Wellington - Part One

We finally made it to Wellington! Home to Parliament, the Te Papa Museum, diverse culture, the ferry to the South Island, surf, sand, nightlife, friends, and more cafés per capita than any major city in the world, “Swellington” is just too much to write about in one post. So we’ve split this amazing metropolis into a Five Part (S)Wellington Extravaganza! Part One – Thank You Note. My mom always taught me to write thank you notes right away before you forget, so here goes – Thank you thank you so much to Rich and Merridith, and to Joan for setting us up with them. You guys were amazing tour guides and cultural ambassadors for Kiwis – never mind that Merridith is from Maryland. These two rock stars not only drove us around the cool parts of town, they made us feel like we were part of a “group” – a hard feeling to get on the road. The first stop was the beautiful rugged west side of the bay where we enjoyed even more tide pool exploration, hiked a bit, snagged some epic views, and talked about travel blogging – check out their award winning travel blog to see how the pros do it. If that wasn’t enough, they took us out to dinner and introduced Care and I to the deliciously weird Taiwanese treat – bubble tea. Even Care liked it, so that’s saying something. Just when we thought we’d worn out our welcome, the fun continued. Rich was all, “Oh hey guys, you wanna go check out my family’s rad bach?” (NZ for “beach house”). We tried to play it cool, so I was all, “Pssht, I guess. I mean we have a few minutes to kill...” And Care was like, “Whatevs, yo.” It was AWESOME. We surf kayaked (insanely fun/hard) and then got the best fresh fruit ice cream in “sunny Otaki” on the Kapiti Coast – home to the most expensive ice cream in New Zealand...per capita. Later that night they drove us up to see the view from Mt. Victoria at night. The twinkling lights that hug the bay are lovely. The hits kept coming when we went to a small group session for their church, ARISE, and got to take part in a fun evening with Kiwis in an apartment above busy Courtenay Street. It was so welcoming to interact like a local. Finally, we went to the Sunday night service of ARISE and got to see an active, young church in New Zealand – a real treat for us. The people in the congregation were wonderful, and we enjoyed a great afterglow dinner with some of them at a café. Despite all the radness, the best part of our new homies was that we finally had someone to use all of our free text messages with. We got 100 free txts within NZ when we loaded up our phone, so we blitzed them with nonsense txts. “hey bff! wut r u up 2 now guyzzzzzz? LOL! ttyl, xoxo.” Sorry yo. Rich and Merridith are stalwart travelers with huge hearts and a real sense for what it means to be away from home. The craziest thing about their selfless generosity is that they had just gotten back from their 9-month trip around the world, the day before we called them. Who has the energy to do all that for two people they’d never met, right when they got back? Rock stars – that’s who. It was the best way to experience Wellington, and Care and I will always see the city through Rich and Merridith colored glasses. That doesn’t sound quite right, but you get the idea. Thanks a million guys. Hope to see you again soon.

Destination Guide: Courtenay Street, Wellington, NZ by Shawn Forno The best food, fun, nightlife, and culture of Wellington is found on Courtenay Street. This funky locale just off Manners Mall at the south end of the civic center houses a pedestrian thoroughfare where tourists and locals alike meander past dozens of designer shops...read more

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Palmerston North

I have to start this post with the best part of Palmerston North – Judy and Steve – my Uncle David’s sister and her husband. Thanks so much guys, your hospitality was amazing. They not only put us up in their lovely home but also: Cooked us two awesome dinners. Fed us two awesome breakfasts. Let us do laundry. Taught us about rugby – go Crusaders! Gave Carolyn a camping toaster for the cooker - an incredibly thoughtful gift, and while I love the raisin toast, it sets the bar pretty high for anything I give Care in the future. Thanks a lot. Sent us on our way with parting gifts of wine, candy, and hot cross buns. But most importantly… Judy hand sewed us a Tetris “L” shaped fitted sheet to match the changes we made to the cushions in the van. The hinged area of the bed that lets us convert it to a seating area now has a removable cushion with its own sheet case. You rule, Jude. They also gave us a great insiders’ tour of Massey University (one of the biggest schools in NZ), an awesome breakfast at their friend’s coffee shop, and a spin around the central square with its park, shops, and venues for bands. We people watched for an hour, sipping cappuccinos sheltered inside from the gale force winds that occur from time to time. In fact, the wind is so strong that Palmerston not only built a huge wind farm to supply energy for the town, they were the first city to wire the surplus energy into the national grid. There is some contention about whether these massive turbines are an eyesore and noise disturbance, but I’ll leave that debate to the Kiwis. I personally think they're awesome – the wind blew so hard that when I jumped, I technically flew for at least two seconds. The only downside is that the wind blew away my braided headband that my friend Kristyn made me in Italy. Carolyn does not see the loss of this headband as a downside.
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"Inspiration" - a comic by Shawn Forno

Mt. Egmont, or Mt. "TaraNOTki"

Mt. Taranaki (the Maori name) or Mt. Egmont (the English name) is supposedly one of the most beautiful and iconic mountains in New Zealand. Its solitary snowcapped peak is so stunning that it was used as a stand-in for Mt. Fuji during the New Zealand based filming of “The Last Samurai.” Unfortunately, storm clouds and fog shrouded the mountain for a week, so we never got to see it…Mt Taranaki I mean, not “The Last Samurai"…I saw that and it was awesome. After six days of waiting around New Plymouth, Oakura, and even on the slopes of Taranaki itself, Care and I decided to give up on getting a rad picture and moved on. The slopes show potential though, and I’d love to come back on our way north and go for a hike. Until then, I’ll just rent “The Last Samurai” and practice sweet sword moves in front of my little laptop screen.
1:13 in...check it out:

Destination guide: Mount Egmont, New Zealand by Shawn Forno Mount Egmont, also known as Mount Taranaki in the local Maori language, provides one of New Zealand’s most iconic landscapes and is home to a multitude of tramping tracks, camp sites, huts, and dozens of other outdoor activities...read more

"TaraNOTki" - a comic by Shawn Forno

Oakura Tide Pools

Freedom camping is a strange thing – once you start, it’s hard to stop. The fun of freedom camping started when Care kept track of the nights we paid to camp and the nights when we found a great spot and just winged it. Over the past few weeks the list showed a growing number of freedom camping nights until the scales finally tipped to make “freedom camping” our accommodation of choice at Oakura Beach. This little stretch of boardwalk and sand 10 km south of New Plymouth isn’t all that much, just a public restroom, showers, and water taps, but waking up thirty feet from the water makes up for a lot. For example, on our second day here grey clouds moved in, snuffing out any hope of a sunny day on the shore. However, for some reason we took a nature walk along the beach to the scattered boulders and shallow tide pools just a half km from our campsite. Next thing we know we’re picking up eleven-armed sea stars (we looked it up and that’s their actual name), pointing out other smaller different starfish (which we didn’t look up, but are pretty cool regardless), getting into staring contests with crabs, touching the sticky tentacles of sea anemones, fording streams, and planting stick trees. Care loved it, and it reminded me of home. What can I say, living for free is addicting.
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The Three Sisters

The atlas that came with our van has these great little icons for all sorts of interesting places to hike, camp, surf, and generally…see stuff. To Carolyn’s never-ending frustration it even has Lord of the Rings film location sites, like Mt. Doom. The icon for these spots is – you guessed it – a golden ring. Anyway, a different one of these icons - a shiny star - is for geographical landmarks, which is cool because as extensive as our *cough* “research” is, we could never read about every great thing to see and do in New Zealand. So, luckily it was one of these icons that showed us the location for today's blog. A place called “The Three Sisters.” When we pulled over at the location of this site we just followed the brown signs and parked by the beach. More signs pointed us to a short hike around a cliff. Only problem was that the tide was obviously coming in and the cliff blocked whatever it was we were supposed to see. After a second of "what do you wanna do? I dunno, what do you wanna do?" we ignored the rising tide which promised to cut off our exit. What can I say, we had faith in that little star on the map. It’s a good thing we did. The Three Sisters is this amazing rock formation jutting out of the water along the rugged sandstone coast. It’s a lot like the Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road in Melbourne, Australia. Erosion wore away the soil around the base of each pillar leaving each majestically stranded in the sea. Turns out a few years ago one of the pillars fell over, so technically it’s just the Two Sisters, but there are a few other bluffs and arches forming, so I’m sure the two ladies will have a younger sibling in a few hundred years. In case you’re wondering, yes, the tide did come in, and yup, we got pretty wet walking/swimming back to the van. But we loved our little off the grid adventure because we didn’t have any expectations, so they were more than exceeded. We love not knowing what each day will bring, and while we might get a little wet for not planning according to the tide charts, the adventures are worth the smelly shoes.
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Carolyn Gets Older in New Zealand

Today is my 27th birthday, which I've been told bumps me from my fun and carefree "mid-20's" to my old and worrisome "late-20's". While living in a van in New Zealand hardly fills my life with anxiety, I still can't escape from the word "old" just based on the fact that I've been around since the early 80's...that's almost vintage! So I hadn't exactly been looking forward to this day, but then I came across a touching letter that was written to me 23 years ago.

Well that proves it! I'm not old! If I were, I'd be living somewhere in Alabama married to my preschool boyfriend, Luke. Whew, that was a close one. See ya tomorrow, I'm off to enjoy my youth! Oh and before I go - it's my birthday so I can do whatever I want.

Shaun Rice Age: older than you think

Our Endless Summer - Raglan

Have you ever seen The Endless Summer, arguably the most influential surf movie ever made? No? You should, it’s awesome. Anyway, this 1966 classic follows two surfers on their quest for perfect waves in a season jumping jaunt around the world. One of their most impressive stops is the little known (at the time) break at Raglan, on the west coast of the North Island, New Zealand. The movie catalogues the insanely consistent break with a peeling left that stretches over 100 meters. For you landlubbers, that’s a looong wave. I was obviously stoked to surf “the best left in the world.” However, when we finally got to Raglan – which was a few hundred km out of our way to Wellington – I was greeted with an ocean as flat and smooth as glass. Seriously, no waves at all. Anger. Disappointment. Waste of gas money? What happened to everything magically working out for us without any planning? How is it possible that one of the most reliable waves in the world pooped out on the one day I came to shred it? That’s right – I said “shred.” Meh. It happens. I guess the summer had to end sometime. It just stinks that it ended when I came to see it. Maybe next time I head up to Raglan I’ll even...oh, I dunno...check the surf report.
The drive to Raglan wasn't a total waste - here are some pics from the beautiful Waikato region. This photo album requires Flash. If your device does not support Flash, you can view the web album on Picasa.