rodeo and j-bird

Josh and I are scheduled to be counselors this next week... back to Rodeo and J-Bird fun. This week we've been back to rock climbing and kayaking instructors so no big news to share... just wanted to check in and show you all we're alive and kickin.

We'll post any fun updates throughout the week when we have time, but most likely our next big hoorah will be our Coromandel trip after camp -- until then...

90 kms of joy

Probably one of the highlights of our 2nd little road trip – there’s a strip of beach that’s 90 kilometers long, but they call it 90 mile beach… you can drive on it during low tide and that we did! It’s incredible… the waves breaking just 20 or so meters away from your car, sand under your tires, and a seal pup to top it all off… it was a really fun part of our road trip…

ps - no, the seal did not die... he just got all tuckered out and took a little break before moving his cute self back towards the ocean... just to clarify...

sandy days

Just south of the Cape are these crazy sand doons… Josh and I decided to have a little fun and we took you along for the FLIPpin ride…

from cape to bluff

Josh and I have said we want to make it from the cape (the top of NZ) to the bluff (the very bottom) over the course of the next 5 or so months. Today – we made it to the cape! Hooray! Cape Reinga is where the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea meet… There’s a lighthouse there and there USED to be a street sign thing that said “Los Angeles 10,000 miles, South Pole 2,000 miles, London 20,000 miles” etc, etc but those pesky hooligans ripped off the signs so now it’s just a pole with no signs. Grr! Still a fun view and now onto the bluff!

beyond the two towers

One of the cool parts of Kahoe Farms is that you get to explore their property and do some hiking and such that no one else is allowed to do – aside from the other guest at Kahoe. We took a day and set out to find the swimming pools just beyond the “two towers” lookout point. It was quite the hike – very steep to the two (telephone) towers, but then a great view. From there, through the pasture to the bush and then finally to the swimming holes. Well worth the trek and Josh REALLY seemed to enjoy himself… so much so he thought he’d go for a swim…

kahoe farms = AMAZING

So the best hostel yet (granted we’ve only been to 2… but surely none can beat…) has been in between Bay of Islands and the Cape – Kahoe Farms. It’s a farm house converted into a hostel with gorgeous views and over 2000 acres to roam. Dad – you’d love it. It’s owned and operated by Stefano and Lyndsey… a lovely couple that take care of you in every regard. Beautiful linens, gorgeous wood floors, a quaint cabin, stocked kitchen and Stefano’s Italian cuisine. Stefano is originally from Italy and was a chef… um… yes please! Josh and I ordered a few pizzas our first night. BEST PIZZA IN NEW ZEALAND/in a LONG time. Our second night we got dessert – gelato topped with espresso, amaretto liqueur, and tiny biscotti type cookies. So delicious. We both said that if we could, we’d live there… so fun!

sail and (one of us) swim...

Today was the day! Today was the day that we were to head off and sail the Bay and potentially swim with dolphins! I was nervous and excited all at the same time! We set out on the Carino at 9:30ish on a beautiful, sunny day. We were expecting to be 2 of 8 or 10, but it turns out a bigger group joined and there were about 18 of us all in total… but it all worked out. They went through the basics with us and before we knew it we were soaking in the sun and sailing the Bay.

We came to our morning beaching spot… there were 2 ways to get shore – the wet way and the dry way. At this point – it was getting kinda overcast and the wind was picking up, but of course Josh took the wet way. Scuba Steve put on his wetsuit, grabbed his snorkel mask and fins, and jumped right into the freezing cold water. I, along with everyone else on the boat, took the dry way… crazy Canadian. We climbed around the rocks and such and then swam back to the boat… yes, WE SWAM back to the boat. I know. I’m tough.

Lunch and then more sailing. Looking for dolphins was the plan. At this point… the sun left us and the wind picked up. It was really really cold. Being in my wet swimsuit I decided it was best to take it off and opt for warm clothes… I had given up on the dolphins because all the other dolphin boat companies had radioed into our boat saying they hadn’t seen anything all day! I get all warm and comfy and then I hear “Dolphins!” Everyone crams onto the front of the boat and takes pics and oohs and awws over the HUGE bottlenose dophins… 3 of them, each 3 meters (over 10 feet!) long and about as round as Josh and I hugging (aww… cute! But BIG).

The lead lady observes them, makes sure there are no calves or that they’re not resting or feeding (because then we can’t swim with them)… they’re not and she says “If anyone wants to swim, come to the back” – I freeze. Josh goes and grabs his suit and he’s in the back. I grab the cameras and look dumbfounded… She starts to go through all the directions on what to do, what not to do, how to get in, etc, etc while people are still running around trying to find the dolphins. I, for some reason just can’t decide… DUH. Of course I want to swim with flipper but I think the overwhelming sensations in my brain caused me to have this deer in headlights pose. Needless to say, and I absolutely regret it now, but I turned into camera woman. So you better enjoy the shots!! J Don’t worry – there will be other dolphins and warmer waters… I promise…

Also - sorry for the music in the video... we'll try to re-edit without sound so you can hear us... but until then, groove out to the tunes and enjoy the flick...

camp sight

We got front row seats and a full moon on our first night camping... A bit chilly, so I was bundled up, but well worth it for the view. We were basically on the water and had the moon and sun rise right out our tent door... what a delight... AND a de-night! :)

from the beginning

Our afternoon activity was the Treaty House – where the Maori/British relationship was formed. Still not clear on all the details, but Josh, the History Channel King, was really into it. There was a 35 meter canoe… 35 meters! It was made out of a single Kauri tree. Pretty rockin. It takes at least 80 men to operate and they take it out each year on their “independence day” – when they asked Britian to rule over them…?? Whatever. Still cool. (sorry - it's hard to take a brilliant pic of a 35 meter long boat thing... you get the idea...)

They also had this cool carved room with tons of Mauri faces and totem poles type things covering the walls… that was REALLY cool.

Josh can for sure tell you more about the history part – he loves that, but I think my favorite parts were the gardens and the fun carved room… and that’s your history lesson for the day… kinda…

the hell hole of the pacific

Josh and I started our first full day in the Bay of Islands with a ferrytrip to the hell hole of the Pacific, New Zealand's first capital, Russell. Russell used to be the place where sailors and hookers would spend most of their time because it was the main porting/docking place in New Zealand... now, it's this cute little historical town just across the bay from Paihia.

Russell is the home of the 1st church in New Zealand AND the first hotel… of course, we had to tour both. The church is pretty, well, church-y. A lot of gravestones in front dated back to the 1800s. There was even a Dunlop family buried there… cool, but kinda freaky…

The Duke Hotel is open for all passerbys for a quick drink of their verandah. It was around 10:30 when we stopped in, so a little too early for a wine or beer, so we asked for Mimosas. We were given a blank stare. Never heard of them. What?? I then asked for a Shirley Temple. Nope. Never heard of them. Roy Rogers. Nope. We tried our luck and just passed on through.

The police station is the cutest little thing – apparently the chief lives here…

We did a short little hike up to Flagstaff Hill.

From there we took in the view and got inspired to learn more about the Maori/New Zealand beginnings. Josh gives you a little history lesson in this flip… we’re not just entertaining – we’re educational. You’re welcome.

captain bob's

2nd Roadtrip! Woo! We're heading up to the Bay of Islands and then to Cape Reinga (the northern most tip of New Zealand) -- our plan is to go from Cape to Bluff -- the top to the bottom of New Zealand during our time here. This trip we're making it to the top... and then rolling down sand dunes apparently. More to come on that one.

But as for tonight - we made it up to Bay of Islands for our first hostel experience. They call them backpackers here... tonight we're staying at Captain Bob's Beachhouse.

It's actually really really cute. It used to be someone's house... probably Captain Bob's... and now it has like 5-6 double bed rooms, a couple bunk bed rooms, and then dorms... it's so cute! The above pics are of the actual backpacker and then the view from our room. We definitely scored on the room - ocean view, connected to the porch, in perfect alignment for sunrise... good morning Dunlops!

We walked around Paihia (the main city in the Bay) for awhile this afternoon, did our grocery shopping, and then made dinner in our cute little home away from home away from home... Josh couldn't help himself but flip it for all of you... that Josh... enjoy!

gardens and fins

This week has been a pretty slow week... hence the no postings... Josh and I are both working at Carey Park this week to earn the big bucks. Josh is a builder and I am a rock climbing instructor. Yep. Rock climbing instructor. So we've just been around camp with nothing really new to report.

One highlight... we met up with Josh's YWAM friends over in east Auckland again last weekend but this time there was a new addition... Katri from Finland! It was fun to finally meet Josh's old Fin friend from YWAM and she spoke PERFECT English... didn't even have an accent. She studies languages in school so English is just one of her 7 or 8 languages... and she doesn't even get them confused with one another! How impressed was I??

All the YWAMers, myself and their children went to Auckland's Botanical Gardens for the day. It's a really cool facility that has tons and tons of flowers and plants and trees and such -- very cool. Because it's very early spring at this point, not much was in bloom quite yet -- but the magnolia trees were in full bloom and gorgeous! It was a wonderful weekend surrounded by old (and new) friends and the great outdoors...

epolito my heart

We had New York style pizza from a pizzeria owned by a New Yorker last night for dinner. YUM. We went with the Burchs to Epolito's in east Auckland... I'm telling you - Make friends with foodies... they know where all the good places are! It was SO GOOD and tasted like a real pizza from the US!

You may ask "Now how can someone screw up pizza? Pizza is pizza!" And well, you'd be wrong. New Zealand's pizza has barbecue or some sort of chili-spice sauce instead of tomato sauce... their main meat is often times huge chunks of ham, gristle and all... their crust is literally 3 inches thick - and not in a good Chicago-style pizza sort of way. Let's face it - New Zealand's no Italy... or New York in this case. Epolito my heart... and stomach... :)

canoe snaffoo...

No, nothing went wrong, but what else rhymes with canoe?? Come on... Enjoy the flip!

lamb rescue squad

Tuesday we did a lot of walking. Beach walking. Mountain walking. Pasture walking. The highlight of our walking was in Tawharanui Regional Park (pronounced ta-fra-new-ee). We really had no plan nor knew where we were going when we set out for Tawharanui – but we ended up doing the ecology trail which lead us around the beach through tidepools, up the hillside, and then through grazing sheep and cows… yep… right through their eating/stomping grounds. It was nuts! See below…

When we went through the sheep part – of course I LOVED the lambs. But there was one lamb that had gotten himself into a little pickle. Somehow he got into a fenced off little area… he had no idea of his dilemma because he was chomping away at untouched grass. When we came up to the little fenced in area, he started crying for his mama and soon realized that he was trapped. So we became the rescue squad. Josh went in to catch the lamb so we could pass him over the fence and set him free… I was making sure no angry mama was going to come and ram into us… Josh got the little guy out, passed him over the fence to me, I took a moment to cuddle the little guy before putting him down... then he ran away. The nerve! We didn’t even get a thank you… ungrateful lamb… I’ll see you for dinner! Just kidding!

We then had to cross back through the cows to get home… they are big but we found out they’re more scared of us than we were of them… silly cows.

dusk till dawn... all lamb

What an exciting day… it was Sheep World day!! I know, I know, it’s like the mecca of New Zealand tourism, but hey – we ARE tourists!! We made it to SW and strolled around the farm for a bit. Playing with LAMBS that were born just a few DAYS ago!! Feeding alpacas, goats, donkeys, mini horses, sheep, etc, etc… then, it was time for the dog and sheep show – they show off their dogs’ sheep gathering skills, sheer a sheep, then we get to feed/hold the baby lambs.

Dog herding… cool. Then, he needs help sorting them – so he called on the sole “American” man to do the honor – yep – my man sorted the sheep!!

After the sorting came the sheering – they really whip them around to do the sheering, but the sheep doesn’t really fuss. In fact, there’s one position you can put them in that he can allow a member of the audience to do the sheering – yep, he called up the only American woman in the audience… I SHEERED A SHEEP!! Well, did a couple little strips, but still did it! Impressed? More shocked at this point? I hear ya…

Then the lambs came out. All the little kids got to feed them because, well, they’re kids (stupid kids… just kidding!! Kinda… :)), but before they left we grabbed one to hold. I was hoping to get our Easter card shot today, but it was a bit dark in the barn… but we still got a shot or two anyway. So fun.

The afternoon consisted of a little wine tasting, lunch, organic blueberry (me) and strawberry (Josh) frozen yogurt – delicious! – and then picking up dinner for us to cook at our bach. On the menu? LAMB. Didn’t even hit me until we made it home that we were eating the very cuteness I was oooh-ing and awe-ing over that very morning. Oh well. It was mighty delicious – sorry lambs!

the shire

Don't get too excited LOTR fans... this has nothing to do with your precious hobbit-filled shire... but it does involve a magical "elven bread" of sorts...

Monday we had to go pick up the key for the Omaha house we would be staying at. On the way back to Omaha we heard about this little tea house in Puhoi… the Puhoi Cottage. They have all this history about the house and the land and the town, yadda yadda yadda, but most importantly, they have these world renowned (or at least commonwealth renowned) Devonshire Teas. "Devonshire Teas" is a little deceiving - it's not just a tea, it's basically a combo of some sort of a hot tea (or coffee or hot chocolate) and this HEAVENLY scone/biscuit that is accompanied with fresh whipped cream and homemade jam served to you by this little cute man (to clarify - he's not a hobbit... he's just the owner who happens to be short). It is freaking to die for. Josh said the scones were the size of baby’s heads… it’s true, but not the best way to describe something you eat, eh?

They were so good in fact that Josh and I stopped in again on Thursday on our way back to Carey Park. Yum!