Easter Saturday

Today, Saturday, Leo and I went to Murawi Beach, It is a beach that is located on the west coast of the North Island. It is approximately a 45 minute drive from Leo's house. The beaches on the West Coast are considered the best beaches in all of New Zealand. They have great waves for surfing, great dunes for sleding and the sand is a mixture of black and brown sand. However the undertoe is extremely strong and several people die here every year. I did not enter the water as it was a mad house on this holiday weekend. It was a great day well over 70 degrees and the sun shining. we walked the trail and took in the sites. The above piture was taking at the top of the trail looking down on the beach. The other two pictures were taken down on the water front.

What else has happened over the past few days. On thursday i drove for the first time. that was an experience. I just drove till we got to the main street in town. it is a little odd driving on the opposite side of the road, on the opposite side of the car. everything else in the car is opposite as well. except the pedals, the brake and accelarator are the same. what about the directionals you ask, yes they are opposite as well. up is left and down is right. it is on the opposite side of the steering column, and the windshield wipers on the other. Yesterday i drove some more, i drove to the main road and along it. the roads here are very whindy and hilly. you always have to be on the ball paying attention every single moment. there are none of the straight ass highways that you find in the states. so a drive that is not that far away in distance takes long because of the reduced speed you have to travel.

Also yesterday we made Chocolate Easter eggs. Melted chocolate put them in molds and put stuff inside of them. I have photos of them but they are on Leo's camera which her father barrowed for his work today so i will get those up to you tomorrow. it was lots of fun and gave me a bit of a tummy ache. all the snacking on the chips of chocolate when no one was looking. yummy!

Tomorrow is Easter nothing big planned, as here Good Friday is more of the major celebration. We had a big feast last night with Leo's brothers and parents. I worked the BBQ, they dread the BBQ here, were as i love it! o well, makes me out to be pretty good. Thats all i got for you guys now i will attach some more photos below of other events. I am having some difficulties loading the video to this blog and even youtube. if and when i work those out i will get them posted. if i cant i will burn them to DVD and send that home and you can view it at a family gathering! Love Mike

Leo's Family sends easter regards as well!

Me at Wildfoods eating a Cricket with Satay sauce on a slice of Italian Bread. The dude to the left face was scary so i replaced it with a much easier face. The Cricket was crunchy!
I was caught stealing some Gold so I was punished! Had to stay like this for 48 hours, all they fed me was stale bread and water. if i was lucky they put a little pig fat on the bread.
This is a picture of Leo from the South Island Trip, it is Hokitika Beach, it is cold and i am trying to be artistic. Does it work?

Good Friday 21-3-2008

Well when i left off with you guys I had just returned from the trip in the South Island. and quit a bit has happened since then. Tuesday night Leo had a race. Andy (her coach, my old coach) asked if i didnt mind pacing Leo in the race. I had nothing better to do so i did. the goal was 75-76 a lap for 3k. we averaged 75 a lap and Leo ran 9:21 which is a PB. the conditions were cool with a little wind. but overall it was a great night to run fast.

On Weds it was Bart's Wedding Ceremony. It was ahectic day. the ceremony was to take part in the backyard of Leo's house. So i gave a hand and helped out. Set up the car port, then put up some tables and chairs, and set up the cooking area. at the ceremony and reception i was incharge of the BBQ. the ceremony was very laid back and went well. it was 30 minutes, after that was the FOOD! there was so much food i couldnt begin to name everything, but i was incharge of cooking up the steaks, ham, mussels and sausages on the BBQ.

BBQ on the Left, Cindy and Bart Above

Thursday was a relaxing day, we cleaned up the yard from the wedding and then relaxed. sorry nothing exciting. However Friday we are planning on making chocolate eggs that are filled with candy treats. They will be eaten on Easter. Easter here in not celebrated as big, but is still a very important holiday. No shops can be open all weekend from Friday to Monday. Monday is easter Monday which everyone has off for as well. dont know what it is all about but i will find out and let you all know.

Thats it for this blog. hope you enjoyed the video and so on. I wish everyone a happy easter! as does leo. Best Wishes Mike

South Island Madness Part III "The End"

Hey All, Today we finally arrived back to Auckland. The last few days have been a little crazy but i will try and mention everything we did.

On Friday we were supposed to go to watch the Trotters at the Greymouth Horse Track, but the weather was sloppy. so we did not go. instead we ventured down south for some Possum Pie. it was delicious. the catch is with Possum pies is you have to beat the tourist rush. so that means getting there before 11. but who likes to eat lunch before 11, well we had no choice. we got down to the only place that serves these up just in time. we grabbed the last three pies. it was good thing we got there when we did, because after we got there three tourist coach buses rolled in and piled out and got in line for Possom Pie (little did they know they were all out) so they had to settle on something else. for the rest of the day leo and i bummed around Ross and such.

On Saturday, Leo's neices had Pony Club. so we tagged along. little did i know that i was going to be the only male there over the age of 5. o well i got ropped into a ton of things i was taking photos with some of the mothers cameras. then i helped move some of the horse jumps, and then at the end i cooked up a bbq. the bbq was fun because i had to do it with a pocket knife because one of the mothers forgot to bring the utensils to use. its alright it was only sausages, so that was too difficult. the pony club was good fun, because i got to see how competitive some of the mothers are. it was supposed to be just for fun, so some mothers were mellowed and others were intense. Leo's sister was one of the Mellow mothers. after pony club which lasted a good chunk of the day we went to the local pool and then packed up our stuff for travel to Christchurch.

On Sunday we had to head up to Greymouth to catch our tranzalpine train to Christchurch. the train was supposed to leave at 1340 but it left a little late, 1410. the train takes 6 hours as it travels from the west coast to the east coast of the south island. you go through the mountains and the plans. it is very beautiful trip. the train travels at a slow rate and you catch in the beauty. (I have photos that will go up soon.) we arrived in Christchurch and caught a shuttle to our motel which was located just outside the Centre Square of Christchurch. We went to a Thai resturaunt for dinner, it was delicious. Thai Resturants in Christchurch are a dime a dozen.

Monday we walked the Centre Square went into all the tourist shops and picked up a few little tourist souveniers. we also check out the historic aspects as well of the tourist hotspots, like human size chess and different sculptures. We called it an early night because we had to be to the airport early and we have to walk 20 minutes to the nearest shuttle pickup.

Tuesday(today) we flew back to Auckland, got in around noon and now am just relaxing, Leo has a 3k race later tonight that. Andy now wants me to pace her through the race so i will do that. and that is the rest of the day. Tomorrow Leo's brother Bart is having his NZ wedding ceremony. it is taking place in the backyard, so that ought to be nice. tomorrow will be doing laundry, bumming around and then wedding ceremony. sounds like a fun day. Hope all are well lots lof love Mike

PS- here are a few photos from the time away.

This is one of many from Pancake Rocks which is one of the 101 things to do in NZ. it was on the way up to our camping trip. the rocks are layered with striation and the loock like stacked pancakes.

This Photo is from our Hike in the Abel Tasmin National Park. It is one of many small waterfalls that you will come across as you hike along.

This is our Gold Panning experience, the old fashioned way. People used to make a living doing this. Leo and I both found two specs each, from sitting in this spot. the water was cold but after you went numb it was all good. we were out there for hours but the time flew by.

PPS. here is a link to the town at which i lived in for two weeks.

Ross NZ

http://www.ross.org.nz/