One thing we had been trying to fit in was a trip to a local wildlife preservation area called Bushy Park. They have predator fences and quite a few short trails around the area. We managed to walk most of them on our trip. Nice paths and signs too! It was nice to walk through some native bush in the area we live in. There were also a ton of Saddlebacks and Wood Pigeons. Both of those birds have been somewhat rare in our travels. Here it felt like there was a convention. Pretty much everywhere you looked were crowds of birds on some of the trails. The wood pigeons are pretty interesting birds too. When flying they make this "woosh woosh" sound and it is LOUD. In this vdeo about 50 secs in you can kind of hear it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7B77OwYP5Y). In real life its much more intimidating sounding. Anyway, we had a GREAT time and afterwards a great dinner (more on that later).
(Nice, well marked paths are a super plus)
(Cec hamming it up)
(An upturned silver fern. The Maori used to use them to navigate by at night, they would flip them up and the moonlight would reflect off.)
(That is a saddleback. They were loving it at bushy park)
(This is a wood pigeon AKA kererū in Maori. First off thet are HUGE, second off they are klutzy. Here it looks all majestic but when it flies and lands it usually almost falls over. In some ways I feel this is my spirit animal.)
(When I say there were a lot of them I mean it. Look at all of them in the trees!)
(This was a view from the wetlands. Gorgeous)
Literally the next day we planned to go skiing. Yes, that activity where you slide down a hill, fast, on metal slats. We drove about 3 hours up to Mount Ruapehu which is right beside Mount Tongariro The drive up the puka puka's errr..... para para state highway was amazing in the morning. We watched the fog clear as the sun burned it off. Even after so many months its still jaw dropping. Anyway, We got there and had a little bit of an awkward start. We parked and made our way up to the main building after throwing down a protein shake for an early lunch. It was SUPER busy so we ended up standing in line to find out we were in the wrong place to stand in a different line. In between I also managed to fall down the stairs of the lodge (in tennis shoes) with my amazing athletic skills. I had to sit and make sure I didn't twist my ankle which delayed us another 15 minutes. Finally, we ended up in the right place and had to get fitted for boots, pants, helmets. Again, I delayed things with having tiny feet and giant calves. My boots ended up really uncomfortable but I was determined to try this skiing thing. BTW, later when I took them off they left bruises on my shins. We had to wait an hour for our lesson, when we watched a kid literally get stuck on his backpack and literally got hung up on the ski lift! A ton of great people helped him and held his feet while some guy muscled up and unhooked him. He ended up being fine but OMG it was scary!
Finally we ended up in our group lesson which I personally was grateful for. We learned french fry means go and pizza is stop. The instructor was soo patient and kind. I felt like I could actually attempt to move without hurting people. I didn't quite catch on as fast as cec so I was still trying to stop (vs. slow) where he was able to start learning to turn. Here is cec is doing a great job at his first time skiing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?
(Good Morning NZ what lovely fog you have as the sun is just coming up to burn you off)
(Did I mention its Lambing season? Baby Lambs everywhere)
(Finally we made it! PS its a Maori name, and "Wh" is pronounced as an "F")
(Here is the road up to the ski area. Amazing views going up Mt Ruapehu)
(Here is the place I fell down the stairs. Evil stairs)
(Here is the terrifying child rescue in progress. Were were waiting for our instructor and stuck in skis so had no way to help. Everyone rushed in and got him but man was that scary to watch)
(Look I almost look like I know what I'm doing!!!)
(Cec getting on the people mover up this hill. He said it was the scariest thing he did all day. I walked up as that thing looked above my ability level)
(PIZZA! Lol, cec got stopping really well right in front of me. Thanks for not hitting me!)
(We also got great photos of a snow topped Tongariru and Mt Ngauruhoe aka Mount Doom)
(We had to stop at the skiwi sign, after all this was our first time and what better place to learn than Mt. Ruapheu in NZ?)
In addition to our walking and skiing we have had several "social" events". I volunteered at the local art gallery to help kids screen print tote bags. This was done to help the kids learn the environmental impacts of plastic bags vs. the benefits of using reusable bags. As expected, kids are kids no matter where they are from.
We have also had a few people over as well as been invited out. We had Sarah and her partner over. PS. here everyone is a "partner" in a relationship. This can mean marriage, dating, straight or gay. In some ways it makes it easier as everyone describes a person as "my partner" without the strange not being sure what term to use thing that can come up. We also had to say goodbye to a few friends who were finished with their time here. A giant group of 20 of us ended up crashing a Thai restaurant. I felt bad for the place they seemed a little overwhelmed.... but it was a great night. We also had some friends from Crossfit over and had a great time chatting about so much random stuff. Such great days, I'm really going to miss our friends.
(The kids from the school listening on how a tote bag is printed. Such good listeners!)
(Cec posing with Gary and Padraig, some Irish {Registered Medical Officers aka interns} RMO's who are leaving)
(Cec saying goodbye to Rhiannon {Welsh, not British} and Maeve {Kiwi})
(Group photo guys!)
(Dinner at our house. Good times!)
Lastly I feel the need to point out I'm learning to knit. Here is me with all my wool I bought to make a blanket. I was like 1/4 of the way through when my needle broke and (without my knowledge) It started to unravel. I ended up having to rip it apart and start over. I almost cried but now that I have a few days away from it happening its fine. I can redo it probably better this time!)
(Me and my wool purchase!)
(The needle that caused the problem. The one to the right it connected but the one to the left the plastic bit broke off and no you can't fix it. Stupid needle!)
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