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... ;)

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... ;)

Horses and Chocolate

So we're finally settled in to our room...feels nice to be unpacked :) We're staying with Andrew's family for the first 4 weeks of the trip and then we will be staying in Auckland for the last week.  We have a few side trips planned as well.  One to Queenstown and then the other is a loop from Nelson to Greymouth down through Arthurs Pass and back home.  The first day was a whole lot of staring at the amazing landscape around me.  Andrew's familys house is on a beautiful 65 acre (ish) farm with about 15 horses, some cows and some sheep.  We also have Diesel.  The most adorable little dog.  With fantastic hair...

The view from outside our room is absolutely beautiful.  From this side of the house you get to see the cows :) On the other side you can look out and see the horses.  The mountains are off in the distance but you can't really see them from the house...there are big tall trees to block the wind that are in the way.  If you walk a bit up the property though you can see them.  And they are BEAUTIFUL!

Andrew's stepmother started our week off with some cornbeef and potatoes with a salad.  Definitely delicious.  The cheese on the salad is so addicting. I absolutely love their cheese haha. We ended up going to bed around 9pm...not too bad considering we were up at about 3am haha.


Monday was a pretty relaxed day...because we went to bed at 9, we got up quite early around 6 or 7am and had some tea, relaxed, and I did a bit of work.  Andrew decided that he wanted to go in to town...I was quite excited but definitely nervous.   Andrew hadn't driven on the left side of the road in about 4-5 years... Eeeek!  He did great though haha.  That is one nice thing...I never have to drive here!  1. No license 2. I drive on the right side of the road 3. All the cars around here are manuals!   Anyway...he drove me in to the closest town of Ashburton.  On the way there I couldn't resist snapping a picture of the mountains...they just take my breath away.
Once in to town we decided to exchanged some money and do some looking around in local shops.  Andrew told me I had to take a picture of the clock tower...so there it is ;)

Got to go in to The Warehouse...like a Walmart...and that was quite exciting. They have fantastic candy here...especially the chocolate...I couldn't resist and had to get some.  I did realize that everything here is a wee bit pricey.  I wanted to get some shaving cream and some coffee creamer.  I learned that people don't do coffee cream here.  It's just milk.  But they do have cream...its just...not the same. But I got it anyway.  And then the shaving cream...talk about expensive! $8 for a can! And only 3 choices! Guess I'm using soap or lotion to shave haha.


Then we decided to go home and on the way up the driveway I snapped the cutest picture of the horses.  They have a cute little foal here at the moment and it's always lazying around, laying on the ground.  They all just happened to look when I was snapping the photo.

 Later we went back in to town with Ashley and I got to try my first custard square.  They are FANTASTIC.  Oh how I love custard squares.  I have a feeling I will crave them once I'm home...We also went to a man-made lake and ate at a restaurant called The Lakehouse for lunch.  Talk about expensive.  Andrew and I decided to split our meal...had a beer each...and it totaled about $40.  I about died. But hey, at least you don't have to tip here! Haha...

Later we went back to the house and just hung out for the rest of the day.  I did some work and Andrew did a bit of riding with his dad, practicing polo.  At the end of the day Andrew snapped this great picture of the girls riding out, carrying all the horses with them to let them in to the paddock.  Very cool.  Check out the skills...

We ended up having another early night...getting in to bed around 9pm haha.  But I'm going to have to admit I'm ok with that because that means waking up nice and early!  Oh and did I mention its not dark till like 10pm? Yeah...talk about a change...Until next time!!

Traveling to Hobbit Land

Early Friday morning, at 5am, Andrew and I set off for our LONG plane ride to New Zealand.  Super excited, but definitely tired.  The trip was about 6 hours to San Francsico, leaving at 7am and arriving around 10am.  Then a long layover in San Fran with a departure at 7:30pm to Auckland.  The flight was scheduled to take 13.5 hours and land in the morning at 5:30am or so.  Then we fly an hour or so in to Christchurch arriving at 9:30am.

The 6 hour plane ride from Raleigh to San Fran was a doozy.  Made me dread the 13.5 hour flight ahead...We landed at around 9:50am in San Fran with some issues getting in to the gate...they actually parked too far and had to use a pulley to get us in place (or something like that).  After arriving Andrew and I found the BART train (after a bit of confusion) and headed downtown to walk around and meet my cousin Ken for lunch.  Our flight to Auckland didn't leave till 7:30pm, so we had a bit of time to explore.

This was my first time in San Fran :) We got off the train at the Embarcadero Station right near the pier.  We did a bit of looking around through a market and then decided we were going to try to find Chinatown so we cut on to Broadway St.  After passing about 7 strip clubs and feeling super awkward we started to see some things that seem more 'Chinatown' so we decided to cut down and see everything.  I'm pretty sure we were 1 or two blocks too short and missed it all, because what we went through wasn't too impressive.  Did see some neat buildings and the Church of Scientology though ;)


Our lunch reservation was at 12:45pm at Michael Mina...oh how lovely (and expensive) it was! Absolutely fabulous lunch.  I started with a salad and then went on to fish and chips and a fancy smores dessert.  Andrew had tuna then trout and then some fruity melon dessert.  We took pictures...


We had a great time getting to know my cousin Ken a lot better (who I haven't seen in probably 15 years or more) and chatting about all sorts of things.  Then around 3pm we left and headed back towards the train.  We were really worried about rush hour traffic so we headed back around 4 towards the airport.  After getting there we realized we WAY overcompensated on time.  The airport was EMPTY.  We had no line through security and got right to our gate within like 20 minutes.  Walking place to place took the most time. Better safe then sorry!


We boarded the plane and started exploring all the free movies.  They had some good ones!   So Andrew and I decided we would start with a movie.  We both watched the newest Bourne movie. Quite good.  Dinner came after that and we took a little sleeping pill with it to help us get through the overnight flight.  Worked well because we konked right out and slept almost the whole flight, waking up with just enough time to watch one more movie :) GREAT flight!

We arrived in Auckland on time...verrryyy early in the morning.  Andrew got his polo boots sent through the biolab because they were gross and muddy so after getting those back we walked to the domestic terminal.  You have to walk outside to get to it OR take a tram...we picked walking (after sitting for so long!).  On the way we spotted an air stream selling coffee! Had to snap a picture for mom ;)

Off to Christchurch we went, checking out the gorgeous views from the plane along the way.  All the mountains peeked up above the clouds...it was awesome! Andrew pointed out all of the sites along the way and knew basically all of the mountains (impressive).  It was definitely a scenic flight!  The clounds covered for a lot but in most places they would open up.  We were on the wrong side of the plane though.  The Southern Alps were on the opposite side :( but maybe we'll get that view on the way home.



Around 9:30am we landed in Christchurch.  Andrew's sister Ashley picked us up and we headed off to watch his family play polo...not a bad start to the trip! His family has a farm where they raise horses for polo and sell them.  They also have some cow and sheep and a cute doggy named Diesel.  Christchurch is about an hour or so from where Andrew's family lives in Ashburton.  The polo match was somewhere inbetween.  Andrew got to ride a horse again for the first time in quite a while! He was nervous but did just fine ;) I forgot to take pictures of the polo match but we'll be watching more throughout the trip so I'll get some up at one point or another.  Got to try my first Speights (their beer of the south island) and a Ginger Beer (like a thick gingerale) and my first NZ sausage! Not bad so far!! The Speights was ehh, but Garth (Andrews dad) said its because it had been sitting out for weeks at that field so he had me try one at the house once we were back...definitely better haha.

Oh and P.S. Driving on the wrong side of the road is definitely strange...not sure if I'll ever get in on the right side of the car haha.  More to come later!