Milford Accomplished!

Jenn just checked in from Milford Track--they made the final 11 mile trek to the boat yesterday--but had to go at a faster pace to make the 3:15pm ferry. Avalanches meant no bridges were in place, so wading through some water / hoping rock to rock, walking in river beds. No helicopter ride either, the pass was open. Trails intermittentet. Wet to the core on day 2--snowed at night, a little rain on second day, but great weather the rest of the trip. Food: they brought way too much food. So they were able to be generous with some young 20yr guys who didn't bring enough. In return the young guys reserved the prime bunks for Jenn and Mary (bottom bunk for Nanna). But they weren't so galant as to offer to carry any of the food or gear. Photos to come...

Halloween Disco

As the "no Mums or Nannas" week continues, Dad earned his Halloween stripes spending a couple hours cutting out bone shapes and double stick taping them to Nik's long underwear. Mom had already made Isaac's viking costume. The results speak for themselves. Isaac's disco party was from 5 to 6. Nik's was from 6:30 to 8. So Dad stayed inside with Isaac while Nikolas played outside with Kelvin (pictured here with his sister, Crystal) and other boys. Once the older kids were let in at 6:30, Isaac and Dad went home to play some chess. We all ate sausages grilled at the Halloween Disco, which reminds me to mention here that NZ sausages are really really bad. They have no texture or flavor. Even the kids think they suck. We'll wait until we visit Germany for some genuine Bratwurst.

Tomorrow night is Oct 31st, so the kids plan to go house to house for candy, but this pagan holiday is not as widespread in NZ as it is in the States (esp. Utah). We'll see what kind of booty they obtain. I plan to go "beer or treating" with them--I'll tell the locals that this is how we celebrate Halloween in Logan, UT...reminiscent of the Puerto Rican Parranda, where a gang of your neighbors and friends knock on your door well into the night and start singing until the owners let them in and feed them and throw an improptu party. I recall the parranda season being sometime after Halloween and before Thanksgiving (yes, they celebrate that holiday in Puerto Rico, but solely for the eating and drinking pleasure). Speaking of P.R., I saw that a major fire erupted with the force of a small earthquake at a refinery or storage facility just outside of San Juan, in Bayamon. The black soot and smoke blew offshore, so the health risk was greatly diminished. The lack of air pollution is a great benefit of living on an island. It is also a reason that 70,000 New Zealanders are diagnosed with skin cancer every year. No air pollution, less ozone, and being situated closer to the Sun during the Souther Hemisphere Summer make NZ and Australia skin cancer hotbeds. Much more so than the equivalent lattitudes in Europe. The schools require students to wear wide brimmed hats and sunglasses to go outside at recess ("tea"). I think they should burn lots of used tires to block out the sun, but I guess the wind would dilute the effect. Doesn't the latter sound like a Republican solution to the problem of recylcing tires ("tyres") and the rise of skin cancer? It reminds me of Utah rep. Chris Cannon stating that cattle grazing in the UT desert is beneficial as the bovines "fertilize the soil". Apparently he never hiked in the San Rafael Swell where cow patties from the cowboy days still sit unpreturbed. Now a cow patty in NZ is recycled quite rapidly given the rain and humidity. Butt I digress...

Boys only week! (No Mums or Nannas)

Jenn and Nanna Mary are hiking the Milford Track. Today is day 1. The DOC offered a full refund to all hikers as part of the hike (Day 2 trek) is closed due to avalanche danger. However, for $60NZ they also provide a helicopter lift over the avalanche field if you choose to hike. So Nanna and Jenn committed (they can always take the chopper out in a worst case scenario). They have some 1 m deep water wading to do as well. The weather report showed snow dropping to 300 m in Fiorldland Park. I think Mary will be glad she borrowed my down vest. The cold water should numb the pain at least! The weather outlook is not too bad. Rain on day-2, snow likely. Then some "fine spells" as the week progresses. Go girls!!

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/southland/te-anau-area/milford-track/track-description/milford-track-map/

Back home again

Back home again in beautiful Waiheke Island. Here are some pictures of our yard. My laundry friend has some new flowers this month. It rained a lot last week, and our cistern filled up. Happy showers for us!

"No Mums" Sailing Trip

While Jenn and The Amys were touring the East Cape, Nik, Isaac, and I chartered "Liberté" with Skipper Bryon and 1st Mate Chuck. Pascal joined us as well since she knew we'd be having more fun than the girlie trip. Five days and four nights of sailing in a range of conditions, including some 30 knot winds with a holding tank mishap that left a rather nasty mess that a few years of diaper changing helped prepare me for. While anchored in Kawau we were boarded by ducks and reeled in plenty of fish (most too small) but it all provided plenty of excitement. Especially the one that Nikolas hooked through the eye--we returned him an named him "Art" in honor of the one-eyed frothing old geezer we know in Cache Valley. We anchored in several protected bays and explored small islands while Bryon dove for and delivered scallops and Chuck reeled in a couple of "keeper" fish to make for some of the freshest dinner in a long time. I volunteered to contribute duck to the menu, but Pascal objected.









As Nikolas points out on the map, we headed to the north and made it to the island of Kawau on the first leg of the journey, which included sailing in some overpowered conditions with all hands on deck.

Other days called for some 3 hr naps on the boat.

Of particular fun for the kids was rowing around in the inflatable dinghy. Pascal showed the way and Isaac and Nikolas quickly caught on.

On Rakino island we found a great beach swing on which Isaac showed off his moves. He looks ready for kite surfing.

We anchored next to an old wreck that showed significant biofouling and Galvanic corrosion. A picture of this will show up on my Biomaterials Final Exam.

Cache Valley--Good for Retirment

As exciting as living on an island 30 min away from Auckland is, we are reminded how good it is from where we came: Logan is ranked in the top 5 small cities in the U.S.

http://www.aarpmagazine.org/lifestyle/the_simple_life.html

OK, the ranking is by AARP, so the criteria are perhaps aimed for a different demographic. But nonetheless...read on:

Best Places To Live The Simple Life, By Sarah Mahoney, September & October 2009

"Rich culture, great food, low stress. Who wouldn't want to call these affordable cities home?" That's the Logan I know: mono-culture, 3 restaurants, and a 7-day /week university job. Offset by the spectacular scenery, open space, and backdoor skiing.

Murae

The murae are holy Maori gathering places, usually very intricately carved and painted and represents an important ancestor. The apex of the murae usually has a face carved in front, representing the ancestor's head. The arms reach down the sides of the murae, and the heke along the inside of the building represents the ribs. We weren't allowed to go inside any of the murae (I guess you can imagine it's pretty rude to enter the belly of an ancestor without being invited), but we did get to admire many murae from afar.

I wish my camera was still working to show the murae featured in the movie "Whale Rider", but this one is is pretty cool too.

Immaculately maintained beacon of belief

There is a beautiful Anglican church called "The immaculately maintained beacon of belief". There were some Dutch and Maori inscriptions inside the church. One of the tombstones read "Beloved husband and Matey".

And my favoite: Two notes outside of the church, asking us to please remove our shoes (and a couple of Bible quotes to back it up), and a note saying that there were penguins nesting underneath the baptismal, so please excuse the smell. I couldn't smell the chicks or see them, but I think it's great that they allow the penguins to stay.

Owl's Chopping Blocks

We stopped and bought some great chopping blocks from a guy named Greg (pictured). He was great. Very friendly, and he gave us advice on places to see and stay. He gave us a tour of his shop and then a tour of his town Opitheki (it really wasn't far to our car, but he insisted on driving us). We talked about a lot of things, and when the conversation somehow turned to pigs (I'm not sure how that happened), he walked out and asked his neighbor to bring out his pet pig for us to see. OK, that was a cutie pig. And it's kind of fun texting the men that "We got to pet some guy's pig".

Opitheki also has a great carving in the middle of town (called a totem pole, according to Greg).

Blue View Esturary B&B

We had great luck with the B&B's we stayed in. This one was also a working dairy, where the cows had some amazing views.

Great Food

We had some delicious food on this trip. The second picture shows a bacon-wrapped banana. Who would have thunk it? Thanks to Amy M for being the adventurous food orderer on the trip.

Cool Beach Pictures

Walking barefoot on soft, white, ripply sand.
At sunset.
With great friends.
I love beaches.