Hope Thanksgiving went well...

Amie and I spent our first Thanksgiving together this year, but on two different days. How is that possible you might ask? WELL.... see I believe that the last Thursday of November is Thanksgiving. Therefore Thursday was Thankgiving. Amie, however, believes that since Thanksgiving is an American holiday, it was not Thanksgiving until Friday, Thursday in America. So, depending on who you agree with will determine how our Thanksgiving went.

Thursday was fairly miserable. We both worked, which felt odd. We then drove 4.5 hrs to Raglan. We ate Turkey on tortilla chips on the way for dinner. We arrived at our campsite at 9:45, settled in (had a beer) and proceeded towards sleep. Unfortunately our air mattress, new four weeks ago, had a hole in it. I lost it, Amie kept a cool head, patched it and off to sleep we went at 11pm. Exhausted!

Friday, that was different. We awoke to a beautiful day. I cooked up some eggs and sausage on our camp stove, made some coffee and packed up. We headed down the road about 5km and pulled up to Manu bay. Big swell had come in overnight. 3-6 feet at 14-16 seconds, for you none surfers (BIG) and clean with light onshore winds. So, not perfect, but good. Amie was still in shock from our last couple of times out. This was evident by her expression when looking at the surf. I am quickly learning that she is not one to pushed, so I suggested we take a look up the coast. Whale bay was suppose to be more gentle. The pic in the upper right hand corner was our view of Whale bay, the tiny black dots, those are grown med. Not a smaller or more gentle wave.

I was determined to surf, but I was almost as equally determined to find surf Amie would enjoy, so our hunt continued. The local beach break was beach pound, one look from Amie and I knew this was not an option.

What to do, well Amie took a breath and opted for Manu bay.

I hope the pictures do it some justice. This point break was fantastic. We watched some great surfers blow right by us. Truth is between the two of us we only caught, 4 waves. But they were great. Amie's confidence is way up. She can go out and knows how to avoid all the large waves and then works her way in for the little ones. I have not learned that lesson.

I sat out with the big boys watching them catch wave after wave, until it happened. That magical set that took everyone in. The rides are long, so before they had a change to get back out another set was in. A huge wave was all mine. I turned and paddled, got to my feet, hesitated and BLAME. That was all she wrote. I fell off the biggest wave I have ever paddled for, then it ran me over. That was the bad news. The good news is that same wave cleaned house, everyone that was trying to get back out got stopped in their tracks. So, I quickly made up for my mistake. The next wave was a little smaller and I was in a little better postion. Thats when I caught the wave of our trip so far.

After about 2.5 hrs in the water we packed up the car and headed to Auckland. Pearl Jam concert was next. Many of you may not be fans, but this show was amazing. The band played for 2.5-3hrs. They mixed the songs old to new. They rocked. They played so long that the stadium put the lights on the field, but they kept playing. I feel I have grown up with band and The performance was one of the best I had seen. Amie even liked the show. I could say more about it, but I do not want to bore you.

Ok, so Friday was the better day by far, but I still do not think that was Thanksgiving. I might put a poll up. All you in Favor of Thursday say "I", those for Friday... actually I know everyone will agree with me.

Saturday was a long trip home. But it ended with a nice surprise. I have been emailing with a fellow surfer from Hampton, Ken Linsman. I knew he was going to be in our area, but we thought our paths would not cross. However, on our way home from Auckland we had to check the surf. We pulled into on of the more mellow spots and there was Ken and his son Kyle and his friend Tom. Just getting out of the water. After a few cordial greetings and then I suggested we check out a nicer wave. We headed to Greenmedows. A spot that has not worked well for us, but the wind was in the right direction for a change and the swell that was in Raglan the day before was also in our region.

There are some great pics that Amie took. A good session. Not as powerful as the boys from back home were looking for, but nice. Ken's son Kyle and his friend Tom can really surf. I think the great thing was that it was just us.

Sunday was more of the same. Surf was not as good, but we all had a good time. It was great to have a little crew around. Also, nice to be around folks from home. Made us realize again how much we miss you all.

Ok, that is my take on the weekend. A great time. No matter what day was Thanksgiving it was my best ever because it was my first of many with Amie. (Aaahhh, how sweet)

Hope you like the pics. I think Amie with have you own entry this week.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Well, here is- almost Thanksgiving and the days are getting longer and warmer. Chris and I have to remind ourselves every once in a while that the holidays are just around the corner. But wait- it's summer, no, it's Christmas....Oh, I don't know what's going on!!

So as you can tell, sometimes nothing is what it seems in New Zealand. Chris and I have compiled a list if differences from the US to New Zealand.

1. If you order bacon, you will get ham on your plate.
2. If you ask for a rubber, you will be handed an eraser.
3. If you go into the blokeswear store, you will find men's clothing.
4. If someone uses the word "drawers" in the conversation, they are referring to your underwear.
5. If you are driving down the highway and see the "100" sign, that would be KPH, NOT MPH.
6. You might say,"Sweet" if you see something you like, but in NZ, they would say,"Sweet as".
7. Don't tell the waitress how you want your hamburger cooked because everything is cooked well. (Heatherton made that mistake).
8. If someone gives you a lolly, you will get any type of candy.
9. To Steve, Jimmy and Christie-westerly winds are NOT GOOD when you live on the west coast!
10. If your crooked, you have an ailment.
11. Don't order take out; order "take-aways"
12. Math is known as "maths" and sports is known as "sport"

Chris and I have been very busy lately working away. We went out surfing last week to a place called Fitzroy and paddled out past the head-high barrels. We forgot the camera, but if we had it, you would have seen crazy waves, extreme NZ surfers and Amie getting crushed by the VERY LARGE waves. All in all, we had a great time surfing while watching the sun set on one side of the earth and the snow capped volcano poking out of the clouds on the other side. This place is pretty special! We hope you can come visit us! My friend, Becky, has already bought her plane ticket for February. Chris' friend, Dr. Steve Elgert, will be here in December. We are looking forward to our visitors and hope we have more on the way!

For Thanksgiving, we will be heading up to Auckland to see Pearl Jam in concert on Friday. Hopefully on Friday morning, we will surf the famous left-Raglan. I am not so sure though, because Chris tells me it might be pretty big that day. We are hoping to get some good pictures for you next weekend. We will miss everyone very much for Thanksgiving! We will be there in spirit and will be thinking about all our friends and family back home.

I Just want to give a quick shout out to my peeps at Bakie! I have been subbing lots and it is a great experience, but not the same as having my own classroom and fellow colleagues to chat with! Jo- thanks for all the great comments! Miss you guys!

We wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!

A typical week

We are late with our post. Sorry for those of you who hang on our every word. We have been busy.

No big trips. I guess we have settled in here in Hawera. We spent this weekend traveling the coast, surfing in bad conditions and trying out the new Mtn. bike trails.

First, on Thursday we visited a farm about 20min. outside of town. Beautiful land. A friend was showing Amie her horses. This particular friend also trains herding dogs. A great visit, some good pics to come. Amie now has a place to go ride. I will stay away from the horses.

The surf was poor. Funny though, even when poor we find a wave or two. Amie is on a new board and very excited. I saw her smile while surfing for the first time in a long time. It helped that the waves were not double overhead.

I went out and found the Mtn. Bike trails on Saturday. Damn Kiwi's, they do everything big. I took a few quick rides and then found an expert trail called "Jump Line". How bad could it be?

Well it was straight down, through thick brush. Single track the whole way. About 100 meters in, around a slight curve was a jump. A 4foot gap jump, no way to go but straight over it. Not that I had time to turn anyway. In Mid air it occurred to me, "this is the country that invented bungy jumping, I should have expected this." I landed it, but the corner that was at the landing did not go so smooth. Have you ever seen pictures of the rain forest? Thick brush everywhere, wet, lots of bugs. Yeah, that was where I landed. I don't even think I hit the ground. Welcome to New Zealand Mtn biking. Overall, great trails, lots of downhill.

Short blog this week. GOT to go to work. Amie says hello.

Have a great week. More pics later.

Big Week for Yankee fans

Hello all!

Can you see the smile on my face from there? Yes, that is right the Yankees have won their 27th title-More than any other professional team in any sport, in the US at least. I had game cast going at work since the games were on mid day for us. The title would have been more satisfying if the Yanks could have knocked out the Red Sox on the way, but what can you do? We will take it! I know, richest team, lots of stars, blah, blah, blah, Yankees are the Champs and the world is back as it should be.

Amie and I have a late entry this week. Busy weekend and a dinner at friends' house last night. Also, we realised we did not have much to say. Things are good and we are settling in. We stayed around the home this weekend, except for one night at the beach. But nothing we have not spoken of in the past.

Let me digress. I will touch on one of my favorite things about New Zealand, actually two. No Police and lots of bathrooms. You may be asking, Why those two things? Ok, here goes.

Saturday we pulled up to our favorite beach, lots of wind, surf was not good. So we waited. We did not pay meters. We did not worry about neighbors complaining. There were no houses on this beach. We have never seen the police patrol the beach. Finally, the wind switched. We jumped in and surfed for about an hour or two. That night, we pulled out the new camp stove and cooked up some steaks. We had wine right there next to the beach. We walked out to look at the surf in the night light. Three different fires on the beach-just people hanging out. Still no police. This is not a camp ground- just a beach. No one needed fire permits. When they were done, they put out the fires and placed trash in the can near the exit road.

The next morning we awoke right next to the beach, changed into our wet suits and surfed for another two hours.. Then it happened, the stomach started to rumble and the coffee was kicking in. That steak had moved through my system, time to go... but where. Here in New Zealand I just went(ran) to the bathroom that is tucked into the woods. The toilets (or as the New Zealanders say 'The Lu")is always clean and has TP. Again, we did not pay to be here. This is just what is at every beach. Actually, here there are two sets of lu's about .5 km apart. The bathrooms don't stand out but instead they are tucked away amongst beautiful trees and shrubs.

We could learn something from the Kiwis. If you relax and have lots of bathrooms you don't need as many police.

I would like to take a second to send out another Hello to my cousin Rick and his three amazing children. I love you guys and I wish I could help. Come to New Zealand if you need a break.