black water rafting

went BLACK water rafting with ilona this morning before heading back to waiheke island....it was a blast, pretty cold though! they suite us up in wet wet suites (not pleasant thing to do first thing in the morning) received helmets, funny lil shorts with thick material on our bums to keep the wet suite from tearing, and funny lil booties...
we all packed in a bus and went to the caves. before actually going in the caves we had to make sure out tubes fit us and practised jumping off a rock and into the water....heh scared me quite a bit. then we squeezed into the caves and started the journey. ilona and i had a great time floating and jumping over waterfalls. there were heaps of glow worms about. quite a beautiful experience...next time i would like to take it a notch further and go abseiling :) baby steps karin baby steps

waitomo

from rotarua we headed to waitomo. waitomo literally means water (wai)shaft (tomo). it is filled with underwater caves as well as glow worms.

we stayed in a place called Woodlyn Park. Hmmmm how does one describe the setting and vibe there? eccentrically clever??? each room has a different theme. we stayed in a hobbit hole...there were also planes, trains, and last but not least a boat which they were working on constructing. as we drove up we were all a but skeptical and worried that we would be overwhelmed by the cheesie-ness of this hotel....but its all quite well done. the inside of our hobbit room was spacious, filled with clever decorations, and had a very hobbit esque feel, round doors and all.










so not only is this a clever hotel, it also runs a kiwi culture show. when we went to the reception to book our tickets to the show, we were informed that we were the only people signed up and at least 4 adults have to be present to have the show run. basically audience participation is key in this one. we got lucky and one couple showed up for the show...
the show was in a barn that was filled from floor to ceiling with old antiques and knick knacks. could've spent hours looking through all the stuff on the walls.
Billy Black put on the show and went through the history of new zealand. i learned heaps about how to saw through massive trees :)


mike went up on stage to help saw through a tree. billy black brags about having the world's first computer...basically ropes attached to barn fences and doors outside. he would "download" animals with his computer and poof, there they appeared on stage. there was trevor the dancing pig
....a possum, goat, sheep...which ilona and i sheered....

and last but not leas a MASSIVE cow he rode in on. was a great show andHIGHLY recommend it to anyone passing through....


from there we went to see the glow worm caves. the major attraction for waitomo. went on a 45 min tour and walked through limestone shafts, a cathedral cavern, and of course glow worms. the guide took us all on a little boat ride to see the caves littered with a luminescent light. it was calm and relaxing...until you find out that these cute little ;glow worms; arent worms but maggots....and the glowing bit is their poop, working to attract its next meal...heh

hells gate

today we went to hells gate. hells gate is a geothermal reserve with heaps of bubbling mud, sulphuric baths and lakes,cooking pools, and a mud volcano :) there is definitely a strong stink while walking around and by the end of the walk we all were feeling a bit queezy... it felt as thought we were walking on the moon. after our walks we took a mud bath. heh it was quite fun and alexander definitely had a blast playing around in it.


later on ilona and i ditched the boys and had a full body massage. after the massage i felt like a wet noodle. i highly recommend getting a full body massage whenever possible....heh heh
we had worked up quite an appetite walking around (and being pampered) so we heading out for dinner and had a delicious dinner at a japanese restaurant....which we ended up becoming regulars by the time we left rotarua. alexander, as usual, charmed the past off the staff

waimangu

From Matamata we continued to Rotarua. Rotarua is quite a touristy little town that attracts people for its thermal activity, extreme adventure sports, and maori cultural events. Because of the thermal/bolcanic activity there is...well a not-so-pretty stench. sulfur meets rotten eggs. heh lucky for all of you i cant download scrath and sniff photo :)

We spent 3 nights there in a nice hotel. our space was a 2 bedroom apt style room with a massive jacuzzi...the hotel was on a hotel lined road....quite similar to any US tourty area, but this is the first time i have seen this in NZ....

our first stop was the waimangu volcanic valley. it was stunning. you walk down through a variety of little pools, steaming rocks, and of course NZ ferns and greenery. we walked down to a boat and finished our lil hike at Lake Rotomahana. This was created in 1886 when an explosion completely transformed the entire area.





Inferno Crater was the most magnificent site. i have never seen water this colour. it was a crisp clear sky blue. looked inviting for a little swim. :)

during the hike up to the restaurant alex and i would pretend we were trees to hide from fellow passer byers...


most of these pics, altho i wish i could take credit for....were taken by Ilona and her new flash camera....no pun intended

Hobbitville!

so we left waiheke for a 5 day adventure to middle earth! now it may be true that until coming to NZ i had only seen one lord of the rings, and couldn't name any of the characters etc....but going on a tour of hobbiton was awesome. it was filmed in a town called matamata...which was put on the map bc of this. Peter Jackson really had an eye for detail and decided on this particular sheep farm because of the lake and its large tree on the lake's edge. This would be the perfect spot for hobbiton and the scenes for bilblo's birthday. the "party tree" is a massive tree....especially compared to alexander's wee stature.

When the filming was over all the hobbit holes were taken away except for 16 i believe. from far away they looked like lil qusint homes set in a hill side, but the closer you got, the more rackity and well, janky they seemed. made out of styrofaom, i guess thats what you would expect.


we were able to pop ur heads into one. we were all a bit too big, but alexander felt right at home in the mini lil cottage.

on our way out mike helped out by opening and closing all the sheep gates (about 6 if i remember correctly)....unfortunately they dont tip here in NZ or else he could have made a killing ;)

whanau

So have been enjoying my time here....working still as a nanny and now as a beer fetcher at malones. i have met quite a few friends from malones and they have really taken care of me. This is a pic of me and donna...she and i clicked instantly and have had many chats about different cultural issues here in NZ. When we introduce eachother to our friends we always say that we are whanau (pha-new) meaning famiy in Maori. Her and ehr partner had a housewarming party and it ended with stuffed bellies, quenched thirst, and quite a few people taking a dip in their jacuzzi to fight off the cold night!!!

wandering sheep

heh forgot to include this pic. me and my friend the sheep...this was at stoney batters where the story festival was held last monday...

heh cute eh?

im a god mother!

godmother!!! in i am proud and honored to announce that my sis and bro in law asked me to be ben and sar'sdecember when i head back home to st louis lil sarah will be baptized. i have a wallet sized photo of the 2 lil ones in my wallet and boast that i am their god mother...i think the locals are getting tired of hearing about my excitement!!

v squared and me

so since being here i decided to find a 2nd job part time. mainly to meet more people on the island, and for some extra cash...i worked as a dishhand (for 1 night) at a restauarant basically next door to us called vino vino. nice family who runs it, but can't just work nights and being a dishhand is NOT my favorite job. heh but i exchanged info with vesna who owns vino vino. we clicked right off and have hung out nearly every night since. her flatmate, vini is brazilian and works on the island...he told me that the irish pub he works out needed help. so last weekend i was a bar wrench! it was fun and definitely exciting! we had to call the cops on one guy who wouldnt leave the bar and even came behind the counter. how exciting. now do not fear....the rest of the nights were calm....its a chill bar and mainly has locals coming in, i already have half of their drinks memorized.
yeah so these are pics of vesna vini and me.

once upon an island

this weekend there was a story telling festival and it was a blast! i went to see one about a dragon on sunday and the kids were thrilled. many showed up as knights and princesses....so naturally, ilona being the creative person she is whipped up a knights helmit. before the show there was a jester doing magic, making balloon animals, and playing his flute. alexander has this saxaflute toy where you connect tubes to make flutes etc...so when he saw the jester with this, his face lit up!!!! he went over (not a shy kid!) and played for the jester!!!


this pic is of the vinyards and if you look in the centre back you can see the auckland skyline....man oh man am i lucky to have found this place!

my buddy and me

little alex and i have a great time together, if i do say so myself! we spend a lot of time in the park, playing in trees, dancing to elvis (hey i dont have very many songs for kids on my ipod!),and pretending to be pirates....well that phase is coming to an end and now we pretend to be mickey and pluto! haha
he keeps me busy and on my toes, and i seem to always be expanding my imagination with the lil guy. of all our activities my favorite time together is definitely pulling out random art supplies and seeing where it takes us...