NZ Day 6: Milford Sound

After a long day 5, we had another drive before we could embark on our Milford Sound Cruise.  It was over a 2 hour drive which set the stage for the cruise and our highlight of Day 6.

On the drive to Milford Sound from Te Anau

We took a two hour boat cruise with Mitre Peak to experience Milford Sound the best way possible.  Milford Sound is a fjord which is a long, narrow inlet with steep cliffs formed from glacial erosion.  Knowing how it was created puts an emphasis on how truly magnificent and incredible Milford Sound is.  It is considered the crown jewel of New Zealand and arguably one of the most beautiful, must see places on the planet.  We would have to agree and our pictures back it up.  It was such a tranquil cruise and well worth the visit.

Looking on to the cruise terminal.

One of many waterfalls along the cruise.

Pretty girls!

Stop looking at us!

Absolutely, positively stunning!

Incredible beauty!

The Schreurs @ Milford Sound

NZ Day 5: Te Anau

Day 5 was a busy travel day: flight from Auckland to Queenstown, picked up our campervan, and then drove to Te Anau where we ended at our first "Holiday Park." Holiday park is a glorified name for campground or campervan park that come in all shapes, sizes and features. Each night we would pull into the park to our designated spot and plug the van in so we had power. We would prepare food in the community kitchen/bbq area if we hadn't eaten already and follow it with showers and bedtime. There weren't any bathtubs in the community shower room in any of the parks so showering with Elodie in your arms was a bit tricky but manageable. She was such a trooper.

We traveled the entire south island in a campervan staying at Holiday Parks along the way - and it was awesome! This particular model had a bed up top (that we used for storage), and then the table below folded down to create a big double bed for Joe and me to sleep on. The only problem was Elodie. The company gave us a 'pack and play,' but there was hardly any room inside to put it. So we crammed it in the small space at the foot of our bed... which was in front of the door. So this basically meant that once we put her to bed, we were stuck inside the camper van for the rest of the night. The other annoying part of this was that we (hubby) had to assemble it every single night and then take it down to store in the morning.

Here she is standing in the space we put the pack and play every night.

And then here is the view the other direction (our bed).

So as you can see... it was pretty cramped! But nonetheless, we still really enjoyed the NZ camping experience. You probably think we saved a lot of money traveling the country this way...? But that's a common misconception. By the time you add up rental fees, fuel, insurance, plus the expensive nightly campground fees it might have ended up being more expensive than had we rented a car and stayed in hotels. But yet this is the option that the majority of tourists end up choosing to do in NZ. It's really a relaxing way to see this beautiful country. You can be a bit more flexible and travel at your own pace, explore hard-to-reach places that don't necessarily have accommodations, and it also gives you a single place to call home for an extended period of time - no packing and unpacking every single day as you move from hotel to hotel! Traveling by campervan really gives you a great deal of flexibility and freedom. Plus, you're able to keep food in your refrigerator at all times - which was especially helpful with Elodie!

So as I said above, our first stop of the south island was Te Anau - a beautiful little town bordering Fiordland National Park. It's basically the gateway to the the famous and breathtaking Milford Sound (which I will be writing about in the next post).

Te Anau was basically just a pit-stop for us to spend the night since it's really the only town between Queenstown and Milford Sound. There wasn't a whole lot to do there other than walk the trails near the lake, explore the touristy shops, and enjoy the beautiful surrounding scenery. It's a great camping spot and perfect place to relax, but our main objective was to continue on to see Milford Sound.

NZ Day 4: Waitomo

Waitomo is a small town on New Zealand's north island that is basically known for one thing: glowworms. We took a tour through Spellbound, where we were able to glide through a cave and experience Waitomo's largest glowworm colony. Thousands of glowworms were shining above us as we drifted downstream in a boat. It looked just like a bright starry sky, and was absolutely stunning. It was really difficult to get a good photo inside the caves, the photo above is from here.

Surprisingly Elodie did really great on this tour. We were worried that 1) she'd get carsick on the bumpy back road drive to the cave, and 2) she'd cry once we were on the tour because of the darkness - because let's be honest here, most people are NOT thrilled when they see a one year old headed on the expensive tour they prebooked. But she did awesome!

Other than seeing the glowworms, there really wasn't a whole lot to do in the area. It's definitely located in the country and pretty isolated - lots of farmland and animals. We actually stayed at a bed and breakfast that had a miniature animal petting farm. This was really great for Elodie!

We were the only ones staying here at the time, so the owner took us out and introduced us to all of the animals. Elodie was able to ride a couple horses and cows, and we were even able to feed the llamas. She had a blast! We have been so busy the last couple of days that it was nice to have a little down time and let her explore the farm.

Here we are standing next to the world's second smallest bull. The owner said he has an "attitude" and can be mean - but yet she encouraged us to take a photo next to him. She gave him a bowl of food to try and distract him from noticing us. I love this photo - we're all looking very nervous, haha!

We even had a fresh ostrich & emu egg omelet for breakfast. Joe loved it! ;)

Waitomo was our last stop on the north island. We really enjoyed our journey through this part of the country! With such unique culture, landscapes, and activities we feel that we got to experience so much in the past few days. We were sad to leave, but still excited to see what the south island had in store for us.

NZ Day 3: Hobbiton

Day 3 began with a short drive from Rotorua to Matamata where we would then embark on the Lord of the Rings Hobbiton Tour.  Matamata, or rather the Alexander farm, was discovered by Peter Jackson while on an aerial search for suitable film sites for his LOR movies.  The rolling countryside resembled Middle Earth perfectly and the land was untouched by 20th century clutter like roads and power lines.  The rest is history.

I (Joe) was very much looking forward to this part of our trip.  I have to admit that although it lived up to its hype the weather, namely the rain, put a damper on things.  We were as prepared as we could be with rain coats and the provided umbrellas.  However, carrying/entertaining a one and half year old while holding an umbrella and carrying a diaper bag all the while on a walking tour trying to listen in and take photos was needless to say difficult and quite frustrating.  Emily was also 5 months pregnant at the time.  The silver lining was that this really was the only bad weather we had to endure on our trip and it could have been worse had we not been able to go on the tour at all.

Aside from the aforementioned cumber the tour really was fantastic.  The amount of undertaking that went on to develop the set is very evident.  I won't go into all of it for fear to bore you but apparently the New Zealand Army was contracted for a lot of the heavy duty work and it took 9 months to complete  And amazingly most all of the set was torn down after the initial filming.  No one had the foresight that it might be a tourist attraction! Only recently was everything rebuilt when The Hobbit trilogy was announced and it is all now carefully maintained.  It really is like you are in the movie going on the tour, well, because frankly you are literally walking through the set where they filmed it.  I would go back again and recommend to anyone who loved the books and or movies.

Oh, and of course…pictures!

Bag End

Hobbit Hole (1 of 37)

The only hobbit hole they will let you in.  It was empty if you were wondering.

Inside the Green Dragon Inn, a replica of the Inn
that was featured in the LOR movies.

Southfarthing Ales!

Cheers!

NZ Day 2: Rotorua

We woke up a little sore from all of our walking on day one. Pathetic, I know. But we were still super excited to see this next thermal wonderland: Wai-O-Tapu. Wai-O-Tapu means "Sacred Waters," and this park is known as New Zealand's most colorful volcanic area. Despite the cloudy and rainy weather, we were not disappointed.

This park covers some 18 sq.km and is covered with collapsed craters, cold and boiling pools of mud, water and steaming geysers.

 

The color of the water actually changes depending on the weather. After heavy rainfall, the water appears cloudy but with sunlight the water will appear blue. There's an underground stream with a water temperature of about 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees F!!) The underground streams are heated by magma left over from earlier eruptions... water temperatures in some areas have recorded temps up to 300 degrees C! So crazy!

Our pictures really don't do this colorful park justice since it was a cloudy and rainy day. But despite the poor weather, we were still really impressed with this park.

The geyser Lady Knox erupts at 10:15AM every single day. It's pretty impressive actually - all the staff have to do is put a bar of soap in there... and then it erupts!

We ended our trip to this park by walking to see some giant bubbling mud pools.  It was like watching a fire burn... absolutely mesmerizing.

After spending our morning trekking through the thermal park, we decided to check out the Buried Village that we'd seen advertised in some brochures. We sadly discovered that this this was an absolute (and expensive) tourist trap. I guess we were expecting to see... well... a buried village of some sort..? Instead, we got to see reconstructed homes. We were SO disappointed! Luckily, we did take a short hike and discovered a beautiful waterfall. That almost made the ticket price worth it. ;)

Despite the smelly atmosphere, we really enjoyed Rotorua. I'm so glad we decided to stay here two full days - so much to see! Up next: Hobbiton!

NZ Day 1: Rotorua

Most people think, "oh, you should definitely see NZ while you're on that side of the world - it's just a short flight down there, right?" Wrong. So very wrong. Yes, we're on this "side of the world," so it was great not having to adjust to the time change, but it's still a long haul down there... a good 12+ hour flight. So we departed Nagoya in the afternoon, changed planes in Hong Kong, then took the redeye flight down to Auckland, which arrived at noon the following day. We then hopped in our rental car and drove to Rotorua, where we spent the next couple of days.

Rotorua is in the Bay of Plenty area in the North Island of New Zealand. It's famous for its geothermal activity, especially it's geysers and bubbling hot mud pools. It's nicknamed the Sulfur City because it literally smells like rotten eggs all the time.

We began our trip in Roturua with a visit to the historical Pig and Whistle restaurant, where I can honestly tell you that I had the BEST seafood chowder ever. Thick, creamy, and loaded with a variety of seafood... served with a huge freshly baked baguette, it was seriously awesome!

The next morning we went to Waimangu Volcanic Valley. This park was great because it had a self-guided walking trail that you could explore at your own pace. It was beautiful!

This region is characterized by spectacular volcanic and geothermal features that are a result of its location lying on the Pacific "Ring of Fire." This Ring of Fire marks the boundary between the Pacific and the India/Australia tectonic plates. This park was truly magnificent, and had some of the bluest water we've ever seen. We were so fortunate to get such a beautiful day to explore it!

On our drive back to town we got to see this funny little guy...

There's some crazy statistic out there that New Zealand is home to 3 million people and 60 million sheep... that's 20 sheep for every person! I don't know how true that is, but I certainly believe it - there are sheep everywhere!

After a nice afternoon break, we ventured over to Te Puia to see the world famous Pohutu geyser. On average, it erupts once or twice each hour and can reach heights of 100 feet!

We must have gone at a really good time, because it didn't stop erupting the entire time we were there. It was a pretty spectacular (yet very smelly) site.

We're back... a year later...

We did so much in New Zealand that I don't even know where to begin. I suppose it doesn't help that almost a full year has gone by since I've last written a blog post (I'm back-dating these posts for my own sanity). So much for my three week "break" from the blog.

The last year has been a whirlwind, to say the least. The week after we got back from our vacation, Joe got a job offer from Boeing in Charleston, SC - he took it. So we quickly packed, said our goodbyes, and headed to the U.S. before the airlines wouldn't allow me to fly anymore because I was hugely pregnant. We arrived in SC, adjusted to the time change, bought a house, and then had a baby the day after we moved in to our new house.

We've not only had to adjust to life back in the U.S. - but we have also had to adjust to a new city, a new house, and a new family member.  I suppose that's my way of justifying why I took almost an entire year off from the blog.

So it's time to retrace our steps a bit and travel back in time to tell you about our life over the past year.

Break

I'm taking a 3 week break from the blog. We are heading out on our last vacation before Baby #2 arrives... and our final trip while we'll be in Japan!

We're ending it with a bang: 2 weeks in New Zealand, 1 week in Fiji!

Picture us driving around New Zealand in this awesome camper van, checking out all the local sites and staying at campgrounds. It's going to be an adventure! We're starting in the North island, then finishing our time there in the South.

We're going to be exploring glow worm caves, checking out the scenery for the famous Lord of the Rings movies and taking a Hobbiton tour, witnessing geothermal geysers, swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura, bungee jumping in Queenstown (well... Joe is anyway!), taking a helicopter tour and walking on Fox and Franz glaciers... just to name a few!

After an exciting and action packed two weeks in NZ, I think we'll be ready to sit back and relax on the beautiful private Savasi Island in Fiji.

Check back in 3 weeks friends, I'm sure I'll have lots to tell you. :)

Washi Eggs

Today I went to a washi egg decorating class. The pic above was taken from google images, and is what the eggs are supposed to look like when finished.

They are called washi eggs because of the "washi" style paper used to decorate them. I think most are made out of ceramic or real eggs, but we used wooden - because let's be real - after all the hard work of making them we don't want our kiddos to break them. ;)

It's quite the process of measuring the paper, drawing the appropriate lines, cutting it to the right dimensions, and then folding it ever so gently around the egg while trying to smooth out the glue.

I went to the paper store over the weekend and picked out a variety of prints, which you can see above. I'm excited to try out all of them and make eggs with each pattern. I managed to almost complete 2 eggs during the class, however, they still need to dry and then I have to finish by painting them with lacquer... actually, our teacher said they will need several coats of lacquer.

I love the eggs so far, and I think they will be a really cute decoration in our future house. Let's just hope I stay motivated to complete all of them. Do you remember the yukata I was working on? It's still sitting unfinished in my closet. Apparently sewing is NOT my thing. But I generally like crafts, so I think this will be a fun project for me!

Menu

We went out to dinner tonight, and this was the menu.

Welcome to our life. We constantly feel illiterate, every single day. It's frustrating.

Yes, I know, it's partly our fault. We should have kept up with our Japanese classes and took advantage of the language opportunity here. But the fact is, we didn't. Life events overtook the priority, and it is what it is at this point in the game.

The language barrier has certainly made it difficult to get out and try new things, especially when it comes to food and restaurants. If it doesn't have an English menu, or at least pictures to look at, forget it! So we find ourselves always going to the same "safe" places; places where we know ahead of time that we can get by.

Luckily we had a couple Japanese friends with us tonight, who went ahead and ordered for us. But can you imagine that feeling?... not being able to read a single word, and then someone just going ahead and ordering what they think you would like..? Sometimes it feels like we're children here. But I'm not complaining, because it it wasn't for friends, we would never try any place new.

I feel very fortunate that several restaurants here even offer English menus. I wonder what do people do when they move to the U.S. and can't speak a word of English? Americans aren't usually quite as accommodating when it comes to foreigners and language barriers - many just expect people to know English.

Living here has certainly been an eye-opening experience, on many different levels. The language barrier is just one of them. It's truly been a fantastic opportunity to experience another culture and see the world. But with all of that said, we're both looking forward to going home for good in the fall. Being able to read AND understand everything is such a great feeling!