Boxing Day!

Celebrating boxing day was a first for any of this Wilhoit Clan. Traditionally celebrated by running frantically from store to store to get the best deal (think Black Friday - post-Christmas-style) - we opted instead for a trip to the....

Friendly, meowing Otters are always a crowd favorite.

It's easy to feel small next to a giraffe!

Chimps are always just monkeying around. These ones were into particular mischief for Boxing Day. Easy to glimpse the urban landscape in their background, as well.

And the real star of the show, of course, is little Tahi. We learned a little more about this one legged Kiwi. Apparently WETA workshop (the costume/prosthetics/special effects department for the Lord of Rings) built Tahi a prosthetic leg when he first arrived in Wellington. Ever the independent, by the time the leg was finished, Tahi had learned to hop on his one good leg and refused to use the new one. So much for engineering!

Happy Christmas 2010

Pieces of home came to rest in our happy home with the arrival of Adam's parents Steve and Linda. More than the boxes and boxes of American marshmallows, candy, and even Diet Dr. Pepper - the Wilhoits brought Christmas cheer and happy tidings from loved ones back in the States. In return, we did our best to provide a personal tour of the city, beautiful holiday weather, and even a few NZ mementos by which to remember their trip.

Christmas breakfast came bright and early - with an emphasis on the bright. It's hard to sleep in with the strong NZ sun beaming in through the picture windows. On the menu this morning; Te Papa Cakes (NZ version of Papa Kay cakes), fresh fruit (possible since it's Summer!), homemade Hala bread (courtesy of our dear friend Revital), and TRIX of course!

Opening gifts - a hand-painted silk scarf for Linda...

Wellington artwork for Steve...

A beautiful green scarf for Callie...and a wearable remembrance of a particular loved one back with NomiAnn and Papa Kay...

And a Rudolph nose for Adam!

It turns out that Steve and Linda brought absolutely gorgeous weather with them from Napier - so we had little need for Adam's bright and shiny nose. We did, however, sneak down the Plimmer Steps to "Yarn Bomb" Mr. Plimmer's pup with a homemade scarf.

After our clandestine operation, we scooted up Mount Victoria to take in the beautiful Wellington views...WITHOUT WIND!!!

Father son bonding time with a Haka face!

It's not every Christmas Day that you can spend your afternoon touring a National Museum. We spent a few hours enjoying the beauty (and air conditioning) of Wellington's Te Papa Tongarewa.



Upon return home, we got busy making Christmas dinner. Our little oven just didn't seem fit to bear the burden of a full Christmas turkey - so we settled for a tasty chicken pot pie instead. It turns out that Filo dough isn't quite the same as pie dough...but we made the flakes work for us. Also on the menu; apple cranberry salad, homemade cranberry sauce, Kumara rosti, and baked apple dumplings for dessert.

While our day was almost perfect, our thoughts were never far from home...

We hope you all had the merriest of Christmases and are wishing you all the very happiest New Year!

Birthday Boy Blessings

Twenty seven years ago our dear Adam was brought into this world. Born on the 24th of December, we insist that he was simply "in good company" for his birth date. To start the celebrations, Adam and I developed our inner pastry chef by baking this strawberry rhubarb pie masterpiece.

As the most amazing birthday present of all, Adam's parents Steve and Linda brought the sunshine with them as they arrived in Wellington to visit. We started our tour of the city with a trip to Parliament...though we arrived an hour too late for a tour that day.


A walk along the waterfront brought us to the Civic Center of Wellington.


Dinner was a special treat at Logan Brown. This fabulous restaurant has tempted us from our first arrivals in Wellington - though we've resisted in honor of saving it for a very special occasion. An important birthday and the arrival of our first guests was more than appropriate.


We resisted the lure of the dessert cart in favor of coming home to homemade delicacies of pie and hokey pokey ice cream.

First Adam huffed...


and then he puffed...


and then he got everything he could hope for - including a taste of home.


(You may have also caught a glimpse of the Lord of the Rings extended trilogy that Adam has been working diligently to watch over the last few evenings. We think of it as local nature study.)

Happy Birthday Adam, my love! You are without a doubt the most wonderful husband a gal could hope for.

New Zealand Advent Calendar

In honor of the holiday season, we've created our own Advent Calendar Countdown of 25 things we love about New Zealand. In no particular order beyond our own random musings they are...

YUM YUMS
25 - Tim Tams
24 - Pavlova
23 - Indian food is to NZ as Mexican Food is to USA
22 - Fish and Chips wrapped in newspaper
21 - Hokey Pokey is exactly what it's all about

INCOMMUNICADO
20 - Referring to your friend as "mate" and "bro"
19 - Being told you are "sweet as"
18 - Whun with pronunciations! WH=F...as in Whakatane sounds like Fakatanee
17 - Cheers!

GETTING HERE AND THERE
16 - Driving on the highway while surrounded by baby lambs
15 - Give way to the right - it's amazing we're still alive
14 - Scaring away the Mount Victoria tunnel ghost with a beep of the horn
13 - Roundabouts instead of traffic lights
12 - Finding yourself nose to nose with other cars since one of you has forgotten to drive on the left side of the road.

AROUND TOWN
11 - Sticking your tongue out as a sign of strength not sass and squishing noses for a greeting
10 - The local dairy has nothing to do with cows
9 - Walking 10 minutes in nearly any direction puts you onto a beautiful "out of the city" hiking trail
8 - The flightless Kiwi as the mascot for NZ Air Force
7 - Hanging your unmentionables out in the breeze on the 11th story balcony
6 - The homemade knit scarf decorating Mr. Plimmer's stone dog
5 - Grinning at the adorable school children clad in plaid skirts, knickers, blazers, and knee socks!
4 - Classically trained Buskers
3 - A minimum of four full weeks of paid vacation leave
2 - Instant tan lines when the sun breaks through the clouds
1 - Wellington on a good day!

Laugh for the week

Context: Adam and I are watching Discovery, one of our 7 television channels, which is advertising for Shark Week. Adam is narrating for some guy in a kayak taunting a swarm of Great Whites.

Adam: "Here sharky, sharky. Hey, Sharky...Yo' momma's a Tuna!"

I laughed for the rest of the evening and still chuckle at the memory. Gosh I love being married to this guy!

Rafting + Reeking = Rotorua

It was a stinky weekend...literally. Adam and I spent our long awaited three day weekend in Rotorua, a city in the northern Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. Rotorua is famed for being the tourism capital of New Zealand. It boasts a plethora of activities ranging from the cultural to the relaxing, to the just downright crazy high adventure. Our sweet little Atlantis held her own throughout the long 6 hour car adventure from Wellington to Rotorua. The GPS similarly earned back every penny we spent as we wound our way from small town to smaller, even more picturesque villages along the way.

We've learned that one of the best things we can do to familiarize ourselves with the inner-workings of each new place we visit is to make our way to the local i-Site for wonderful local recommendations about the area. With their help we were able to book our first visit to a Maori village complete with a historical briefing, cultural performance (music, dance, and storytelling), traditional hangi (Maori feast prepared with hot coals buried int he ground), and even a short hike up to visit a geyser.

The Te Puia Marae

Our welcome to the Maori village

A wonderful cultural performance - Callie is still trying to figure out how to transcribe the music for a choral arrangement for school.

Callie learns a Poi dance

Adam learns a Haka - starts off so smiley...

And then the tongues appear!

The Geyser

Making friends with the wildlife on thermally heated stones

Adam and the geyser

The next day we decided to go rafting. We chose to adventure to the Grade 5, Kaituna River which apparently offers some of the best kayaking and rafting in the world. We somehow managed to stay right side up even as we tumbled over the Okere Falls, the highest commercially rafted waterfall at 7 meters high. Adam and I both suspect that the river was perhaps running high since the drop didn't seem too extreme - though the river surfing was more than memorable.

Having squeezed back out of our wetsuits and found a scrumptious lunch in town, Adam and I headed out to fill in a check mark on our bucket list. All we needed to do it was a hill, a van, and human sized hamster ball. Zorbing was awesome. We both chose the Zydro option which basically means that they pump a couple of gallons of water into your ball and then send you down the hill free form. I pretend like that was my first choice...but really you have to be 5'2" to go for the Zorbit option where they strap you in and send you down the straight hill head over heels in the hamster ball. I'd add pictures - but we were too busy enjoying our tumble to click any buttons. Here's a picture we've borrowed from the "net" just to give you an idea of what we're talking about:

As if white water rafting and Zorbing weren't enough for one day, the evening brought us to Hell's Gate; so named by George Bernard Shaw because he felt sure that if indeed Hell existed, that surely this must be what the gates to it look like.

After our walk through the geo-thermal reserve we paused to spend some time with a master carver. It was Adam who found an undiscovered talent in woodcarving - but Callie gave it a best effort.

On Sunday morning before heading back south we took a stop off at the Agrodome - which is pretty much a farm for tourists to get up close and personal with NZ most expansive population...sheep! Here the king of wool takes his place at the top of the pyramid. Meet Merino and his handler!

A freshly shorn sheep. She looks cold!

Herding ducks with a strong eye, this smart pooch rules the stage without a peep!

A different kind of dog pile...these loud hounds demonstrate "backing" on sheep.

Up close and personal with an English Leicester.

Meeting hounds...

and month old lambs! I take great pride in feeling comfortable looking these adoreable lambs in the eyes with the certainty that I have not, in the last two decades, eaten any of their relatives.

Adam, on the other hand, had to keep an eye on the lambs to keep them from eating the clothes straight off his back.
Wishing EWE all a happy start to the holiday season.

Seeing Seals by the Seashore

Adam and I just can't get enough of cuddly things. It goes without saying that we miss our walking, barking space heater each and every moment that we're here - so last weekend we went out in search of similarly shaped snub nosed companions. While they certainly outweigh our little Zoe by more than a few kilos, we certainly noticed more than a few ways in which they could be related.

First, a map of our seaside walk. Our seal sightings were all right around Devil's Gate.

Our first seal sighting. He simply turned his nose up at the world.

Devil's Gate - likely named because as you go through a certain smell often overtakes you...and if you don't look sharp an off roading vehicle just may send you flying from the cliffs.

Playing billy goat.

Through the gate - we found some friendly playmates.

Life's sweeter with a buddy to cuddle.

Nicknamed "The Red Rocks," it's easy to see how this area got its name.

We wandered down the beach a ways and saw a few nice baches here and there. We stopped to make camp for a few minutes and eat our lunch and enjoy the sea. Walking along the beach finally got the best of us with the mix of sandy and rocky terrain. This encouraged us to find our way back to the car for a more comfy return to our home away from home.