On the Road Again…

 We’ve got quite the journey ahead of us tomorrow, so I am going to make this short and sweet with a lot of pictures! Yay!

Since I haven’t posted ALL YEAR, I’ll start with New Years Eve. It all started when we met these three Canadians at the bus stop on our way into the city. They were so hysterical and we ended up celebrating with them into the wee hours of the New Year. We followed them to where the fireworks were supposed to go off at midnight. In true kiwi fashion, the fireworks just didn’t happen and nobody bothered to tell the audience, there were three or four countdowns and eventually we just decided it was the New Year. After the fireworks letdown, we made our way into the heart of the city and danced the night away. A lot of silly things happened to us that night- one of the Canadians, summed it up in the e-mail she sent the next day:

“Flash back... Bus stop, pretend fireworks, moose head, leprechaun, we are with the band, balloon drop, dirty hands, bus mechanic, cranberry pizza, squished in a taxi....”

I can’t help but smile at each of those things. Although they need explanation, I’ll leave it up to your imagination (which is probably dangerous, but oh well). Remember to ask us when we get back and we’ll delve into the humorous details of the night. They took most the pictures, so as soon as we get some of those, I’ll post them!

Before the night had even started! 

Chris had the 'last' balloon

Besides New Years Eve, we’ve gone to the zoo, watched The Hobbit in Peter Jackson’s theater (Embassy), and generally explored Wellington.

Awwww

The Sunbear 

I want that one! 

I miss Paco!

These are just a few of the hilarious warnings they have

 

The theatre 

Now, in a slightly unexpected turn of events, we are leaving for the South Island tomorrow; which is only a few days before we expected, but it certainly lit the productive fire! 
Over the next three weeks, we will be hiking (tramping), camping, sightseeing, and even skydiving. We’ll keep you updated as we can along the way!

We send all our love! 

Christmas at 29 °

You could have fooled us, but it is Christmas time! We had a quiet, yet lovely, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Our eve was ridiculously productive and we felt very proud of ourselves, which I’ve summarized in this list:

The Christmas Eve of Accomplishment:

1. Solved the mystery of the dud cigarette lighter in our car

2. Made a massive breakfast of all my favorite things (OJ, pears, pancakes & bacon!)

The box did not lie when it said, "Makes 18" 

3. Cooked delicious stuffed mushrooms (Chris is the real chef!)

4. Concocted Christmascrack (which is not as easy as it sounds when the store doesn’t sell Chex, Golden Grahams, or corn syrup! Needless to say, it wasn’t nearly as good as Aunt Teri’s)

Hmmm... 

5. Did a load of laundry (how can it not be a good day with the smell of freshly laundered clothes!?) 

Christmas day was wonderful on a completely different level. 

Firstly, it was 29°… C! That is much different than F- it was about 85° F at 4pm! Whew! 

How could you still have a normal day after talking to these three?! 

Regardless of the heat, the beginning of the day seemed like any other- with the exception of opening the rest of the presents from our students and NZ friends. We spent our day relaxing and soaking in the great view. It wasn’t until we started Skyping family that it really felt like Christmas. Being passed around at the Curry’s celebration and then making our way through the Aplin/Pring party really put us in a great mood! Seeing everyone and getting a little taste of home was really what we needed to make the day special. These interactions jumpstarted our motivation and we decided to head to the beach and enjoy what was left of the day! Our beach endeavor brings us to list 2:

Christmas Sea Creature Fabulousness:

1.     11-legged starfish

2.     Heaps of mini starfish

3.     One big crab (which sometimes disappeared into sand plumes and it was terrifying!)

4.     A paua shell (they sell the whole shell in stores for $10+ but most the time they break it up and make jewelry out of it)

5.     Hermit crabs & winding snail trails everywhere

As for an update on our life plan, we have decided to return to The States after our trip to the South Island. This decision (not taken lightly) is a result of our desire to settle in somewhere and start a solid life together. I’ve written more on this, but I think I’ll wait to post it until we’re closer to the end of our travels.

We are currently working on our plan for the South Island. So far, it’s comprised of approximately 12 stops, glaciers, fjords, skydiving, a quake-stricken city, our tent, and so much more. We are trying to strike the perfect balance between planning and fluidity. Essentially, we’ve researched our route and possible places to stay & things to do! I’ll post a more detailed plan…once we have one!

We missed you all dearly on Christmas and we hope that you thoroughly enjoyed it! Stay safe and have fun on New Year’s Eve!! We’ll let you know how it is… seeing as we’ll be one of the first in the world to bring in the new year! J  

* Remember, you can click on the pictures and it should bring up a panel to view them all larger!* 

Now I leave you with two comics that Chris made- enjoy!! 

A New Chapter

 As I write this, we are cleaning up and packing away all our belongings once again- our time in Napier (this time around) has come to an end. It really is bitter sweet. We are eager to embark on the next exciting (and mostly unknown) leg of our journey, but we will miss the wonderful people and places we have come to know here. We just have to say, “Goodbye for now.”

Our AMAZING host family!! 

It's hard to say goodbye!

Before I get ahead of myself, we spent our last weekend on an amazing tractor tour of Cape Kidnappers. This tour just so happened to be on the day of our graduation- YAY we are college grads!! Because we obviously didn’t make it to the ceremony and there really wasn’t much of a to-do about it, it doesn’t feel any different. We did have a celebratory breakfast! Chris and I worked very hard over the past few years to make this happen and we are thrilled to start careers… somewhere… eventually… we’ll sort that out.

Yay, go us!! 

Back to the tour! This was one of the neatest experiences we’ve had so far. Driving about half an hour out of town, we arrived at this little shack where we picked up our tickets. We snacked on ice cream in the blazing heat, waiting for our ride. Soon enough, two big tractors with long wooden trailers rumbled down the road. Everybody on! Our tour guide, Rod, was hysterical right from the beginning! He humorously intertwined fascinating geological facts and driving gleefully into the waves and over rocks. After taking in the stunning views and information as we drove along the beach for about an hour we arrived at the end of the cape. Now, this tour is advertised as a gannet tour and this is where the gannets were… well almost. A bit of a hike through pastureland and rolling hills brought us to the Plateau Gannet Colony. We learned that these birds nest in the exact same spot every single year and they mate for life. As intoxicating as the smell of their poop was, the view was enough to make us stick around for a while. I am eager to see if the sea is this stunning kind of turquoise all around the country. We made our way back down, ate our lunch, and ventured back on the bumpy trailer.

We saw a man catch a stingray while fishing! 

The last week of school was just a blur! I will miss my little 5-year-olds so much! One of my little ones excitedly came into the room on Tuesday, flung out a skinny arm with a wrapped box and shouted, “Mrs. Curry, I got you a necklace!!!!”  I will cherish this beautiful necklace! It is a traditional Maori double twist. The twist represents the joining of two people for eternity; it symbolizes the bonds of friendship, loyalty and love that will last forever. Awww!

Now, we head to the nation’s capitol city, Wellington- our new home until mid January. After that, we plan to spend time traveling the South Island and possibly make it over to Australia. The plan (according to this week) is to travel, possibly work (seasonal jobs like fruit picking) and then try to make it back to The States for a job at the beginning of the new school year. Who knows if that plan will hold up though- we seem to keep changing our minds!

Off we go again!

Sending our love and warm Christmas spirit,

Us