F I N A L L Y !

It's been 29 years of waiting...but my diminutive size may finally be my meal ticket to stardom!


Talk about being a miniature in the right place at the right time. Any other tinies out there want to come and join me? Bacca Bacca :)

His/Hers

The longer I am married, the more I realize how different boys are from girls. Now don’t go blushing on me – I’m thinking of our differences in communication styles. I recognize that I am generalizing and stereotyping (and probably perpetuating a whole plethora of other “isms”) – but I believe that the differences between Adam and my blogging styles is case and point to support this position. I’m also going on record right here and now as saying one is NOT better than the other – I adore Adam’s writing. But while Adam blogs with maps and facts, my thespian-wanna-be inclinations lead my interpretations towards the dramatic and emotional sides of the same story. Allow me to demonstrate (or simply stop reading now because you already have the specifics from Adam’s previous post and this is really no new news):

Adam and I escaped the winds of Wellington on Tuesday morning in a very last minute decision to “get out of dodge.” We made our hostel reservation at 8:30 at night on Monday and were out the door to the ferry terminal by 7:00 am Tuesday morning. It was a gorgeous morning – a fact completely lost on me the moment the ferry started to move. Long ago I learned that the fastest way between Point A and Point B is with your eyes closed – and nautical travel is no exception. In my defense, I wasn’t assisted by the extremely comfy couches (we all could have our own thanks to low tourist season) and the gentle rocking motion of the boat. Adam did manage to pry my eyelids open just long enough for a walk around the boat and some glimpses of the breathtaking surroundings.

Finding our way to our hostel was remarkably easy thanks to a great transfer system in Picton. Our host was quite the character, as you’d have to be if you spent your days with wandering twenty-somethings from across the globe. As Adam mentioned – we pretty much threw a dart at a map of town hostels at first – but the availability of a puppy to walk put The Villa heads waggy tails over the rest.

Having dropped our day packs in our room and figured out how to work the electricity (controlled by an incredibly high-tech seashell hanging from the ceiling :)) we headed out to lunch. Sausage rolls are a delicacy around these parts - and Adam had quite the sausage roll experience. This thing was probably 3 inches in diameter and surrounded by puffed pastry. Mine wasn’t much healthier - but it’s hard to complain when eating a chicken and brie pot pie. Kiwis have a much greater appreciation for the combination of chicken, brie, and cranberry than we do in the States. You can bank on the fact that I will make a personal campaign effort to bring this affinity back to Seattle.

Once our bellies were full (and Adam had absconded with our diet cokes secretly purchased from the grocery stores for dollars less than the cafe) - we set out to the town. Full disclosure laws dictate that I admit that I had NO idea that the “walk” we were going for was indeed going to turn into a 4+ hour wilderness adventure. The map was quite deceptive - and it certainly didn’t visually demonstrate the elevation changes. Much of the trail was either 45 degrees up or 45 degrees down. If we were lucky then the trail was just soft. In places where we weren’t so lucky the path was invisible beneath piles and piles of muck. Seriously - Adam mentioned a bit of mud - but we were quite lucky to escape with all of our bones intact and our shoes on our feet. About 2/3 of the way down the track we crossed paths with a very kind Irishman who was returning from The Snout. He tossed his huge walking stick at me and told Adam he was going to need to get his own if we had plans on continuing to the end. If it hadn’t been for these “3rd feet” I’m quite sure we would have merely slid down the mountain (and quite possibly directly off a cliff and into the ocean). What a joy, though, once we reached the point and looked over the edge (carefully...the wind was crazy blustery!) Four or five seals were just having a ball barrel rolling through the waves, enjoying the current and the empty bay area. If it hadn’t been a sheer rock wall straight down to the water I would have tried to get a closer look. I could have sat and watched them for the rest of the evening, but the weather had taken a turn towards the worse while we were hiking and it seemed like a good idea to try and be back in town before dark. We hadn’t reached the Queen Charlotte View point on the way back when I noticed my day bag was vibrating. Thank goodness we’d decided to buy cell phone plans with the widest coverage area provider available because I had a short, unexpected phone interview right then and there at the top of the trail in between raindrops, Tui bird calls, and wind gusts. (Good news - the interview was successful - but more on that in a future post).

Home at the hostel (and after our Haggis escapade as Adam previously noted) – the first priority was to warm up and dry out.

We turned our small hotel room into a drying heaven in attempts to keep the mud contained. While we had been fairly sternly warned at the I-site visitors center earlier in the day that the likelihood that we would get out to do some sea kayaking the next day was unlikely due to poor weather conditions – a late night phone call turned our luck around with the great news that Wednesday was forecasted as being the nicest day in the week. The good news just kept coming (and I can’t believe Adam didn’t think to mention this) when at 8:30 on the nose our hostel hosts opened up the real-wood fire oven to bring out the homemade apple cobbler and ice cream. This treat is reserved for the heartiest NZ adventurers (aka – they only break out this delicious snack during the slow winter months). Delicious doesn’t do the cobbler justice as it warmed us from the inside out in an enormous portion too big for my tummy. I would have slept in it if I could have! Seriously – you can keep your fancy bed and breakfasts – I’ll take a quirky hostel with hot homemade cobbler ANY day :)

Adam did a fantastic job of mapping out our journey in the Sea Kayaks. I’ll just fill in a couple of details about our guide and some of the wildlife we encountered. Our guide, Wally, was an awesome older gent who has been chasing summers for the past 25 years.


With the exception of the last five years when he finally settled down in his native NZ with his Canadian wife and family, he had experienced 50 consecutive summers leading high adventure tours throughout the world. He was a great source of knowledge about the local flora and fauna. Just as we put in our kayaks – we were greeted by a beautifully clear bay in which you could see straight through to the bottom full of starfish and sea cucumbers. Sea cucumbers have been appropriately identified – it looked like a big farm truck just came down and dumped their produce into the water! The birds were full of character and the fish were jumping. We came across some very lazy seals soaking in the sun after lunch as we battled our way against the wind and currents towards our put in point. Adam failed to mention just how much work it was to cross that channel. The waves were great fun to play in…though it’s just a tad nerve wracking as the waves start to break well over the top of the kayak and you start to envision the details of a “wet escape” from your sea vessel. I just have a hard time imagining myself staying calm enough to grab at precisely the right place while bobbing upside down in the frigid, rolling sea. Guess you don’t know till you’ve tried, though! I was so thrilled to have spent the day out in the beautiful sun on the water. I’d been concerned about staying warm (surprise, surprise) with our somewhat inappropriate adventure gear but the company was great and provided us with everything we really needed. Lunch was delicious and I feel like I actually learned a lot about the area and its local inhabitants.

We actually finished our sea adventure a little before 4 in the afternoon, which left Adam and I just over 3 hours to wander the tiny Picton village, eat dinner, and meander over to the ferry terminal for a late night voyage back across Cook Strait. While the view may not have been quite as gorgeous in the pitch dark – the view from behind my eyelids was pretty similar to our inital crossing:) We reached our warm and comfy apartment just before midnight in time to fall into bed and wake up for a full day of interviews, job hunting, and lots of his and hers laundry the next morning.

A Small Bit of a Great Area

Callie and I took a vacation from our year abroad and ducked across to the south island this week for a short visit to what looked like a beautiful area, the Marlborough sounds seen here on Google Maps. The two major ferry companies, BlueBridge and Interislander, depart downtown Wellington and arrive in Picton as you can see here near the bottom of the map. Thanks to one of our travel guides we had found a backpackers hostel that not only had rooms available for very reasonable rates, but also included the free perk of dog walking should we be so inclined. Upon arrival we were greeted by a very friendly yellow lab. After we checked in and dropped some of our stuff off we went out in search of lunch. My first New Zealand sausage roll and a cranberry brie pie for Callie accomplished this task. We decided to look into the hiking trail that was recommended by the information site staff. This took us over a little bridge and up into the woods up a hill as shown here in yellow.

Shortly into the hike we took a look back to the harbour and saw the two ferries in dock as well as a very active lumber ship yard.

This was at almost the beginning of the hike. The map we had for this hike listed the length of the different legs of this walk, like 10 minutes from the harbour to this look out point, another 15 minutes for the next leg so Callie and I did not think too much about the overall length of the hike. About an hour and a half into the hike, we reached the main view point which is named Queen Charlotte View and is located at the A arrow on the map. There we were greeted with a view of 5 bays, 1 cove, 1 point, 1 mountain and the Queen Charlotte sound all within this view.

The trail continued on for another 40 minutes to the Snout (arrow B on the map) at the end of the trail which ended in another beautiful view of the area but with a bit more water level view. Callie ventured to the end of the walk and peered over the edge into the water to find a fun sight.


This harem of seals was rolling around and around in the shallow water right next to the point for as long as we were there. Other than a bunny and a bunch of birds, this was probably the most remarkable wild creature we have seen so far. We watched them for a while until the rain started to pick up. We took a photo to show that it was actually us there and ventured back up the muddy trail to return home.


We returned to the hostel after grabbing some dinner at The Flying Haggis, and yes, Haggis WAS on the menu, and NO neither of us tried it. We slept in to awake the next morning for our day long kayaking adventure. We met up with the tour guide at their shop that was about a quarter of a mile from our hostel. There we set off on the road to Ngakuta bay ( the blue C arrow on the map ) where we boarded our two person kayak and set out along the blue line.

We came across a colony of Shags hanging out on the rock.

Callie's paddling and my steering skills were put to the test going through a hole in the rock between two of the bays.

We paddled down the other side of the sound seeing some of old growth forest that had been protected before it was logged.

We set in for lunch at one of first camp sites along the Queen Charlotte trail ( the blue D arrow on the map) and enjoyed a very tasty chicken sandwich and muesli bar.

According to our tour guide, part of what makes the Marlborough Sounds so...soundy...is that the area is located right along the fault line where the Australian tectonic plate is both sub-ducting and rotating under the Pacific plate. This translates into the sounds region slowly sinking into the ocean at about the rate of half an inch a year. Leave it to nature to use such a slow process to both create and destroy what seems to be the most beautiful place on this planet.

Sunday night dinner

From the time we started dating, Adam and I have tried to make a tradition of experimenting with culinary masterpieces for Sunday night dinner. At PLU, that usually meant subjecting ourselves to the University Center Cafeteria Sunday night turkey dinner, but it has since evolved into more unusual (and thankfully often tastier) concoctions.

Tonight was no exception. The Kumara is the Polynesian version of the sweet potato. Its flavor is somewhat more subtle than the American sweet potato, the texture is a bit more starchy, and its coloring is almost purple on the outside, white flesh with a star of purple at the core. It will come as small surprise to most who know me that sweet potato casserole is my absolute favorite food. While other youngsters were busy expounding the virtues of pizza and pasta, I was ALL about the yams. So tonight we made a substitution in my family's traditional recipe. Here are the the results.

First Adam "helped" by peeling the potatoes :) We're still learning how to clean as we cook.

Is it just me, or have the potatoes actually taken on the same coloring as the granny smith apples? I do enjoy green yams, sir Sam!


Dinner is served! The kumara casserole was quite tasty (though what isn't when covered with brown sugar and butter?)


Ok, fine. No amount of extra butter and brown sugar was going to save this fiasco. Apparently the "fan bake" setting on our oven drastically decreases the amount of time it takes to bake cookies. Good thing I got a couple of good spoonfuls of raw batter in before baking so the batch wasn't a complete loss!



Iti noa ana, he pito mata.
With care, a small kumara will produce a harvest

the "B" word

The summer I turned twelve years-old, I distinctly remember my poor mother looking over at her whining pre-teen of a daughter mumbling in our mini-van's passenger seat and strictly forbidding me from using the "B" word even once more for the rest of the season. No, I wasn't cursing at her in tween fashion - I was BORED - and none too pleased about it. Then - life happened. High school turned into hours of late night musical rehearsals and early morning seminary classes. College just meant later nights of paper writing and earlier mornings of assisting intoxicated residents who were locked out of their dorm rooms. Entering the real adult world of full time teaching was...well.... exhausting...and you get the picture. By the final day of school last June I was pretty sure I would never feel well rested EVER again.

And then we moved to New Zealand - and our biggest task at the moment is keeping that big B at bay. Once the jet lag passed and the constant fear of getting on the wrong bus or not remembering to look the correct direction for oncoming traffic subsided, Adam and I both realized that we have some time on our hands. Now don't be overly concerned (or start throwing things at your computer screen hoping I'll feel the pain through the ethernet cord) - we're becoming quite creative in our designs to combat the evils of idle hands. Our days still start early with either a jog or a trip to the gym. Once the shower and our breakfast bowls are empty the laptops get powered up and the online job search battle ensues. We seek and call, badger and beg our way through our daily contact lists in search of meaningful employment. Once we're successfully sure that we've covered what we can for that day's postings the fun begins and an adventure ensues.

For example, a couple of days ago Adam looked up the Karori Wildlife Reserve (recently re-branded as Zealandia!)which is a large non-profit bird sanctuary nestled into a nearby Wellington suburb. Having been to dinner at an acquaintance's house in Karori the night before, we knew just which bus to catch out. Our true confession is that while we were mildly interested in the reserve, our real motivation for getting out to the park was to pick up an Entertainment book. Yep - you know those fundraising coupon books that your soccer team or PTA sells at the beginning of the school year? They're alive and well in Wellington and chock full of two for one deals at great restaurants, tourist attractions, and cultural events. Adam and I figure that we should break even within our first two meals out. Anyway - once we picked up the Entertainment book we decided to pinch our pennies and turn around with a promise to ourselves that we would come back and explore Zealandia! (sounds more like a theme park than a conservation effort if you ask me) on a nighttime tour when you have an actual chance of observing a nocturnal Kiwi bird in the wild.

The area around the park is quite forested and mountainous- so instead of heading right back to the bus stop we detoured to a side trail that seemed to take us up into the hills towards a wind turbine and probable look-out vantage point. Little did we know that fate had arranged for a private tour guide through the trees. Meet Hettie.



Hettie met us at the trail head and led us through kilometers of streams and switchbacks as we made our way up the mountain. I assure you that while we adored Hettie's company we were far more concerned that she was straying from her home. Unfortunately, our many attempts to send her home, ignore and command her to go back were about as productive as when we tell our own little Zoe to do anything. Hettie is a people dog and she decided that we were her people.



Truth be told - the way Hettie bounded through the woods it seemed as if she might run regularly across the trail we were on; perhaps a frequent companion to wayward travelers. The walk was awesome, but an hour and a half later when we were back down at the trail head and on our way to the bus stop, Hettie showed no signs of leaving us to our own devices. Thankfully, a guardian angel in the form of a reserve administration employee drove by and asked us if the dog walking next to us in the middle of the road was ours. When we said no, he asked us if we had time to walk her back to the office. Hettie happily bounded through the doors to make new friends with some cubicle rats who were somewhat less than enthused by the wet and muddy paws that were quickly finding their way to the office furniture. I called and left a message with the number on Hettie's collar informing her owner of where she was. Apparently Hettie had been wandering in the park most of the day and the administration was ready to get a hold of her until her owner could come and claim her. It was great fun to have a four-legged friend for the afternoon...but a good reminder to us of how lucky we are to have left our own baby in the wonderful care of NommiAnn and Papa Kay. As beautiful as things are here, and as much as we miss our walking space heater, we are sure Zoe's having so much more fun making trips to Ponca State park and getting puppy pedicures at the doggie spa than she would be in quarantine. Grandfolks: you are amazing!

Feeling much more relaxed with our doggy escort in good hands and off of the road, Adam and I set out on a long walk towards town. As we made our way towards civilization, we measured the extent of our hunger by how carefully we were considering munching the berries from trees and leaves from ferns. We stopped instead at hole in the wall little fast food joint for our first Kiwi Fish n' Chips experience.







While the pictures tell the story best, I'll just follow up with an assurance that after our meal it was decided that, despite having gone for a good run in the morning, we would double up with a trip to the gym that evening to clear our arteries.

Oh - and the postlude to the Hettie story is wonderfully representative of the kind of politeness we've encountered nearly everywhere here. While Hettie's owner picked her up from the reserve and had no contact with either Adam or I, she traced back the call I had made from my cell phone later that night just to thank us for making sure Hettie was safe. Apparently an electricity meter reader had come to Hettie's home and left the gate open enough for an adventurous puppy to get out and explore the local wilderness. Apparently even four legged friends fight their own battles with the big B.

Tramping Tinakori

Tramping, better known to northern hemisphere residents as hiking, was a wonderful activity to undertake on our beautiful Saturday. Today we put on our boots and continued our buns of steele workouts as we wound our way up Tinakori Hill that is part of the Wellington Town Belt. This scenic hike was about 15 minutes from our doorstep and on such a beautiful day, entirely worth the few minutes it took to find on Google.

Adam continues to expand his photography skills with this Windows panorama from about two thirds of the way up the Hill. As you can see, the sunny day with barely a cloud in the sky made for a beautiful view. Callie almost didn't need a jacket for the first time since we arrived in NZ.


This is the ridge line trail that runs, astonishingly, right along the ridge line of the mountains that face the water. The trail headed up connected eventually to a road that runs to the top of the hill where a few radio and cell phone towers break up the mountainous view. We also discovered that the constant breezes are certainly not going to waste. We could see many of the Wellington areas wind power generators spinning away in the hills towards the west coast.


Callie enjoyed the view from a tree stump step-stool and I enjoyed it from a very natural looking chair we happened across.


This walk has an incredible collection of views. The best part is perhaps that we only explored the trail nearest to us. I am sure we will be visiting this area again...with a picnic lunch in tow. :)

Our Home Away From Home

Callie and I have discovered that one of the best ways to really get to know an area is to go apartment hunting by foot. After many days of canvassing different homes in various suburbs and multiple styles viewing everything from a very chic studio with a hydraulic Murphy bed in Mt Cook that is still under construction, to an old town warehouse location in the heart of Te Aro, we finally found what we hope will be a perfect match for us in the Lambton area. It's right smack in the middle of Wellington - and our home rises a beautiful 20 stories from sea level. If you head North for two blocks you find yourself at the Beehive (NZ capital building) and if you head a few blocks South you're back in the hippie Cuba Street area we enjoy so much. In the same price range or less than several small studios in the area (or even places that are in buildings slightly south of sketchy,) we have a great mix of qualities here. The building is being converted from a business hotel to a long term rental complex so each apartment comes semi-furnished. There's a gym, sauna, and pool on the lower level (though we haven't yet received our tags yet) and an interesting Asian cuisine cafe as you walk to the elevators. Our unit is a genuine one bedroom apartment with a detached living room. The bedroom alone is practically the same size as our entire hotel room has been for the last two weeks. It has a two bum kitchen with a wrap around counter and ample storage, dishwasher, a washer/dryer, tv, dining room table with 3 (why three?) chairs and...a view, OH the view.

We can watch the ferry to the South Island, sailboats, and the bright red sight-seeing helicopter come and go from our living room.


Sky rise steel heaven!



How nice is it that the apartment is somewhat decorated in our wedding colors?



Now that we have a fridge larger than a shoebox, perhaps we'll get a start on learning to cook kiwi style!