A little Merlot with your hatchback burrito?

Well first of all, Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukah to everyone.

After a brief visit in Wellington with the family, and many hours “searching” on the internet for a new car, we departed north for Wanganui with our new ride “Merlot”. Merlot is a beautiful wine coloured (hence the name) Renault, a little French car that has taken the place of Fern. Last week was his maiden voyage, which we were able to share with our Canadian friend Jocelyn. For starters, it was definitely not a traditional Christmas for us, what Canadians “traditionally” go on a canoe trip over Christmas? Oh well, that’s what we were looking for, something different so that we didn’t miss our families too much (we did still miss you though).

Like many of you, it was not a white Christmas, but a wet one, a very very wet one…at least the days leading up to it. So wet in fact that our 4 day canoe journey down the Wanganui River was nearly cancelled due to the river being between 4 and 6 meters higher than usual! Holy cow eh?! The river did end up going down significantly and we ended up having a magnificent trip despite the chocolaty brown water and the slippery, muddy, gooey banks (and dirty bums due to that said slipperyness). Join us on our little pictographic journey of the river trip….

...this picture is self explanatory...

Our first sight of the Wanganui River, despite the smiles, we are all shaking with fear with the thought of getting on the extremely swollen river...

...so we decide to have some burritos from the back of "Merlot" (the car).

Here is day one on the river. Waterfalls like this are everywhere due to the rain, however few were captured on photograph since our cameras pretty much lived in the dry bags.

Despite the rain and dirty water, we were still pumped to be on the river and not a campground.

Yum! Christmas diner, Kumera (sweet potatoe), capsicum (red pepper), quinoi (quinoi), and peperoni!

...and dessert! (the water level was going down so fast on the river that this bottle was actually in the water 30 minutes earlier!)

Post bubbly, loving life and probably thinking of family.

Christmas morning we were rewarded with sunshine...some of us may have gotten a little crazy after 3 days on the river...

We saw so many animals on this trip, wild goats, sheep, a billion ducks (and 4 ducklings), 3 very large possums (sneakily trying to get our food at night), 2 rats, and a Tui in a pear tree...er...flax tree.

Have a Happy New Year!

Rounding out our tour of the North

After cruising the North Island in true rubbertramp fashion, we are back on the parade in Wellington, overlooking Oriental Bay. Such a strange feeling to return to the capital city, some 2.5 months after our first visit, now feeling like (somewhat) seasoned New Zealand travelers. There are a few talents that mark this achievement: understanding the local language (togs, boot [of a car], jandals, a cuppa, etc.), not lapsing into shock at the sight of a 5-pronged roundabout, and never underestimating the power of foamed full milk on top of a shot of espresso.

Since we last checked in (I know, it's been ages), we have covered a lot of road. We climbed to the Pinnacles in the Coromandel, watched the surf breaks in Mt. Maunganui, admired the orchards of kiwi fruit in the Bay of Plenty, ate pie in Rotorua, wwoofed on a dairy farm near Dannevirke, and tramped in the Tararua Forest Park. For a more detailed description, please see photo montage below:

Hiking through beautiful NZ native bush on the way
down from the Pinnacles in the Coromandel.

Bry takes a dip in the (freezing cold) Cathedral Cove,
on the East side of the Coromandel.

Meet: our improvised chilly bin. It is here that I should report that after much deliberation,
Bry and I decided that Fern had to go. The (lack of) fuel economy was biting our budget in the butt, and so we are now on the look out for a wee car to see the South.
Translation: we're addicted to TradeMe.

When you're on the road, you stop at waterfalls. It's just what you do. Here's a waterfall, somewhere in NZ, rather ordinary looking, with two not-so-ordinary smelly travelers.

Eager for some new scenery, we make a dairy farm our home for the week. Jeff
(man in the yellow suit) and Annie (lady in the hot wellies) treat us more like royalty
that wwoofers (they are new at this wwoof thing). We love every minute of it.

Many lessons learned on the dairy farm, a few being:
(1) there's more to Japanese cuisine than sushi,
(2) now matter how elaborate the rain dance, it's still dry in Dannevirke,
and (3) always make more home brew than you think you will need.

We meet up with a long lost love, Jocelyne, and hike the Tararua Range.
We decided that we saw a lot of the tramp in it's true form
(or, what it looks like 90% of the time).

The beauty of NZ tramping is the huts. Oh the huts. Parnoosh warned me about them,
but I underestimated just how fabulous they would be after a day of tramping in the rain.
I am now a believer.

Sweet as.

The view from the patio: resting on the parade in Wellington with
family until our next adventure. Stay tuned.

Home is Where you Park It

This morning we woke up to the sound of rain on our "moon roof." Rain is a welcome sight to the gardens of the Whangarei region, as it has apparently been dry for weeks. There's no doubt that Fern needed the wash, but we left the towels outside to dry last night, which are evidently now still wet. Life on the road is the sort of stuff you joke about later over beers, when you are off the road. Waking up at 2am to swat at the mosquitos who have wandered through the open window (an attempt to counteract the effective greenhouse our van is by day) doesn't make for the most glorious travel stories. But there is plenty of glory to be found in NZ, usually when we are on break from our mobile apartment.

We have been north-bound for just over a week now, in search of the top of NZ. Here are some of the highlights:

- A stop in Auckland to see the largest metropolis in NZ and visit with Tom, who has escaped the UK to study at Auckland University for his PhD. We share fabulous food, share stimulating conversation, and hike Rangitoto, Auckland's newest volcano.

- We camp at Rawene and Bry makes bread in the camp kitchen's oven. Making the most of motorcamp facilities makes it less painful to pay obsence amounts for less than brilliant accomodation.

- We lunch in Ahipara with a view of the beginning of the 90 Mile Beach, a beach that actually doubles as a highway.

- We enjoy a quiet coffee break in Kaitai, 30 minutes of free internet at the local library, and stock up at local Pak 'n' Save for supplies (needed daily as our chilly bin is a mere decoration and hasn't worked since day 1).

- We reach Cape Reinga, the very top of NZ where the Tasman sea and the Pacific Ocean meet, before 8am and our fellow tourists. We are rewarded with a massive beach to ourselves to soak it all in.

- We scorch our feet on the Te Paki sand dunes during the hottest time of the day. Who's idea was this?

- In Paihia, I buy Bry a "cheap" NZ breakfast ($13 NZD) which seems like a good idea at the time, but actually results in hours of "gut rot." While Bry recovers in the van I frolic in the Pacific, realizing that the "moving seaweed" I am swimming with is actually a huge (sting?) ray.

- And then YESTERDAY! We splurge on a tour of the Poor Knights marine reserve which is just off the coast of Tutukaka. The tour includes a boat tour of the reserve, snorkeling, sea kayaking, paddle boarding, and lunch. Oh and an unexpected bonus; wild dolphins! So we swam with wild dolphins, no big deal... These surprisingly large, magestic beauties were within metres of us for about 20 minutes. As we struggled to keep up with them, they danced in circles alongside us, almost mocking our rudimentary swimming abilities. We (along with our fellow divers from the tour) were both simply bursting. It was the perfect day.

I realize that it will be hard to top swimming with wild dolphins, but the trip is still young. Until then, don't pee in a rented wetsuit.

Some photos for you to enjoy.

We realize that in NZ a "jafa" is not a type of caffeinated beverage, but simply an affectionate name for Auckland urbanites.

Murray, the Atlantic Puffin who joins us in the front seat. He is constantly pouring over the map, consistently annoyed at Fern's ability to consume petrol like it's her job, and manages to enjoy the cd's we purchased from the Waikato District's Libary for $2 each.

Fern, in all her glory.

Just relaxing where the Tasman Sea ends and the Pacific Ocean begins.

Te Paki sand dunes at noon.

Leaving the Poor Knights Islands marine reserve, estatic.

Meet your Meat

It's been a while since our last post. I believe we were in Raglan, which is now a distant memory of great friends and great waves. A lot has happened since we embarked on our second WWOOF. For one, living on a farm with a family has been very different than "working" at a hostel with other travelers.

On this free range, rare breed farm, we have seen the full spectrum from birth to plate. This included day-old piglets, bottle feeding calves, and well... making sausage. We have had the opportunity to learn a great deal from our hosts (along with their friends, organic dairy farmers). We covered everything from NZ farming in general, how bacon is processed and smoked, how to make lard, NZ gardening techniques, as well as the less appetizing things like how prosciutto is aged for a year.

We have also gained some interesting insight in farmers markets. Although we are both used to going to the farmers market, I for one have never acted as the vendor. I learned a lot about how people act, as well as body language that can predict whether we were dealing with a "browser" or a "buyer". Surprisingly, Kiwi can be frugal with their food purchases and complain that the Soggy Bottom free range, nitrate-free, no additives (snout, feet, floor-droppings) added meat is just too expensive. Lesson learned: real food is supposed to cost money.

Although much of our time at Soggy Bottom was spent mucking about or in the butchery, we also got to leave the farm a few times for our own little adventures. This included re-attempting and completing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing after much of the snow had melted, delivering meat to Raglan (for the organic burger shack) and staying for a surf, visiting an organic dairy operation, and going swimming in one of the Waikato regions many lakes.

So many thank-yous to the Walkers, Torben (our fellow WWOOFer, a spunky German who embraced our "words of the day" while feeding the pigs), and Stonker.

Soggy Bottom Bacon

Makin' the bacon

the bacon.

planting an oak at the top of the farm

Lanna, Torben, and Number Two

feeding Moosley

a moment for the Discovery Channel
- Emerald Lakes at Tongario Crossing

the morning embrace.

Flat white with waves please? Sweet as.

This afternoon while Bryan battled the Raglan surf (with his 'new-to-him' surf board) I battled the Raglan roads (with my old running shoes). Once I found my stride (elbows in, feet basically in the ditch, ears open for speeding cars - NZ rural roads are basically widened four-wheeler trails), my mind wandered over our Raglan visit. I imagined crafting a Powerpoint presentation to summarize the main findings so far in this west coast surf town. Sadly, I do not have access to Microsoft on this million-dollar internet substation, and so a few notes and photos in a "blupdate" (blog-update, thanks Sally) will have to suffice. Please see below.

The New Zealand Coffee: While it wasn't in Raglan that I first discovered my love of the arabica bean (that was rather long ago while brainstorming a thesis proposal in a Halifax cafe) it is the place that I came to fall in love with this liquid goodness all over again. It's the perfect answer to any question. I have decided that coffee will be one of the simple pleasures I would allow myself in my travel budget.

The Merino Wool: No matter how many times we hear, "Oh common, you're Canadian!" - it's (surprisingly) cold in New Zealand. The beloved merino wool is much like the New Zealand lamb - widepsread throughout the land. Globalization has managed to work against us though, and although it's made here, it remains phenonmenally expensive. Instead we keep to the simple luxuries (see photo above).

Spot the Surf: Manu Bay, NZ - home of the most left hand surfers in the world (or something like that). A zoomed in photo would reveal dozens of little black bobbing surfers.

Spot the Surfer: Behold the man with the board, driven mad by the glorious aqua waves. As I run along the blacksand beach I can see him grinning from metres away.

Wood-Oven Fired Pizza: Just 2.5 hours of work a day has granted us a converted caboose in a Raglan seaside eco-retreat. The energy in this place is contagious, everyone beaming from their NZ travels or waves caught at the beach. The perfect ingredients for supper: people from all nooks and crannies of the world (from Spain to Norway), a phenomenal chef (the mastermind from Uruguay), and a huge wood-fired oven. Thank you Raglan, you've been good to us.

Cheap hambugers & a green Fern

Windy Wellington delivered. A week of rest, relaxation, and good food left us well adjusted to the NZ timezone. Highlights include: flat whites (NZ's version of coffee), a ridiculously short haircut (Bryan was left traumatized - apparently due to miscommunication with the barber), and Te Papa (the capital city's incredible museum).

Moving onward and northward - much has happened on our travels north since we left Wellington one week ago. We took the 6 hour bus ride up to Taupo through beautiful lush green fields dotted with hundreds of sheep and newborn lambs (Lanna says that Colin would have been in awe!). We were also amazed to pass by a few very large, snow capped volcanoes (which we would later hike that weekend - the Tongariro Alpine Crossing).

Upon arriving in Taupo, we were greeted by John's smiling brother Trystan who took us into his home for a week. We hiked, soaked up in thermal springs, and spoke of Canada. Unfortunately, not all was fun and giggles this past week. While BBQ'ing some burgers from the local Pak n' Save, or as we call it the Crack n' Pay, Lanna had the misfortune of seriously cracking her tooth (you could actually see inside the crack!). Luckily, we managed to find a somewhat odd dentist to fix her up almost good as new. The real clincher however is that her insurance will not pay since she "voluntarily put something into her mouth".

Other honorable mention of the week:
We met Fern, our beautiful "new" camper van. She's a '93 Toyota Lucida, similar to Canada's Sienna. The previous owner had her decked out with a bed and some sweet camping utilities. One of her greatest qualities is the sunroof that will allow us to gaze at the Southern Cross while "freedom camping."

For those of you who knew about Basil, Trystan's beloved '88 Econovan, we were torn but ultimately decided to go with Fern - who has an automatic transmission (even if Basil was a real beauty and a riot to drive).

Tomorrow we will embark upon our maiden voyage with Fern, in a somewhat easterly direction. We plan to ultimately end up in Raglan (on NZ's west coast, near the Tasman Sea) for our first WWOOFing experience on Monday (and most likely some surfing too).

Until then, keep clean and remember to drive on the right side of the road.

Mount Ngauruhoe

Sampling NZ honey at the Taupo Honey Hive

Our first geothermal site - Orakei Korako

From Fall to Spring

Since we've last chatted a number of events have taken place. Our visit to BC (which we have now decided is actually the abbreviation for "Beautiful Coast") was stupendous. The eleven days spent exploring Vancouver Island (from top to bottom) and a wee bit of Vancouver have led me to the realization that people from the West Coast have every reason to be cocky - it's that great. Some of our west-coast activities included: sushi with the Vancouver halfway house gang (an enormous thank you to Carolyn and her lovely roommates for taking us in), exploring the northern coast of Vancouver Island - including whales, wild-caught salmon, and the remote, rugged Pacific Coast (a huge hug to the Sointula family of John, Emma, and Zamma for being magnificent hosts), and a well-rounded tour of beautiful Victoria (thanks to Dr. Starzomski for sharing his coffee, kitchen, and general insights on life). Also on our BC agenda was a quick trip to Tofino for Bry to gaze adoringly at the surf (thank you Jenn for being a gracious hostess), and catching up with friends from other times and places (Rebecca, Philip, Liz, Jayme, and Jay). Touring BC was simply an incredible way to end the summer and a delightful stopover on our way to New Zealand. (Photo's of some BC highlights can be found below).

But BC feels like so long ago... about a 1.5 day flight ago actually. Three custom checks, two airplanes, a number or airline meals, three lost bags, and a few Gravol later - we arrived in Wellington, New Zealand. After a landing that rivaled an unpleasant amusement park ride (apparently the city is known as "Windy Wellington") we were met at the airport by our sweet Maori guide (and Bryan's cousin), Daniel. A quick whisk from the airport and we settled into a beautiful home with a spectacular view of the bay. We are slowly beginning to feel rested as we relax at Bryan's family post. It's a windy day in Wellington, and actually not all that warm for it being spring - but it feels great to finally be here.

Watching the surf in Tofino

San Josef Bay, northern Vancouver Island

Sointula, Malcom Island

Spotting my first whale in the wild - Sointula, BC

Twas the night before our departure...

and visions of shorebirds danced in our heads.

The most presssing questions: Will there be birds (that fly) in New Zealand? Could we fit anything else in Bryan's oversized backpack? and How much Gravol should we pack for a 1200 hour flight?

The past few weeks have been filled with many goodbyes, see-you-laters, and teary hugs. We could not be any more grateful for everyone who took in two homeless hobos as we prepared for our Kiwi adventure. Tomorrow we set out for the west coast of Canada to visit with old friends (Carolyn, Emma, John, Jenn, Brian, Aimee, Liz, Bethany, Rebecca, ...) for a glorious 10 days. British Columbia will not only deliever to us sweet reunions but a great stopover before heading much farther west, much farther down.

With our tree-hugging degrees behind us, our (Canadian) work experiences put on hold, and our general lack of grown-up belongings (a home, etc.) there seemed to be no better time than to pack up and see a new corner of the world. A quick look at the world map and it all became clear - New Zealand. Why not?

Until we're in the Southern Hemisphere,
remember that you can never embark upon too many adventures.

xo Lann & Bry