New Zealand Part 1

Merry Christmas everyone! It is hard to believe another holiday season is upon us. It is Christmas Eve here in Wellington. Ryan and I are about halfway through our trip. We had made plans to talk to a bunch of you on the phone this week, but we just learned that it costs $4 a minute here to talk overseas. Who knew? Finally, something that is actually cheaper in Tonga :) So, we thought we would just share some pictures with you for now and talk once we get back home on the island. We started our trip in Auckland. We spent somet ime shopping, eating at restaurants (NO root crops or roast pig allowed) and sending ourselves a care package. I'd love to regale you with tales of original Auckland experiences, but mostly we just enjoyed hot showers in the hotel and anonymity in the city. So nice!



A little bit of Christmas!

After Auckland we went south to Waitomo. This was a very small, very rural town. It was cool to see some of the rural countryside. Here we toured the natural glow worm caves. It was one of the neatest things ever. We had to get all dressed up in caving gear with an inner tube and go for an underground hike/ tubing adventure. The water was FREEZING and the caves were spectacular. It was pretty unbelievable to see how high the caves were. It didn't seem possible to have such size under the ground. One part of the tour was something that I will forever have in my poetic memory. We had just finished jumping off our second waterfall with our tubes and entered a long stretch of cave. Our tour guide had us line up and hitch on to one another using our feet. They then told us to turn off our headlamps, klay back and relax. This part of the cave was so special, they would pull us through so we could just enjoy it as opposed to having to navigate our tubes. It was the most spectacular Christmas light display ever. So many glow worms... such unique patterns. It was extra special because our group of 12 all got silent. I just felt so... I guess in the moment is the best way to describe it. I could feel the cold, see my breath, hear the breathing of the people I was connected to. The dark made the blue shine so bright on the ceiling of the cave. It also gave off a hazy blue color that helped our eyes explore the shape and size of the walls of the cave we were floating through. When we emerged, our group literally shouted for joy. It was sunny because we emerged from the cave onto one of the hiking trails and we scared the hell out of some hikers. Then they kept taking pictures of us because they thought we were famous cavers or something with all our gear. Pretty cool experience. Sorry we don't have pictures to share. We were too cheap to pay the $30 for the picture cd.

We needed beer and sun to warm us up after the cold of the caves.

At this point you may be wondering, "Did Ryan even go on the trip?" The answer is yes. He is not in any pictures thus far because he was too embarrassed to be photographed. The reason for this is he got what can only be categorized as second degree burn our last night in Tonga. We spent our last Sunday in the village feasting with our church friends and playing at the beach with two families we are closest too. The next day, we stayed in a hotel in Tonga to wait for our connecting flight to NZ. This hotel had a pool. Ryan sat by it. For 3 hours. No sunscreen. Here is the result of said choices:



Nice stomach stache honey!

So, that is why he is absent from photos. Don't worry... he shows up soon :) Next we were on to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. This is a 19 km day hike that is said to be one of the best, if not the top day hike in the world. It crosses the active Tongariro Volcano, which blew just 14 months ago causing a long shutdown of the track , and heads to three different volcanic lakes. This had been one of the things we were most excited for in New Zealand and it absolutely lived up to the hype. The sun was shining, the air was crisp and the hike was unbelieveable. It was some of the most beautiful scenery either of us have ever seen. The hike was a challenge but the day was fantastic. Simply can't say enough about it, so I will let the pictures do the talking: