A Kiwi Holiday

Hey everybody. Once again there has been a long gap between posts - but this time we have pictures to make up for it. We left you hanging in Rotorua, the evening before our first bike-free day since Auckland. We didn't know what to do with ourselves when we woke up! But, after considering a few very expensive and touristy activity options, we ended up taking it easy (and cheap). We explored Kuirau Park, a collection of smelly, steamy, bubbly mud pools:

We spent the afternoon walking through the peaceful Redwood forest, before heading to Pak'n'Save, our favorite grocery store, to buy ingredients for a delicious dinner of pineapple burgers.

And then, Inauguration Day!

We stopped for a lengthy rest to read about Obama and celebrate our country's good fortune. After tearing out our favorite articles, including one about the new Obama Safari tours being offered in Kenya, we headed on to Golden Springs and set up our tent for the night:

A cold splash in the campsite swimming pool followed by a hot soak in the thermal mineral pool was refreshing and reinvigorating - as was a cone of Tip Top banana-berry ice cream that night.

The next day we rode on to Taupo and stayed at the Action Downunder YHA hostel, where we were lucky to get two of the last few beds in the dorm rooms. Accommodation was scarce because of the international A1GP car race being held on the outskirts of Taupo. We enjoyed ourselves despite the crowds, however, and even met a new friend. We toured the local museum with Sarah from Germany the next morning:

After the museum we were excited to meet up with the Muller family. Kaylum is an old exchange student friend of Torrey's. His family has been gracious enough to invite us along on their holiday. We headed to their bach on the southwest side of Lake Taupo, where we spent the next few days kayaking, swimming, sailing, and just relaxing at home and on the beach.

But it wasn't all rest and relaxation! Julie Muller accompanied us on the Tongariro Crossing, one of New Zealand's seven Great Walks. It was a 20-kilometer tramp up the side of a mountain, across a moon-like crater, along the edge of a bright red Mars crater, and down again past sulphur springs and through thick rainforest. We were exhausted, but triumphant, when we reached the end!

And today we are back at the Muller home in Kaponga. Julie and Nicole drove straight home, trailing kayaks and bikes, but Andrew, Kaylum, and we two made a six-hour detour to do a jetboat tour down the Whanganui River. Jetboating is like a rollercoaster on water. Really, really fun. The jetboat took us to the Bridge to Nowhere, where we ate lunch and had a cup of tea, before boating back downriver. We did three 360s on the way back, and definitely got our adrenaline rush for the day!

Now we are safe and sound and very grateful to the Mullers for everything they are doing for us. This is a true Kiwi holiday.

Our Bike Trip Begins...

We are now four days into our bike trip around New Zealand, and we've already experienced too many amazing things to recount them all. However, a few highlights stick out.

Our trip started from Auckland. We took the train to its southernmost stop in Papakura. We arrived in the afternoon and rode until dark. Our first town (after a grueling 10k with our ponderous load) was Hunua, where we met a family with three young and very entertaining boys at the local dairy. The youngest was eager to fetch our attention, climbing all over and under us while we ate our oranges. Our day ended in the middle of nowhere, in a National Forest, which we came to out of desperation for a campsite. No showers at our improvised campsite, but the privacy made up for it.

The next day we rode out of Maramarua, riding through Ngatea before stopping at Paeroa, birthplace of the world famous NZ beverage, L&P (Lemon & Paeroa). After ingesting two of these refreshing soft drinks and speaking with some local cyclists, we continued on. The next leg of our journey took us to a gorgeous gorge, complete with waterfalls and framed by wildflowers. We did nearly have one mishap, when Torrey almost fell asleep while cycling. We attribute this to caffeine withdrawal. Fortunately she made it through the day, fueled by raisins and Luc's encouragement (which was in turn fueled by worry). Our day ended fortuitously in Katikati. While at a grocery store, a farmer approached Torrey and offered to let us set up camp on his land. We learned he is a WWOOF host, and if the others are as nice as him we're in for a treat. We slept surrounded by ripening kiwifruit and avocados. This was our longest day yet at 90 km.

The next day was a short 39 km ride to Tauranga. We stopped for a picnic on the Strand in the town center, while racing motorboats roared in the background. After eating our roast beef and hummus sandwiches we were approached by an inquisitive trio of young girls. Their names were Morgan, Anita, and Payton (ages 9, 6, and 7, respectively, as they were so eager to inform us). After our picnic we traveled across a very windy bridge to Mt. Maunganui. We camped at the bottom, sharing a spot with a nice German couple who offered us a pass to the hot springs nearby. So relaxing. But first we had to earn it.

We climbed to the top of the mountain and enjoyed a spectacular view of the Pacific ocean. At the top we ate Hokey Pokey candy and dried kiwifruit. Mmm. We could see several tropical islands and felt like we were in a dream. It was worth the steep hike up.

The next day (today) we headed towards Rotorua, our present location. The woman at the front desk of the campgrounds in Mt. Maunganui advised us on a route, telling us it was "flat and easy." Uh, yeah right. The majority of the day was marked by slow climbs followed by steep climbs, followed by more slow climbs. There was very little downhill, and it was hot. During lunch on the side of the road we had our first encounter with sandflies, and we already hate them. We're also slightly sick of our staple food, muesli. We hope to get a campstove soon.

Rotorua is easy on the eyes, but hard on the nose. The whole city smells like rotten eggs. We're already used to it though. For dinner we had a hamburger and a veggie burger, with chips and of course, L&P. Luc had been craving meat all day. But that's only the beginning of the rewards. Tomorrow is our day off, promising adventure and the ability to sleep in as late as we want. Will we explore the Maori village? Will we hike to the famed mud pools and geysers? Stay tuned for the next episode of Luc and Torrey's Adventure.

Some difficulties

So our farm backed out on us at the last minute, citing somewhat fishy circumstances (the house we were supposed to stay in was demolished...) So now we are in Auckland for the foreseeable future. Thanks to Torrey's mom we have an update on our bags, and they should be in our possession in the next 24 hours. That will be quite a relief.

We're meeting up with Wes Monts, a fellow Bloomingtonian in Auckland, tonight at his place of work, Progear Camera Shop. It will be nice to see a friendly face from our hometown.

Yesterday we were fortunate to spend the day with a friendly Vancouver backpacker named Pascal. He has spent the last three months hiking throughout New Zealand, and was full of helpful hints. We got to explore the city and make a new friend.

Despite all of our troubles, we are enjoying ourselves immensely. The scenery is beautiful, and the weather ain't too shabby.

Cheers,
Luc and Torrey

We made it!

But our bags didn't... Oh well. We're in the process of sorting it out. Now for some good news:

Our first farm job has been confirmed and begins the day after tomorrow! Yay! We'll be staying with Robyn Bigelow on her farm in Whenuapai, Auckland. It's a veggie, sheep, and chicken farm. It's really exciting that we get to start farming so soon!

At the moment we are staying in the International Backpackers Hostel in Parnell, Auckland. The area is really nice (and very hilly). And it's summer! We went out for lattes this morning at the Strawberry Alarmclock, after learning that there is no brewed coffee in New Zealand. But lattes are OK with us. Torrey got to write 'No smoking' in Norwegian on their wall (Vennligst ikke royk.)

Today we are looking at bikes to buy. The first shop we visited, Bike, had a basic touring bike for $579 New Zealand dollars, which seems reasonable and we're really excited about getting our bikes and starting to ride after our first farm. There is one more shop to visit and then we'll make our decision.

Last night we ate Fish and Chips at the Fishmonger, which was delicious. Tonight we are planning to visit a pub for Luc's first legal drink, and afterwards maybe we'll eat some Tip Top ice cream that Luc has been hyping for months.

If the third person description sounds weird, don't worry, we're still working out the kinks in blog-writing technique. Sorry, no pictures (the batteries for the camera are in Denver, along with our underwear), and besides, we're still reeling from our grueling 36 hours of travel. But soon enough, you'll be able to see us frolicking in New Zealand.

Thanks for keeping up with us, we're thinking of all you guys, and looking forward to your comments!

Luc and Torrey

9 Days To Go

And now, ladies and gentlemen, what you've all been waiting for!

We just started our much anticipated blog after weeks of procrastination and "Yeah, we're starting a blog... maybe." Unfortunately, there isn't too much to write about yet, except for all the preparation. The panniers we ordered came today!

Starting tomorrow we move out of our apartment to spend this last week with our respective families. The basement room has become a base camp of sorts for us to mentally (and financially!) prepare for our ascent to what is hopefully one of the many peaks of our lives. Moving is always a little sad, but this period of time is characterized by excitement more than anything else.

The excitement has been steadily increasing for the past five months as our departure neared, but now, with only nine days to go, it's growing by leaps and bounds. We leave Bloomingon a week from Saturday, so things are feeling a little more real than when we first formulated this plan, bought the tickets to New Zealand, started emailing farmers, and every other step we've gone through on our way here. We have no solid job offers for the time immediately following our arrival in Auckland, so we'll probably start our bike tour right off the bat and delay the farming for a little while.

We're hoping to update this about once a week, so make sure to check back. And feel free to leave comments. This is how we're planning to stay in touch with all our friends in Bloomington and elsewhere. Staying in touch is important.

Happy New Year! We hope it's full of adventure for everybody.