Exploring the Land of the Long White Cloud

This was another post I thought of while I was not at a computer. Another spot of NZ life. This is an anti drunk-driving public service announcement. More evidence that serious things can be funny and they know how to do that here. Then when I searched that, I found a parody made by a guy called Ben Boyce who has a hilarious series called Wanna-Ben where he tries to "be" famous people. Such as wanting to be a wrestler so he interviews Hulk Hogan and takes advice from him about how to get there. Or wanting to be a child star so he interviews Steve Urkel, Stephanie from Full House, and the kid from Jerry Maguire and follows their advice. It's pretty off the wall which is exactly what makes us laugh. Not sure if you can find the show on you tube but it's well worth it if you can. You really have to watch the first one to find the second one as funny as it is.

I often am struck with a writing urge at the most inopportune times. While I am running along the ocean, while I am trying to fall asleep, most times when I am not in front of a computer or near one at all. I guess if I did this for a living, I would stop running and write in the notebook I would likely carry with me at all times, or I would get out of bed and start typing right away. But for now I just try to remember what I wanted to say and even though I am relatively young and my memory should be good, it's tough to keep it all in mind! Usually I recall snippets of what I was thinking so I try to work from that. One thing that I've been trying to remember has been whittled down to such a small snapshot that it's not really as interesting as it was in the train of thought but I'll mention it anyways. We introduced guacamole to people who have an avocado tree! The first place we stayed in town, we made dinner one night and of course it was Mexican because they kept ...

Thanks to now being a modern household with this internet connection, I can show you some of our life recently. Carissa Moore getting barreled Steph Gilmore in the finals Winners Podium - so perfectly constructed with help from Dustin and I! The mighty Mt Taranaki Dustin's overnight hike. It was intense. We're having a lazy Saturday after checking out some garage sales this morning. Only luck was an iron and ironing board. (Gotta be pressed for our job interviews! I have one on May 1st - what a long wait!) Dustin's been surfing already and he's still feeling his hike earlier this week. I think we might head to a pub to watch the rugby tonight because it's only on premium cable and we don't have it. Hurricanes vs the Crusaders, it should be a good one as they are roughly equal in standings right now. Enjoy the photos!

Apr 18/12 4:16pm Thought I'd check in with you guys. The obligatory weather info is that aside from that rain last week we've been back to solid sunshine, day in and day out. The winds kicked up overnight but it's still warm and sunny. I am really a big fan of autumn down here! We haven't been in NZ yet between April and August and so far it's beautiful. Possibly unseasonably lovely but I'm enjoying it either way! They didn't really get a good summer we've heard so it's come late. Dustin is up on Mount Taranaki right now. He's hiked up for an overnight in one of ths huts up there. I decided I'd rather go once we had an idea of what the huts are like. Luckily we met an American traveler who was also volunteering at the surf fest who was keen to hike which meant Dustin wasn't going by himself. It's supposed to be about 5 hours to the hut and then about 7 hours out tomorrow so not too bad really. Hopefully they get some stunning sig...

Apr 11/12 4:58pm Right now we've got the first bit of rain that we've seen since we arrived in New Plymouth! So it's been a good run of sun so far. We officially have a place to live now. We woke up on Good Friday and realized that it is the right move even if it's just for a few months or so. We were lucky that the agent was willing to do some work on a holiday (even supermarkets are closed on Good Friday here) so we moved in later that afternoon. It was funny though because we couldn't even get the normal supplies like toilet paper and dish soap until the next day! We took in another super rugby game (that's the name of the league, although we do think it's super!) Friday night. The volunteer co-ordinator for the surf fest invited us out to his workplace for beers beforehand - they are located right next to the stadium. So we met more people through him and I chatted up a girl who would be the team leader for a job I applied for, hope I...

Apr 5/12 9:00pm I think today was a breakthrough day. It's been a tough week as far as keeping our frustrations in check. We even started talking about the time limit we think we have in us for this searching, searching constantly. We weren't sure quite what we would do if we hit the time limit but to even discuss leaving here meant we were having a hard time. This week has been full of serious contemplating. There have been a handful of new rentals come up this week but most are repeats of places we've already viewed. We saw a one bedroom apartment this evening though that we're thinking just might do the trick. People had built it above their garage so they could live there while they built the rest of their house so it's relatively new and it's insulated! Big deal around here. The layout and size are the pieces that we're kind of questioning but I think we'll maybe just make it work. At least the owners aren't wanting us to lock in for a...