Farmin' (and shootin') in the Waikato

Yesterday Tally and I went on an excursion into the Waikato ("why cot o") with my workmate Dixie.  The Waikato is one of 15 regions on the North Island of New Zealand and is good dairy country.  We were invited to the Hallet dairy farm by my friend Mel who also works at PwC.

View from their front yard. Not bad.

We arrived just in time for some lunch on the farm which consisted of cold ham and cheese sandwiches with avocado. This was the first thing that reminded me of home (whenever we needed a quick lunch mom would make cold ham sandwiches). We were also privileged to spend the day with my friends (and coworkers) Nate and Ava, who are planning to move to Houston in a few months.

After lunch we took the "quads" or four-wheelers down to the "paddock" or pasture where the cows were patiently waiting to be milked. Before we took the cows home, Mel and her brothers, Shawn and Adam, showed us their duck hunting shed down by the pond. Duck hunting in New Zealand is probably as popular as deer hunting is in the Midwest. Oh, and the second thing that reminded me of home was Mel's farming brother Adam, who reminded me of my brother Ted. They both are naturally good at what they do, and they thoroughly enjoy farming and harping on the other siblings for not being as agriculturally gifted.

Me driving the quad

Tally and Dixie down by the  pond

We brought the cows home and helped Adam milk some 250 of them. It was a team effort. We even looked the part with the shit kickers and the "Breaking Bad" style overalls. And guess who got down and dirty, right up in the cows' teats? Proof is in the pictures -- I was very proud of her for having no fear. She even got splattered with numbers 1 and 2 from the ladies and didn't call it quits! 

Tally and I getting psyched up for milking by playing with the doggies

 Nate and Tally hooking up the milkers

Tally and I  in the milking parlor

After we finished milking we got to the fun part: clay-pigeon shooting! The Americans (Nate, Tally and I) were really hoping that we could keep our country proud by showing up the Kiwis. In the end we realized that the trajectory of the clay pigeons plus the guns being sighted in metric system plus the earth's gravitational pull being different in the southern hemisphere were the primary reasons why as a group we only managed to hit 3 clay pigeons out of around 50 (don't want to brag, but all 3 were hit by me). After reviewing footage taken from the scene we noticed that Tally's stance was a bit weak as she jerked back a step or two with each pull of the trigger. She does get credit for trying. 

Me showing the other Americans how it's done

By this time is was evening and time for dinner. The Hallet family continued their superb hospitality by BBQing some chicken, lamb chops, beef burgers, and potatoes. We topped off the night with some good conversation at the dinner table with some Tip Top ice cream (a NZ-household staple) and fruit and wine and beers. All in all, not too bad of a day on the farm.

The third thing that reminded Tally and I of home was how great it is to spend time with family, be on the farm, and have people go out of their way to show their guests a good time. We have now claimed the Hallet family as our NZ family away from home! 

This was a great reminder for us to invite people into our home and to be as hospitable as we can!

Merry Christmas and God Bless,

Will 

Sails Away!... and other weekend adventures

This past weekend we took a trip to Tauranga, which is on the eastern coast of New Zealand.

We decided to make a weekend trip to use a groupon deal we bought for a sail around the harbor. We had the chance to stay with a friend's parents so we had the local tour and good company (oh and a free night's stay!)

On the boat Will got to play skipper (I really don't know what an actual skipper does, but go with it) and steer the boat, even participating in "tacking" several times, including one time 20 feet from a large ocean liner. Needless to say this control freak was about to cry as we are barreling towards a large mass, but they made their calls and "tacked" and the ship turned in an instant. It was really cool to see as I have never been on a sailboat before. I got to enjoy some sun and wine while the boys did all the work. Not too bad!

Will casting off

Driving the sailboat 

Enjoying some vino and sun

After the sailing trip we tried to go to the ocean front beach, which was stunning, but the onshore wind was too strong, and the sand too fine. Sand was blowing everywhere, including my eyes, ears, nose and mouth. This lady was not a happy camper so we left the stunning beach for the harbor beach which was more sheltered.

The harbor-side beach. Apparently it's common here for little boys to do the Winnie the Pooh look at the beach? Saw 3 little boys rocking that look...including one that came over and stood next to Will and just stared at us...awkward. 

Sunday morning was the physical activity portion of the trip. We walked up "The Mount" and it was super intense. I was trying to keep up with my friend's mom (no use in keeping up with the boys as they were far ahead) and that was quite the challenge. I really wanted to stop and have a break, but she doesn't stop so I didn't want to be the young wimp who can't hack it. Vistas along the way were nice when I could muster enough energy to turn my head to the side :) It was totally worth it when we got to the top for some neat photos. The walk down was a bit easier, but at the steep grade it was almost as much work keep yourself from falling down! After the climb we got to have a great brunch where I tried Eggs Benedict for the first time. What have I done without this as a breakfast option all these years!!

View along the mount walk

At the top! The beach below is the one we tried to go to, but was too windy

Looking out over the bay and islands of Tauranga

Our lovely hosts Pete and Ngaire

The Mount we climbed. 

Close up of the pohutukawa tree, blooms around Christmas time so is New Zealand's equivalent to the snowflake as a symbol of the holidays

Looking East out to the ocean. Nothing out there til South America!

Another one from the top of the mount. Can you see my hair plastered to my face in sweat? 

We had such a lovely time and look forward to doing it again!

Ch Ch Changes

After 7 months of living here I thought I would share with you 7 lifestyle changes I have made. For those of you who know me well you will be VERY surprised by a few of these!

1. I have adopted a bit of a change in style. I attended a baby shower where everyone wore fascinators. I wear more dresses, even in winter, as it is not - 30. I have also embraced the bun on top of the head craze as it is so stinking windy here J

High Tea

2. Since I only have a part-time job, I have more time on my hands. To prevent boredom I joined a gym. And I actually go 3-4 times a week. Shocking.

3. I have greatly changed my vernacular. I use words like keen, sweet as, post shop, and togs in everyday conversation without thinking about it! I even sign all my emails "cheers" without the pretension of an American who does that back home. 

4. I am cooking more. I make most foods from scratch now including cakes, muffins, and delicious dinners. I even get up and make Will hot breakfast most mornings since I’m a housewife and all J

Made from scratch whole wheat strawberry white chocolate muffins

5. I walk almost everywhere. I now would choose to walk 30 min rather than drive 10: how un-American of me, I know!

6. I eat a globally balanced diet. Normally I might think to have an “ethnic” food once a month, now we’re making and eating out non-white people food at least once a week. Indian, sushi, yum char, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Turkish and Thai so far… Oh and I eat FISH.

Fresh off the grill pot stickers. Normally I'd ask for some chicken strips...

7. I’ve been to the beach 3 times in the last 3 days. I’d say that’s usually my record for a whole summer (a lake beach, not ocean...) and its only December. Summer usually goes until April, so hopefully I'll actually be tan for more than a week for the first time since I was a kid in Cuba!

What a horrible way to spend a Sunday afternoon... Kohi beach

Cheers mates!

Ka Ka Kayaking!

This weekend Will and I went on our very first kayaking trip! We went to Ruakaka beach which looks like this....

Rough, I know. But we had to make due with the scenery we were given :) For those of you who remember Will and my first anniversary trip to Grand Marais, you might remember me telling you the story of how we almost got divorced in Canada while trying to canoe back (across the lake) to Minnesota. It was the hardest thing I'd ever done physically in a very long time. We had to fight against a strong wind and current in a boat that was not easy to maneuver. So at that time I said I hated canoeing and never ever ever want to do it again.

Actual footage from the fateful canoe trip. You can't see my facial expression, which is a good thing!

Well....Kayaking is a totally different story! First of all we each got individual kayaks so we didn't have to work as a team (is it bad that is a pro?). Secondly, the vessel is so much more sensitive and controllable. Several times I was able to maneuver between a narrow space with precision and perfect timing. Thirdly, the paddles are double sided, so you don't have to switch back and forth, it's just one fluid motion. It was so peaceful and you feel a lot more connected with the water than you do on a canoe or bigger boat. The entire trip (2.5 hours) I continuously said "I love this", "this is so awesome", "can we get kayaks?" We will definitely be kayaking many times while here and purchasing kayaks when we get back home to explore rivers/lakes of Minnesota. But don't worry about our marriage, we'll get single kayaks :)

Sadly we don't have any pictures from the actual kayak trip as we didn't want our camera to get wet/damaged if we happened to fall in. But you can take our word for it, we looked like total pros (on a calm river at a leisurely pace with a small group).

Here are some pictures from the rest of our day at the beach relaxing...and getting sunburned. That's right, we'll be as red as Santi Claus come Christmas!

Picking up shells

Ruakaka Beach

Tally walking along the ice-cold water!

Will applying sun screen to the part of his body that haven't seen sunlight in over a year (his chest). If you look closely you can see his sweet handlebar mustache from Movember

The Whangarei Heads

Giving Thanks in New Zealand

This past weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving in New Zealand. My actual Thanksgiving meal was a protein smoothie so I was happy to have some real food once the weekend came.  We were lucky enough to have not just one American Thanksgiving, but 2!

Friday night we went to our friends from church's house. They are here from North Carolina for a year while he does a Fellowship in surgery. They have 3 adorable little ones, including one that come to our room at children's church. They had quite the house full with plenty of grown ups drinking wine and kiddos running laps around the house :) We had everything imaginable from macaroni and cheese, wild rice, sweet potato casserole, turkey, ham, homemade egg nog and 3 kinds of pies!! I was over-stuffed and over-tired after dinner so it was a success! It was a great time meeting more Americans and Kiwis as well, (including a fellow American PwC wife who is a speechie)! They also had the Cowboys game streaming for the boys to watch!

American Thanksgiving with Americans! (and some kiwis/aussies) 

Saturday it was our turn to host when we had a lunch meal with some friends from our small group at church and co-workers. It was my first time in charge of a full turkey, but my co-worker did great cooking it in her oven! We had turkey with cranberry gravy, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, mashed taters, salad pumpkin and french silk pie! It was soo yummy and with a nice table display if I say so myself :) We got to watch the Iowa State game live while doing all the cooking and the replay of the Lions game during dinner and clean-up so it really felt like a proper Thanksgiving!!

The beautiful table with the yummy food!

What was left of the carcass. Will was sad there was no dog to clean all this up.

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. We are thankful that we have such a wonderful family, for having the opportunity to live in a beautiful country and explore all it's wonders, having such a strong support system in each other and for our faith and how it has grown in this past year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I Love Sydney!

I'm in love Sydney! No, not that Sydney...

This one...

This past week Will and I have been in one of the most wonderful cities in the world, Sydney! I had been there before, but I was 13 and brooding and thus didn't really enjoy it to the full potential. This was Will's first time to the land down under. Will had to work in Sydney for the week so we thought it would be fun to make a holiday out of it.

Saturday we flew in early in the morning. Our friends from a Contiki Europe trip 4 years ago (Rick and Emma) picked us up at the airport and after getting our hotel situated (long story), we drove out to Bondi Beach for a beautiful day in the sand. It was a hot, but windy day and we even got in the water! The water was a bit chilly, but Rick said you know it's a good swim if you can't feel your legs :) After that we went back to the hotel, got cleaned up (tended to our burns...) and then we were off to the Opera House. After getting some obligatory pictures we went to The Opera Bar for some drinks. Apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea. No where to sit! After an hour of standing drinking we decided to join everyone else in "claiming" tables from people while they are still sitting. We asked two ladies if we could have their table when they were done and they said "well we're not planning on leaving for a while, but you're welcome to join us". So we did, and we had a lovely time! They had also met while traveling in Asia years ago. After a few more beers we decided to have dinner, and invited our new friends along. We tried to go to Jamie Oliver's new place, but with a 3 hour wait, it wasn't going to happen, so we ended up at La Rosa in the Strand. We had a lovely meal and just a great time with old and new friends. Thanks Rick and Emma for an awesome first day in Sydney!!

Bondi Beach

Looks like other people had the same idea...

Will and Rick swimming in the waves

After our swim, Bondi in the background!

The Harbour Bridge

Opera House and Bar, you see why it was hard to find a seat!

Up close of the opera house tiles

The most photographed image in Sydney!

With our Contiki friends Rick and Emma

Traveling friends! 

Sunday we got up early and toured downtown a bit. Our hotel was right near a nice park, a stunning church and some old buildings including the first hospital in Australia, Sydney Hospital. After that, we walked around the Botanical Gardens for a while, took some more obligatory pictures and made our way to Surry Hills for lunch. For lunch we met up with some of my old classmates from JIS, some I haven't seen since I moved away in 10th grade! It was so fun catching up and felt like it was just yesterday sine seeing them! Sunday afternoon we took the fairy to Manly Beach for a bit. The ferry only had a few outdoor/scenic seats, which was a bit of a bummer, but it was still lovely.

St. Mary's Cathedral

St. Mary's Cathedral

Sydney Hospital, the oldest hospital in Sydney

Hyde Park, "Art and About" In Auzzie speak, it rhymes :)

At the beach in Manly

Monday Will had to go to work so I trudged out on my own. First stop was the Aquarium, which was amazing. Of course the sharks were best, but they also had a Dugong, which is like a cousin of the Manatee. Don't need to say much here, the pictures do all the talking. Then I just walked around Darling Harbour, stopping for some coffee and enjoying the view.

Beautiful sea life

Angel fish! 

Sharks hanging out

The Dugong (a cousin of the manatee)

Watching a storm come in. We don't get this in Auckland!

The rest of the week I hung out in the hotel room, walked around, shopped and had nice lunches by myself.  We ate dinner with Will's work mates, and one night with his old high school classmate Elsa! I even ended up running into one of my best friends from middle school (Tara's) mom, crazy!

Shopping in the Queen Victoria Building

Shopping at The Strand

The Harbour Bridge up close, you can see people walking up it doing the "Bridge Climb"

Only in Sydney is Carhartt clothing sold in the uber trendy stores

Will's Rib dinner :)

We absolutely LOVED Sydney. It had such an amazing feel, wonderful weather and really neat sites to see. We would move there in a minute! We are also so thankful we stayed in touch with friends from our near and distant past and made the effort to connect with them. We will definitely be going back there again and again :)