When we left the Mount....

It was a sad day. Bittersweet emotions about leaving the most beautiful place we have ever lived to embark on more adventures around the world. We have managed to downsize our lives into two backpacks and two carry on size bags. Never mind the fact that I can barely carry my backpack and will be in trouble should I happen to lean too far to one side.

On the day we left, we took one last climb up Mauao. I love that place. It will forever be so special to me. I mean, really, just look at it!

We headed up to Auckland for one last weekend with the Canadian friends, plus Jamie and Laura. I managed to not cry during the goodbyes (Extreme Home Makeover is the only thing that gets me every time - Mark says I am heartless) but I did tear up a bit. Especially when Laura and I exchanged goodbye cards and we had bought each other the exact same card. Who does that? Really good friends, I suppose :)

We are now on approximately a 17 day tour of the South Island - planned by tours Koslowski - and then we head back up to Auckland. At which point, we will be leaving this blessed piece of heaven on earth called New Zealand to fly to Australia. I might just have an Extreme Home Makeover moment then.

I'll try to post something from each location we travel to, doing my best with hostel and McDonald's internet. We are currently in Wellington, so I'll figure out what is worth telling you about here and post that soon. But now, it's time to go eat.

P.S. I tried to post more photos, but it was taking approximately forever, so I gave up. Here's hoping it will work next time. I find blogs so much more exciting with photos....

Passionfruit?

Another one of the new foods that we have been exposed to here in NZ is passionfruit. Not just the flavour (which is as close as we get in Canada!), but the actual fruit. What a funny food. The look of it does not really fit with the name. You would expect some sort of lovely or pretty food. Is this lovely or pretty to you? Looks like a plastic, purple potato.

Despite what it looks like, I decided to try and make something with it because as it is season here, it's cheap and abundant. So, passionfruit cheesecake it is.

It doesn't look any better on the inside. Probably even more weird than the outside. It's this slimy snot like stuff with little black seeds. So unappealing. However, I wish you could smell the aroma that wafts over you when you cut it open. That makes up for some of the lack of visual appeal. Smells delicious!

And tastes delicious. I think it's better in cheesecake form, because when you eat the pulp and seeds on their own all I can think of is how weird the texture is. And let's be honest, cream cheese and sugar usually make things better!

Happy Valentine's Day

Does anyone in Edmonton remember some DJ off of the Bounce radio station named like DJ Quake or something? Or someone who was on the same show as him? He always pronounced Valentine's Day, ValenTIME's Day. Drove me nuts. Now I can never think of Valentine's without having that pop into my mind.

Anyways, we had a nice Valentine's Day. Had a gourmet picnic on our beach. We will miss it so much.

Much love to all our friends and family!

Not this again...

We are leaving New Zealand in just over a month! I have very mixed feelings about this. I was so unsure about coming here a year ago and now I absolutely love it and am very sad to be leaving. How did this happen??? I'll tell you how:

Incredible Scenery

An endless summer!

The excitement of traveling and exploring new places

And probably most importantly - some AMAZING friends

Now, typical to my phobia of change, I am again feeling anxious and nervous about what is to come. We have great travel plans coming up so that helps, but as for what happens when we land back on Canadian soil, who knows?! We plan to look for jobs when we get back and see what happens. We will spend some time in Edmonton and Manitoba, but as for staying in either of those locations permanently....we are not so sure. We do not want to be landlocked! The ocean is too lovely to be so far away from. Don't you think? Yep, I know you do. So maybe we will move to BC and you can come visit.

Oh, and p.s. Skipping winter is NOT a bad idea :)

Surf Save My Life

I think I have mentioned before that I do not really know how to swim. I dog paddle and can float in salt water. That's about it. Therefore, I quite appreciate the surf lifesaving folks who volunteer to rescue me if I ever was brave (or stupid) enough to go too far out in the waves. I would also appreciate it if they would save Mark if he ever had a surf session go wrong. That being said, usually the lifeguards on the beach appear to be about 12 years old.

However, the fact that even the 12 year olds could save me (and swim around me in circles) was confirmed this past week when we were lucky enough to host the Festival of Surf Sport at Mount Maunganui. There were a variety of events - I can't remember all the names so I'll just post photos. There was swimming, boardpaddling, boat paddling, relays, sand races, etc. Maybe if I could swim I would know what the events are called. Anyways, the under 16's had their comp and were incredibly impressive. The first day saw HUGE waves! I unfortunately did not have my camera that day, but those poor people. I wouldn't have made it past the first wave.

Below is an example of how NOT to enter the beach. Oooops.

Hahahaha! I do not know the point of giving yourself a "thong" before jumping in the boat, but they all did it! It must serve some purpose other than making me laugh hysterically.

My two home countries! I have to admit the Canadian guy looks a bit nerdy. And unfortunately, Canada did not do too well in the overall competition. BUT it is the off season in the Northern Hemisphere. One of the Kiwi commentators even mentioned that the Canadians were likely "doing more ice skating on the ocean than swimming right now". No one had the heart to tell him the ocean doesn't freeze over.