Dear Friends, Second year in New Zealand started for us with unpacking boxes, shopping for furniture, work in the garden, and all those things that moving to a new home brings along. And just a week upon moving to our house we found out officially that we will become parents in July 2010. We were thrilled about this latest news, but we kept the secret just for us for the next few weeks.
First Gathering of Dear People in Our New Home Even though we had not unpacked all boxes yet, ten day after moving in Philip and I invited our dear people in this part of the world to join us for a house-warming party. Finally we had enough space to fit everyone both the big one and the little ones.
Here are a few more smiles from New Zealand Our new friends big and small ones: Beth and Jon; Josh, Anne and Rhys; Jim, Kate, Charlotte, Hamish, and Grace; Mark, Katie, Rosi, and Lily; Mel, Mike, Sophie, and Jack; Chris, Angie, and Melanie. Circles of dear friends are continuing to grow
Biking and Hiking in Dunedin Area Philip and I continued exploring Dunedin area and enjoying the beauty of nature. With moving to a new suburb, Waverley, new biking and hiking trails in our neighbourhoods were calling us before I slowed down under the influence of pregnancy hormones. One of the closest biking trials was a road toward the ocean and Tomahawk Bay... Bike Trip: Otago Central Rail Trail One day we went for a bike ride on a wellknown Otago Central Rail Trail about an hour away by car from Dunedin. Even a car ride to the beginning of the bike trial offered lots of fantastic scenery...
I was already slowing down significantly under the influence of the hormones, but that was one of the days when I felt pretty well. Philip and I decided to go on a 60-kilometer bike ride on a pretty flat section of the trail from Middlemarch to Hyde. According to the Murphy s Law, a strong wind was blowing toward us. At times the wind was so strong that I had to get off the bike and walk. I was looking forward to every small ditch that would protect us from the wind. Fortunately, on our way back, that same wind was blowing in our backs... The scenery of Central Otago region was amazing...
Trip to the North End and West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand (24-30 December 2009) We planned to spend 4 days of Christmas holidays hiking in the Mt Cook National Park (the tallest mountain in New Zealand). Two days before going on a trip, Philip returned from his work with the news that instead of 4 days, he got 11 days off work for Christmas and New Year this year. I was thrilled. We changed our travel plans immediately and decided to go on a 7-day trip to visit the north end and part of the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand that we had not seen before. It was just enough time to return back to Dunedin in time for a New Year Eve celebration with friends in our new home... Hanmer Springs The first day we spent driving 6-7 hours from Dunedin to a cute town Hanmer Spring (north of Christchurch). In this town, we set up a tent and enjoyed wondering around on a wonderful summer day the next day.
We hiked up a nearby hill with a wonderful viewpoint overlooking the whole valley. It was one of my slowest and most difficult hike trips so far although the hill was indeed just a hill with a 2-kilometer long trail up to the top! At that time I could not even imagine how much more the hormones will take control over my body in the upcoming months...
Drive from Hanmer Spring to Nelson on the North End of the South Island The next day, we enjoyed wonderful views driving up north toward the town of Nelson. Enchanted forests, valleys, hills and mountains, curvy road... Fantastic... Rainy clouds, fog, tropical/rain forest and rain along the way reminded us that we were not far away from the rainy West Coast of the South Island... Nelson The town of Nelson amazed us with its warm climate and streets full of people dressed in summer clothes. It took me 3 days on this trip before I dared to take off a long-sleeve shirt...
Abel Tasman National Park The next day we went for a walk in the Abel Tasman National Park. This park has two points of access by a road a south one with lots of tourists and a north one with much less tourists. The ride to the north entrance into the park was going over Takaka Hill with unforgettable 25 kilometers of a very curvy road. This followed by a short straight section before reaching the last 10 kilometers of an unpaved road through a rain forest. It was a memorable drive. The scenery we encountered in Abel Tasman National Park was worth every effort of getting there. We went on a 10- kilometer hike on a famous hiking trail along the ocean in this National Park. The views along the way were fantastic...
The hiking trail offered a pleasant shade of tropical forest, fantastic beaches and beauty of the ocean... I hope one day we will have a chance to go on a 5-day backpacking trip on this amazing hiking trial in Abel Tasman National Park...
Golden Bay After this amazing hike, we drove to Golden Bay and Farewell Spit (a 20-30-kilometer long peninsula at the most northern tip of the South Island of New Zealand). The scenery was wonderful. We arrived to Farewell Spit (more correctly: its beginning) in the late afternoon. The road ended there. Tourist information center was already closed and the peninsula was covered with fog and rainy clouds from the Tasman Sea. So we ended up seeing only a view of the Farewell Spit (covered in fog and clouds) from the terrace of the tourist information center. On our way back, the trip to the Farewell Spit paid off by an unexpected encounter of one of the best seafood restaurants, Mussel Inn in New Zealand. Even though fisherman were on a Christmas break at that time so mussels (a specialty of this restaurant) were not available that evening, we enjoyed a great seafood dinner and an interesting atmosphere of this fully-packed restaurant with a fire place and unusual benches and tables outdoors. However, our experiences of that day were not over yet. We had another 2-hour drive in late night hours to our campground in Moteuka. Along the way we had to go over Takaka Hill one more time this time in a complete darkness and rain. I do not how Philip managed to stay awake and bring us safely to our tent that evening...
Kayaking in Kaiteriteri The next day we opted for a day of rest with the ocean fun. We drove to the nearby town of Kaiteriteri with a fantastic beach and kayak rentals. Philip could not wait to go on the ocean in a kayak. It was my second kayaking experience. The first one was on Vancouver Island with Louise in 2003. I remember that we took a kayak lesson and went on the ocean in a group with 5-6 other people. They were all gliding on the water surface and enjoying the scenery while I was struggling to keep up with them. I remember that I could not move my arms for 2 days afterwards from muscle pain, while Louise was laughing at me having a hard time to realize how I got so exhausted from that short kayak adventure. Fortunately, this time we rented one kayak for Philip and me at least someone could take us around. The morning was cloudy and windy and was not too excited about kayaking over in my eyes pretty big waves. Fortunately, Philip was there to support me and steer the kayak. When we left the kayak rental place, they gave us a map and told us that we can kayak up to a rock called Apple Split Rock. We rented a kayak for 4 hours. Since the map did not have any distance measures, Philip and I interpreted that a bay on a far horizon could have been Apple Split Rock so we started to pedal there. We pedalled a good hour on the wind and waves and apparently we were not even half way to our destinations. At that time we decided to stop at a nearby beach and rest a bit. I was already pretty tired but I did not want to give up. Philip suggested that we do not go all the way there, but instead to turn the boat around and go back; enjoying the beaches we passed along the way. Oh, it was such a great suggestion...
On our way back, after good 20 minutes of kayaking through pretty high waves, we saw on the beach a rock that looked like a split apple. After taking another look at the map, we realized that it was actually the limit to which we were allowed to go in our kayak... Our imagined goal on the horizon was about 10 kilometers further along the Abel Tasman National Park. I was so happy that we gave up from pedalling to our imagined goal. The next two hours we enjoyed beaches, pedalling to nearby islands and bays, and observing the underwater world. It was a much more pleasant experience than hurrying up to a distant (imagined) destination on a horizon.
Kaiteriteri Kaiteriteri is a cute costal town. Initially, it was recommended to us to try to find a spot in a campground here. However, the campground was already full. It seemed that more people camped than lived in this town! It was one of those campgrounds that reminded me of refugee camps packed with people who literally took their whole houses to vacation with them. Philip just reminded me that cars and boats seen in this campground were somewhat more expensive from those that could be seen in refugee camps... Anyway, we were happy that we did not stay here... The town of Kaiteriteri and a wonderful beach were amazing. Of course, Philip went swimming while the water was still too cold for my Mediterranean soul...
Drive to West Coast of the South Island After a few wonderful summer days on the north end of the South Island, we travelled to the town of Westport on the West Coast. Along the way we had a real West Coast weather: rain, rain and a bit more rain... From all the scenery along the way, more-orless the only thing we saw was rain... Westport and Faulwind Trail Rain was pouring when we arrived to Westport. Philip visited a museum here while I had a great 1-hour afternoon nap in the car. Later on we went to a nearby hiking trail along the coast. Fortunately, the rain stopped in that moment and clouds cleared up so we got a chance to enjoy fantastic coastal views of this interesting hiking trial.
Punekaiki The weather was not really the best for exploration of the area, so we decided to skip a drive north. Instead, we decided to head south in a direction of Dunedin. The rain continued pouring... The drive was going past the fascinating Pancake Rocks in Punekaiki. We did not miss a change to visit again that wonder. Here we also encountered an interesting description of the working hours of Wild Coast Cafe... That evening we arrived to the foothills of Arthur Pass National Park and camped in an interesting campground in Jacksons.
Arthur Pass National Park The next morning we had a wonderful ride over Arthur s Pass. As soon as we went inland from the West Coast, the sun and clear blue sky was awaiting for us. It was a great day for hiking so we went on a few hour hike on Bealey Track. The trial was going through the forest uphill, uphill and a bit more uphill. Every step of that climb was well rewarded by spectacular views of the valley below us and surrounding mountains of the Arthur Pass National Park. Fantastic...
A few more spectacular views from this hiking trial... That afternoon we continued our drive to Dunedin wishing to sleep at our home the night before New Year Eve. Along the way we received a message that Philip s friends, Reiner and Suzie from Germany, who were travelling around New Zealand at that time, were coming to visit us in Dunedin the next day and will join us and our friends in New Year Even celebration. That was the end of our trip to the north end and West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
New Year Eve Celebration with Friends in Dunedin A day upon our return from the trip, we celebrated New Year 2010 with friends. The party was organized in 2 parts: an afternoon with friends who had children and an evening with adults without children. Reiner and Suzie, Philip s friends from Germany, joined us in the late afternoon. It was fantastic to see all those dear people together. But I was so tired that I fell asleep on a couch in our living room before midnight and had some sleep before the New Year fireworks and continued sleeping a few minutes later.
Reiner and Suzie visiting Dunedin The next few days we spent with Reiner and Suzie wondering around Dunedin and the area. It was the first time that I met Reiner and Suzie. We went on a hike to the Tunnel Beach, and enjoyed an evening in the Italian restaurant Etrusco in Dunedin. After visiting Dunedin, Reiner and Suzie continued their travel around New Zealand for a few more weeks.
Nathaniel and Valentine visiting Dunedin A few days later, Philip s friends, Nathaniel and Valentine from Canada, came to visit us in Dunedin. Unfortunately, the whole week of their stay in Dunedin we had a crazy weather with a very bad storm, horizontal rain and cold wind the weather that we did experience in the last year in this city. It was not a very pleasant change for our Canadian friends who arrived from temperatures of -26 C in Toronto and Ottawa... Trip to Christchurch A week later, Nathaniel and Valentine went to Christchurch for a week. Philip and I arrived to Christchurch a few days later. It was a great opportunity to see Reiner and Suzie again and meet with a few other Philip s dear friends, Reiner and Rahienda. It was a few days full of socializing.
Jon visiting Dunedin A few weeks later, my friend and colleague, Jon, arrived to Dunedin. I worked with Jon during my Master s and PhD studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. I was truly happy to have an opportunity to invite Jon as a keynote speaker on a symposium that we organized here on our Faculty in February 2010. It was also a great opportunity that Philip and I show to Jon the beauty of nature of this amazing part of the world. Coming from a cold Canadian winter, Jon enjoyed the summer in Dunedin. After visiting Dunedin, Jon went on an unforgettable 5-day bike trip from Christchurch over Arthur s Pass to West Coast and then toward Wanaka and Queenstown. Considering his amazement with the beauty of this part of the world, Philip and I are already looking forward to Jon s visits in the upcoming years...
Life in Dunedin Our life in Dunedin continued with Philip s bike rides ad races and my pretty short walks in the area with a growing tummy. To my great joy, the views from our suburb Waverley and particularly a short walk to Rotary Part at the top of the hill were offering fantastic views of the majesty of the Pacific Ocean, Otago Peninsula and Dunedin enough to fulfill my soul...
In between my walks, I kept myself busy cutting branches and taking down trees in our garden. Philip made for me to-do glasses (from a paper) to rest a bit from time to time. Getting together with friends continued (mostly in Spanish Conversation Club on Wednesday nights), but not as often since both Philip and I were busy with work at the beginning of the year. In January and February I was doing tons of work getting ready for a 2.5-month absence from New Zealand with my trips to Chile and Europe. In the last moment, my trip to Chile was cancelled because of a major earthquake in that part of the world. A day before departure I had to cancel the whole 2-month trip and change a plan to arrive to Europe for a few weeks in April and May. That change of a plan was not too difficult...
We also arranged a room for our little one... And our little one continued to grow... 14 weeks... 20 weeks...
Hike on Sandfly Beach One afternoon I found the energy to go for a walk/hike on Sandfly Beach a site for seeing yellow-eyed penguins. It was about 1.5 hour walk, mostly on a flat beach more than enough for me in the fourth month of pregnancy. The scenery was fantastic, we did not manage to wait long enough to see penguins, and I fell asleep exhausted on a 15-minute drive home after the hike. It seems that hikes and longer walks will have to wait for me a bit in the upcoming months...
Life in our home continues to amaze us with spectacular sunsets and rainbows...
A bit more wonders of nature... And our little one continues to grow and make us happy with his/her existence... That is all from our end of the world at this point. Our lives will change again very soon and that change will bring new joys and challenges. Philip and I are very much looking forward to parenting and the years of life together. Tons of sunny greetings and positive energy from the far south! Love, Sandy & Philip Dunedin, New Zealand 29 March 2010