Sorry that there still aren't many new pictures. Did you know that Internet in Fiji and New Zealand costs more than an average meal? Neither did we! Now you do, and so do we. ;) We're waiting until we can find cheaper service in Hong Kong and the Philippines to post more of our photos, but we want everyone to know how we're doing.
New Zealand has been absolutely beautiful! The weather stayed cold and rainy since our last post, but each day has given us a few minutes of sunshine (during which we run to the beach as fast as we can!) The past week we have been staying up in the Coromandel Peninsula along the north-eastern coast of New Zealand. The coastline is breathtaking! There are miles of sheer white cliffs that drop into crystal clear blue ocean. The horizon is filled with dozens of little islands and dramatic sea stacks (we're south of the Barrier Islands). Along the hillsides you can find more sheep than you can shake a stick at! My favorite thing to do on our hikes has been to chase them. Not in a mean way, but in a "Hey little sheepie!!! Come see!" sort of way. No luck yet. I think I intimidate them with my towering height. :) It really is an amazing place.
Today we drove up from the peninsula to Auckland, and spent the day at the Auckland Domain, which is their version of Central Park. We found a gorgeous botanical garden to tour, and oddly enough, also the hot house's groundskeeper. He highly suggested we listen to music by Black Labor Party (Ozzie Osborne's guitar player's band...) and let us help feed the fish after hours. He also showed us the bottom side of their 4 ft Brazilian lilly pads that can hold up to 60 kg!! He ended our visit by saying "It's beer o'clock and my liver's been naughty." He was hilarious, and fun to meet!
After the botanical gardens, we briefly toured the Auckland museum. It houses more Maori cultural art than we've seen our entire trip! It is absolutely incredible, and we wish we had more time to do a more extensive tour.
The evening found us at Sky City, Auckland's 1075 ft tower! It was an amazing experience, and the city was gorgeous to see at night from so high up above. I fought vertigo the entire hour we were up there, but standing on their glass floor was worth it! After the tower, we enjoyed our first (and only) fine dinner out in New Zealand and had lamb shanks (sorry sheepies!) and steak. Yum!!!
We miss everyone and hope everyone's doing well! We're off to the Hong Kong and Philippines next.
Much love, Kaycie and Merrill
P.S. For the moms: Just in case our moms are worrying, we are managing to eat well here! We have been able to find hostels with private kitchen and bathrooms (such luxury!!) and so we've been cooking curries and spaghetti each night. We absolutely cannot afford meat here ($10 per kg for the bad stuff) but we eat lots of grains, fruits, and veggies. We've been gorging on kiwis (only $1 per kg) and gourds, as it's their late harvest here.
The view from Sky City
The view from the glass floor at sky city
The Auckland Domain's 4 ft lilly pads
Cathedral Cove on Coromandel
The cliffs at Coromandel
1 comment:
Merrill Fat-you're just adorable. I am just enjoying living through you two. Oh ya, this is Ashley (Baucom) Janke from ol' East High. Best wishes on your many endeavors!!
P.S. The pic is of my daughter Annika-cute yeah?!
Post a Comment