Auckland was Conquered in a Day

One good thing about living in a small country is that I can accomplish super-hero-type feats like: “Walking From One Side Of The Country To The Other In One Day”, and then you can be incredibly impressed.  Until you realize that that is only about 16km (9.94 miles).  Which is still pretty good, but it is not quite the equivalent of walking from one side of the US to the other.  

I am still going to pretend that you are impressed though.  And that maybe you have a gold medal that you are sending me.

Auckland’s “Coast to Coast Walkway” runs from the Pacific Ocean to the Tasman Sea and gives a good snapshot of the city’s natural attractions: volcanoes, parks, oceans.... and people’s backyards.  We may have taken a few wrong turns, but that is bound to happen on a 16km hike with marker signs the size of golfballs. 

Coast to Coast Walking, Jellicoe Park

If you are attempting the Coast to Coast, I would suggest bringing your own GPS device or a map.  Because if there is one thing that Oregon Trail taught you, it was to be prepared (Bring bullets for guns, bring medicine for measles, bring maps for Coast to Coast walkways. Basic life lessons.). 

We took a small detour (on purpose) to the Scottish Highland Games Festival.  David was excited for promises of haggis, and I was excited for promises of men in kilts.  The kilts, log throwing, and fancy dance moves did not disappoint. Unfortunately, the haggis came in cans.  Another basic life lesson: Don’t eat haggis from cans.  

Fancy Scottish Dancing

Back on the trail, we stopped by one of our favorite places, Cornwall Park/ One Tree Hill.  But this time the sheep were missing.  I panicked for a bit thinking that someone might have stolen them.  But then I remembered that it is almost summer.  So I am almost certain that the sheep are at their beach houses working on their summer tans.

Sheep with Tan, Photo Via www.Sheepworld.co.nz

We also had a tasty lunch at Cornwall Park Restaurant, but next time I think I will get the “high tea” option.  After we ordered our lunch, a 3-tiered tray of deliciousness was placed on the table next to us.  I think I stared at their little tarts and finger sandwiches for the rest of lunch.  This is probably not my proudest example of high tea etiquette.  I do apologize, table next to us (But next time maybe you should share a tart.  Or a tier.).

Cornwall Park Restaurant, Home to Tasty High-Teas

- Meredith

Baa, Baa Cute Sheep

Spring has finally sprung here in New Zealand.  And this means one very important thing: it’s baby sheep season!

So a huge aspiration of mine (since three weekends ago) has been to pet a little lamb.  Mostly because they look so darn cute and tiny.  

So cute. So tiny.

While traveling to New Plymouth for the rugby game, I had a lot of sheep-viewing time in the car.  And I realized that the whole New Zealand countryside is just one big, fluffy, grass-eating mass of sheep.  And mixed in with the big sheep, there were these tiny, fun baby versions.

Unfortunately, we did not have time that weekend to stop the car, jump a fence, chase down a lamb, and then get chased in return by the lamb owner.  So I had to settle with just shouting “EEK” every time I saw one.

BUT, I found the perfect opportunity where it is socially acceptable to pet all the baby sheep you want: SheepWorld!

I know what you’re thinking: Tourist Trap.  And ok, I see your point.  I guess we did just pay to go onto someone’s farm.  In New Zealand.  But it was totally worth it!

SheepWorld is about 40 minutes north of Auckland in Warkworth.  They specialize in really cute baby animals.  There are sheep, alpacas, hamsters, bunnies, and miniature horses whose main job it is to stand there and look adorable.  If you are going, it helps to have long arms so you can reach over the fence and pet them.

And just a warning: if you pet a lamb, you’re probably going to want to take it home with you.  I did not come prepared for this.  Next time I will need to bring a bigger purse.

I'm coming back for you, little buddy!

- Meredith

This Little Sheep Went to Market

Exciting news in The Funny Sheep Travel world!

This may be due to creative inspiration or a moment of pure boredom, but I have opened a Zazzle store!  You can buy Funny Sheep products and pretty pictures of New Zealand, and you can support my unemployment habit.  

Check out the store, and let me know what you think:

http://www.zazzle.com/thefunnysheepstore?rf=238761652994442625

Check back regularly for shiny, new products!

- Meredith

We're Going to Need a Giant Bath Tub

I am so disappointed right now.  Apparently I was five months too late to see the greatest thing to ever happen to Auckland. 

It's a Giant Rubber Duck!

Giant Rubber Duck being towed in.

Giant Rubber Duck trying to look inconspicuous.

I am starting a petition to bring it back.  Who’s with me?

Dear Ginormous Rubber Ducky, I’m awfully fond of you....  

- Meredith

Pictures via Florentijn Hofman (aka the artist)

The Competition of the Odd Shaped Ball

Walking down the street these days, there is an unmistakeable giddy atmosphere.  If I didn’t know better, I would suspect that they were handing out free beer or prozac on the street corner.  Instead it seems the chummy atmosphere stems from this chaotic-looking sport called rugby. And maybe from some beer too.  Just not free beer.

Not free beer

The international tourists came prepared with suitcases packed full of superhero-like flag capes and face paint.  This is fun because it is like an international festival on the streets every day.  I also think there is some secret competition to wear the most outlandish costume to the games.  But I wish they would have told me before because my “costume” for the US v. Ireland game was a red shirt and blue scarf.  Next time I may have to step it up and go as The Statue of Liberty or an Economic Recession.

So far I think it is a close competition between Captain America, Russian Cosmonauts, Sheep, and the Baguette-toting French Hen. 

The RWC opening ceremony night in Auckland was crazy.  There were hakas. There were wakas.  But most of all there was a ridiculously absurd amount of people.  Someone in the planning committee estimated that about 60,000 people would show up around the Auckland Harbour to celebrate.  Over 200,000 showed up.  (Surprise! Someone’s getting fired.)

This of course led to lots of mass chaos.  Trains shut down, ferries stopped services, and people came face to face with the opposing team’s fans.  Quite literally.  And then they couldn’t move.

After trying to get through the mass of people downtown (which was like wading through quicksand), we luckily caught the last ferry back before the ferries were shut down.  It worked out perfectly in the end because we were able to watch the opening ceremonies and game on tv with our “free” beer and pizza and a spectacular view of the fireworks.

Auckland Harbour gets crazy

Seriously these were the BEST fireworks I have ever seen.  They launched fireworks from skyscrapers and from the skytower and from four ships in the harbour.  This meant the sky was extra bright and sparkly.

It went something like this:

*Boom*  

*BANG*

*SPARKLE* *SPARKLE* *SPARKLE*

*POP* 

*Boom*

*SPARKLE* *SPARKLE* *SPARKLE*

Snap, Crackle, Pop

See, now you feel like you’ve been there.

Then last Saturday we woke up and drove to New Plymouth in the Taranaki region for the US vs. Ireland game.  We expectedly lost, but it was a fun game.  I swear all of Ireland showed up with their campervan rentals.  Which is cool because the Irish know how to have a good time.  

And because questionable decisions make good stories, we did walk into an Irish pub at one point wearing our US colors.  I swear a whole pub full of leprechauns turned around and stared at us. 

D: “Ok, back away slowly and pretend like we just got lost.”

M: “I think they already saw us.”

D: “It’s ok they’re all drunk and will forget.  And we’re not taking their pot of gold so we should be ok.”

It unfortunately rained on and off all weekend, but New Plymouth has some spectacular looking beaches.  There was also this really cool light show going on in their Pukekura Park at night.  They had lots of neon lights on shrubbery and trees, and best of all, light up row boats!  Did we go on them?  Heck yes we did.  It was only later when I was reading the guidebook that I learned the lake is full of arm-length eels.  This is one of those things I would have preferred not to find out.  Ever.

Purdy lights, Scary eels

- Meredith

Waka Waka Waka!

I finally have proof that clouds get stuck on our building!  See I am not crazy:

Clouds Behaving

Apocalypse Cloud!

Try living with that for 8 hours.  Scary stuff people.

There was a lot of action going on in Auckland City this weekend, and we were determined not to miss any of it.

First, we went to the grand opening of the Auckland Art Gallery.  (Ok, so we could have missed the first hour because the mayor was like “Blah, blah, blah” for awhile.  And then we had to do the Auckland rain dance while we waited for the gallery to open: 

(You put your umbrella up, 

You put your umbrella down, 

You put your umbrella up, & you shake it all around.)  

Because the weather couldn’t make up its mind.

But the wait was worth it because they’ve built themselves a nice, little gallery here in Auckland.  Well more of a nice, medium gallery.  There is a decent mix of old and modern, some Picassos, a Cezanne, a Dali, and this beauty that could keep me entertained for hours (Flower Chandelier, Choi Jeong Hwa). It's like a crib mobile for adults!

Next we stopped by the official All Blacks (New Zealand team) welcome ceremony for the Rugby World Cup.  The All Blacks are a pretty big deal here.  Probably because rugby is a pretty big deal here.  Ever seen the All Blacks do the haka?  Pretty intimidating stuff.

Apparently there have been “flash mob hakas” cropping up all over downtown this week which is kind of awesome (skip to about 1 minute in the video).

(You may be wondering why the flash mob people are in the middle of the intersection.  That’s because Auckland is cool like that, and you can cross the street however you want.  You can cross up, down, diagonal, or backwards.  Heck you could probably even fly.  As long as you are across before the little walking man turns red.)

Hmm now you may be questioning “Why the haka?”.

Ready for some New Zealand cultural history?

Haka = Traditional Maori dance

Ok now you may be wondering, “Well who are the Maori?”.

Maori = Indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand 

(Their language can be a little difficult to pronounce.  This leads to problems when I am trying buy a train/ bus ticket and the suburb/ street is a Maori word.  Like Orakei. That is pronounced “Oreckey”.  Good to know.  And Whangarei. That one is “Fawngerey”.  Yeah, weren’t expecting that one were you?  Me neither.)

Waka (not to be confused with haka) = Maori canoe.  They will be paddling a fleet of wakas into the Auckland harbour for the opening night of the Rugby World Cup.

On Sunday to round out our cultural weekend, we had lunch at Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple.  It was a calming, zen experience, and the kind of place where you instantly feel your blood pressure go down.  Probably due to the hushed voices, smell of incense wafting through the air, and the quiet courtyard garden.

Cue Buddhist chanting.

And they have awesome sculptures.

Why yes, I am the cutest garden statue ever.

Their tea room has some good dumplings, wonton soup, steamed bbq buns, and Laksa noodle soup.  And I learned something.  I thought I knew how to use chopsticks well.  I can pick up rice and sushi and meats and usually noodles.  But I learned that when you put noodles in soup, I fail miserably.  I spilled soup on myself.  Twice.  Epic fail (but good soup).

- Meredith

On the Rocks

This past weekend we went “tramping” (hiking) at Rangitoto, a volcanic island about 25 minutes from Auckland by ferry.  It is a dormant volcano, but in my opinion, it is still a bit of a hot lava mess.  Probably because of the 5 hour walk on uneven, jagged lava rocks.  And no cocktail bar or free Porsche convertible at the end to reward our efforts.  (I don’t know about you, but I feel I should get a reward when I walk on lava rocks for 5 hours.)

Rocks and hard places

Besides the views from the top of the volcano (which are nice and island-y), the main attraction on Rangitoto is the lava caves.  Some were a little too small for my semi-claustrophobic tendencies.   But I did climb into one that was an “acceptable” size.  Although halfway through in the pitch dark, I started thinking about the cave creatures that were going to jump out at us (specifically Gollum or a colony of winged monkeys).  Then I started freaking out a bit.  Luckily David saved the day by crafting a “torch” out of the trusty flashlight app on the i-phone.  This clearly intimidated the less tech-savvy monsters who must have gone into hiding for fear we had some Angry Birds up our sleeves as well.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Then two paths diverged on Rangitoto, and we took the one less travelled.  And that... well that almost made us miss the ferry.  The last ferry leaves Rangitoto at 4pm.  If you are not on it, you are sleeping on the deserted island.  That was the only thought that kept my legs moving.  We made it just in time, and thankfully, my legs did not fall off as I had anticipated.

Island-y Views

And in other news, Rugby World Cup is starting in a week here in Auckland.  What does this mean?  Fun, excitement, and of course... mass chaos!  About 85,000 people are on their way to New Zealand to watch the 20 competing countries play.  There will be lots of fun celebrations, vibrant light shows on skyscrapers, and tons of international folk.  There will also be lots of transportation chaos (for a system that is somewhat lacking in buses and routes), more people in restaurants (that are already typically full), and an increase in prices on everything from food & drink to hotels and merchandise.  

Yay Rugby World Cup?!?  (It should make for some good stories at least!)

- Meredith

Sheep on Stilts

Last weekend we went to a magical place of hope and wonder called Waiheke Island.  It is a 45 minute ferry ride from Auckland, and it is filled with beaches, art galleries, wineries and alpacas.  With highlights like that and with its relaxed island feel, you instantly want to lie on the grass and start singing “Hakuna Matata”. (“Hakuna. Matata. Hakuna. Matata. It means no worries!”).  

You all know you just sang that in your head.  I win.

And while you can’t see dancing warthogs named Pumba on the island, you can see skipping alpacas. And that’s kind of the same thing.

Cue Azzuro Groves.  It is a small boutique farm where you can taste olive oils.  But we had bigger aspirations.

“We would like to pet your alpacas please”

Then the nice lady handed us some alpaca food, and the alpacas came awkwardly skip-running towards us.  If you have never seen an alpaca in real life, it is actually a sheep on stilts.  Those sheep are pretty talented too because not a one of them lost their balance while we were there.  If I was a sheep on stilts, I would fall down.   Actually if I was a person on stilts, I would still fall down.

See the stilts!

After playing with the alpacas, we visited two beaches, Onetangi and Palm Beach.  Onetangi has a great shell collection, and Palm Beach has impressive rock formations.

At Palm Beach, my friend and I started taking lots of pictures: rocks, us on rocks, rocks with boats in the distance, etc.  We had travelled a little ways down the beach and just rounded a corner when David urgently whispered behind us:

“Um, guys...”

We whipped around. Cameras poised in the air, and.....

Oh, ummm, well hello nudist beach.  Wasn’t expecting that one.  

I’m not quite sure who looked more shocked, us or the old, naked people who we unintentionally had our cameras pointed at.

I feel like they really need a sign: “WARNING, there are naked, old people around the corner.  Proceed at your own risk”.  

Do NOT go past this point.

Oh and don’t worry, we also visited some of the 38 wineries on the island.  Besides some decent wine, Stonyridge has a pretty vineyard, Wild on Waiheke has a good brewery, and Te Whau and Mudbrick both have fantastic views.

Fantastic Views, Te Whau

So you may be asking, “This island you speak of, it really exists?”

Absolutely it does, people.  Come visit us, and we will take you there.  I will even buy you a glass of wine.  And we will avoid the nudist beach. 

- Meredith

Birthday Churros and Pygmy Marmosets

So yesterday was my birthday here in New Zealand, and today is my birthday in the States.  I think this means I get two birthdays now.  Someone back me up on this.

For my birthday weekend, we started out at the Auckland Zoo.  In general, I haven’t met a zoo that I don’t like.  And this one was extra impressive.  There were lots of fun-sized baby animals, and you could get up close and personal with spider monkeys and otters and wallabies and a tiny pygmy marmoset that we almost convinced to climb into our backpack.  He got suspicious though and ran away.  Next time I will bring him treats to show him how nice and friendly we are.  I also could have reached out and petted an emu or a peacock.  But the emu kind of looked angry, and I questioned whether this was truly good for my safety.

Do not pet the rhinos. 

Then we went to Bellota, a Spanish tapas restaurant, for dinner.  It was a good life decision to eat there.  It has a cool lounge atmosphere, and everything we ate was delicious.  We tried the squid, green shell mussels, manchego cheese and serrano ham, and ox tongue pintxo and olive paste pintxo (pintxo = slice of french bread with toppings). The ox tongue was actually my favorite dish.  See, you never know until you try.  And my birthday churros with dulce de leche were also quite tasty.

On Sunday, we did a winery tour in Kumeu.  On the way there I happened to look over and spot a familiar bullseye symbol with the letters T-A-R-G-E-T.   

Me:  “Target?? TARGET?!? OH EM GEE, IT’S TARGET!!! STOP THE CAR!”

David: “Oh umm yeah... I moved it here for your birthday.”

And that is why he is the best husband ever.  Because he moved my favorite store 8,000 miles across the South Pacific for my birthday.

(Unfortunately, it is just a Target Furniture store.  But I am still kind of impressed with him.)

Then we went to three wineries in Kumeu: Soljans, Coopers Creek, and Matua.  We did wine tastings, and they were all quite generous with their samplings.   We also ate a great lunch at Soljans cafe: a huge Vintner’s Platter filled with lots of Mediterranean, appetizer-type foods.  It was the ultimate food coma.  Halfway through, we were like “White Flag! We surrender! You win brie and olives and feta salad, you win.”  

Winner

Oh and on Friday night, a cloud got STUCK on our apartment building.  It was a complete whiteout for like 8 hours.  I mean you couldn’t see anything.  “Where did the city go? Where did the world go??! OMG, it’s the apocalypse! WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!”.  I guess I have never lived in a skyscraper before.  Sorry, I missed getting a picture of it.  I was too busy hiding under the covers waiting for the world to end.  Stop laughing.  It was scary.

- Meredith

Cock-a-doodle, Oink

So last weekend we got tickets for The Food Show in Auckland.  It was pretty awesome.  A huge, indoor show-ground filled with booth after booth of free samples, cooking demonstrations, prizes, etc.  Kind of like Willy Wonka’s Factory for foodies like us (Except I didn’t win a prize so apparently I didn’t have the golden ticket. And still no oompa loompas).

We’re not too picky when it comes to food and drink so we basically tried anything that had a sample.  And everything had a sample. There were lots of good wines, cheeses, olive oils, butter chickens, Indian curries, and mango cupcakes. 

Take a look at these bad boys.

“Would you like to sample our wine?”

“Why, yes, how did you know?”

“Would you like to try a special cheese from the south of France?”

“Don’t mind if I do”

“Would you like to try EVERY flavor of gelato that we make?”

“umm,YES”

This went on for hours.

Special cheeses from important places.

My favorites were Manuka Gold’s honey liquor, Ginelli’s limoncello gelato, and Chai Gold’s chai ginger tea.  They were yummy and delicious, and two of them have “Gold” in their name so I must have expensive taste.

We got a little lost/ deliriously full somewhere between kumara soups, wine slushies, and Russian dumplings.

And then we met our match.

Now, if we’re being honest, we had kind of stopped reading product descriptions at this point so this may be partially our fault.

We came to a booth with a slightly green liquor in a small shot glass. 

Oooh, aloe vera liquor??!!...... Could it be??

OMG NO... definitely NOT aloe vera!  

Can I inconspicuously spit it back in the cup and walk away?  What is this burning, green acid that they are trying to market as a drink...

WASABI LIQUOR??... 

WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA???    

I would like to have a word with this person and watch them drink their own product.

This weekend we “moved house” into our new apartment, and I am so excited.  We can finally stop living out of suitcases, drying our clothes on the dining room table, and using the chairs as “drawers”.  Our last apartment was so tiny we couldn’t shut the bedroom door because the bed was in the way.  So it is nice to have a little more space.

Of course our new apartment has its oddities too.  The switch for the living room light is in the bedroom closet, the one for the kitchen is in the foyer, and the washer and dryer move by themselves.  I’m not kidding.  I put clothes in and when I come back, the whole washing machine has moved a foot so that I can’t open the door anymore.  Then I have to wait for David to come home to move it back.  It is also very tiny.  I can wash exactly 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants at once.  I may be able to throw some socks in there if I am lucky.  So at this rate, I will be done with this week’s laundry in approximately 48 days.

Anyone want to come to Auckland, and I will hire you as my official laundry machine operator/ mover?  I will pay you in limoncello gelato and honey liquor.  Not a bad deal if you ask me.

- Meredith