Our First Kiwi Christmas

We had such a wonderful Christmas...I don't even know where to begin! Tyler's family arrived on December 20th and it was a very eventful two weeks. The weather was amazing. 25 degrees and blue skies almost every day. We saw too many beaches to count, climbed mountains, saw waterfalls, walked through Hobbiton, went on bike rides, saw a Maori cultural show, went fishing, walked through forests, went bodysurfing and saw endless cows and sheep...just to name a few things! I think we tired everyone out with all the activities but who knows if they will ever be back - YOLO!

The first week they were here we stayed in New Plymouth and showed them around town and all the things we like to do around here for fun. The second week we rented a beach house in the Coromandel, which is on the East side of the North island and a popular Christmas vacation spot. The Coromandel was beautiful and the beaches were stunning! We will definitely plan to go there again before we leave NZ.

Here are some of our adventures...

Made it to the top of Paritutu Rock!

The climb down...nice view but a little steep. Good thing for the chain to hold onto!

Fun times at the beach :) (that's the rock we climbed!)

Tyler surprised the boys with a half day fishing trip on the ocean. I think it was the highlight of the trip for them. Even though one of the three amigos lost his cookies over the side of the boat...more than once! They caught a few dozen different types of fish, an octopus, a barracuda and saw a shark and sea lions. Fishing trip success! 

Dave pretty pleased with his catch!

Not bad boys!

Mount Damper Falls. Just one of many waterfalls we saw on the trip.

Family photo in front of Elephant Rock!

Beach stroll. Love the black sand beaches.

Just chillin'

Another family photo in front of Dawson Falls.

Dawson Falls.

Christmas makes siblings do crazy things...

Scary geothermal activity in Taupo.

One night we went to a Maori cultural dinner show in Rotorua. Leah being the loving sister she is, nominated Tyler to be the "Chief." Tyler was not amused but played along like a champ anyways (and I think he secretly enjoyed the attention). As part of his chief duties, he had to greet the actual Maori Chief of the village, other pretend chiefs who were nominated and the bus driver (pictured below). The Maori greeting consists of shaking hands while touching each other's noses twice. Although it was awkward and embarrassing for Tyler is was quite hilarious to all of us! The bus driver warned him not to go in for a kiss...poor Tyler! 

Aww!

Maori's doing their traditional war cry or dance, the Haka.

Tyler in the Maori village learning the Haka. Who knew he was so uncoordinated?!

We also visited Hobbiton in our travels, where the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit were filmed. It was on Leah's bucket list and a non-negotiable stop on the trip! The scenery and attention to detail were amazing and the hobbit holes were oh-so-cute!

For the last five days of our trip we were in the Coromandel and basically were beach bums the whole  time, with a few walks thrown in for good measure. It was awesome. Our rental house was amazing and had a panoramic view to die for! We stayed in a tiny little town called Kuaotunu away from the crowds and most days only shared the beach with a few other people. It was definitely a great way to end the Christmas vacation.

The view from our rental house.

Tyler and his boogey board that he was obsessed with. He would ride it almost every day for hours!

The boys getting their boogey on.

Cathedral Cove beach.

One of the beautiful bays at Cathedral Cove.

One of our favourites - New Chums beach. Only accessible by walking in (30 mins each way) it was gorgeous.

And that wraps up our first Kiwi Christmas! I think we did an excellent job of making it a memorable one for everyone :) We loved having family come to visit and showing them around this beautiful country. Only two more weeks until our best friends arrive for more fun and adventure! 

Yarra Valley & the GOR

Well, I meant to write this post weeks ago but then Christmas came and we were busy! This is part two of our trip over to OZ last month. We stayed a few nights in Yarra Valley, which is known as the wine region of Victoria and is located just an hours drive outside of Melbourne. In our limited time there we managed to see and do a lot. Besides all of the delicious wine we drank, our favourite thing was feeding kangaroos! We visited an animal sanctuary which is similar to a zoo but on a smaller scale. It didn't have the "caged in" feel that most zoos have and we were able to get really close to most of the animals. The Roo's name we got to feed was Kiki, pictured below. She was sweet and gentle and thoroughly enjoyed the corn and carrots we fed her. Unlike her male counterparts, we were told the females were fairly tame and we didn't have to worry about our safety around them.

Kiki the kangaroo

Of course we had a day visiting wineries in the region as well. We tried to fit in as many as we could but with so many to chose from it was hard to just select a few! We managed to see the ones that also made their own cheese...obviously. It was all delicious! The landscape of Yarra Valley reminded us of other wine regions we have visited in the past such as Marlbourough and Sonoma. Rolling hills and lots of vines!

This sign made us feel better when we showed up to the first winery at 10 am :)

Yarra Valley

mmm cheese

Our last two days in Australia were spent driving the Great Ocean Road or the GOR as they refer to it. It is a few hundred kilometer stretch of road West of Melbourne along the ocean that travels through many small towns and too many amazing landmarks to mention. We didn't have time to travel the whole thing but we managed to see about three quarters of it. Unfortunately it was overcast  the entire road trip so the photos didn't turn out quite as amazing as I had hoped! 

The view along the GOR

Wild Koala's. They were cuter than I can put into words :)

The start of Twelve Apostle's beach

Tyler dancing...I think?

The Twelve Apostles - which refers to the rock formations jetting out of the ocean

There was a side road along the drive that was known to house many wild Koala's. We stopped there twice - once on the way there and once on the way back. They were just so cute, we couldn't help ourselves! We saw them sleeping, eating, walking across the road and even a mama feeding her baby.

Just a Koala hanging out on the deck. No big deal.

Mama and baby!

Besides the Koala's, we also found a spot where we could see wild Kangaroos. It was fun seeing them inside the sanctuary, but nothing beats seeing them in their natural habitat in the wild. Of course we didn't attempt feeding any of them this time!

A mama feeding her baby

Hip hop, hippity hop!

Overall we had an amazing time in OZ and can't wait to go back some day. There is still so much of the country left to explore. Also, I have lots of pictures to share from over the Christmas holidays when Tyler's family was here. We did and saw so much with them. Once I sort through all the photos I will post them!

Melbourne

 We had a wonderful time visiting Australia. Melbourne was a fabulous city with lots to see and do. We were surprised for such a big city how friendly everyone was, and how new and clean everything looked! It was however more expensive than we anticipated; hotels, restaurants, and shopping. We thought we would do lots of shopping while we were there but they definitely don't have North American prices - or sales! We arrived to a bit of a heat wave - around 35 degrees, but it can get up to the mid forties in the middle of summer, so I guess we can't complain. We stayed in a great hotel with a view overlooking the city. It was a nice change as there are no tall buildings in New Plymouth!

Our hotel room view

City view along the Yarra river

The main train station and the FREE city tram! 

There was a nice park across from the hotel so one day we packed a picnic of bread, meats and cheeses from the local market (the markets there were fabulous and massive). Oh, and of course a bottle of sparkling wine. It's legal to drink in most public places in Australia and New Zealand as long as you aren't being obnoxious - another great reason to live here :)

Tyler enjoying the picnic

The first night we arrived we had tickets to an act at the local jazz club. Melbourne has lots of lanes and alleyways full of restaurants and bars and this place was down one of them. It was in a cozy basement with a small stage and a big piano. We saw Olivia Chindamo, a local jazz artist sing and at 22, she was amazing. Sometimes I miss living in a big city to see things like this! 

One day we headed down to St. Kilda beach, the main beach in town. It was a Sunday and beautiful outside and the place was packed! I felt like I was in California, there were people everywhere! The beach was nice but the community of St. Kilda was awesome. It was super trendy with lots of great shops and restaurants - I could have spent all day people watching! There is a big pier at the beach and we heard if we were lucky we might get to see a penguin. I guess it was our lucky day because we saw four! It was our first time seeing a wild penguin outside of a zoo. They were adorable and tiny!

One of the adorable penguins we saw

St Kilda beach

The overflow of people from the beach...

The port at St. Kilda

One day we rented bikes to tour around the city. Tyler says it's not a vacation unless he gets to ride a bike! It was a great way to see the city as we didn't have a car while we were there. While on our bike ride we came across the Abbotsford Convent. The building was so gorgeous we had to stop and see what it was. Built in 1863, it's no longer used as a convent, but rather is now known as an arts and cultural precinct. We checked out one of the restaurants while there and were surprised to learn that it operated on a "pay-as-you-feel" model. If you can't afford to pay for your meal right now, you don't have to. If you can, you do. And if you are feeling generous you can pay a bit extra to help cover the costs of someone who can't afford it. The place had such a great vibe and it has been running successfully on this model for 13 years! 

The Abbotsford Convent

"Lentil as Anything" restaurant in the convent

As mentioned, Melbourne has an abundance of bustling laneways. Below is one of the popular ones filled with a variety of restaurants and bars. We also visited Hosier Lane, a popular landmark in Melbourne because of it's street art. There is a lot of graffiti in the city, but it's all very artistic (well most of it) and adds to the "coolness" of the city.

Tyler posing on Hosier Lane

I think they were enjoying getting their picture taken

Checking it all out

Ninja Turtles!

And while at the grocery store one day we came across this...Tyler insisted I take a picture. Not a gingerbread house, but an "Outback Shack." Amazing! I definitely regret not buying this :)

After Melbourne we also went to Yarra Valley and drove the Great Ocean Road. I have too many pictures to fit it all in this post, so stay tuned!