The Maori Welcome Dance

So it turns out, I never finished my blog! I got so caught up on being engaged, then hurried off to the North Island (where I had no wifi)....So I figured, hell, why not...I'll finish it off so I have the memories forever in writing ;)

So after getting engaged we went up the next day, Friday, to our last polo match of the trip in Culverden. We drove up in the evening and ended up reaching town (which was a few hours away) around night fall.  We met everyone at the local pub for a drink and then headed out to the house we were staying at.  And on the way...ANDREW AND I GOT PULLED! I was so excited! Neither of us had been drinking and it's kind of just an expectation that you will get pulled when you leave a pub...everyone does...its just a safety thing...but still! It was so exciting! I even asked the cop if I could take a picture of the lights. He laughed. And knew I was foreign...haha. Who cares, I thought it was exciting.

The home we stayed at was one of the family friends and it was on this lovely farm, situated just high enough up on to the top of this tiny hill.  It made all the difference.  The view from the house was spectacular. You could look out and see the whole property. Quite neat. The next day was the first round of polo matches.  The day wasn't anything too exciting...but we had some lovely weather and got to go to a barbecue at the end of the game. That was fun! And the stars were out and absolutely beautiful.  I wish I could have been able to get a shot of the stars. They are something out of this world.  I never knew there were so many! And I'm a country girl! You can actually see the milky way! An amazing sight to see...

The next morning we said our goodbye's and headed off to Christchurch to fly out to Auckland.  In Auckland we were picked up by Andrew's bestest friend in the whole wide world...Harley. Oh how I loved Harley.  Such a character.  He comes in to the airport with his crazy dreadlocks and bare feet.  So funny!

He took us up to his home up in Whangarei where we met his lovely girlfriend Courtney.  I can't remember all of the details of what we did, but I do remember that on that first day we got to meet his two sons, William and Xander...adorable.  Andrew is their Godfather.  And William sure did know it!  As we were sitting outside on the porch we heard him come in the front door...Harley asked "Do you know who's here?" And William said, "Yeah! My Godfather!" and he raaaannnnnnnnn out to go say hi to Andrew.  SO FREAKING ADORABLE! I melted.  Andrew is quite awkward around them...Xander in particular...he said its because he doesn't want to break the baby.  I guess I can see that...haha. Still awkward.

Then, that next day (or maybe it was the same day I cant remember), we got to go on a beach trip! Up to Whale Bay.  Absolutely freaking gorgeous! The pictures say it all...and I saw my first nudist!! So funny...we walked away from all of the crowded area, tried to get to a little cove for just us...and we ran in to some people who had the sammmmeeee idea.  I'm sitting there...staring off in to the ocean...and I notice a guy walking out in to the water...annnnnddddddd I see his naked butt...I was like waiiiiittttt a minute. Is he? YEP! He's naked! I couldn't stop giggling. I'm such a little girl.

The boys proceeded to dig holes and play around as Courtney and I laid on the beach reading and soaking up the sun.  Then we went and had a small hike over to a beautiful look out.  And had a photo shoot.  Acting like a bunch of goobs. Then we drove back in to town, with a stop to get some ice cream at a local dairy.  Popsicles for all!  And then took the curvy drive home, jamming to Cherry Oh Baby - Ub40 ... "Yayeeyayeeyayeeyayeeyayyay" ...Great day.

No, we aren't in a gang...haha

That night (and some the night before) we got to meet all of Harleys fantastic friends.  Loved that!! And they did a Maori welcome dance for us! I mean...well...Zak did a Maori welcome dance...the rest...well...participated. I have it recorded somewhere....Great fun. We laughed and laughed and stayed up wayyyy past bed time haha.

The next day Andrew and I went off on our own for a little waterfall walk/hike.  Beautiful spot and a great time to just relax and have some alone time.  Not that we don't love all of our company.  And trust me, I adore the NZ company.  The waterfall was gorgeous...a  bit touristy...but the walk after that was nice and calming.  On the way through the forest walk we saw some AMAZING Kauri trees.  They're HUGE and take something like 1000 years to grow full size. Gorgeous trees...going extinct...obviously when they take 1000 years to grow.  I got to hug one :) I feel special.


On the way out of the forest...we got chased by chickens! Yeah...chickens. Just chillin in this forest. Chasing people away from the Kauri trees. It was hilarious! We were walking and all the sudden we heard this rustling behind us.  I looked and there were like 3-5 chickens...so we started picking up the pace. They went faster. So we started running...and they chased us! It was so funny! We lauuughhhed and laughed. And then got lost. Sort of. We were waiting for Courtney to call us and tell us she was going to pick us up. So we decided, we'll walk towards town.  We obviously had no idea where we were going. We walked and walked and walked. I got pissier and pissier (haha)...then we finally hit town. And as it turns out, found the best fish n chips spot in town, right next to the salon that Courtney worked at! Funny.

Overall we had a fantastic time in Whangarei...can't wait to see all of our new (and old) friends again! After Whangarei, Harley drove us down to Auckland...the 'big city' of New Zealand, where we jumped out of a plane... ;)

Engaged on a Mountain Top in New Zealand!

So today...I got engaged :)

It all started in the morning when my meetings were canceled and it was a lovely sunny day.  Andrew decided that today was the day that we would hike up Little Mount Peel.  He grew up on his grandfathers farm below the mountain.  On the drive he talked about his family and growing up there...very cute.  We stopped at the info hut and decided what trail to take...on average...A 3 HOUR UP AND 3 HOUR DOWN HIKE. Kill me.  So off we went on the hike...it was absolutely beautiful...hiking through the trees...and in the mudd.  My hiking boots sure did get some use.  We were behind a couple as we were walking...and then met them again at a hugeeee puddle blocking the trail.  They had decided to give up.  We decided to march through the brush and make it work.  Didn't get wet at all ;) So up and up we climbed....Andrew promised I would 'set the pace' so he let me walk in front. And stop every 5 minutes. I am so not in shape...

At about half way, maybe a little less, the tree's cleared and we were in a bunch of brush.  Eventually getting lower and lower until it was just views all around us as we hiked on the ridge.  So cool.  This is a picture of where we were heading from the half-way point.  I thought he was kidding when he said "that's where we're going"...he wasn't.  So after the many times of stopping, we ran in to a group of dads with their kids.  It was then that I decided if kids can make it, I can make it.

We were (as Andrew says it) a "stones throw away" and I almost gave up.  I could feel my body getting super angry at me...getting light headed.  So we took a break for a bit, ate some granola bars, and kept on trekking up the ridiculously steep hill.




We finally got to the top and it was beautiful.  You could see all of the mountains and all the way to the ocean.   I had to sit and catch my breath...felt like I was dying.  And then Andrew says this is it...this is where I'm from, and this is all that I am...and he asked me to stand up.  Then he got down on one knee.  I literally answered him yes, no, yes, no, really? YES!  I'm a mess...I couldn't believe it was actually happening :) He gave me his grandmothers ring...she lent it to us until we could find one that we both liked, that is ours.  Its so gorgeous...and as everyone noticed, kind of looks like a NZ fern...how appropriate ;)

And to top it all off THE TOP HAS WATER! I was so excited about the water...my water bottle was just about empty and we still had a 3 hour hike down.  My mom laughed when I called and told her, saying "It's a good thing you said yes or that would have been a horrible hike back"...no kidding haha. So we stayed at the top for a while...signed the guest book that is in the cabin at the top.  Sat around and took it all in for a bit...watched the lucky lady bugs crawl around (Andrew said he saw a few on the hike up and hoped it was luck haha). Then we hiked back down so we could make it for dinner...which is much nicer hike than up.

On the way down we had silly conversations of wedding colors and who we want in our bridal party...where will we have the wedding...when will we have the wedding.  So many things go in to these things!  Definitely made time fly!

Once we were allllmost at the bottom it started to rain...so we started to pick up the pace...and then it rained harder...so we picked up the pace even more...and then the rain turned to sleet! So we started to run! It was so cold! And all around us there wasn't a cloud in sight...except for right over our mountain.  So crazy! And such a mess! But so much fun running through the rain and the mud back to the car...then off we went to find some celebration beer.  Some of that Apricot Wheat beer...which is a pain in the butt to find.  It would be that our favorite beer on the island is the most difficult to find...but we found it ;)

Overall a fantastic day, fantastic moment, and I will never forget it for as long as I live...I am engaged...wow...

Kayaks and Head Banging

We left to head towards Motueka on the 30th.  We planned to drive up about 6 hours to Motueka and then camp 2 nights. While there we were going to do a big kayaking trip and didn't have much else planned. Then on the 1st we planned to drive back down and along the west coast to see a wonder of the world, Pancake Rocks, and stay for the night in Greymouth. In Greymouth we didn't have much planned except our hostel and maybe a Monteiths Brewery tour.  On the 2nd we would head home through the mountains through Arthurs Pass.  Along the way we wanted to stop there and do a waterfall hike and then stop at Castle Hill (where some of Lord of the Rings was filmed!!!) and check out the boulders before we headed home.

The normal drive up was via the east coast of NZ. But we decided to do a different route and go up through the middle of NZ through the mountains because Andrew had never done that drive.  So off we went in to the mountains. It wasn't till we hit the mountains that we remembered the weather forecast and started to regret our decision.  Sunny on the east coast...rain in the mountains. Not sure what we were thinking. It was still absolutely beautiful though! We stopped for lunch at Mangarata (I think) and had some 'rubbish fish and chips' as Andrew said...but on the plus side...I did find an Andrew coke :)

After lunch we continued on until we hit Motueka around 5 or 6pm.  Its a small town, close to the coast.  We were staying at Fernwood Holiday Park. Cute little campsite with very nice people running it.  We parked at our spot and started setting up our site. We had a horrible tent...and horrible NEW air mattress that deflated on us...and barely fit in our little tent. But we really didnt care too much. Well, Andrew did get very angry at the tent poles. Scared the neighbors. But whatever, we got it up haha.  After setting up the tent we went to the grocery store for some food for the night and for breakfast the next day.  We ended up with local beer, Mac's, some granola bars, some chips and my craving of the night, salami and cheese. I think I was needing it because its our Hofland tradition to have pea soup and good cold cuts for dinner Christmas Eve...so I had to go at least half way and get the cold cuts ;) After that we walked to the beach where there wasn't really a beach...but there was a neat pool that was made with sea water in it. Interesting. Then we walked back, ate some salami and cheese, drank a few beers and went to bed.

The next morning was an early one.  We got up around 7am to catch our 8am bus to Marahau where we were going to kayak with Abel Tasman Kayaking. We got the "Soul Food" trip...4 hours of kayaking with lunch and a guide and what turned out to be pretty nice weather! We started by going up towards Fishermans Island, skimming the coast.  Then we cut over to Adele Island, a natural reserve for bird wildlife :) They even used to have kiwi birds there for a while, putting them there to help them survive in the wild without predictors to attack them.  The kiwi bird is native to NZ, but when the Maori and English came over and brought predators and burnt down forests, they started to become extinct because over time, the kiwi birds lost their ability to fly because they didn't need to escape anything.  NZ was a predator free island with mostly birds.   Now there aren't any officially wild kiwi birds...they are working hard to bring back the population of them though as best they can.  It's just hard when they don't have many natural defenses anymore.

We stopped on Adele Island for a little break and ended up losing one of our dutch (way to represent goon) trip goers to the wild bush..he went off on a hike through unmarked woods, got lost, and held us alllll up. Rude. BUT...if he wouldn't have held us up we would have never seen the baby seal over in the rocks! Andrew heard it and so we went over to see what it was...the cutest seal popped its head out to see us! ADORABLE! I melted. It was cryiiing and crying for its mom. It was all alone. The guide didn't seem worried so we weren't either.  The next stop was Watering Cove for lunch (picture above of us in our snazzy kayaking outfits). We had lamb tortillas with potato salad and chocolate cake for dessert :) Not bad! We hung out, re-grouped and then off we went back around the outside of Adele Island.

After we got around our guide decided that since we were super quick on our first half of the trip, we would lollygag a bit before heading back. When we finally decided to head back the wind and weather took a turn. The wind went in the opposite direction of us, kicking big waves in our faces. It was so difficult to paddle! I was soaked! And couldnt see...yay contacts. I was miserable. Thank God we made it.  I almost gave up haha. And almost killed Andrew in the process for not paddling in sync with me...grr. But we made it to the end, covered in water and mostly salt.

We bused back to the campite and took a nice 50c hot shower and decided to go out with Andrew's sister, who happened to be in town for a New Years Eve rock concert by Shihad (and various other artists I've also never heard of).  We figured, its better then nothing, and tagged along. Wasn't my typical concert. But it was a lot of fun pretending to be an avid headbanger ;) New Years hit and the concert pretty much ended. We were back in our beds for a much needed rest after the long day we had...and our air mattress didn't deflate tooooo bad.

Happy 2013! Next trip was to Greymouth...

Merry Christmas? In Summer?

Christmas in New Zealand is a strange time.  It's definitely different from the US typical Christmas...I see the consumerism (definitely not as extreme) but the Christmas spirit is a bit, ehh. Andrew swears Christmas music was playing in stores...I never heard it. And the town is nicely lit up at night, but no ones houses have lights. Tree's are downplayed. No caroling. No ice skating. No hot chocolate with peppermints (though Andrew tried very hard to get that for me...mean lady closed the grocery store right as he was trying to get in and turned him away). No Christmas movies. A horrible selection of decor and wrapping paper. It isn't a bad thing...it was just, differently focused. They focus more on the family getting together then anything else.

The Christmas celebrations started on Sunday the 23rd with a lunch with Andrews family at his Nanny's (grandmothers).   I met quite a lot of people...I had already met his nanny a few times now but I also got to meet her partner and then Andrew's two Aunts and their families (one with 2 kids and the other with a whopping 6!) and Amanda's daughter Amber and her boyfriend. It was a lot of fun, but definitely made me miss home. I miss big Christmas celebrations with all the family :(

Christmas Eve was definitely different. Andrew's family actually invited some friends over to play chukka's.  So I worked a bit and then went out to watch everyone play in the afternoon.  It was a bit boring in comparison to usual...I was on one side of the field and they spent most of their time on the opposite. I ended up taking lots of sheep pictures ;) They're pretty cute. Andrew did look slick in his gear though. He was riding on "Coke" in this picture. The lovely horse with a heart on her head. She's pretty awesome at the polo thing...Andrew was excited to get to ride her rather than one of the 'green' new horses.  At the end of the day there were no Christmas movies or songs...just normal tv.  We did end up watching "Mrs. Brown's Boys" Christmas episode. We had already seen it, but timing was appropriate.  That show is FANTASTIC and hilarious! I know my family and friends back at home would die...so funny.

On Christmas Day we had celebrations at Andrew's dad's house.  It was a ridiculously hot day, but beautiful outside! Andrew's Nanny and her partner came again and then Amanda's son came with his fiance and 3 adorable kids (that came to polo with us a bit back).  Having the kids there was a lot of fun.  It really made it seem like Christmas.  Even though we didn't watch a single Christmas movie or listen to any Christmas music... grr...Oh well.  Food was absolutely delicious and filling...definitely thought I was going to explode. I thought we would do a few things outside, because that's what they normally do (Nanny was playing twister with the kids last year apparently) butttt everyone said it was too hot.  They haven't seen Raleigh hot! haha
 The surprise of the day was Ashley's present to her dad and Amanda...a kitten!! They named her Slippers :) Totally adorable and entertaining. The rest of the day was spent mostly watching a darts tournament on tv...which seems to take up a lot of spare time here haha...and laying around with a fullllllll belly!

The next day was Boxing Day...a big holiday here in NZ.  It's called that because you 'box away' all of the Christmas stuff. But everyone just goes to horse races and drinks a lot instead haha. It was a horrible day for it. Quite cold and the sky was covered in dark clouds.  We decided to dress up anyways but I forgot to take a picture of my great dress :( I spent most of the day in a blanket though.  Earlier in the morning Andrew and his sister went to set up the tent we would sit at.  Around noon we all left to head to the races.  It was pretty fun considering the crap weather! It was my very first horse race...and my very first time betting! Andrew and I bet each time...sometimes losing (normally losing) but other times we won! We actually ended the day making a bit of a profit! About 15 bucks but hey...on top!

After the races we went out for the evening to celebrate, as New Zealanders do.  There was a pub near to the race track so everyone went there.  We stayed out till about 10 and then Andrew and I (being the old people we are) got hungry and wanted to leave.  So we picked up a pizza from Pizza Hut and headed home just in time to watch the second half of Contagion the movie.

Not a bad holiday time at all :) Different...very different...but it was fun. Definitely missed everyone at home a whole lot.  All of my family and our fun Christmas traditions. But hey, I've got next year! Now that we've survived the end of the world and all ;)

Next trip is New Years in the north part of the NZ South Island, Motueka, and then a drive back down the West Coast past Pancake Rocks and Greymouth. Then through Arthurs Pass and Castle Hill to get back home to Ashburton. Super excited!

Ice Blue Lakes and Damn Tasty Ginger Beer

After a long and amazing week I've decided to sit down and write out all that was done the past week...get everyone a bit more caught up ;)


 Monday and Tuesday were working days...work work work so that I can get a bunch of hours in and then be able to go to Queenstown for a long weekend :) Andrew did a lot on the farm, helping out his dad, like working in the hay! Nice outfit huh?

Wednesday morning finally came and we woke up around 8am to get on the road a bit early.  Queenstown is about 4.5 hours from Ashburton...so we had a ways to go.  The drive was absolutely beautiful...first we drove through the winding hills of Mackenzie Country, passing all of the adorable farms with my favorite, sheep on hills :) I just love sheep on hills. Not sure why.


Our first stop was Lake Tekapo.  Its this amazing ice blue lake, crystal clear, surrounded by colorful lupins with a backdrop of snow capped mountains.  We pulled up to the lake and it took my breath away.  So amazing! I've never seen water so blue in my life.  In front of the lake, there was an adorable little church on the hill.  We got out of the car to walk around and take it all in....The lake was surrounded by rocks of all shapes.  I definitely needed better shoes.  After lots of climbing up and over and tripping I finally made it to the waters edge to take some photos and stick my toes in the water.  It was FREEZING. I guess that's what happens when you have glacier fed lakes.

After a photoshoot we decided to go grab some lunch in the tiny town surrounding the lake.  We decided on fish and chips.  Andrew wasn't too pleased with the result, but I thought it was just fine. Kind of tasted like funnel cake batter around fish. We also got a ginger beer...its like a thick ginger ale.  This one was a special one though because it was called "Franks Damn Tasty Ginger Beer"...Damn tasty. Funny. They're so much less censored here in NZ...SO MUCH less censored.  Its strange.

After fish and chips we decided to go look in a little gift shop to see if we could find a post card to send off.  I picked one with Tekapo and some of the lupins on it and sent it off to my family back in NC...missing them bunches! Then we decided to keep going with the drive and head to the next place.
Next stop was Lake Pukaki.  We didnt really get out and do a lot of looking around.  We just pulled off on the side of the road to run and grab some photos.  A nice Swedish family stopped behind us and took a picture for us :) Andrew did some funny poses...then I did some funny poses...and then we decided to move on so that we could get to Queenstown a bit earlier with time to have dinner and look around...and MAYBE go see The Hobbit...ohhhhhh how excited we were about that!



After our stop we continued on through Mackenzie Country to our destination...Queenstown.  Before the trip to New Zealand (while still in the States) I figured out there was a site called GrabOne, like Groupon or Living Social at home.  I scanned the site daily to find any deals we could use while we were here in NZ.  I ended up finding quite a few awesome things.  The first was our hotel stay in Queenstown...then I found a deal where you took a bus from Queenstown in to Milford Sound, and then you got to do a little boat cruise on the sound and then hop back on the bus back in to Queenstown. I also found a deal where we could go to the Minus 5 Ice Bar and a Pub Crawl while in Queenstown as well (fit in all the bars/restaurants at once!)...and then the last was Skydiving in Auckland (at the end of our trip here in NZ).  So with all those deals, plus our Christmas present from Andrew's dad and Aunt Steph, a trip up the Queenstown gondola and 5 luge rides, we had lots to do in the 4 days we were there.


Anywho...so off we continued on our journey in to Queenstown.  The next town we hit was Cromwell, also off a lake.  That town was pretty cute.  Must be known for their fruit because they had a huge sign as you entered town with gigantic fruit statues behind it.  It smelt amazing! Andrew saw a sign for fresh fruit ice cream and decided we needed to stop.  So we went in to this adorable fruit stand and got some fresh fruit ice cream.  They take fresh fruit and then put it in this contraption and the put ice cream on top, blend it, and then fill your cone.  We decided to pick two flavors...kiwi and mixed berry.  Both amazing and just what we needed to cool us off.  It was a beautiful hot summer day.

So then we kept on going in to another landscape...wine country! I couldn't tell you how many vinyards we passed.  It was amazing! There were a whole bunch of wine and cheese tastings...I was quite tempted...their cheese is awesome. But we kept moving, determined to make it to Queenstown with time to spare.  So onward we went, through the mountains and cliffs.  Each part of the trip was different.  It's amazing the difference in the landscape here.   Some places completely flat...others hilly...others cliffy...others like our mountains at home, rolly and tall :) And then snow caps and waterfalls and beaches! So incredible! Every step of the journey had something to see.  I couldn't let myself sleep (as I normally would on road trips) and kept my eyes peeled open :) 

Next stop...Queenstown...our vacation for the next 3 days.  Filled with adventure, relaxation, and beautiful sites to see :) Oh how we couldn't wait...

Polo and Cold Pills

So after a long weekend my head cold has ALLLLMOST gone :) It's down to just a stuffy nose on one side, which I can handle haha.  This weekend was a polo tournament that Ashley (Andrew's sister), Garth (Andrew's Dad) and Doada (their groom from Mongolia) were playing in. The tournament started on Friday and ended today (Sunday).

The first day was nice and warm, and though I hid in the shade all day to avoid this hot sun, I still managed to get a bit sun burnt on my chest. New Zealand has some of the strongest levels of UV radiation in the world...so you get burnt QUICK. I tried laying down on a couch while in the shade...switching sides every once in a while to help clear my nose.  Didn't work very well...I still felt "rubbish" as they say here and tried my best not to cough all over everyone...gross.


The first day was a long one.  It was fun...but I'm going to have to say being at polo from 11am to 8pm while sick was a lonnnnnggggg day.  The next day, Saturday, was a bit better for me sickness wise but the weather wasn't that great.  Andrew and I decided to stay in that morning so that I could get some sleep and get some work done and talk to my parents at noon our time.  That was the first time I was able to talk to my dad since I've been here! Felt good to hear my parents voices.


After the morning we got to polo late, and watched two games.  Andrew actually commentated for two games, and I jumped in and kept time and score for one.  The weather took a turn for the worse as the day went on and by the time the games ended, I was ready to get on out of there.  We headed back with everyone to get ready for their barbecue that was going on that night.  They roasted a big lamb (sad face) but I sucked it up and ate it...and it wasn't bad haha.  The point of the night was to hang out around the bonfire and drink in to the wee hours, but it was just not that kind of night for us.  As I mentioned, it started to get cold and got even more cold later as the 'southerly' had come through (like a cold front) and it was absolutely freezing out! Andrew and I were way too cold..and the polo crowd that Andrew remembered from the old days had been replaced with a whole bunch of young college age kids.  It was...strange. We just felt a bit too old for it.  So the night ended early and we headed home to get ready for the next and final day of polo.

Today was a good one.  It was a gorgeous day and I loved taking in the sun rays! Even if I was lathered in sunscreen (haha).  Andrew's stepmother, Amanda, brought along her grandchildren...Ashton, Tamara, and Miller.  They are so cute.  In the picture, you see Andrew with the kids, trying to sell drinks up and down the field.  Andrew's pulling a grumpy face because he didn't want to go do it haha.  But I'm sure the cute kids made it a bit more fun ;)

Today Andrew did more commentating and I took the time and scoring down again.  He does such a good job :) Today he was throwing in some cheeky phrases and accidentally dropped the F bomb at one point (by accident)..I laughhheeeddd! I don't think anyone noticed. It was just thrown in there...quite randomly actually...and sounded more like a fumble of speech rather than a curse word haha. He felt pretty embarrassed.  At the end of the day, Ashley's team, The Canterbury Concrete Cutters, won the tournament. Yayyy! She did a fantastic job :) And won feed for her horse haha.

After it ended we packed everything up and went home for showers and I opened up my computer...doing a bit of work and trying to get this stinking blog caught up (as you may have noted I faked some of the dates to make it all flow haha).  Andrew went out and helped put the horses up and then had to help his dad bale up the hay.  He came home a MESSSSS...heehee.

This next week should be pretty relaxed.  No plans for tomorrow yet.  We want to go see the Hobbit sometime but Ashley said she has tickets for us that only work in Christchurch...so not sure what to do with that since an hours a long way to drive just for a movie...

This Wednesday we leave for 3 nights in Queenstown.  Verrryyyy excited about that!  I'll post about it as soon as I can :) Until next time... ;)

Welcome to the "Real World" Love

Well the last few days were a doozy!  Ashley graduated on Wednesday which meant an early morning for us!  Christchurch (where she went to school) is a good hour or so drive, and we had to be seated by 9:20am.  So I was up early (with a bit of a stuffy nose) at about 6:30am so I could do a quick work meeting before we left but it turned out the whole nation had an internet outage! Crazy crazy little country. Anywho...off we went to see Ashley graduate and start off in the real world...

After the ceremony Ashley, her friend Kara, Andrew and I all went to snap some pictures of Ashley in front of her school signs.  Then we went out to lunch at an Irish Pub and had the special...lunch on a stonegrill.  It's basically this slab of rock that's super hot and they bring your food out raw on it and it cooks right in front of you to the temperature of your liking.  Pretty cool.  And the deal wasn't bad for NZ food haha...about $20 per person and $5 for a pint ;) Ashley, Kara and Andrew all had the surf and turf and I was boring and got chicken.  I don't know why, I was just craving it (haha).  After stuffing our faces Andrew and I napped at Kara's place while Ashley and her went to the mall.  I couldn't go, or I'd buy and I didn't come here to spend money on clothes!

After a good nap, we got ready to have a night for Ashley.  Booze here is ridiculously expensive. When first arrived last Sunday and we walked in to the airport in Auckland, we noticed that Kahlua was 2 for $60! For the same amount we buy 1 for $15 in the US...insane. We've decided wine is the way to go here.  We all ended up spending some time at one of Ashley's friends houses and then walking to a local pub for a few drinks.  After a fun night of dancing and some karaoke we went back to Kara's to sleep.

In the morning, Andrew and I were up before everyone...again. So we decided to walk over to McDonalds...which is WAY better here.  They have a separate cafe inside with pastries!! I had to take a picture haha.

After McDonalds we decided to take a walk around the mall.  Everything was REALLY close by so we had plenty to see.  We left the mall, trying our hardest not to go in stores and spend money, and decided to walk to the corner dairy to get some ice cream :) We had two flavors...Goldrush and Hokie Pokie.  Both pretty good but Goldrush was my favorite of the two.

After ice cream we left and went back to the mall because everyone was still asleep at the house. We went in to a few stores, spent most of our time in the book store...and then ate some sushi. It was so tempting because there were little stands for it everywhere!  The odd thing (because there seems to be one around every corner here haha)? They have a lot of chicken sushi! Very strange.  No shrimp or crab...which are my favorites...so I just had salmon.  Wasn't the best. But oh well.

By this time I started to feel quite ill...not from the sushi, but from my little stuffy nose...which had now turned in to a full out cold :( So we went back to the house to wake the girls and get on our way home.  Once home I slept the rest of the day to try and get rid of this cold...no such luck.  Today, I slept in and relaxed...drank lots of fluids...and hoped to get better..I think my head cold will be gone by Sunday...I hope...

A Peek in to Andrew's Past

Tuesday Andrew decided to take me in to Geraldine...the town where he went to our equivalence of High School.  It's a good 30 minutes or so away, which seemed pretty crazy considering he had to bus all that way to school. For here though (in the South Island), everything is quite spread out and towns are very small. So I guess it makes sense.

We started with a tour of his school.  Everything was set up sort of like schools in summery areas of the States where its got things located in different buildings and you walk to each...They had a sweet ropes course in the back of the school in the trees haha.  After the tour, and Andrew describing all the details of every building (haha), we went in to town to have lunch.  We went to a little cafe and I got to try all sorts of NZ goodies!  I had a bacon and egg pie, a custard square, a custard croissant, lolly cake and Andrew's favorite, Primo chocolate milk.

After lunch we went around the shops in search of Christmas presents and happened to run in to Andrew's Nanny (Grandma).  We had a chat with her and her and then went on our way to Talbot Forest.  Its a little forest right next to town that Andrew said his track team used to run up and down through.  The forest was situated on a hill with lots of tall and fat trees all over it.  The tree's wind and bend like a fairy tale.  Absolutely beautiful.  I feel like I'm going through the secret garden :) Some of the tree's were very tall...and some very wide...like the one in my picture.  I wanted to hug them all (haha). They were so amazing...

And the birds sound absolutely beautiful here.  Andrew was excited for me to hear the Magpies.  I can see why :) I'll try to snap a picture of one and post it at some point.  I snapped a few pictures of birds...including this one right here (can't remember what it is...Andrew could tell you) and a HUGE pigeon. Biggest bird ever.  It looked like a vulture!

After our little walk through the forest we we popped out somewhere along a road and walked back to the car.  Andrew took me on a drive past some hills that had cute houses along it...including this one...a real life hobbit house! Made me super excited...

We got back to the house pretty early, around 3pm, just in time to Skype my mom :) The rest of the day I got some work in and Andrew went out and rode horses with his dad.  Then later in the early evening Andrew decided I needed to learn how to ride...He picked a horse named Zeta for me.  We got in to the round pen and with a bit of Andrew's help I was up on the horse.  At the start it was a disaster.  I was able to get her going a  bit, but I had to kick and kick and kick and the second I stopped and put my feet down, Zeta stopped.  Fail.  We tried to get her in to a canter but she just would NOT go! Andrew had to run around and chase her and clap and yell and she STILL wouldn't go.  He thought I was stupid. Then he tried. Same problem ;) Haha. Eventually she started to understand what we wanted, and I was able to get in the groove.  After about 30 minutes or so I was SO tired! After so much work, and barely even getting to go on her...I decided maybe I'll just stop and try another day haha.  Andrew said I did fine...that Zeta was being difficult.  I hope that's true...

Tomorrow we get up early for Ashley's graduation celebrations in Christchurch.  Should be fun!