Compared to Auckland, Wellington is awesome. The battle between the big smoke vs cultural city has been settled.
The people of Wellington are young and dressed like out of an urban outfitters catalog, hipster. We ran into a
guy we met in Sydney and another guy we had met in Taupo. The guy from Taupo is originally from Portland Oregon
and went to university at Montana state...... Weird. The three of is decided to catch the local pro football (soccer) team play at westpac
stadium. They played a team from Perth Australia. We ended up having great seats behind the goal and the game was well worth
the money. Overtime play into penalty kicks with the wellington Phoenix winning!!!!
Waaaaa ohhhhhh waaaaooooo phoenix!!!
We also went to the te papa museum, free entry and when it's free we go! We saw the biggest squid ever recorded and
made our own USA squid named j on the computer. Oh the things you do to entertain yourself!
A few days ago we hopped on the inter islander ferry and headed to the south island. We are currently in Nelson, the sunniest
city of new Zealand and it's raining! Haha! Our hostel is great with a pool, spa, free tea coffee breakfast and soup!!! If you thought
it was too good to be true just wait, free wifi as well!! So I am writing this blog on my iPhone, which I've recently unlocked!!!
We are in the works of planning our three day two night hike/kayak trip through Abel Tasman national park. I am soo stoked to
be out in the woods camping! We've heard nothing but great great things about the park and Cant wait to make our own journey.

River Valley / Wellington

We left Taupo and headed to River Valley on the Kiwi Experience Bus. We hadn't been on Kiwi in 3 weeks!! We drove to River Valley Lodge, it's an adventure lodge in the middle of nowhere. Its known for grade 5 rapids and horse back riding. The road leading to the lodge is basically a one way winding one!! I was a little sick...I'm not gunna lie! Once we arrived, the lodge was beautiful with the river 20 yards away and mountains surrounding. It was a calming and remote place, just what we needed. Taylor and I didn't sign up for any of the activities and instead hung out around the lodge reading our books.

We are currently in Wellington!! The capital of New Zealand. Wellington has the feel of a miniature San Francisco with WIND! It is the most southern city on the north island. The Cook Straight divides the north and south and brings a lot of extreme weather to the Wellington Harbor. Yesterday Taylor and I met up with two of my friends from University of Montana, Caroline and Lauren. They are studying abroad at The University of Victoria in Wellington. It was good to see some familiar faces!! The weather was hot and we hung out on the local beach all day. We later went to a Mac's Brewery and had some beer tastings.
Today is the Home Grown Music Festival. Its all NZ bands. Unfortunately it's sold out!!! We might still try to get a ticket or visit the Botanical Gardens....who knows!!

I'll try to post pictures and videos soon!!

Lake Taupo/Tangariro Crossing

Lake Taupo is absolutely gorgeous. Taylor and I spent the day on the lake beach. The sky was clear and the heat was beating. I have noticed that in NZ the sun rays really beat down on you. It's not like California or even Hawaii where you will get a dark tan. In NZ, if you don't where sunscreen, you burn!!! I finally have a good tan so my skin is not as vulnerable!


Lake Taupo's water is soo warm! It's not like lakes in the States where there is a big contrast from the temperature outside vs the temperature of the water. Our friend Josh, who is one of the managers at the Raglan Backpackers, was also staying at the same hostel as us. It was nice running into him again!! We've decided that Taupo is in the running for a place to job search in the future.





Tangariro Crossing:





Ohhhhhhh Boy!


To be honest, the weather was awful!!! We woke up at 5am to catch the bus to the trail head of the Crossing. During the first leg of the hike it was drizzling and foggy. This was unfortunate because we were not able to see Mt. Doom, the ocean, other mountains, etc. We were able to see the different volcanic igneous rock formations, which was unique. The first leg was all uphill and stairs have been built to help with the steep incline. We powered through the first leg because we wanted to keep our body temperatures up. When we reached the top of Mt. Tangariro we were in the middle of storm. It was windy, hailing and foggy. There was a narrow path we had to follow with cliffs on either side. I felt like the wind was going to sweep me off my feet. The way down was fun because we charged down wet ash, making our shoes a mess! The second leg of the trip we saw acidic lakes. There was 3 of them. We also walked through a couple of huge craters, which made me feel like I was on Mars. It was a weird concept to think about such a huge flat surface on top of a mountain. The third leg was also downhill through meadows with geothermal activity. The strong sulfur smell was a little much on the nose! Taylor, Josh and I decided we were cold enough and started running down the path!! Thankfully there was a hut in the meadow with a fire. We were able to half dry our things and warm up for about an hour. The last leg of hike was through a forest. It was amazing to see the diversity of hike. The forest was lush with streams and wildlife. The Tangariro Crossing normally takes about 7 hours but we did it in 6. We would have taken longer if the weather had permitted, but the cold and wind pushed us along. Overall we made the best of the hike and had a good time. I can see how it is one of the best day hikes in the world. Even in bad weather the scenery and diversity was amazing.

Lake Taupo

The music festival "Boardies and Bikinins" was a blast. We pitched our tent and brought body paint!!! Our group of friends had designs all over their faces, legs, backs, arms, etc. The location was great with the beach on the other side of the hill. The crowd was dancing all night to genres like electronic, DJ, Dub Step, Drum Bass, House. It was our first NZ Festival and well worth it!!!

We also caught the Superbowl a few days later at our friends house (Superbowl Monday in NZ since we're a day ahead). Only 3 of us wanted the Saints to win. My two friends Ollie (Sweden), Ollie (UK) and I. They really had no idea what was going on but Ollie (UK) ended up winning $20 off the game! The commercials were awful!!! It was sad not being able to see what Budweiser, Coke, etc decided to spend their millions on for 30 seconds of airtime. Must be the marketer in me that enjoys the commercials better then the game....kinda haha! We did catch the halftime Who performance, but the sound and picture didn't match up. Oh well!!

It was sad leaving our friends behind in Raglan but it was time to see more of this beautiful country!! We are currently in Taupo (Lake Taupo).
**An interesting fact we learned on the way here was that Flip Flops ( known as Jandles in NZ, Japense Sandles) were founded in New Zealand in 1957......the rubber ones that is!

Lake Taupo is the largest fresh water lake in all Oceanic countries. You could put Singapore inside of it and water would still surround the country. It is a very lush environment with mountains in the skyline. Taupo, pronounced TOEPAW, is known for its lake, skydiving, waterfalls, hot springs, skiing and mountain hiking.

Today we hiked along the Waikato river. The color was unlike anything I'd seen before. It was a green/blue color but clear so that you could see the river bottom from the trails above. The Waikato River incorporates a famous waterfall called Huka Falls. Huka is not a high waterfall like Multnomah, but rather a narrow shoot channeling the water out. Every second that water pours out is equivalent to 160 baby elephants coming down. After checking out the falls we went to The Honey Hive where we had free honey tasting (yes dad I thought of you). It was a long day of hiking (about 4 hours) and it ended with a soak in the natural hot pools.

On Monday we are hiking the Tongariro Crossing!! It has been voted as one of the top 10 day hikes in the world. It will take us about 7 hours to complete. For all you Lord of the Ring nuts, we hike over Mt. Doom.

Some new words to spice up the American Lingo:

Boardies = Swim Trunks
Torch = Flashlight
Jandals= Flip Flops
Choice Bro = Awesome
Sweet As = nice
Mate = friend
Walkabout = roamin around
Bottlo = Liquor Store
Petrol = Gas Station
Rubbish = Trash Can
Mega = Super
Mental = Crazy
Wop Wops = Middle of nowhere
Yeah Couzzie = Fo Sure
Proper = Very

Stillllllllll in Raglan!

We were supposed to leave Raglan a few days ago but we absolutely love it here We decided to stay until this coming Sunday or Monday. That's the beauty of traveling with no time restraints! We have moved into an amazing hostel in town with a great atmosphere and vibe. It feels very homey and we have become a part of the Raglan community. We've been spending our days lying on the beach, jumping off the local bridge, relaxing in hammocks, reading books and listening to music. We've been living off of fresh produce, eggs and the famous PB&J. There are a lot of hills in this area, which have made for some intense workouts sessions! Tomorrow we are headed about a half hour out of town to a 2 day music festival "Boardies & Bikinis" on the beach. One of the guys who works at our hostel is loaning us his tent. It is a big event each year and we look forward to hearing and dancing to some local NZ music.
Hope all is well state side