anau.

During Term 4, while watching TV, we'd often see a short commercial that focused on Te Anau Dairy. A Dairy in NZ is what people call a Convenience Store. Anyway, while in Te Anau we HAD to search out the Te Anau Dairy to get ice cream.

All the best. With love,

Mike

Surfing at Hot Water Beach - JP

For Christmas, each member of my family got money from @grandmakmacdonald (Grandma). My mom, dad and I chose to spend that money on surfing.

I’be always wanted to learn to surf so I was pretty happy 😁👍🏼🤙🏼 about it. Below are some pictures of learning to surf 🌊🏄🏼👇🏼👇🏼

I definitely encourage everyone to try surfing.🏄🏼🏄🏼‍♀️👍🏼

My dad tried to make me write more about how to surf but I am too busy being busy with other fun things.

Talk to you later👋🏼✌️🏼

Jonah

Castle Hill - MP

For a day trip out of Christchurch we drove into the Southern Alps for 75 minutes to Castle Hill. This area has a huge number of boulders spread across the base of mountains. It reminded me of a naturally occurring Stone Henge, but much bigger!

Our plan was to hike around for a bit and some of us to boulder (climb) some of the problems. This area is an established climbing region. We met some other climbers but most people were out for a walk through the rocks. The bouldering area was removed from the main walking areas so we had most of the area to ourselves with a couple other climbers.

Jonah and I asked some climbers for directions to climbs within our range of climbing. The climbing guidebook for the area is $50 and we hadn't purchased it.

Looking at the above picture you can see little people walking to give you some perspective.

We had our climbing shoes and chalk bag but no crash mats so we picked some easy problems to climb to increase our safety. 

We had a great time in beautiful, sunny and warm weather. Even Siena wanted to climb (although hockey is still her thing).

I've decided to stick to a career in education but if anyone is looking for a white, middle-aged, bald, climbing, maori tattoo model please contact me. There must only be a few of us out there. 

We could have spent days at Castle Hill. By my estimate, we only explored 10% of the hill. However, we wanted to leave and explore Arthur's Pass Village and the Devil Punchbowl Waterfall. We hopped back into our rental car (when I have more time I'll write about our biggest challenge so far - car problems) and drove another 45 minute

The kids wanted to hike right up to its base. So off we went scampering over rocks to get drenched for the next few pictures.

 

They both wanted their own pictures by the waterfall. 

And I made them take one picture together to show that they actually love each other and aren't always competitive.

Then we were back into the car to return to Christchurch. We missed exploring a 300 metre long cave on the way home because we were exhausted and needed to get home to eat and go to bed. Next time? 

All the best, 

MP

Christmas 2017 - LP

This year for Christmas we adopted the “When in Rome...” philosophy and did it up in traditional Kiwi style with a BBQ at a ‘bach’ by the beach. For four nights (Dec. 22-26), we rented a holiday home (bach) in the Coromandel. Fortunately we have had 100% success rate with Airbnb and ‘The Mouse House’ did not let us down. We had a great little house with a short walk to the beach and a close deive to some other cool attractions. 

A few highlights included: 

Building a sand snowman at Hot Water Beach. Merry Christmas everyone! XO

Learning to surf - that was how Jonah wanted to spend his Christmas money from Grandma :)

Cathedral Cove - a beautiful walk along the coastline to some coves with a large rock formation between them. Mike and the kids jumped off a big rock into the water too :)

Kayaking along Cook’s Beach.

Picking clams from the water’s edge and cooking them for the first time ever (although they tasted OK, they were still a bit sandy, we have a new appreciation for properly prepared shellfish :)

Luckily Santa managed to find us at The Mouse House!

Family photo by a Pōhutukawa tree, New Zealand’s Christmas tree at Hot Water Beach. The beautiful red blooms come out in the summer, right before Christmas.

Although it wasn’t the traditional North American Christmas we are used to, I think we did a pretty good job of making it a special Christmas to remember!

Merry Christmas everyone and all the best in 2018.

Hugs,

Lynn 

XOXO

Wellington - MP

January 4th

Yesterday we drove from Devonport down to Wellington. This was our longest drive yet on the North Island. During the 8 hr drive, we stopped three times to stretch, eat and fill the car with "petrol" therfore completing the trip in just over 9 hours.

It was just after 7 PM when we arrived to Wellington. Lynn booked us into a great Hotel for two nights. The hotel is located right in central Wellington. Being in the middle of everything, made it easy to drop off all of our stuff and take the cable car up the hill to a neighbourhood called Kelburn to find an Indian Takeaway for dinner! Yummy!!!

Today we visited Te Papa, New Zealand's National Museum. The museum was hosting a Lego exhibit. During the morning, we had a great time looking an the pieces of work and constructing things with Lego pieces. The first construction reminded us of home!

The other Lego constructions were amazing!

Arc de Triomphe

David

Pisa Tower

Siena built her own pyramid and both kiddos built race cars. 

This portrait was huge. The Mona Lisa took more than 80 hours to construct. Most of these pieces took 80 to 240 hours to complete. There were many more pieces of work. Too many to post here.

After lunch, we spent most of our time at the Treaty of Waitangi, Māori and Pacific Culture exhibits. When we spend time in these places we learn a bit more about Māori, New Zealand and pacific islands' history. 

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed by English government representatives (Hobson) and many of the Māori cheifs starting February of 1840. Copies of the Treaty in Māori and English were created with different wording and translations. This caused great confusion. The Treaty has only three Articles laying the foundation for the relationship between the Māori people and the English government. The first article discusses sovereignty. The second article discusses land ownership and the third article discusses rights. There was a possiblity of a fourth article that discussed freedom of religion but it didn't make it onto paper.

The mistranslations and misunderstandings of the three articles has caused many problems/challenges that continue to this day. However, in my judgement, the NZ government and the Māori people continue to work together to build a sustainable future for all New Zealanders and show other countries how to work with all peoples to create a more positive future.

Walking through the Pacific Island cultural and historical section of the museum I came across a section on Samoan and Māori tattooing. To my surprise I found this plaque and photograph. 

The plaque acknowledges these gentlemen as being tattoo artists who were entitled/recognized in a 2001 ceremony whixh supports them to create tattoos using a traditional pacific island process. The man on the far right is Inia Taylor, the artist who tattooed my calf.

Through most of the Māori exhibit we were not allowed to take photos. There were examples of a marae, whare (house), waka, and food hut. There were also many carvings and greenstone ornaments. 

We spent over 5 hours in the museum taking a short break for a sushi lunch. 

Our usual plan is to cram as much in as possible, all day long! This afternoon we decided against this pattern. Instead, we ordered in pizza for dinner and watched cricket on the TV. Tomorrow we catch the ferry to the South Island in the afternoon.

With love,

MP