All alone in Cathedral Cove

So many cool things about this weekend.

First, we got to fly in one of Air New Zealand's new "All Blacks" planes. They're painted black in honour of NZ hosting the Rugby World Cup this year. Even the interior is black. Very cool.

On our way the Coromandel Peninsula, we drove from Auckland to Hahei with gorgeous weather on Saturday.

We'd heard about the terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan the night before we left. So very sad.

NZ had a tsunami warning in effect so we kept a close eye on the beach and an ear to the news on the radio. Thankfully NZ sustained no damage (that I'd heard of). So we ended up waiting until the warning had expired to take a walk on the coast.


Then today an early morning walk down to Cathedral Cove, one of the country's most popular and beautiful destinations. We started out early to beat the crowd and glad we did because we had a good 30 minutes with the beach completely to ourselves!

We walked through the arch (although signs warn against it due to rock falls) to the beach on the other side. Simply breath-taking.



Notice the clouds forming -- it started pouring down on us right as we began our 30-minute return walk and then seemed to rain most of the day. Even though hiking in the rain always makes me feel closer to nature, I'm always looking forward to coffee and a hot shower afterward.

We cruised around and stopped wherever we wanted, which was such a relaxing experience. Then to top it all off, Jake got an awesome emergency row seat with unprecedented legroom on the flight home.

We have three weeks left in New Zealand, and we're soaking up as much as we can before we go. Like this completely gorgeous, completely empty beach we enjoyed this morning... we won't find that in Kansas!

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

This weekend was one of the best ever – a perfect combination of friends, family, adventure and relaxation.

First, we had a chance to meet one of my relatives Germany, Tim, who is on holiday here in New Zealand with his girlfriend, Sina. After a conversation with my Dad, I figured out that my great grandfather and Tim’s great grandfather were brothers. Fortunately Tim and Sina speak excellent English because my three years of German classes are a distant and rather fuzzy memory now.

On Friday night Jake and I drove about four hours north to the mountains with a couple of friends where we met Tim and Sina. We were there to take on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which is magnificent and daunting 7-hour walk up to a couple of active volcanoes and is considered one of New Zealand best hikes. I’ve been looking forward to this for more than two years.


The six of us set off on Saturday morning. After a long walk through rocky terrain then a steep climb, you’re rewarded with a view down into an incredible red crater featuring different colours of volcanic rock and the jagged edges created from repeated eruptions, which remind you how violent this place can be. We encountered solidified lava flows, steam vents and a heavy smell of sulphur in the air, and our photos can’t possibly capture the power and beauty from this place.

Just a bit farther is your final push to the top where I found the most breath-taking view of all. Down below on the other side are the three shining Emerald Lakes, their vibrant hues the result of volcanic minerals. After three or four hours of seeing nothing but the harsh, dry rocky terrain, a view of these bright green pools was like an oasis of calm in such a treacherous setting. It made me wonder about the first person who ever saw these lakes. Someone would have climbed up there without knowing what they’d see, and without the benefit of stairs and marked trails, to find those lakes. They must have thought they were hallucinating.

I found the walk exhilarating and exhausting. I felt my muscles burning and my heart pumping, and it made me feel incredible.

After the long decent back to the car, we stayed in a little motel and made it an early night since we were all so beat. The next day we stretched our sore muscles and chose activities that were a bit less strenuous, including some miniature golf (Tim won) and a swim at the Waikanae Beach on the way back to Wellington.

The beach was a big deal for us because this was the first time Jake and I have actually swam at any NZ beach as we usually find the water much too cold. I’m so glad we took advantage of it because I would have regretted leaving here without a good little swim in the ocean.

Tim and Sina are staying with us for a while before they continue their travels to the South Island later this month. It will be good to get to know them a bit better and to bring our families a bit closer.

Experiences like this make me thankful for my friends and family – including those I’m just now meeting – and for the cool opportunities Jake and I have had. This has been a truly incredible weekend.

A Christchurch wedding & stroll on the beach

It's been a couple weeks ago now, but wanted to share some pics from our weekend trip down to Christchurch. Our friends Greg and Hannah got married on a gorgeous Friday afternoon, and we enjoyed a trip down to the little beach suburb of Sumner.

Christchurch is where a large earthquake struck back in September, and we still saw several damaged buildings in various states of reconstruction. They still receive occasional aftershocks but we didn't feel any.

Here are some examples of your typical Kiwi road signs.

And a view looking east into the ocean.

This trip ended, as all the good ones do, with a few too many leftover beers to fit in the suitcase.

Raro can't be any fun without me

As I mentioned in my last entry, Jake's company sent him to "work" in beautiful Rarotonga in the Cook Islands last week. A year ago when he went on the assignment, I tagged along and we made a vacation out of it. He went on his own this time, which I'm sure was nowhere near as fun without me. Here are a few shots he brought back.