I'm sorry, and you are...?

Today at work I called someone in another office and spoke for five minutes before she said, "I think you've called the wrong person." Hmm. 

Tonight after work Jake and I ate dinner and watched our usual Colbert Nation and Daily Show. (Hey, it's not all glamorous.) Then we wound up on YouTube watching some good ole Flight of the Conchords. Here's one of our favorites. 

Holy Mackerel! Jake caught a shark.

That's right. Before I tell you about tramping in the Marlborough Sounds, I need to share the story of the (alleged*) shark Jake caught on Day 2. We spent the day before and the day after hiking, so we we were relaxing and enjoying the gorgeous weather on Saturday.

After a bit of morning kayaking and lunch, Jake rows me out into the Endeavor Inlet and we each cast a line. I'm not usually a big fan of fishing, but I was having a good time.

We caught a couple of these little guys and decided they're not big enough for dinner. Then Jake gets a huge bite on his line and reels this monster up! 

The two fought for a while, and I saw a bunch of sharp little teeth as Jake freed the hook. After getting a bit of photographic evidence, he threw him back. Good thing, because I have no idea how to cook that kind of creature.

*Okay, so maybe it's a shark and maybe its something else. If any of our readers has a degree in marine biology and/or can confirm this is some type of shark, please post a comment and let us know! However if you can tell it's NOT a shark, please keep that information to yourself. After all, no one likes a know-it-all. :)

And now, the rest of the story...

As I mentioned, we walked for two days and chilled out for one. We have a new backpack, but we were happy to hear that the water taxi that took us to the trail head would deliver it to our destination each night. Sweet.

Here's a Maori totem pole at the trail head in a place called Ship's Cove. Apparently Capt. Cook visited there several times back in the day. 

It was at Ship's Cove where we were introduced to the area's wildlife. At first, when we heard bushes rustling as some mysterious little critter raced by, we didn't get a clear look at it...

We later found that it was a Weka, a little guy who will steal your sandwich as soon as look at you, according to a local lady I spoke to. They were all over the place. 

The views from the trail were amazing. The weather was fantastic, and we spent much of our hiking under a canopy of silver ferns and other cool trees.

I learned the difference between the geological terms sounds and fjords. A sound is reflective of much of the other terrain in NZ -- very hilly with steep slopes, lots of gorges and valleys -- that have been flooded. I heard three-quarters of the height of these hills are under water. And a fjord is something that's been cut by a glacier. Haven't seen any of those yet, but they're on our list.

It was our first time in backpacker lodges, and while I didn't get any pics, I can tell you they're mostly simple, affordable and smelly to varying degrees. But a fun way to interact with other travelers and experience life as a real tramper.

Maximum load of this suspension bridge = one person. Hope I didn't pack too much in my backpack.

Found lots of cool little caves in the inlet where we stayed. 

And here's Picton, our arrival/departure city on the South Island where we caught the Interisland Ferry across the 22 km or so of ocean that separates NZ's islands. 

Off to the Marlborough Sounds

Hi all. We're headed to work this morning, and later we'll be hopping on a 3-hour ferry across the Cook Strait, one of the most dangerous stretches of water anywhere, for a four-day weekend in the Marlborough Sounds. Can't you just hear the Gilligan's Island theme song? This is on the northern tip of the South Island, where we'll be hiking and staying in backpacker lodges along the Queen Charlotte Track, and possibly working to improve our videography skills. We're pretty excited. We'll fill you in when we're back Monday night. Until then, we'll be away from our phone and e-mail most of the time. 

Happy Easter, and Happy Birthday to our brother/brother-in-law Jeromy. Whenever Jake and I are doing something awesome, one of us always pulls out Jeromy's favorite line... "When are we going to start having fun??"

Here he is with his lovely wife Shelly. Have a great weekend guys! 

Our first attempt at shooting video = failure

We headed down to the South Island last weekend and tried out some video for the first time. First, Jake will offer some insight about Kiakoura, a beautiful area nestled between the mountains and the sea.

Pay no attention to the fact that we're sitting in a cow field. Next, I'll try my best to offer some interesting information about our destination.

Maybe we should just stick with what we know... the still shots.

P.S. Our Internet is running super slow for some reason, so I can't tell if these videos are taking too long to load for everyone else or just us. 

Our trip to the South Island

Christchurch, Kiakoura, Hamner Springs, sunsets, hiking, waterfalls, seals, sheep, birds, waves, beer. Too exhausted from hiking for complete sentences. More later.

Beer + cricket = best job EVER

What I've learned in 4 days of NZ's corporate world

I'm getting ready to wrap up my first week as interim intranet news editor in the Corporate Relations Group for Telecom, an NZ telecommunications company with 8,000 employees. Here are a few of the cultural differences I've picked up so far.

• Overall, things seem very relaxed, just as Jake told me they would be. Relationships and chit chat are super important. People are friendly. 

• Bad language is no big deal. Someone in the office received a phone call the other day and let out a flurry of f-bombs. No one batted an eye. I probably hear 50 a day.

• Vacation time is highly valued. 

• It's not uncommon for people to take vacation time in huge chunks. We know three couples who are getting ready for six-week stints. It's not a big deal to hop over to Chicago or LA from KC. But NZ is pretty far from everywhere, so you better block out some time on your calendar.

• Programme, harbour, colour, metre, amongst, as well as other oddities including words such as inbuilt and no period after Mr. For an editor, this is like learning a new language.

• People seem to work very closely with folks in various cities. Half of our office is in Auckland, and I've already been involved in several conference calls and a video conference.

• People don't go out to eat for lunch that often -- maybe once or twice a week -- but when they do, they're drinking alcohol. Sweet!

• Casual Fridays must be an international tradition. I can wear jeans. Jake gets a "no tie" Friday, but is still in a suit. 

• Personal usage Internet policy states: ...Now some personal use of the internet for tasks like getting your banking done and paying your bills on time is quite ok. (No kidding??) However, downloading music, streaming video and file sharing is not ok...

So far the gig is pretty good. I'm on the ninth floor of the building, and our office looks out over the harbour. My desk doesn't face the window, but I have an even better view. Just above my monitor, I can see the tv on the far wall, and it's usually playing a cricket match. Sweet.