Kerikeri, NZ

Kerikeri was our last stop on our New Zealand trip. We almost didn't go up there because there had been a lot of rain, so much that it was flooding up in the Bay of Islands. (Kerikeri is one of the towns in the Bay of Islands.) But we called up our B&B and they said it should be fine; there was no flooding near them and all the main roads were now open. So we decided to risk it, and we are very glad we did. We took these two pictures on our drive up to Kerikeri.

For dinner we ate at a fabulous little place called Jerusalem cafe. We had a sampler platter, and we really enjoyed everything we had.

The next morning we woke up to clear skies, and we were happy we had booked a boat tour. Micah enjoys a quick cup of coffee in our suite before we depart for our day. We started with a boat tour around the Bay of Islands. It ended up being a gorgeous day, and the best part was that we got to see four separate pods of dolphins while we were out on the water. We even got to see some of them jump out of the water. It was amazing!

At the end of our boat trip we got off at Russell, another cute little town on the Bay. We had a fish and chips lunch while we enjoyed sitting outside looking out on the Bay. Next we took a ferry back to Kerikeri, where we did some souvenir shopping (we still had not found much for the boys). Thankfully we found a few things we thought the boys would like, then it was off again. We drove to some glowworm caves we had spotted on our drive up to Kerikeri.

The glowworm caves were very interesting. I was a little freaked out about being underground in the dark, and I was very thankful we were in one of the small caves. It was amazing to see the glowworms. They looked like a miniature version of the milky way.

One of the best things about our stay in Kerikeri was staying in the Lyness suite. It was a wonderfully peaceful retreat after our crazy days, and we really enjoyed getting to know the owners. The property is beautiful, and our room was private and comfortable.

Rotorua, NZ

Because of our delay in Queenstown, we only had one night in Rotorua instead of two. So we tried to pack what we could in our short time there. We walked around some of the geothermal pools and peeked in at the Bath House and Museum before we headed out to our Maori village cultural experience.

We really enjoyed going on the Tamaki Village show. They bussed us to the location of the village, and they entertained us on the bus ride by having us pick a tribe leader. When we got to the village the tribe leaders stood out in front while the Maori warriors came and danced in front of them to see if we were friendly or not. Once we were welcomed into the village we were able to go to different huts to see demonstrations of dances, games, and explanations of the native practices. Then we got to see our dinner cooking in the earth pit. While we waited for our dinner to be ready we went into the meeting house to watch some native dances, and a video on the Maori people. Then it was time to enjoy our wonderful dinner.

Our Chickens

Our chickens are now about 9 weeks old, and they are living in their coop outside. We decided to get three chicks, so that we would start small and see how it goes. Eventually we may get more depending on how this all goes. We also wanted to get three different types of chickens, so we got a Rhode Island Red, Silver Wyandotte, and an Ameraucana. The Ameraucana will lay bluish eggs. Of course they are not old enough to lay eggs just yet. We should be getting eggs at the end of the summer. Right now we are enjoying letting "the girls" out to free range. It is so fun to just watch them explore their new environment, and they love to take dust baths.

Here is our coop. We did some research, and thought about having Micah just build ours, but we figured it would take a while to build it. Then we found someone on Craigslist who was selling kits that we could assemble ourselves, so we went that route. This is a small coop, so it houses our three girls just fine, but we would have to get another coop if we ever wanted to have more than our three. We like this coop because it is very secure, and easy to clean.

Here are the girls. We had fun asking Andrew what we should name the chicks. He picked "Spunky" for the Ameraucana (she is the one at the bottom of the picture). She was the biggest chick, and she loved to try to get out of the container when we had them in the bathroom. He named the Silver Wyandotte (the black and silver one in the middle) "Isis". And we all just called the Rhode Island Red, "Red". The boys are enjoying the chicks. Josiah loves to tell the chicks "bye, bye chicks".

April in Review

Here are some pictures of what we were up to during the month of April. One exciting thing was that we got some chicks. We bought them from someone on Craigslist when they were two weeks old. They stayed in a container in our bathtub until about a couple of weeks ago when they moved outside to their coop. (Pictures of that to come in another post.)

We also had lots of fun celebrating the resurrection of Jesus through our Easter traditions. We dyed eggs, did an egg hunt, easter baskets, and celebrated with friends and family.

We also took the boys to the Seattle Flight Museum and the Woodland Park Zoo.

And here are the chicks at the end of April.

Queenstown

Our first day in Queenstown turned out to be St. Patrick's Day. We celebrated by having a nice dinner at a restaurant called Flame, known for their steaks. We enjoyed eating our wonderful meal and watching all the crazy people out on the lawn near the waterfront. And we also enjoyed the beautiful views. Queenstown is on a lake that is surrounded by mountains, and it is just gorgeous. Our next day in we went in search of Deer Park Heights. Before our trip we watched some of the special features on the extended versions of our Lord of the Rings movies, and Peter Jackson mentioned they did some filming in Queenstown at Deer Park Heights. We figured since we were there we would like to go and see it. However, it turned out to be quite a search (we found out it closed a few years ago because the owner was tired of having people tramp through his property). With our GPS and some divine help we were able to stumble upon it, and ended up hiking half way up the big hill. A couple of the scenes that were filmed there were the Warg battle with the Riders of Rohan and the perfectly clear lake the Rohirrim Refugee were led past in the Two Towers. We didn't make it all the way since we had to turn our rental car in at a certain time. After doing the car return we headed back to town for lunch at Dux de Lux, a restaurant that brews their own beer. Then it was off to the gondola to check out the views from the top of a hill. However, it started raining so the views weren't as great as they could have been. Then for dinner we went to a fabulous pizza place and had a pizza that had lamb and veggies on one side and chicken, brie cheese and cranberries on the other half. Oh yum! Then it was time to leave Queenstown and fly to the North Island. But we ended up having to wait an entire day at the airport since we were flying standby. Thankfully we made it out on the last flight of the day, and it was an amazing view once we were in the sky. The Southern Alps went on and on and on as far as we could see for at least the first 15 minuets of the flight.

Kim enjoying a cider at Flame

Micah's mixed grill feast

The scenery around Queenstown

Hiking up towards Deer Park Heights

Looking up towards Deer Park Heights

The view from the trail up to DPH

Lunch at Dux de Lux

Micah outside the Dux de Lux restaurant, it is in a building from the 1800s built by a stonemason

Our ride up the gondola

Taking in the views at the top of the hill

The view from the plane of the Southern Alps at sunset

Hobbiton (Matamata)

Queenstown was beautiful. Yet another location that Pictures can't do it justice. We will share more about our time here in another post.

So, we made it to the North Island ... only 12 hours late. Fill in those blanks with the complexities of standby travel when an airline has to ground part of its fleet for emergency safety checks for possible cracks in the windshield. Needless to say, we are thankful that we managed to make it as early as we did. But leaving Queenstown was some of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen from the air. I wish I could have taken pictures of our ascent out of the valley. We had to leave before sunset due to flight regulations in the area (of which we managed to do with 2 minutes to spare). The Mountains were all around us and the Southern Alps seemed to stretch on forever.

Our late departure meant we couldn't make it to our lodging in Rotorua or even pick up our rental car. So we ended up staying in an Auckland hotel near the airport on short notice. To say that the hotel was low budget would be an understatement. But it was an experience we won't soon forget. Well, on to our North Island adventures. After picking up our Rental car, finding breakfast and a craft store that sells yarn we were on our way to Matamata. Outside of this quaint town, is where they filmed the Shire portions of Lord of the Rings and most recently The Hobbit. Filming for The Hobbit just finished this last November. The wonderful thing about that, is that although all of the hobbit holes were dismantled after the LOTR filming, they were all rebuilt to stay for the Hobbit. The craftsmanship and attention to detail were amazing. It truly was as if we had walked into Middle Earth. Looking back through the pictures we took, I can hardly believe it even now. Everything was so perfect.

Meeting Gollum at the visitor's center

The Hobbit "ghetto" was added for the new Hobbit movies

Micah in front of Sam's house, or should I say Hobbit hole

Bag End (Bilbo's house)

Looking up towards Bag End at the other Hobbit holes

The view of Hobbiton from Bag End

This is where Frodo and Gandalf are riding on the cart into Hobbiton

Looking out over the lake towards the mill and the Green Dragon

Visiting the sheep at the end of the tour