Windy Wellington, Waitomo Caves, and Gloworms

Please excuse my lapse in blogging. I have not forgotten how to blog. There have been some technical difficulties. The Internet connection at our Kiwi house had slowed to crawl for the past 2 weeks. Plus, we have been travelling over the past weekend. However, the true culprit may have been the Hawkeyes. Our Internet minutes(10G limit/month)were gobbled up in downloading the Hawk football games. Life is good, now. We have our high speed Internet connection back.

Thanksgiving in NZ means football and turkey w/ the ex-patriots. The last two weekends have been full of turkey and the fixins for us. In Oakura, there was a holiday celebration with sixty Americans. The following weekend, we packed our bags and we headed south for a ten hour round trip. An American child psychiatrist (formerly from the University of Iowa) was hosting 20 friends for Thanksgiving in "windy Wellington". It felt like we were driving to grandma and grandpa's house, only half way around the world. Gabe played real football with the Americans and he jumped on an outdoor trampoline--Just like we were back home.

It was a small world. At the celebration in Wellington, we met another adult psychiatrist from the Midwest. He and his family of four (including 3 teenage boys) from MN are living in NZ for a 12 month medical assignment. Al had used the same placement firm and he had interviewed for a similar medical position in Wellington. It was just like looking at our own faces, only they had been in NZ since June.


We have been doing the typical Kiwi tourist things, including visiting caves, art galleries, museums. We spent one day at Waitomo Caves (wait = water, tomo = hole). In this elaborate underground network of caves and sink holes, we saw the famous glowworms of NZ. The sparks of light from these NZ "fireflies" and the feeding of the long finned eels that live in the nearby stream with our Maori guide were the highlights. In typical Kiwi fashion, we stopped for tea and biscuits(cookies).

In Wellington, New Zealand's capital city, we stayed in the downtown Holiday Inn (a recognizable American name). We were one block away from the bustling port and within walking distance of various museums. During our brief stay, we managed to find time for several side trips, including two museums, a 60 acre bird reserve, and an art gallery. My favorite site was Te Papa Tongarewa-The National Museum of New Zealand. Al was happy as we spent several hours at Karori Sanctuary to view the exotic and endangered birds of NZ. Gabe discovered he enjoyed the modern art exhibit of Yayoi Kusama. As expected, there was grumbling and tired feet as we tried to see it all.

In Dec, there will be more adventures for us. We will have a Kiwi Christmas holiday with Alec and Emily during their college breaks. We are thinking of you all during the Christmas season.

Picasa is not being friendly and refuses to share my photos with Blogger. If ya have time, view our pictures on the web album.

Crayfish and Chillin with Captain Chaddy

Tonight is Taranaki seafood feast night. Our neighbors dive for crayfish frequently. Now, we understand why. We thought they were talking about the little New Orleans style crayfish. Oh no, they are lobsters that would cost a small fortune in IA. We are lucky as they generously gave us a big one, at least 5 kg (11 lb). We have to borrow a pot because it is too big to fit in our biggest pot. Also, Al bought Gunnard, a long skinny fish at the fish market to cook for dinner. And now, our house smells like a fish market. Oh well it was worth it in spades.


Last weekend, we went on a small tramp at the southern route of Mount Taranaki. It was fun and we got an up close look at Dawson Falls. No one was seen on our hour long trek except a photographer. Our reward at the end of the trail was a gluten free lodge and a German chef. We hear that higher on the trail is a series of hot springs bath tubs... Next time.

We spent the next day on a boat cruise with Captain Chaddy. He was a typical salty skipper, full of many wild tales. No one argued about wearing a life jacket for fear of being thrown overboard. We were glad to be dressed like sturdy sailors in yellow rain slickers as the old lifeboat was tossed in the rough sea. Thick clouds were overhead but the rain held off. As the captain had predicted, no one got seasick and Gabe was delighted with the drenching waves.

Soon after we left the main harbour area, several seals were spotted near Moturoa Island. As the first mate, Gabe was happy as he piloted the boat around Seal Island, a protected marine island. No whales or dolphins were spotted on this adventure though we did locate several penguin nest houses. However, we will return with Alec and Emily for more Maori stories and another ocean voyage with Chaddy's Charters. He promised us fishing lines and more wild life next time.

If you are interested, there are recent pictures on Al's Picasa web album. I am having trouble downloading my pictures into my Blogger web page. Keep in touch as we miss ya all!

Mountains, Mussels, Mutton, and More

Every time the mountain peeks out from behind the misty clouds, I have to stop and gawk. Of course, Gabe gets nervous if I am driving and rubbernecking at the surf or Mount Taranaki. Good thing I don't try to use my cell (plus it is illegal) while driving. The weather forecast was perfect so we headed to the mountain (less than 10 miles from our house). We spent the morning on a 90 min. tramp up to the snow fields. The boys were scouting for their upcoming tramp to the summit. More mountain pics to come later.



In keeping up with Alec (our oldest son and his blogging about food from around the world), our experiences with Kiwi cuisine have been positive. We celebrated our arrival in NZ by consuming several amazing meals. We dined on ostrich, venison, rabbit, and the omnipresent mutton. Gabe tends to avoid mutton unless it is grilled. The boys are learning to cook on the "barbie". I am tackling the convection oven and cooking in metric. It is sticker shock at the grocery store--3 litres of milk (less than a gallon) is NZ$4.59. One trip to the grocery store for stocking the pantry cost NZ$341.

We try not to hit the Kiwis or cattle crossing the road. Fish are plentiful so we have sampled Lemon, Terayki, Snapper, and Treacle. Our weekly diet includes the world famous green lipped Coromandel mussels including those collected from our beach on Sunday. Yum, we will be back. Grandpa has to stop over for some fresh banana prawns (and yes they were as big) with garlic butter over the grill and all gluten free.

Al is calling from a local pay phone for "takeaway". Hard to believe there are still phone booths in the world that are not antique collector items. He is a happy camper as the local liquor store decided to stock gluten free beer. It was expensive at NZ$20 for a six pack (but well worth it). Good thing the wine is local, wonderful and inexpensive. I was surprised to see Starbucks in New Plymouth. Even the Kiwis love coffee (almost as much as tea). However, Al finds a way to be absent from the mandatory tea time (twice daily) at the hospital. No wonder things take so long in Kiwi hospitals as all the staff are away. Their motto is "No worries" and "it's all sweet".

We are looking forward to sharing this fun, food, and adventure. Alec and Emily will be visiting us in Dec. for their holiday visit. We still have until May. Bon Appetite!