Tomato Sauce isn't always what it seems...or Aquarius is down for the count.

Spending time in Taupo has been lovely.  Sunny skies, the wonderful company and hospitality of Farideh and Andrew, beautiful hikes and scenery, and yummy dinners.

Speaking of dinners, after a botched climbing day where Nolan and I walked about 10 miles to and from a crag where we could only find two moss/spider covered slab climbs, we wanted a quick meal.  We decided to cook up our usual tuna pasta, so I sent Nolan to the "dairy" (NZ word for corner store), for some canned tomatoes or tomato sauce.  When he returned, I was knee-deep in Beyond Teaching emails, so he cooked up the whole sauce.  When I went over to check it out, it smelled a bit off...so we took a taste and discovered that it was very similar to ketchup.  We called Andrew over to check it out, and after reading the can more thoroughly realized it WAS in fact ketchup! Nolan felt only kinda like a dork (even though it wasn't his fault!). Botched climbing day, botched pasta sauce...in the end we cooked up some veggies with pasta instead :).

Also on our way back from our 10 mile hike, we noticed the car was acting funny. Apart from the cons we've already listed, the gears weren't quite catching, gas was decreasing at an alarming rate, and it would take about five minutes to start.  We decided to take it to a mechanic the following morning and left it there for a diagnosis.  The auto shop called us later saying that they had seen the exact same car two weeks ago!  It needed a tune-up, new gaskets, and a patched up exhaust leak.   Apparently, Tom, the German pre-owner, had been told to fix all this but did not...leaving us to front the $400 bill.  At least now we can justify selling it back for more than we bought it!!

While Aquarius was in the hospital getting fixed, we climbed Mount Tauhara, where Nolan, Farideh, and I ate beef sandwiches and admired the 360 degree view of Lake Taupo and surrounding areas.  It was beautiful!! Then we went to Huka falls and were amazed by the blue/white water flying through a natural chute to spill out in a glorious waterfall. That too was beautiful! Later we chilled on the beach with some Tui beer (Tui is a bird here that has a beautiful whistling song), followed by a home-cooked meal of green-lipped mussels (humongous!), lemonfish (a.k.a. shark), and israeli couscous.  Yum!

Taupo!  Our First View.

Nolan and Aquarius

Sunset in Taupo

Farideh & Nolan at the top of Mt. Tauhara

Easier to give a thumbs up than do a yoga pose on a pointy rock!

Forestry and farms in the background!

At the start of Huka Falls 

At the end of Huka Falls!

Green-lipped mussels!

They're HUGE!

Top Ten Pros and Cons of a 1983 Campervan (a.k.a Aquarius)

Pros:

1. You can pull over any where and take a nap!
2. You can make a sandwich or cook a full-on dinner wherever you are (and wash your dishes!).
3. You never have to leave it except to use the potty.
4. You will make friends everywhere you go.
5. Our walls are bright orange.
6. You can stand up and walk around in it.
7. Beer can travel with you in the fridge (theoretically - see Con #9).
8. People can hear you coming from really far away.
9. We will never get a speeding ticket (because it can't go over 90km/h)
10. The comfy "double bed" makes cuddling easy as pie.

Cons:

1. You can actually watch the gas gauge go down while driving.
2. When you're driving, it's too noisy to talk on the phone.
3. It takes two or three tries to get our baby running (which apparently, Nolan just discovered how to fix! Warm up bulbs?).
4. It does not do well on washed out, steep dirt roads meant for burly 4WD vehicles, meaning if you want access to sweet climbing spots, WALK.  
5. Due to the engine's location under the front seat, the driver has an unwanted seat heater.
6. We are the slowest car on the road (actually, today we passed a tractor!)
7. Acceleration is tricky.
8. Reversing on a hill is impossible.
9. We still can't figure out how to get the fridge to work.
10. Nolan is the only one with the skills to drive it - Dimity still looks the wrong way when she crosses the street.

Alas, we love our car, named Aquarius (as I officially bought it, it's my birthday soon, and the guy who sold it to me has a birthday 5 days later!), but have acknowledged the fact that a 4WD might have been better. 

Rain drops are falling on our heads...

Apologies for the lack of posting lately, but (1) we've had no internet and (2) it's been raining nonstop!

Here's the recap:

We spent our last two days in Auckland with Yali and Gary, our yogi buddies.  We spent one night outside of the Hilton where our friend Gary was staying, and the doorman brought us fresh coffee to drink right on the water in the morning - it was amazing! All in all, we ate well, sampled (too many) New Zealand wines, and then headed to Raglan for a west coast beach experience.  Nolan and I drove down Friday afternoon through the back country, which looks a lot like England.  Rolling hills and sheep farms everywhere dotted with pockets of jungle along the way! At one point, we even drove through a herd of sheep that magically appeared in the road. It was radical!

Two hours later we arrived to beautiful turquoise water surrounded by lush green cliffs and rolling hills.  At the bottom of the cliffs is the world's longest left-hand break.  We spent the first hour or so driving up and down the windy roads, similar to the 2.5 hour drive down. After a spell, we set up camp at a holiday park (family campground) that was located between the beach and the town of Raglan. Almost as soon as we pulled in two young surfers came up to us asking about our van. After a brief talk with their parents, we may have sold the van to them! They let us borrow their boards and we surfed that evening in the Tasmin sea.  It was so amazing that they lent us their boards immediately after meeting us - Kiwis seem to be the nicest people ever!

The next day poured with rain, so we spent the day wandering around town, eating fish and chips, and watching movies in Gary's nice villa he rented.  The next two days continued to rain - we spent our time driving to a climbing area called Wharepapa South.  We planned to camp out there until the rain cleared, but it was so buggy, wet, and isolated, that we scrapped the plan and drove down to Lake Taupo to spend the rainy day in a city with Farideh, Emma's awesome friend from college!

Now it's Wednesday, and we're heading to Whanganui Bay to climb and camp for two days before heading back here for the weekend.  It's finally beautiful!! Yay!!

Gary, Nolan, and me at the lookout point in Auckland

Gary snapping shots on the rocks in Raglan

Gary, Yali, Nolan and me in Raglan

Just realized that most of our pics are on Nolan's other camera...more to come!

From Fiji to New Zealand

Bula everyone! It has been an awesome last few days! On our last day in Fiji we took a cab, a bus and another cab to a very fancy resort called the Intercontinental on the beautiful beach of Natadola (Coral Coast). We lounged around the pool, ordered lunch, went swimming in an infinity pool and clear tropical ocean waters. When we had about as much luxury as we could stomach, we headed back to Nadi via the super cheap bus. Nadi is like any other dumpy city,  but it was great to wander around and look for some good food to eat. Since about half of Fiji's population is Indian (due to indentured servants way back when), curry is abundant.  We found a delicious curry-house, but Dimity paid the price later that night when my gas started.  Dimity gave me a first rate hair cut in the shower that night and now I feel all shiny and new for New Zealand!!!

We landed yesterday and found out that immigration is very serious about biosecurity, including possible soil on tents, etc. I didn't declare that I had a tent in my bag, and they found it in their fancy X ray machine! They said that they were going to give me a $400 fine!!! They checked out my tent, and it didn't have any dirt on it, so they gave me a written warning. Great way to enter this cool country.  Dimity thinks I got off easy because the security lady had a crush on me. ;)

Our friend Yali from Nosara was there to greet us when we arrived and was super helpful.  She found us a hostel in Ponsonby, a beautiful suburb of Auckland.  We're on the main street that is loaded with cute restaurants (none of which we can enjoy bc NZ food is outrageously expensive!), coffee shops, and boutiques.  She also helped us search for cars.  We got incredibly lucky when we found a dream camper van parked outside our hostel.  The sale price was $3,600 but another guest told us the guy was desperate to sell.  We met up with him and offered $2,500 and he accepted!! So now we have an amazing (albeit slightly archaic) camper van that you can walk in, cook in, sleep in, LIVE IN!  It was such a relief to find something so wonderful so quickly.  Next steps: buy insurance, join the AA (like our AAA), learn to drive on the "wrong" side of the road.

It's a beautiful day, so we're going to head to a local climbing gym and get the scoop on Auckland's or nearby crags to explore.  On our potential itinerary for the week, aside from climbing: Waheike Island to explore the vineyards and bike around, northland to the beaches and beachside climbing, and hanging out with Yali and another yogi friend Gary.

YAY NEW ZEALAND!

Check out our rad vehicle:

Fiji Me!

Bula!! (hello in Fijian),

We finally made it to Fiji!

The ten-hour flight wasn't as bad as expected.  Nolan and I were exhausted from a long day of travel where we missed our connection in Chicago (resulting in Nolan getting first class on the next flight via standby!?).  I was booked on the next flight but managed to make it onto his and we arrive in LAX with plenty of time to make our Fiji flight.  By the time we got on, we passed out for about 7 hours and woke up to movies and a poor excuse for breakfast.

Everything is island time here, so although we arrived at 5am, we didn't get into our room until 9am.  We took a 3.5 hour nap and woke up to a note from my college friend, Emily, who had flown from Suva where she is working at the UN to visit me for the weekend!! Such an awesome surprise!

So far our days have consisted of lying by the beach (not the nicest beach on Fiji by far, but venturing to another one tomorrow), eating, and trying Kava, a traditional drink that tastes like watered down mud with pepper and is supposed to make you some kind of drunk.  It is in fact ground up pepper plant mixed with water.  The "Kavaholics," a singing group, sang us a welcome song, and then taught us how to drink the Kava.  You clap once, say "Bula!", down it while everyone in the circle says "heeeeeeyyyy!!!", try to wipe the look of disgust off of your face, and then clap three times.  Two bowls of kava made me lose sense of balance and I clung to Nolan as we walked to dinner and had a delicious curry. 

Tonight we're going to practice yoga at sunset on the balcony of the hotel...and tomorrow off to the Coral Coast!

It's so strange to be so far away!! We realized that we are technically only 6 hours behind you folks back home, but a day ahead...if that makes sense.  So, the jetlag isn't horrible.

Lots of love from the other side of the world,
Dimity & Nolan

English- Fijian Dictionary:

• maca (ma-tha) = empty
• mace (ma-the) = morning
• vinaka = thank you
• bula = hello
• taki = kava time!

Off to a tricky start...

So far it seems that we are doomed to encounter bad weather wherever we go.  In Costa Rica, we spent the first two weeks hiding inside from the torrential downpours that knocked out the bridge connecting Nosara to the mainland.  Tonight, we confront a serious snow storm that might threaten tomorrow's afternoon flight to Fiji, via LA.  In Fiji, we've exchanged our beach camping for a room because it's raining all weekend...

Fortunately, New Zealand has a forecast of blue skies and sun!  Those of you who aren't boiling with jealousy that we're heading to warmth, send us some sunny and snow-melting vibes for the next few days!  ;)

Looking forward to this... (Auckland!), where we'll be meeting up with two yogi friends from Costa Rica!

New Beginnings...

New year, new job (Beyond Teaching), new adventures...

Home is Wherever I'm with You!

As Nolan and I spend our last few days state-side before setting off on our 6-month trip, I've been struggling to find a name for our blog.  I keep coming back to the song we both love called "Home," by Edward Sharpe and the Magentic Zeroes.  The chorus sings:

Home, let me come home

Home is wherever I'm with you

Oh home, yes I am home

Home is when I'm alone with you

So, as I prepare to leave my physical "home" (NYC/CT) as well as my friends and family, I feel comforted knowing that with Nolan by my side, I will be "home" wherever I am in the world. :)

Another part of the song sings "Holy moly, me, oh my, you’re the apple of my eye," and HOLY MOLY - is this a seriously exciting adventure!!  So there you have it...our blog name.

~ Dimity