Day 3: I finally went shopping!

Hope dropped us at the Auckland Museum after lunch.
It is a big impressive building but Hope and Chris both agreed the only part that is special and worth seeing is the Maori bit. I am having fun sharing all these wikipedia links. Do you feel educated?








Chris says this pictures proves I was in New Zealand. This a totem in the Maori meeting house. The place is so cool. The whole thing is carved, the whole building.

I also think I found the inspiration for tribal bellydance.
1. The Maori war thing is to stick their tongue out and they hiss when they do it.
2. In the museum they had traditional costumes and one was a string skirt with different colored tassles.
3. They have a lot of tattoos.
4. They make these costume disks that make me think of the tribal medallions.
Also - I saw the real Poi. They are short. Only about a foot and there is a ball on both ends. Also, it is never on fire.




This pictures was supposed to show in the background that it was a $5NZ donation to get in to the museum. Chris only had a twenty and we felt bad asking for change from a donation. Then I remembered that Laura gave me two NZ 5 dollar bills. I had to take a picture before I spent them. Unfortunately the sign didn't come out.


After the museum we walked over to the New Market area to do a little shopping. We foolishly came without a backpack so we bought one. Chris bought me a t-shirt. Hope bought Chris a new outfit of short and a t-shirt for his birthday. I bought Chris and I both sweaters made out of New Zealand merino wool and some childrens books for my nieces. And I spent $22 on face soap at The Body Shop!!! I think the exchange is 1 NZD = .75 cents USD, so we get a little break but everything over here is much more expensive. I hope you all aren't counting on too many presents when I get back. Actually, I am having a hard time finding presents. I keep thinking that I will know it when I see it for each person on my list.
Who wants a life size sheep made out of real wool?

Day 2: Why he key?

That is how you pronounce Waiheke. It was the perfect day to go out onto the island. I am only upset that I took Chris's dressing advice and wore jeans. It had been windy and chilly the night before but the day was gorgeous and sunny.
We rented a car and drove in a circle around the island going to every beach.







We stopped in the first little town of Oneroa. Oh-knee-row-ah. Here is Chris at the "Citizen's Advice Bureau". The sign says "For all sorts of answers". That made me laugh. I was tempted to go in and ask a weird question.
Everything is slightly different. Yield is Give Way. Exit is Way Out. When the walk/don't walk sign changes to the walking man it makes a loud "bloop" noise. We were at the crosswalk and it changed and scared me and I squealed. Sort of gave myself away as tourist on that one.









We had fish and chips for lunch and sat at a picnic table on the beach. Here I am eating a chip. I feel like a proper Kiwi now!















This a photo from the last beach we went to, Surfdale I think. It was gorgeous. We sat up on those rocks for a while and watched the waves come in.

I don't have the pictures of our night at SkyCity yet because Chris's dad took them with his great new camera. I will try to get them up soon.

Day 2: I finally slept!

That might have been the best I ever slept with a glass of wine first.
Today we are going to Waiheke Island with Hope. It is my first NZ outing.


Yesterday after dinner Chris and I walked over to a nearby park. He was looking at something and I walked over the playground. There was a part of the jungle gym that looked like you were supposed to climb it but not very far. I touched it and it spun. I thought maybe it wobbled and was then hard to climb so I tired. IT SPINS LIKE MAD. We found out the trick is to stand up straight and your center of gravity spins it. You can set back and it slows down. Well, I didn't know that and I couldn't get it to stop. I yelled at Chris," Baby, come over here, I can't stop this." He started walking and I kept spinning. Then I yelled, "Run it hurts! I think my nose is going to bleed." It was so wild. The sad part is we went back after dinner to do it again. Here is picture of Chris on the spinning thing.




Tonight we are going to eat at Sky Tower. Here is a picture of us from near his parent's house. You can see between us into Downtown Auckland. Sky Tower is centered.

Because I am a little bit evil

Check out these pictures of young Chris!


Who is the chubby cheeked kid? And when he lost the baby fat did he also lose his upper lip?
I am glad we met after we got much older. J/K I bet I would have loved him then too.

I will probably be punished for this. If my mom figures our how to post pictures in the comments she can post a "bad perm pic" or one of when my bangs were in transition.

We made it!

We are here!. After a much needed shower, I feel human enough to post. Can you believe I am literally around the world? I don't think it has set in yet.

So flying over New Zealand was straight out of Lord of the Rings. I just lived a travel channel special. Once we landed I felt like it looked like Miami. Expressways with tropical plants all around except THEY DRIVE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD.


Everything went well through LA. We slept from Knoxville to ATL. We had a slight delay in ATL, and that flight was not so bad either. The LA International Terminal was dodgy and we were there forever. I could lament all day about what a 13 hour flight is like. Pull an averagely comfy chair into a small guest bathroom that has been used with no air circulation. Now stay there and watch movies on a 6 inch screen for about 12 hours. I think you will feel for me.
We ate our dinner and watched a movie then tried to sleep. I think we slept about 4 hours before we gave up. Breakfast was served at 4:30 am New Zealand time and we landed at 6:30ish.
We did good getting through customs. Get this - in the US a German Shepard checks your bag for cocaine, in New Zealand a Beagle checks your bag for produce. I watched him bust a girl with a banana in her purse. He just walked over and stood at the bag and wouldn't pull away until she opened it and gave the customs agent the fruit. The agent then took it to the fruit bin. Once she threw it away, the dog who had been so calm got all excited to get his treat for doing a good job. It was too cute. I have found my next career. I want to be the lady who handles the produce Beagle.

Anyway, I wish you all could have seen the green pastures from above. I promise lots of amazing pictures when we visit the south island.

The parents house is great! I love the green plants. It reminds me of Miami in that the houses are close together and separated by a wall of plants, and the greenery is so varied like Florida.
Check out the view from our window.















Now check out the deck.

















We went to the store, FoodTown, and their major label like our "Kraft" is called Sanitarium. How funny is that? I am bringing back a jar of Sanitarium Peanut Butter. That is if I can it past that darn Beagle.

About Our Trip

Jen and Chris will be traveling to New Zealand from December 1 - December 30.

Chris is a native New Zealander but has not been there since 2002. This is Jen's first trip to Kiwiland.
We will be visitng Chris's family and friends in Auckland, as well as touring the country. Jen is a nerd and very excited to see Middle Earth.



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We leave Knoxville at 7:30 AM on December 1st and arrive in Auckland at 6:30 AM on the 3rd which is about noon on the 2nd back in Knoxville. Our travel time is roughly 29 hours with the flight from LAX to Auckland coming in at 12 hours and 41 minutes.
We are flying on Qantas.