New Heights (Depths?) Of Relaxation

On Friday, Dec. 17, Hart and I packed up to head to Hana, which is on the east side of the island. Before we left, we visited the Maui Ocean Center, a neat aquarium with fish, turtles and lots of sharks.

According to guidebooks, most people take the road to Hana as a one-day trip, hitting the highlights and then turn around to go back to the west or south sides of the island. The descriptions of Hana that I had read made it sound heavenly, so we stayed for three nights to get a better sense of the area. The drive was nice, but a lot of the sights that the guidebook described were overgrown and the waterfalls were nearly dry. The view was gorgeous, though. Here's a photo from one of the lookouts.

We stayed just outside Hana on a 5 acre flower farm. There are two cottages on the farm. We were in the small one, which was much like a studio apartment. From the patio, we could see the ocean in the distance with lush landscape in the foreground. The patio had a hot tub which we relaxed in every night after the mosquitoes went to sleep. We are both popular with mosquitoes and, although the place was beautiful and relaxing, I'm not sure we'd choose to stay there again.

On Saturday we took a hike that our friends Paul and Katherine recommended to us. It was a beautiful trail with lots of waterfalls and pools along the way. There was also a huge banyan tree, which send out roots along their branches. The roots eventually work their way down and create additional trunks for the tree. I posed for this picture to show the size of the tree.

My favorite part of the hike was the bamboo forest. Even though it was a mostly sunny afternoon, it was dark amid all the tall stalks of bamboo. I'm glad Hart talked me out of planting bamboo along the back wall of the yard in our Phoenix house -- I keep envisioning that tiny backyard completely full of bamboo. Although, it would have cut down the heat in our family room that came from the two south-facing windows. We didn't lighten the following photo because it is more representative of the dark when we were there.

The hike ended with a dramatic waterfall that didn't have very much water flowing off of it, but had a long drop to the pool below.

On Sunday we played in huge waves and explored some pretty views from red sand beaches. In our cottage, I found a book I've been wanting to read, so I spent a lot of time reading and Hart played computer games.

We're now preparing to go to the Maui airport for our flight to Honolulu. We leave Honolulu for L.A. tonight and get into Phoenix about noon tomorrow. To while away the travel hours, we may finally play a game with the deck of cards we've been carrying with us for the last six weeks.

More of the Same

Snorkeling, playing in the surf, reading, napping, eating, seeing movies.... Our travels aren't too exciting right now, but we're having a good time playing. Experiences of note:

• Racing to the movie theater to see After the Sunset, a really bad caper movie with Pierce Brosnan, when we thought we were going to see Before Sunset, a romantic, arty movie with Ethan Hawke
• Watching extremely high surf caused by a storm in the northwest Pacific Ocean
• Fantastic snorkeling where we saw lots of turtles
  Fabulous massages, which were an early Christmas gift from my sister
• Eating lots of fresh, well-prepared fish

Dragon's Teeth

On Sunday we drove to a spot in west Maui called the Dragon's Teeth. It's one of the most recent lava flows from the west Maui volcano (no worries...it was hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago) and the tag-team effort of the surf and the wind has created some cool formations. They look like jagged teeth, hence the name.


We were there at sunset, which was great. The tide was coming in and the surf was high, so there were great plumes of mist every time a wave hit the rocky outcropping we were on. That and the fiery sky made for a beautiful scene.

Quality Time in the Ocean

Our relatively uneventful days continue in Maui, which is right according to plan. When people asked me about our plans, I explained that New Zealand would be our adventure part and Maui would be our "another Mai Tai please" part. While we haven't loaded up on tropical drinks, we have done a whole lot of relaxing.

On Thursday morning we headed to a beach near our hotel where the snorkeling was supposed to be good. We also read that late in the morning the wind tends to pick up and cloud the water, and we think we were too late because there was a lot of sand washing around and limiting visibility. Still, we snorkeled for a bit more than an hour and saw a bunch of different fish that we normally only get to see inside those big tanks and expensive restaurants or doctors' offices. Even though the conditions were far from ideal, it was still cool enough that we were determined to get out of the hotel earlier so we had more hope of clear water.

Today we got up and out of the hotel considerably earlier and drove down to another highly recommended snorkeling beach. It turned out to be a pretty isolated spot (there were only a couple other people we could see) but when we we got there I discovered that the strap on my rental mask was broken. We decided to enjoy the beach anyway, so I went back to the car to grab the boogie board. We were both surprised at how much fun we had in the surf!

Afterward, we got my mask fixed at the dive shop (we're determined for some good snorkeling tomorrow), got some lunch at a 50s style diner (including a chocolate malt), read and napped a bit in the hotel, went back out for another boogie boarding session (the wind made it too choppy for snorkeling), and went out for dinner. How's that for a sentence?

Another funny note is that this is the first day we've been in Maui that it hasn't rained on us. It's not that we're dodging thunderstorms, but we've been unexpectedly doused several times. After all the unseasonable rain in New Zealand, we're thinking we might have futures as rain bringers for drought-stricken lands!

Gloriously Uneventful Days

We have had two lazy days on Maui and they have been fabulous! Yesterday we set out to buy a few necessary items (sunscreen, towels, cereal, etc.) and wound up visiting Costco, Walmart, Old Navy, Borders, Starbucks and Ross. No, we didn't feel the need to make up for lost time with all these chain stores, but we thought we might find what we needed at these places. After my meltdown at Walmart (I think they must circulate soul-sucking chemicals through the vents there), I required a Frappucino to soothe my nerves.

We then set out to find a grocery store, but went to the movies instead. We saw and loved The Incredibles and were pleasantly surprised to find that theater has matinee prices all day on Tuesdays. We're already making plans for a marathon movie day next Tuesday.

Safeway was the next stop and we headed back to our room. That is, until I remembered that we saw an IHOP earlier in the day. Our perishables promptly forgotten, we had comfort food that was top-notch IHOP.

We both slept in this morning, did a few necessary errands, including renting snorkeling gear, and headed to the beach and to get lunch. We had yummy onion rings (the onions are dipped in pancake batter and then panko flor before frying) and burgers for lunch and had our first tropical drink of the trip. After that, we went for a walk on the beach and waded in the water. Then we went back to our room, did laundry, relaxed in the hammock and read.

What a great feeling it is to do so little.

Freak Rainstorms

The biggest obstacle of driving in New Zealand was not driving on the left side of the road or shifting with my left hand, but using the turn signal, which was located on the right side of the steering wheel. Throughout the trip, I was prone to driving during freak rainstorms where I had to turn the windshield wipers on when I had to make a turn.

I was looking forward to driving in the US so that I wouldn't keep embarrassing myself by turning on the windshield wipers when I meant to turn on the turn signal. Now, of course, I expect the turn signal to be on the right side of the steering wheel and the windshield wipers to be on the left. Thus I am still prone to driving during freak rainstorms.

A few hours ago, I attempted to turn on the turn signal and began washing the windshield instead. We had just put the top down on the rental car, so I also managed to douse Hart with wiper fluid. Oops.

Facing Fears

We left Taupo on the 5th and headed straight to Waitomo. We skipped zorbing so we could have more time to do some walks in Waitomo. Instead of hiking on Sunday afternoon, we read and packed. We were both feeling a little lazy and were at good spots in our books.

Monday brought exploring by foot and the big adventure, caving in St. Benedict's Cavern. The cave was discovered in the 1950s and is absolutely gorgeous. Speleologists have determined that the cave was a sea cave on the ocean floor long before the ocean receded. Most caves begin as rock that is eroded by water and, once the cave is made, the formations begin forming. This cave had a huge head start on forming formations and it is rich in detail. It was spectacular, with massive stalactites and stalagmites, as well as formations called straws and curtains. Straws are just like they sound, stalactites with hollow middles. Curtains form when a straw plugs up and, because of the angle, the following drops of water and minerals form a curtain-like structure. We learned all sorts of other fascinating features of the cave, but I won't bore you with any more.

The adventurous part is that we had to abseil (or rappel) into the cave and then do a flying fox to get out. I have made it a habit to avoid such activities, but was eager to push my limits. The first abseil was 20 meters (about 65 feet) and the second was 40 meters (about 130 feet). We put on helmets and boots then were strapped into harnesses and given lessons on a hill covered of sheep. At the cave, we were attached to the line and sent on our way. We were both surprised by how much control we had over our movement. It was really fun and produced a surprising lack of adrenaline.

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For me, that was saved for the anticipation of the flying fox. Much like a well-secured clothesline stretched across a cavern, the line was a couple hundred feet long. One of the guides went first and then I elected Hart to follow her. I watched as he was attached to the line and given hanging handle bars to hold on to. The guide at our end gave him the option of turning his light of our leaving it on. Hart turned his light off, as did the rest of us, he lifted up his legs, and went flying across the cavern with a yell. My turn was next. I was much more nervous for this than for the abseiling, but knew I had no other way to get out of the cave. I insisted on keeping all the lights on, fully expecting to have my eyes closed the entire time. Once I was on my way, it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be -- it didn't even scare me enough to warrant a scream. And, I kept my eyes open the whole way, watching the stalactites whiz past.

The whole caving trip was fabulous fun and I was proud to conquer some fears. I doubt bungy jumping will ever be for me, but parasailing now seems calm and relaxing.

We're in Maui

We've made it into Maui safe and sound, and it's a little strange to be here before we left New Zealand. Crossing the date line is so weird. We still have some pictures and stories from our last days in New Zealand to post, but we'll have to wait until later to catch up. Cheers!

Another Picture Update

So we have gone a bit crazy with the posting today. We've had a backlog of things we wanted to post about, and we think we'll probably be incommunicado until we get to Maui, so we wanted to get our thoughts up when we could. In any case, here are a few of the pictures from our last few days. Enjoy!


The Clifdon Caves


Surf at Curio Bay


View from Nugget Point


Penguin at Penguin Place


A view of the outside one of the blinds at Penguin Place


One broken and several whole Moeraki Boulders

One Last Push

After swimming with dolphins, we meandered around Akarora for a while. Akarora is on a peninsula southeast of Christchurch, the largest city on the south island, and is only 85 km away. The town had the feel of an upscale weekend retreat for city folk and tourists with lots of spare cash. There were lots of galleries and overpriced goods, most playing on a French theme as Akarora's first white settlers were from France. We had lunch at Akarora Fish and Chips, which is reputed to be the best fish and chips joint in the region. It was delicious indeed.

In the afternoon, we started on another long driving day. We planned to stop in Kaikoura, about five hours from Akarora, but we pushed through to Picton so we could cram some adventures into our last couple of days. It is about nine hours from Wellington to Auckland and a three hour ferry ride from Picton to Wellington. We need to be in Auckland on Monday night and thought we'd play around on the south island until Sunday and then drive like crazy on Monday. However, I've been waffling about going to Waitomo Caves, which will add two hours to our drive to Auckland and appears to be incredibly touristy, and Hart mentioned that he'd really like to try zorbing (rolling down a hill in a human-sized hamster ball with water in it). We've decided to do both these things and do a lot of extra driving because, hell, we're in freaking New Zealand!

Currently, we're on the high-speed ferry from Picton to Wellington. We'll stop in Wellington to post this, buy a couple of gifts at the museum and eat lunch, then we'll start the six-hour drive to Rotorua for zorbing on Sunday. Monday we'll go to Waitomo Caves and Tuesday we'll fly to Honolulu. You may not hear from us until we get settled in Maui, which will be on Tuesday or Wednesday, but we'll have a lot to report then.

Swimming with Dolphins

On Friday joined a tour boat run by The Dolphin Experience for our dolphin swimming adventure in Akarora. We got there about a half-hour before we were to set out, and the staff got us outfitted with wetsuits, flippers, masks, and snorkels. The wet suits were heavy-duty sorts with two separate pieces: one sleeveless body suit that was like overalls, and a second heavy jacket that fit over the top. The weather was bright and clear, but there were high winds across the bay so the water was choppy with lots of spray. The folks at The Dolphin Experience told us it might be a bit rough out there and gave us a chance to back out, but we decided to go for it anyway and just hoped that neither of us would get too motion sick on the choppy water.

We set out right at 9 am and headed far out into the bay where the dolphins tend to spend their time. The wind kicked lots of spray up and over onto us as we were cruising out, so my glasses quickly got coated with salt and our exposed skin got icy. We were looking for Hector's Dolphins, the smallest and most rare dolphin in the world, which are just 1-1.5 meters long. They also are an endangered species so we had strict orders to only let them approach us and to never, ever touch them as their skin is delicate and could be hurt with a simple push or scrape.

After about 20 minutes we saw our first group, but they didn't stick around the boat, so we moved on. Ten minutes later we came across a large group of 12-15 dolphins that came right up to the boat and started swimming around us and playing in our wake--our crew said that was a good sign they were interested and might want to play. We donned our masks and jumped into the water, at which point I started to hyperventelate a bit. The water was a balmy 14 degrees Celsius (about 57 degrees Fahrenheit), so until the water heated up in our wetsuits it was, well, freezing.

Our crew told us that the dolphins like it when you make interesting noises, and would love it if we sung into our snorkels. After a few attempts, I managed to keep my face and mask down in the cold water, and started humming unintelligible rock songs using my snorkel like a long kazoo. The water was murky, with just 2 meters visibility, so it was surprising when the first dolphin shot by me, quickly followed by a second. After a few minutes I got a big gulp of salt water down my snorkel as a wave went over me, so I went back to the boat to recover.

I took six or seven swims total, each a few minutes long. The last two swims were definitely the best. The crew had a clicker that we could use to attract the dolphins, and I was one of the last to try it out. After I used it for a minute or so, I had at least six dolphins circling around me, and at one point I could actually hear them clicking and squeaking a bit. In my last swim I was the only one in the water, and I had all the dolphins come over to check me out, swimming by in twos and threes. At one point a dolphin swam right in front of me slowly so I could keep pace with it, until I saw it make a quick move with its tail and it disappeared from in front of me. My favorite moment was when one swam right under me no more than 18 inches from my face--if it had been allowed I could have easily stuck my hand out and stroked down its side as it swam by. I could see all the marks and scratches on its skin, its blowhole, and even how it had a ridge of black along the back of its tail fin.

We headed back, cold and wet, and took hot showers to rinse off at the company's office (rarely has a shower felt quite so good). It turns out we were very lucky, too. Other boats had gone out about the same time we did and had to come back because they found no dolphins to look at. It was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Survival Instinct Testing

The relationship between pedestrian and car is interesting here. New York City is famous for pedestrians needing to watch out as violent-minded drivers bear down on them in crosswalks. We were both shocked by how polite drivers were in Seattle, almost always stopping to wave pedestrians across. All across New Zealand, though, drivers simply do not accord pedestrians a second thought. Drivers aren't aggressive, but they never, ever, stop for you to cross the road. Ever. You could be half-way across the road in the middle of a gale wind and driving rain and the drivers will speed on by, preventing you from crossing. We both found this strange in a country where everyone seems to otherwise be so nice to other folks.

Mmm...Sacrilicious

We've seen more churches that have been converted to some other function here than I think I've seen in my whole life up until now. Old, steepeled structures are now being used for art stores, craft centers, gift shops, community halls, and lots and lots of cafes and coffee shops. Sometimes the crosses were removed, sometimes they were covered with woven rubber mats, and sometimes they were still all over the buildings. I wonder if religion is on the decline in New Zealand, or if the churches have just moved off the highways to make room for the push of commerce.

Cherries and Rhododendrons

I feel so lucky to have had two springs this year. Similar plants grow here as do in Seattle and parts of the landscape are similar to those it Washington, so it is almost as if we've skipped fall and winter gone directly to spring and early summer again. I have had cherries and strawberries in season and seen rhododendrons, hydrangeas and azaleas in bloom. If we were returning to Seattle directly from New Zealand, I think our bodies might experience shock to some biological rhythm.

Deer Farms

Deer are majestic creatures in the wild that I always expect to see them and be awed by their beauty. In New Zealand they are raised on farms, just like cows or sheep. Seeing them grazing in a pasture in groups is truly odd and I wonder if I will still be taken aback by their beauty the next time I see them in the wild.

Brekkie, Biskies, and the Beastie Boys

We've noticed that Kiwis tend to like to shorten and add "ie" or "y" to the end of as many words as possible. The most common ones we see are "brekkie" as short for "breakfast" and "biskie" as short for "biscuits" (which are cookies).

Yesterday, we got up and went to the albatross colony on the Otago Peninsula. We ended up not taking a tour because we would have had to wait a couple hours before the tour started, so we poked around the informational section and looked at the displays on the albatross and then headed back into Dunedin for brekkie at Everyday Gormet, a delicious little cafe we ate at the day before. We also picked up several sandwches and other goodies to eat later, and then hit the road.

The day was mostly a classic roadtrip as we raced up the coast--we needed to make it all the way to a town near Christchurch because we had a reservation to swim with dolphins on Friday. We cued up a slew of music, broke out the biskies, and hit the road. The music kept us rolling and we got into town at a very reasonable 8 pm. I even got a short movie of Kerrie getting her groove on while driving.

Barefoot

As a kid, I'd run around the neighborhood in summer without shoes. (Remember this is Phoenix and the asphalt was HOT!) In high school theater, my "job" involved a lot of running up and down stairs with treads that were almost spikes, something I did without shoes. I didn't want to wear shoes to my wedding, but Hart was afraid that the "barefoot and pregnant" jokes would be nonstop. I could go on, but I think you get the point: I hate wearing shoes.

Oh how I felt like I'd come home when I saw all the shoeless people all around me in New Zealand. They were in the grocery store, walking down the street and kayaking. There are no signs on doors that say, "No shoes, no service." We even passed a school when the kids were getting out for the day and at least half were barefoot. Glorious!

I have worn shoes a lot more this trip that I imagined I would, but the first thing I did at tonight's holiday park was remove my shoes and sprawl in the grass. With the sun streaming through the tree above me and the soft, warm clover under my feet, I was blissful.

The Penguin Place

The big event for Wednesday was visiting the yellow-eyed penguin reserve called (creatively) The Penguin Place. It is on the Otago Peninsula, which for those of you following along on the map is on the southeast edge of the south island. The yellow-eyed penguin is one of the rarest and most endangered penguins, and the reserve was set up about twenty years ago by a sheep farmer and his family. He bought the land for his sheep farm and then found that he had about eight penguins living on the coast. He set up fences to keep his sheep from eating away at the bush they lived in, and over time set aside more and more land for them. The reserve now has more than 40 birds living there and features camouflaged trenches and blinds so scientists and visitors can observe the penguins from close up. The blinds have 4-inch tall gaps that visitors can peer through to look and take pictures of the penguins. Normally the penguins are too shy to let people get close, but because the gap is only four inches tall the penguins think that the funny little animals in the hole are only four inches tall, thus are smaller then them, so they aren't afraid! At one point we were at most four feet from a penguin minding her own business. It was outstanding, and I got several great shots of penguins in their natural environment. It was an amazing experience!

Just Say No to Atkins

This is a meat and potatoes country for sure and Tuesday night's meal typified that. I ordered fish and chips and Hart had chicken and chips. The fish was breaded and fried, of course, and so were the chicken breasts. Along with the chips (french fries), both meals included a salad. In fact, both meals included two salads; one green salad that was more like garnish with dressing and a large helping of past salad, which was spiral noodles with canned peas, corn, orange segments and mango mixed in. It wasn't a bad meal, but it wasn't for the low-carb crazed.

Our trips to the grocery store have also revealed a diet that's focused around the benefits of carbohydrates. It is strange to see Kellog's cereal with "High in Carbos!" on the side of the box. Hart and I are thrilled since we would both be happy to eat only bread and cookies.