Ski Season is Coming!

So with fall here already (the park by our house is finally showing some beautiful fall colors on the trees!), winter is just around the corner. That means ski season is coming soon!! We have been searching for used skis and just bought our season passes last night. We've almost got all the gear we need for a fun season. The mountain even got 30 cm of snow this morning!

I'm looking forward to having time to build up my skill and confidence so that I can (hopefully) relax and enjoy skiing. Will also be interesting to see how the slopes compare- we'll be skiing on an inactive volcano!

The resort is running a photo competition, so I thought I'd give it a go. We could get our passes for free if we win, which would be a big win. Each vote by you is an entry for me into the sweepstakes, so feel free to share with your friends and family!

I strayed a bit from the decorated Easter eggs that many of the other entrants posted and decided to go with a throwback photo from 2010. This is from the Colorado ski season when Jackie suggested we hide like Easter eggs in the snow. Not very artfully appealing as a photo, but it sure does bring back good memories and makes me look forward to what's to come this season.

Click on the photo or vote on the resort site.

Cheers!

ANZAC Weekend

ANZAC Day

 ANZAC day, April 25, is to commemorate the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. This year it just so happened to fall on a Friday, giving us a long weekend to celebrate.

We kicked off the weekend by going to the Auckland War Memorial Museum on Thursday night to see it lit up with newly discovered footage from the war.

Friday morning we watched the dawn memorial services from the comfort of the couch- it's amazing how many people turn out for the service!

Whatipu views

Crawling through caves at Whatipu

After a hearty breakfast, we decided to go for a hike out west to Whatipu. It was about an hour drive and a short 20 minute hike to some spectacular views! Definitely worth the slightly challenging steep climb down. And if that wasn't enough, just a 10 minute walk away were some pretty cool caves. One of them was huge and apparently has a dance floor buried 5m beneath the sand. I started dreaming up ways to revive the place and throw a big party.

However, the current day party was held in the cave next door, where I found a tunnel to snake my way through. On the other side it opened up into a big cavern the size of two of my kitchens placed end to end. I had a private dance party as no one else could fit through, and then snaked my way back to the main cavern. All without getting too dirty as it was a beautiful sand bottom.

MT Eden

Saturday we spent the day with friends who were visiting from Australia. We had a delicious dim sum lunch and then explored a few of the volcanic peaks of Auckland.

Scary floaty things

Sunday, the weather and visibility report for Goat Island, a marine reserve just under two hours drive from the house, looked promising. We decided it might be the last chance for the season to go snorkeling without a wet suit (winter is fast approaching). I was the only one to brave the refreshing water temperatures, but got a little bit wigged out by the things floating in it. I just wasn't sure if they would bite or not! Once I got away from shore and closer to the island, they disappeared and it was much more enjoyable, though a bit cooler.

Cool 'tailless' fish

The camera doesn't do it justice, but the fish were much more plentiful and varied than the first time we visited Goat Island. It pays to wait for a good visibility day. I'd love to see it on an 'excellent' day. Perhaps next season.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from the antipodes!

We had a nice, long, four-day weekend here for Easter. Both Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays! We didn't organize plans to go anywhere, so we had the whole time to relax in our lovely neighborhood. We did a bit of geocaching, hunting for Easter eggs, searched for the Easter baskets that the Easter Bunny hid for us, and satisfied my Easter craving for a good old fashioned ham.

True to the weather forecast, it was rainy and a bit windy this weekend. However, it came in waves so we still managed to find time to picnic and walk through the city searching for giant Easter eggs in the Whittakers Egg Hunt. We saw a bunch of them on exhibit at the library, and hunted out a few more scattered around town.

While walking along the waterfront on Good Friday, we came across a bar playing the Blackhawks game live, so we stopped in to have a drink and watch the rest of the game. Surprisingly, they informed us that we had to order an entire lunch if we wanted to drink on Good Friday due to New Zealand law! I still can't decide if I like this law or not. We just ordered cokes and still enjoyed the game (well, until the last few minutes of regulation anyway). I've come to like that all the shops are closed for the holidays- it's good that everyone gets a break and with all the shops closed you have no choice but to spend time with family playing games or picnicking. This law though seems a bit... silly? It's one thing to ban alcohol entirely, but to allow it only with food purchased just increases the cost and doesn't deter people too much.

I almost forgot, but Saturday night we went to Waikaraka Park (for the 2nd time) for the speedway and demolition derby. The rain threatened us a few times, but the worst held out. We enjoyed watching it rain mud on the spectators in the field who had chosen to sit too close to the track. Most were prepared with clear tarps for protection.

 Sunday morning we had a windy but lovely sunrise service on the beach, followed by traditional hot cross buns from the local baker and a bit later by my first ever home cooked Easter dinner. I didn't cook much, but it was good anyway.

I hope you all had a Happy Easter! Missing you much in this holiday season. I often remember rain on Easter, so it felt like home. Fall here isn't too different from spring in the midwest- it's cool, there's lots of rain and things are turning green again! It's very confusing to keep track of the seasons.

Cyclone Ita

The news yesterday was full of warnings about the potential dangers and bad weather that Cyclone Ita was predicted to bring to New Zealand. It ended up being a bit of a mixed day really.

I woke up and drove to work as normal with no issues- didn't even feel particularly windy as I was driving my car on the motorway. Once I arrived at work, the weather outside admittedly looked windy and stormy, but not so bad as a cyclone or as the papers had made it out to be.

However, my Auckland Transport work email kept sending out company updates on road closures and weather around the city- including the road right outside my front door! It was a bit unsettling sitting at work and hearing that my street was closed for flooding, but I hoped our second floor apartment would fare alright and decided that at least I was safe tucked away at work away from the coast a bit more.

At the same time, I was a bit bummed that I wasn't home to witness the worst of the storm and see the massive waves hit our tiny little beach that is normally so calm (being that it is protected from the sea by many islands and peninsulas). I settled for watching the news bulletins come in via email and the national news.

Here is a link to what was happening just outside our home! The worst of the damage was blocks away, but the flooding probably started about 1-2 blocks from our apartment (the boat ramp in the first video is less than 300 yards from our house).

We came home to some minor flooding (see photo at right- as I said, we were a few blocks away from the worst, we just had a bit of rain break the seal of the door from all the strong winds) and LOTS of sand on the road. The big rock blocks that separate the sea from the shared bike/pedestrian path had also been knocked off and had either fallen into the sea or been blown into the street.

So while it was a pretty bad storm and quite serious for some, we were relieved to be able to smile at the small scale 'flooding' of our own place and be thankful that our apartment seems to be built on a bit higher ground and able to withstand strong winds. (knock on wood)

Royal Visit!

As I'm sure you've heard, the royals have visited New Zealand! They came to see us even before stopping in Australia, which is very special. Unfortunately, they were only in Auckland for a day- Friday, a work day! And all their public appearances were within working hours. And, they didn't even bring baby George.

Fortunately, my work has an office in the central city (even though I typically work in the south suburbs). It just so happened that I had a meeting with some colleagues in the city on Friday afternoon during the royals boat race, so I came in early to see if I could catch some of the parade. It ended up that three of us girls from the south office came in to the city together and walked the 10 minute walk from the office to the parade route on our lunch break to see if we could catch a glimpse of Kate and Will.

My view of the royals

Unfortunately, I can't find Kate in any of my photos- it was very crowded and my camera was acting up. Also, it started pouring rain! and I didn't want to ruin the camera even more than had been done by the wave that overtook it a few short weeks ago.

However, I did get a shot or two of Will's back side and some great shots of their race from back at the office (17th floor harbour view). Nothing spectacular on the day, but it was fun to be royal crazy for a bit and follow the buzz.

Enjoy!

Prince William (in blue) greeting the crowd. I hear some of them had been waiting since before 7am! (This photo was taken at 12:45pm.)

And they're off! Kate vs Will

It's a close race.