End of this chapter

This will be my last blog post. I have enjoyed writing, sharing and interacting with everyone in the last year. But as life gets busier with the kiddies and our lives get, back to normal, its just average every day stuff. Some people are great at making light of the little and normal everyday things but I honestly do not think from here on in I will have enough to say that have you seeking out my blog. It has been a fun and amazing experiene this past year and I love having this blog as a record of it all.

We are settling in really well in our new home. We LOVE the neighborhood and the girls are glad to have somewhat of a routine back. Darryl is really busy getting his practice up and running and it has been exciting but hectic. We are so thankful for every step of the journey that has finally led us here and for where it will lead us tomorrow.

Please keep in touch via email, facebook or phone. And Thanks for reading and contributing to our blog :)

Heather

Back in O-town

We have finally settled back in Ottawa, and in our own place. Feels good. Feels different, but feels good. I will not be packing a suitcase any time soon let me tell you. For two months the girls and I have been living out of a suitcase and in hotels or with people and while it was fun, it gets old.
It is a little overwhelming to be unpacking everything, things that I've forgotten about because its been a year since we've seen them. The girls are excited with each new box of toys they open as they are finally not deprived of toys, movies, and DVDs anymore.
The weather here since our arrival has been smothering. Funny how initially I wasn't too happy about having to spend 3 weeks of my summer in NL because usually the joke is that NL only gets two weeks of summer so you better not miss it. Well I have to say that pretty much the entire time we were there, the weather was great. It really was the best time to visit NL because the weather will be at its best around then, the capelin were in so that meant a lot of whales, the George st. festival is on along with many other festivals. It was a fun trip and very... eventful.

Ottawa is the same but different for me. A new home, in a new neighborhood so I have to find all the key places to go in this end of the city. I had to get used to a new grocery store this morning and we have a new routine with Darryl having his own practice now.
I am longing a little for the beautiful fresh ocean air of NZ with every suitcase I unpack containing things we had with us there. Lots of great memories. Its also hard to believe that this whole past year is over with. So much anticipation leading up to it and here we are...leaves me asking, Now what?? :)

 

 

 

 

NL summer

We picked the perfect weeks to come to NL. While everywhere else in Canada is not having the best summer NL is having a great one. The weather has actually been really decent while we've been here.

The last 14 years has come down to today for Darryl. He has his first full clinic in his own office with his own referals. So exciting that he is really finally done and has his own practice. I am a little dissapointed that I won't be there at the end of the day to celebrate with him but knowing how busy he will be the next few days starting out, its nice to know that he won't have to be worrying about us. We are being well taken care of by family.

Here are a few pic's for the last couple of weeks...

NL Wedding week

PHEW! I can finally catch my breath a little. It has been a whirlwind. Being the Maid of Honour for two weddings in three days is a little insane. Thank goodness for my wonderful in-laws who were so great at helping D and I with the girls so we could run errands, party, and enjoy all the festivities that go along with weddings. We had an amazing time but I now need to detox my body a little from caffeine, wine and food. Such a great way to see everyone again though. The weddings were both beautiful, different and a a great time overall. Congratulations to my beautiful Cousin Lesley and her husband Brendan and to my beautiful sister Ainsley and her husband Coleman. The last wedding is in two weeks and this time I can sit back and enjoy.

We also were able to enjoy a typical NL RV camping experience that is becoming tradition with D's brother and his wife. The week has flown.

Now, for the relaxing part of my trip...:) Some pic's to follow soon hopefully.

Another day, another plane

We have had a busy 10 days back home in Ottawa and now we head on holidays back home to NL for a few weddings. Literally a "few" as in 3! I am maid of honour for two of them which take place three days apart and D is standing and Mc-ing one and the girls are flower girls for one of them. It will be madness but it will be fun. The 3rd wedding takes place two weeks later thankfully...a little break :)

We moved our stuff into our house this week which was really exciting and the girls were delighted to open their boxes of toys they haven't seen in over a year. Ella is not so delighted at the thought of going on another airplane tomorrow though. She said "I don't want to leave Canada again! To which I explained that NL is still Canada and that this flight will be much shorter.

Nothing better than a wedding to catch up with family and friends though so we are really excited to go home, have some time to ourselves without the kids, hang out with family, celebrate and breathe in the fresh atlantic air.

I will still have a few more posts on here before I shut down the blog and hopefully a few pic's of the weddings. Until then....

update upon arrival

We are back in Canada! Nice to be home but it was not without some suffering to get here. Overall the flights were great, no delays and relatively smooth but Zaiah and Ella and I all came down with a bad cough/cold/fever en route that made it just that bit more painful and stressful. 4 planes, 45 hours, 8 pc of luggage, 2 carseats and a stroller later we are home!!
A nice surprise was my parents being at the airport to greet us and help arrange alternate accomodations for us because of us all being sick and not wanting to infect our friends and to help take care of us as we recovered from jet leg and sickness.

We are on the mend now and pretty much all adjusted. Zaiah has taken the longest and finally today seems to be on the right time zone.

We had a wonderful time last night at a beautiful party celebrating our friend's life because he beat brain cancer. It was so nice to be back and celebrating with them and also to be able to see all of our old friends under one roof in the short stint we are home before we head off to NL for a few weeks.

It feels like we've hardly skipped a beat in some ways and in others we are eager to fill the gap. I am sick of living out of suitcases but having fun all the same.

Its down to 1

One more sleep and we are on our way back to the northern hemisphere. The time has flown. Please be praying for us and all our stuff that we make it back safely and with as little stress as possible. See you all soon!!!!!!

9 years on the 9th

Since we are on vacation and I have no clue what day of the week it is, let alone what the date is I actaully forgot our anniversary this year. But, Kudos to D for remembering.
Can you believe it? We've been married for 9 years! That is insane! So, we've surrvived the 7 year itch and the two years to scratch it :) And under quite a bit of stress I might add. Pat on the back for us!!We got to celebrate twice b/c of the time difference so on our Australia anniversary we each enjoyed something we wanted to do, D going cable boarding and I having an in-room massage while D took the girls swimming. We also hit the Koala park, swam in the lagoon on the promenade and D cooked us a lovely meal for after the girls went to bed and we enjoyed a special bottle of wine that we were saving from the Mudbrick winery in NZ. On our Canadian anniversary we went on a boat tour and snorkeling at the Great Barrier reef. Not bad eh?

After nine years of marriage I can easily say that life with D has been anything but boring, ordinary or routine. We have done so much together and still have so much to look forward to. Its been work, its been fun but its been worth it. I feel truly blessed!

We have made it to the final days of our journey…ending in Sydney. We started off here and drove about 30 hours (felt like 60hrs with two kids in the backseat) up the coast to Cairns over the course of about 10 days and then thankfully flew back to Sydney to enjoy the iconic city a little before heading back to reality.

We are all getting a little anxious to get back to Canada now including Ella and Zaiah. Ella said to me this morning “I’m just a little bit sad b/c I have no friends and no toys…” I said “sweetie, that’s because we are on vacation right now” and she says “but we’re always on vacation!” LOL.  Kids are so funny and so in the moment.
Another funny moment was yesterday when we were all talking about our favorite day on our trip around Australia and we asked Ella what hers was so we said “Was is the beaches? The play parks? Swimming in the the lagoons? Holding the Koala bear? Feeding the Kangaroos? Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef? Sea World? Seeing whales???” And as only a child would, she says “the park!”

She learned to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef (which she LOVED) but apparently not as much as the play parks  Talk about spoiled. I am so glad they get to experience all this even if they don’t remember it or really ‘get’ how blessed they’ve been by being here. I do hope that subconsciously they will have formed a sense of appreciation for other cultures, for travel, for new experiences and a sense of confidence if nothing else. I hope the stories, pictures and memories they have will hold their attention for learning these things a little longer as they grow because they have something personal to relate to it.


I'll try and get up a few pic's...

limited access

We are heading out on our final road trip before we catch a plane back to sydney and then to Canada. We are spending the next couple of days in Cairns to go snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. I apologize if my blogs sound rushed or I have not responded to some of the emails or comments on facebook but we really have had limted access here. Having a great time though and cannot believe that we are heading home so soon. I miss NZ already.
See you all soon!

catching up with a few blogs at once

Brisbane was fab! We were there on a saterday which worked out wonderfully in that we were able to get the full experience of the weekend market which was amazing and runs all along the river in this beautiful park. Cafes, play parks and man made lagoons everywhere!
Today we were in Noosa and also had a great start to the day by getting up for the sunrise so that D could get in a surf and I a few pictures. We were rewarded for our early morning efforts by getting to catch a glimpse of wild parrots and D getting to surf with the dolphins once again! Noosa is a beautiful town with great surf beaches, shops and cafes. A little more on the high end as far as the beach towns go though.

The rest of the day has been spent driving as we have to make it to Cairnes with enough time to enjoy it as well as catch our flight back to Sydney. The drive here is not compareable to the beautiful scenic drives of NZ.

Australia!!!

G’day mates! We’ve arrived at our final destination and adventure before returning to real life in Canada and have been busy seeing the coast of oz.
We managed to pack our lives for the last 6 months in NZ into our 7 suitcases and one board bag and with help from a few friends we were off on Monday past to Sydney, Australia! We’ve been making our way up to what is known as the Gold Coast this week enjoying the towns and city’s along the way. We are currently heading to Brisbane after just spending a couple days in Byron Bay and Surfer’s Paradise. The further North we drive the warmer the climate so we are chasing the sunshine all the way to Cairnes to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef. From Cairnes we will then catch a flight back to Sydney and spend a couple days in the iconic city where D will be taking in a shoulder conference for a day and the rest will be seeing the sights.
It won’t be long now and we’ll be chasing the sunshine all the way back to Canada!

Packing AGAIN

We are in the middle of packing once again. Third time this year. But it has all been worth it.
Our wonderful friends here have thrown us a lovely farewell party. 6 months is just long enough to meet people, get settled and just start forming good friendships and then its time to go again making it hard to say good-byes.
Tomorrow is our big push day to get everything packed and done and then we leave on Monday (Canadian Sunday). We will be flying to oz (Australia) and spending two weeks exploring the rest of down under. I should have a few fun posts and pic's over the next two weeks and then we are back in Canada!!!

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm excited to go home or if I'm ready, and its hard to say how I feel about it really. I'm excited to go home and see family and Friends and also for the summer, but I'm sad that this time in our lives has come to an end and to say good-bye to some of the people we've met.
I really could easily live here...at least for a bit.
I will miss the great coffee, the beautiful skies, the relaxed mentality, beautiful scenery, runs on the beach and the sound of the waves, the family friendly cafes and restaurants, and barefoot locals

I will not miss the crazy round-a-bouts, weird left turn rule, expensive everything, or the awful graphic commercials,


Please remember to pray for our safety and sanity as we travel and make our way back home.
Looking forward to catching up with you all, see you soon!

Dirty Thirty

Yes, I turned 3-0 years young this week. As most people do I'm sure, I found myself wondering "where did the time go?" Well, I know one place it went and that was to the kids. Life starts speeding up around the age of 18 but once you get married and then have kids its a roller coaster from there.

We celebrated by dining at 900 ft up in the sky at the revolving restaurant in the city's sky tower restaurant. The view's of all of Auckland are spectacular which made for a nice ambiance. We also enjoyed the famous Chocolate Whiskey Cake from the Rocket Kitchen Bakery. This cake has won awards in NZ for the best chocolate cake and one bite of it and you know why.

I used to laugh silently to myself when people who turned 30 would say "its not so bad, you feel more yourself, more comfortable in your own skin. you care less about what other people think..." I kind of thought that this is what people say to convince themselves that they are okay with it. Its not that 30 seemed old but its the hype around the number and where it leads to next. Its funny as a kid 30 seems old but as you get "older" the boundary for what is "old" keeps getting pushed too.

Now that I have turned 30 I would prefer them saying these positive things rather than the advice I am receiving now, "Enjoy 30, cause you won't be happy about 40. That's when it really hits you!"

So, my honest feelings about being 30...I'm fine with it. I have absolutely NOTHING to complain about at the young age of 30. I have a wonderful husband who has been my best friend now for just as long as he hasn't, I have two beautiful daughters, I've traveled, lived in another country, have great long-lasting friendships, a promising and exciting future ahead of us as Darryl begins his practice and I have continued to grow steadily to new levels in my faith, love and relationship with God. I love the wisdom that you gain by the time you are 30.
No, I do not love the things that are beginning to occur with my body do to three decades of living life with gravity and the result of having two pregnancies but yes, I am happy and proud of myself for who I am and where I am at in my life at 30.
So, I now have become 'one of those people' saying 30 is great! I get it!

The countdown

I only have one more day of being in my 20's! I can't believe it. How did this happen?? I will have to write more about how I feel turning 30 on my actual birthday but the real countdown right now is 10 day's.
We have only 10 day's left in NZ. 6 Months goes by so fast...a year has gone by pretty fast.
I have not written to much lately b/c I have not felt inspired to write or feel like I have much to write about. We have most things that were on our list to do and see accomplished. As the cold weather has moved in, and friends have left for holidays I find myself looking a little more forward to coming home, establishing a routine again and leaving this limbo we've been in for the past year.
But all this is good in preparing me for yet another move. Maybe if we had spent a year in one place it would be a little different but this 6 month thing has reached its limit. I do miss home, family, friends... Doritos's (yes, they do not have Doritos here! :)
But today as I walked the kids to the library for the mat time, which overlooks the Ocean, and as we strolled down the street to pay our bills, did a little shopping (the shopping makes me feel better about paying bills) and then to the park on our way to the pool, I feel happy and nostalgic. We've come to know our little spot in NZ well and I will miss so many things about it. And of course, for those of you who know me, I will miss the people I've met and become fast friends with.

Coming here has been the best decision we could have made for this particular time in our lives, in every aspect. For Darryl, both professionally and in confirming his view of priority's and lifestyle which can differ sometimes from others in his field in North America. And also great for us as a family after a very stressful and intense 5 years.
It has been worth every last cent (literally every last penny) that it has cost to take this adventure and we will have these memories forever. We chased a dream that we knew was right for us as a family and not what some might of thought was right for Darryl professionally. But God has a way of working all things out for his children and he knows the desires of our hearts, where we need to be, and when we need to be there. I thank God for blessing us with this time in NZ, and for the wisdom and guidance to listen to him and trust in his plan in the midst of the tough decisions we faced over the last couple of years. Sometimes its hard to clear that space in your head where outside influences and God's voice collide.

I keep teasing Darryl saying "be careful what you wish for" because we had so wanted to get a a job back in Ottawa and are still ecstatic to have it, and to be going back to settle there, but we can actually see ourselves living here for a couple of years if we had not been blessed with the job he has waiting for us in Ottawa. If we were meant to be here he would not have been given that opportunity in. So I know God is not done with us in the Capital yet. And that is something to look forward to!

Something I will miss

As per normal for us since being here in NZ, D get's off early and wants to head to the beach before dark to get a surf in. Even though its colder here now the girls still love keeping themselves entertained on the beach. Its like their very own big sandbox I guess!
Luckily, our good friends that we've made here were off and keen too so we all headed our to our favorite black sand beach to watch the sunset and do the traditional kiwi thing and eat fish and chips on the beach! mmmmmm.

One of moments I will miss being able to do back home. Somehow, mooney's bay (city beach) is just not the same, lol.

 

 

 

 

The last couple weeks....

Once again time has flown by so fast. Its hard to belive that we only have 4 weeks left here in NZ. We still have Oz to look forward to where we will vacation for 2 weeks before heading back home.
We finally have a house rented, the one I mentioned previously that we really wanted. Thankfully it has worked out!! Its nice to have that off my mind and to be able to plan for our fall back in canada.
Tracy left this weekend. It will be a lot quieter and lonier for the girls and I without her around. We are keeping busy trying to check the last things off our list of things to do in NZ. D had an exra long weekend this week so today we headed up north to take the girls horseback riding for the first time. The great thing about this place was that both girls got their own horse to ride by themselves for the hour treck through their 130 acres of farmland. The lady who runs the place was great with the girls, staying back with them while D and I were able to do a little trotting and cantering ahead. The girls both did so well and loved the experience!!
We have a few good-bye parties coming up along with my big 3-0 but other than that we have been able to acheive most of what we wanted to see and do in NZ.

Rental update

I don't want to jump the gun but we may have found a place. We want it but I am just waiting on the application to be sent via email so we can move forward. I am praying that it goes smoothly so I can stop wasting so much time looking.
It is in Westboro where we were hoping to rent. Love the neighborhood and its close to D's work. Close enough to the highway that I won't be too far from my east end friends :)
In the end, after about a thousand emails to friends, agents and Darryl, I found 3 really great options but settled on this one (hopefully). I'll keep you posted for our final coordinates back in O-town!!!
Thanks again for the group effort Ottawa friends :)

My full-time job

I have a full-time job at the moment. Too bad it doesn't pay. Instead, I will have to pay, lol.
Well, its not really a job but it feels like a full-time job looking for houses to rent back home. Especially with the time difference and not being there, or able to phone people. Thank-God for email, but it is consuming my days. For three day's now I have spent my entire morning on-line looking up houses, contacting agents, responding to agents, arranging friends to view the rentals for me, and then reading and responding to that...its a vicious cycle. With the time difference I have to do as much as possible in the AM while everyone in Canada is on the go and as soon as I send out one email others are getting back to me so I find that three hours have gone by by the time I'm done. Of course everything takes longer when you have to take care of the kids in between all of this. They've been so good being patient with mommy while I do all this. I can't wait to get it all sorted out so I can relax and stop bothering all my friends. Our big decision we are trying to make now is which is more important to us for the short time we will be renting...location or the actual house.

Thank-you so much to all my friends who have been giving up their own time to help me with this. I owe you all BIG time and promise a big house warming party when we get settled :) xo

Early mornings ponderings

I went for a run this morning before everyone else was up and on the go in my house. I love to exercise early in the am best. And even though Ive always known this, and I know I will feel so great and be so proud of myself for the rest of the day, I still find it sooo hard to get up out of bed when the alarm goes off.

I love exercising in the morning because I don't have to think about it the rest of the day and its done and over with, its also nice and quiet at that time in the morning and I can actually hear myself think. But, I realized this morning as I ran along the beach (oh yeah, I'm gonna miss that in a couple of months)that its also because their is a sort of camaraderie between perfect strangers when you are up and out doors at that hour. Its like you have something in common immediately, in the fact that you both enjoy those secret moments of the morning before the rest of the day rush begins. If I were to go jogging at any other point in the day I wouldn't have one person say "hi" to me. Its like people who like to get up and exercise early in the morning haven't lost their "friendlier" characteristics yet. The spell, however, seems to be broken by 9am :)
IF you haven't made the effort to make it out at this special time of the day yet, you should try it!!!

South Island 2nd half

Mother's day was a fun day for us even on the road. I didn't quite get breakfast in bed, mostly because our bed was the table in the kitchen of our camper van :), but I did get a lovely card that Elle picked out, chocolates, a day off of cooking and dishes :), and a lovely brunch at a great cafe. We then headed to Lake Matheson for a hike because I had wanted to get a few pic's of the mountains reflecting in the lake there. Thankfully we were there on a day where there wasn't much wind so the lake was like a mirror and provided me with amazing shots!! So much of the beauty of NZ (especially the south island) is surreal to see. I kept saying to Darryl..."Its like out of a movie...like Lord of the Rings or something, lol". Of course the south island is where most of the movie was filmed and you can see why.
The drive and experience of Milford Sound was probably one of our favorites. Milford Sound is a little place that is 4hrs from Queenstown and at least two hours from any other town. You literally only go there to take the boat tour of the fjords. There is nothing else there. One restaurant, one motor park and an information centre. That's it. We wondered if it was really worth our time and effort but we took the advice of others and guide books and did the trip. The drive itself was so rewarding with the most amazing windy roads in through the mountains glacial rivers and waterfalls, a 1.5km tunnel through a mountain, and even sightings of the famous mountain parrot the KEA. We once again managed to arrive at our campsite in time for a beautiful sunset over the mountains which I enjoyed photographing. The boat tour was spectacular with the towering cliffs and mountains, waterfalls and seal colonies. It was definitely a 'must see'.

Next we headed back to Queenstown for a second time hoping that our visit this time around would provide us with the feeling that everyone else has towards this resort town nestled in the mountains. Our first time around the weather put a damper on things. Its amazing the difference weather can make to an experience. It was a beautiful evening when we arrived and we found a great play park with the most amazing view of the lake and mountains and town. After letting the girls play and get their sillies out for awhile we headed in search of a restaurant for our first dinner out on the town. We found Winnies. AMAZING gourmet pizza and atmosphere. The perfect touch to an amazing day.
You could have no better view out your window for meals than we had in this camper. It was so neat to park somewhere at night and wake up to the most amazing scenery. Here in Queenstown we enjoyed yet again a sunrise breakfast on a lake, looking onto the pink hued mountains. I am telling you, this is God's country here. We headed back to the play park again and for a walk through the gardens and a little shopping and found a great little cafe/chocolatier that left me craving their hot chocolate as soon as I finished mine. They also had free Internet so that was a bonus!
From Queenstown we began our journey back towards Christchurch where we were to get our flight back to Auckland.
A visit along the way to Tekapo was disappointing because the weather didn't cooperate and the reason to visit is to get pic's of the beautiful lake there. So we moved on again towards Christchurch. Parking again on another great beach, Sumner beach. This is Christchurches 'surf' beach but unfortunately for D there was no surfing to be had on this beautiful calm day. Instead we spent the day discovering the caves, markets, play parks, cafes and shops of Christchurch.
Our last camper park experience was the best one which was a nice way to end the trip. We were parked right next to a play park with a trampoline and bouncy pillow so the kids were able to go play while D and I were preparing things in the camper. They also had an indoor pool, private spa pool which we were able to take advantage of as a family, and free movies showing in the evening. This was probably the most fun day for the girls.

So, the expectations of the South island were met, the two weeks in an RV with the girls were a success (depending on what night you asked :)
I can't actually say what my favorite part of the trip was because I enjoyed so much of it. I actually loved the scenic drives, I loved the many stops at the look-outs for pic's, the amazing cafes and play parks, I loved the quality time as a family and just absorbing the full magnitude of seeing God in all his creation.

South Island Trip so far...

New Zealand is divided into two islands, the north and the south. We have been living on the north island in Auckland which is the biggest city. Up until now we have enjoyed exploring all that the north has to offer especially its beaches for their summer months because the north island is more of a sub tropical climate. But as the weather has cooled in the fall season we wanted to explore the beautiful sights that t the south island has to offer. Since we arrived here everyone has been telling us that we HAVE to go see the south island so here we are.
We flew to Christchurch, which is the biggest city in the south island and rented an RV (b/c that’s the thing to do here) and mapped out a plan to see the sights. Christchurch is a beautiful city, especially now in the fall because it has the fall colors in the foliage. The novelty of being in a camper van was enough to keep the kids happy 
As we left Christ church we had a long drive ahead of us to our next destination so we took advantage of being self-sufficent and found a beautiful stop next to a beach where we stayed over night, only 30ft from the crashing waves..
In the morning Darryl sought out a place to surf with a famous right hand break while the girls and I did crafts that Tracy had prepared for us . We continued on driving in the afternoon to Able Tasman which is a national park and known for its isolated beaches and protected water. Our site at the motor camp here had a spectacular view of the snow capped mountains and glassy bay. The water there is so clean and clear its pretty spectacular. One of the things that draws people here is that it offers an amazing costal hike through thick rainforest and along golden sandy beaches. With the kids we had to find an alternative way to enjoy this beautiful park so we took a boat ride for the day that went up and down the coastline of the park which offered us all the spectacular sights that the park boasts, including views of the seal coloies, plus you could get on and off for the amount of hiking best suited to you. We got off and did a little 30 minute hike for the experience and were rewarded with a beautiful afternoon on one of the golden beaches exploring the caves and sea life.
(Side note: As I’m wrting this Darry has been lured by the ‘rollers’ he see’s on our drive and we are stoping for a spontaneous surf session, lol)

:Next on the agenda was the pancake rocks and glaciers but.again, because it was quite a drive from where we were, we found yet another amazing beach side lot to bunker down for the night. We were fortunate enough to arrive just at sunset and I was able to capture some amazing pictures of the stacked cliffs along the coast with the final pink hues of the sun. We also managed to collect some beautiful quartz rocks that help make up the pebbley beaches on the west coast. In the morning we made a short detour to stop and see the panake rocks. This was well worth the stop as it was one of the most amazing sights we had seen so far. Their were rows and rows of towering sea stacks, surge pools, and blow holes. Franz Josef is probably the most popular glacier and was only a short hike which was good for the kids. Unfortunately it was raining and a low snow line so it wasn’t the greatest weather for it but we managed anyway. The girls enjoyed it and were excited about seeing snow.
There is nothing boring about road trips around NZ. You can hardly nap or read as a passenger because the scenery is so amazing with its rolling hills and snow capped mountains, windy narrow roads, crazy signeage, sheep and cattle, crazy one-lane bridges and beautiful views of the ocean.

Please excuse spelling mistakes etc. as the internet we have been getting is horrible so I have to work fast :)

South Island

We are doing well on our adventure in the RV on the south island. So far we've seen Christchurch, Pancake rocks, glaicer's , able tasman beaces eal colonies....I am writing quick before my internet runs out. I will do a better post soon. Happy mother's day to our mother's and all my mommie friends, MUAH!!!

This and That

Not much to write about the last few day's. The sun came back so that's been nice. Still wearing shorts or Capri's occasionally but their are a few leaves on the ground in parts of the city. Darryl leaves on a guy's surf weekend tomorrow. They are all flying down to a place referred to as "The Nakki", Taranakki. Flights are cheap around the island so thankfully it was actually cheaper for him to fly there than drive. It supposedly has a great swell there and he is super pumped to get some use out of his new board. He get's back on sunday night and we leave for our two week south island trip on monday morning. We are flying to Christchurch and then RV-ing it around. I don't think we completely thought that through...2 kids in an RV for two weeks. It get' dark at 6:30pm too so I guess it'll be early nights for us all and even earlier mornings :) The scenery in the south island is AMAZING
(especially now with the fall colours) so I will have some great pic's to post over the next couple of weeks. Glad to hear that Canada has thawed out and you are all enjoying a few hot day's. I'm looking forward to enjoying summer again :)

No money, no sun...no fun

So even here in NZ some day's can be a little on the boring side. Yes, yes, I know, shocking. The weather here the last couple of day's has been a little on the colder, cloudy and windy side and it gets dark now by 6:30m. Gone are our long evenings on the beach. I'm not complaining, there isn't snow at least but it definitely rules out some of the fun times we've been having. This weekend D and I had planned to go do this amazing 8hr hike (without the girls) on the top of this mountain tongario but the weather was looking too bad, gale force winds at about 10,000 ft and rain is not my idea of fun, so we had to cancel it.
Now we have a free weekend with bad weather and we are trying to save money for some of the other trips and activities we have planned.
Out comes the list of free indoor things to do in NZ.

Weekend in Rotorua

We had a wonderful 4 days in a place called Rotorua this weekend. It is the most active geo-thermic area in NZ. The ground is bubbling and steaming everywhere you look. We went to a couple of parks that were 'hot spots' and the girls loved seeing and learning about the volcanic activity and bubbling mud. They also had great play parks for the kids. (Us too if you've seen my facebook pic's :)

We also went Lugeing at the top of this mountain. So fun. I'd never done it before but it was a great view and so neat to be able to take the kids.
After lugeing, since it was D's birthday, he and I celebrated by heading out to the Polynesian spa to take in the hot springs and then on to a traditional Maori feast. The Maori's are the native Polynesians to NZ and they have a traditional dinner they prepare called a Hangi. They prepare your food in the ground with lava rocks, wood and sack cloth. Very neat process and very tasty food. It included lamb, fish, kumera, stuffing, veggies and more. It was buffet style and D definitely got his money's worth, lol. The other neat thing about the dinner was that they pick you up in a bus to bring you out to their model village where they have it set up to look like a traditional Maori village and share with you how their ancestors lived and then preformed some traditional Maori singing and dancing. All in all it was really neat experience.
The other really neat thing we did was go to this geo-thermic park called Wai-o-Tapu. It has the largest area of surface thermal activity. It is also the most colorful. The pallet of color's is so amazing. Again, I've added a lot if the pic's of this to my facebook as their would be too many to add on here. Its too bad the girls won't remember a lot of what they are learning but at least the pic's and stories of them being there will hopefully intrigue them enough to have an interest later in life :)
So here is yet another reason for you all to come visit NZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Easter

It was just me and the girl's today for Easter. It wasn't too bad. I thought it would be worse having no family around, no turkey, and no D. He was on-call. He was still able to join in on the fun for the Easter egg hunt though, since the girls have taken to getting up at 6am (5:55am this morning) since the clocks went back. The day also went smoothly because of an invite to a friends house for tea and an outdoor egg hunt. So great meeting so many wonderful people on our travels.

Kids make Easter so much fun. They make every holiday fun. I love how I've evolved from having it all about me to all about them. To see their joy, their happiness and excitement is enough of a gift for me. I love how having kids makes you 'get' the self-sacrificing aspect of life. To live selflessly. Don't get me wrong. I still love a treat at Easter, or valentines and of course b-day's and Christmas but it really doesn't matter the same.
So this brings me to my question of this week...how do I incorporate the real Easter story into the tradition our society has made it. At Christmas I found a great book that explained the birth of Christ really well and tied it in to how the tradition of Christmas came about. Not quite sure how to do that with the Easter bunny :) Zaiah is a bit young but I did try and talk with Ella a little bit about the basics. Their are big words used when describing the sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross. As it is, a lot of adults have a harder time than a kid would accepting what Christ did for us. I know in Sunday school they just teach it like it is. But I don't want it to look and sound like just another story, because then it sounds just as fabricated as the Easter bunny or santa clause. And what about when they find out you "lied" or "embellished" about that? I want them to get it at a level where it is real for them or as real as it can be.
I looked on Focus on the Family and they had a few neat suggestions that I will keep in mind in the upcoming years.
As for this year, we stuck to the basics: how at Easter time we are celebrating and remembering how God sent his son Jesus to show us how to love others and show them God's love and that Jesus made it possible for us to be able to talk with God easier. And then we just enjoyed the wonderful creation of chocolate!!!!! Thank-you!!!
I'd love to hear what your idea's and suggestions are from growing up or how you do Easter in your house with your kids today.

Climbing Rangitoto

We finally got the chance to climb the volcano that we look at across the bay everyday from our beach in Takapuna.
It was a 25 min. ferry ride over and 1hr hike to the top of the summit. Fairly easy walking for the most part. A little slower with the kids. Extraordinary views of the city from the top. The big crater where the lava emerged 6oo years ago was neat to see and is now all forested (see pic). The lava rubble through the trees was so incredible. There were many different caves to explore and trails you could take to explore the large volcano mass. We found a really neat, dark and narrow cave that we explored. apparently if you take a torch (flashlight, they call flashlights torches) you can keep going through the cave and come out on the other end. We didn't have one and were limited in time to catch the ferry back so we only went so far. Me, being a little claustrophobic, was very happy about that :)

Our adventure proved to be a beautiful good friday morning spent out doors as a family.
this evening we visited another famous volcano, One Tree Hill, but the weather turned bad so I didn't get any pictures...this time. We'll have to go back. The view from there was spectacular as well.

Its the simple things

YEAH!!! We finally have a blanket. The weather has cooled significantly here in the nights so we were forced to buy a blanket. I had a little pink baby blanket that I brought with me but D had nothing but a sheet up until now. As you can see we have the bare minimum in our room but do you like the "surfer Chic" decor? This was Darryl's contribution. I've also just scored a heater to borrow for the colder months of may and june whahooo!!
Like I said...its the simple things that make my happy :)

Surfing with...I mean working with... orthopedic surgeons pays off

I am loving my fellowship here. And I don't just mean the surfing and beaches! I mean I love the work too. I am fortunate to work with a great group of guys who have taught me so much. And I am getting heaps of hands on experience, which has definitely boosted my operative skills and confidence. Coming here for training was

definitely a great decision.

One of the most important things I have learned from the surgeons here is how to make the most out of life! I have become good friends with a number of the younger surgeons here with whom I have much in common. Similar ages, similar young families and similar priorities (ie. family comes first, then work). These guys all seem to make the time to enjoy their families and pursue their hobbies. They seem to have found that perfect balance that I can now realize is possible in this busy profession. And of course, NZ has no shortage of recreational activities. It's a true adventure tourism mecca.

The learning certainly doesn't end in the hospital. They've been teaching me plenty about surfing too. I've been getting out surfing with a few of the consultant orthopedic surgeons every weekend. One of them has this great old 4x4 van. A classic "surf-mobile". We load up around 5:00am every Sunday morning, arrive at the beach before sunrise, drive up the beach scouting out the perfect break, and in the water before the sunrises over the hills. Hitting up a different "locals" spot each time. Like my own guided tour of the NZ surf scene. Priceless.

This morning's surf was somewhat more eventful than usual. After a solid session, I got pummelled by a monster wave. As I was getting tossed in the washing machine, my fin sliced open my heel pretty deep. Needed stitches. Luckily, one of the surgeons I was with called ahead to the hospital to set up a minor OR room. So on the way home we stoped at the hospital, sutured me up and were out the door all in about 15 min (and about 10 of those mins was registering in ER). Perks of the job I guess.

 
 
 
 

Samples

 
 
 
 


I had my second and final photography class yesterday. I love it and am so happy that I am finally developing my long-time passion of photography. After class yesterday we headed back out to Mirawi (black sand beach) for fish and chips on the beach and so I could practice my new skills and D could practice his surfing :) Here are a few samples of our evening. I say few b/c I think I took 1,000 photo's yesterday, lol. Lot's of practice.

enjoy

Potty training on the beach

 

 

 

 

I decided that today was going to be the start of a potty training lock down. I've been pretty slack about it so far, honestly because I didn't want to make the commitment. But I decided that this mon, tue, and wed. we were going to give it a go. So, the diaper comes off at 7:15am this morning and by 3pm...no pee. 8 HOURS, countless sippy cups and trips to the potty and NO PEE! Very frustrating. So, potty came to the beach. I dug a little hold in the sand and placed her seat over it and made my very own little porta potty :) Finally, when she wanted to go swimming and mommy said that there was no swimming until Zaiah peed in the potty, she did it! Easy as that!!!!! I think she was holding out on me on purpose but when she saw the stakes were high, and there was not going to be any peeing in the water, she caved. A battle of wills... kinda :)

The beach we went to was so beautiful, one of my favorites so far I think. Partly because it was so secluded and deserted. I guess that was due to the fact that it was monday.
D was fortunate to get off early this afternoon after a long hard weekend of call. Poor guy didn't get to see the sun for two days. So we headed to Tawharanui (pronounced
Ta-fa-newi)for some surfing. The water was still beautiful, not too cold, and the sun was shining. In the afternoons here it is still about 20 degrees. We found beautiful shells, I took pictures, and Tracy even found a baby octopus in one of her shells. The girls loved it. So after I had a very productive morning I had a wonderful afternoon at the beach.
If only every monday could be like today....