The Lake Sumner Weekend

Across the river from our campsite

A few rocks

My blue truck and getting ready to scare some trout

Lake Taylor

Lake Sumner with a couple of hills as a backdrop

So the weekend went pretty well apart from some sandflies and a bit of sunburn....and no trout, at least on my hook. Unfortunately, we weren't able to drive all the way up to the campsite, but the walk wasn't too bad. At one point though, we had to use Jonny as a scout (why he likes to run so much I will never know); he ran ahead to see how much further the hut was - way too much energy. We didn't end up staying at the hut; instead, we camped beside the river, which was nice. We do plan on going back; next time I might have a better plan for fishing. The pictures really speak for themselves.

Auckland
Where our journey began...

The Sky Tower...and a man jumping off (from a freefall platform at the top), no Dad I didn't do it.

Some interesting teenagers that wanted to charge us for a photo of their mowhawks, uh no.

Matt still smiling at his halfway mark of the marathon!

The Celebration at the finish line...he completed in his goal time--4 minutes under 4 hours!

Our next to last or second (should I say) stop was Rotorura. It reminds me of Yellowstone National Park and the Old Faithful area, with the smell of rotten eggs preceding the city limit sign. Nonetheless, it is a very unique place with steaming, bubbling mud pits wherever you turn. We went on a "cultural tour" that included a bus ride and bus driver that we will never forget...he could speak greetings in over 30 languages (from years of talking to tourists and imitating). We went to a Maori village and were entertained with song/dance then had a hangi--a dinner that is cooked in a pit, yum. It was a really fun night, very touristy. Our drive toward Rotorura was along the Coromandel Peninsuala, gorgeous coastline, the pictures speak for themselves.

The day before Napier we spent adventuring. We woke up first thing in the morning and went to the Zorbing spot (see here for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorb) for a roll down a hill in a big plastic ball with water in it...a bit hard to explain. But nonetheless an absolute blast!
We then made the drive to Lake Taupo, stopping at Huka Falls to do a walk. We had lunch in Lake Taupo but then drove around to the other side of the lake to do a hike with a gorgeous overlook of the lake, past a waterfall, all sorts of birds and native forest. We stopped on a "beach" and relaxed afterwards, soaking in the warm weather. Then made the short drive to Napier!

Before heading to Windy Wellington, we landed in Napier (aka home to Jonny, Megs and Sammy Clark). We got treated to dinner by Mr. and Mrs. Clark at an Indian restaurant...and had homemade kiwi muffins back at their casa. Lovely to meet the lineage of our best friends in New Zealand! We toured Napier (the city was built in Art Deco fashion, so quite unique) on bicycles and afterwards went for a wine tasting and lunch at Mission Estate Winery, one of the oldest wineries in NZ. We felt like movie stars eating under white umbrellas on the manicured lawn with grapevines hanging overhead. We then drove up to Tamata Peak of a 360 degree overlook to see mountains, rivers, ocean and city. The North Island has a warmer climate than the South, so orchards of avocadoes, apples, asparagus,berries, etc abound.

Continuing on...Our Wednesday/Thursday were spent in Wellington (the windy city...and boy was it windy). Matt has been to Chicago several times and said it was a lot windier than Chicago. But we had fun anyway. We were exhausted when we got to the hostel Wed. night but our roomates from Canada, Holland, and Germany all insisted that we go to the Halloween Party that was downstairs. They ripped a sheet off the bunk bed and wrapped it around me as a toga, then they "found" some toilet paper and wrapped 5 rolls around Matt to make him into a mummy! We had a fun time. The next morning we woke up and hiked up Mt. Victoria to an awesome look-out over the city, then walked down to Oriental Beach and had to head to the airport to fly back to Christchurch. We grabbed breakfast at Mama's Cafe near our hostel...interesting place, the waitstaff were wearing wrestling masks (like off Nacho Libre)...the food was delicious!

Until tomorrow!

Going backwards...Saturday I had to work so Matt and Blaine went for a hike out on Castle Rock and then we went out with a group of our friends to Santorini's, a Greek restaurant that gets you up and dances you through the kitchen! Also had a fun night out at Lichfield Lanes (sorry no pics from then). On Friday, Matt met me after I finished work and we went for a walk through the botanical gardens (where the swinging pic was taken). I had mapped Matt out a course through central city, so he took lots of artsy photos with our camera while I was at work. Check back tomorrow, as the story continues...

MY COUSIN MATT!!!
I think I will start backwards and show some of our best photos from the last 1 1/2 week of tripping around with Matt. These photos are from yesterday! We drove 1 hour to Akaroa and rented mopeds and explored the area around all the bays. It was such a blast! Blaine's moped was the slowest...we couldn't decide whether his moped was just slower or he was fatter! Matt scared me a few times...he is accident-prone and had a few close calls with a road sign and some gravel. But thank God he was safe! More photos to come!!! Don't miss out!!