Craters and Crepes

Back to April.....After flying from Queenstown to Auckland I arrived at the Langham hotel.  Through Qantas hotel deals I got a great deal at a luxurious 5 star hotel!  Maria wasn't arriving until Thursday so on Wednesday afternoon after getting settled I had an afternoon at the spa - pure luxury. 

While I waited for Maria to arrive on Thursday afternoon I hiked up Mount Eden and took in the Auckland City views.  Mt. Eden is the spot of an ancient volcano that formed  the greater Auckland area.  The craters were spectacular!  When Maria arrived we went down to the waterfront for some lunch before taking the ferry to Devonport.  We hiked up Mount Victoria Summit - another volcano with some amazing craters.  After spending some time in Devonport we took the ferry back to the city and hung around the Wynyard Quarter area.  It's a hip new area on the waterfront with tons of cafes and restaurants.  The sunset was just spectacular!  For dinner we went to Le-garde Manger.  It was a cute hole in the wall French crepe place.  We both enjoyed our crepe main and shared a delicious chocolaty dessert crepe. 

On Friday we took the ferry to Waiheke Island - couldn't think of a better place to celebrate ANZAC Day.  We walked all over the beautiful island jumping from beach to beach and vineyard to vineyard.  A highlight was lunch at Cable Bay Vineyard - the views were spectacular.  Basically the theme of NZ is spectacular!

Saturday was our final day in New Zealand.  It was a day of more volcanoes and craters.  We first hiked up One Tree Hill.  We were amongst the sheep for the majority of the hike.  There were sheep everywhere, even in the craters.  We finished the day with a stop at Mount Eden volcano so Maria could see Mount Eden.  We capped off a great trip with a return trip to Le-garde Manger for some more crepes because they were just so amazing - simply authentic and on par with Crepes a-go-go in Aix-en-Provence in France!

As with every place I go, I want to go back. 

Farewells - A Regular Part of Expat Life

Before I moved abroad, no one warned me about how many times I would have to say goodbye or “see ya later”.

Making friends with expats is easy as we all love to travel and explore.  We have a special bond. We understand what it’s like to have two homes and two life experiences on different continents.  We have fun exploring and hanging out- whether it be at a new restaurant in the city or a flight to a new place or a day by the beach or running up hill for one straight kilometer in the largest race in the world.  Expats have a strong bond to make each other feel at home.  To make this homely feeling, expats not only celebrate birthdays and Aussie anniversaries together, they celebrate holidays together.  So we become a family.  We share in the excitement when someone comes out from the US or back from a US visit and brings that box of Cheez-its or can of pumpkin – it really is the little simple things sometime.   But unfortunately everything in an expat community is temporary because we also have to celebrate farewells.

The past two years have been a revolving door of friendships.  It is always exciting to welcome someone new through the door.  It means new experiences, new adventures, and new memories.  However it’s always hard to say goodbye to the fellow expats that leave to begin a new chapter of their lives.  We are always so excited and supportive of their new adventure but it never gets easier to say goodbye.  Each expat friend makes a lasting impression on your life so with the goodbye you remember all of the fun times.  And that’s why we remind ourselves of the importance of sharing weekly meals, taking the ferry to Manly, doing the Bondi coastal walk, hanging out and laughing, or just going to get Messina or as tonight proved discussing whether the meat on your arm is dark or light and if it is just like a chicken or turkey!  Because next week someone could be on the next flight out.  But the silver lining in all of this means your network of friends extends to more places than you could ever imagine so there will always be a new place to visit.  

So at the end of the day we aren’t really saying goodbye, “we are just taking an extended leave of absence from each other” until the next time!

Every person pictured has helped to make Sydney a magnificent place to call home. For those who have left, you are missed, and for those that are still here, let’s make the most of it!

And The Campervan Checks Into The Five Star Hotel!!!

The way that Easter and ANZAC Day fell this year meant a ten day vacation with only having to use three days of annual leave.  What a perfect and ideal situation to take advantage of the beauty of New Zealand!

Cave Stream Scenic Reserve - en route to the glaciers from Christchurch

So on Holy Thursday night Dave, Liz and I flew down to Christchurch on the South Island.  We arrived very late so it was off to sleep for a few hours before beginning our road trip in the morning.  On Friday morning we picked up our campervan, Gordo.  And we started on our journey...our end destination on Friday was Franz Josef Glacier all the way on the west coast (Christchurch is on the east coast).  We made a couple scenic photo op stops along the way and 7 hours later we made it to the Glacier Village.  

About two hours from the glacier village Liz pointed out a downed power line …and we just kept traveling along.  Then a little further down the road we saw some houses that had candles in the windows and no other lights....now we are starting to put two and two together…there must be a power outage.  Upon arrival to the village it is pitch black and we have a hard time finding our holiday park.  We eventually find it and there is no power so they suggest we stay elsewhere.  There was one hotel with a generator so we checked in.  Now our lunch today was peanut butter crackers, chips, and ice cream (We got ice cream in Hokitika during one of our scenic photo op stops) so we really needed some dinner.  There was one restaurant in the village which has a generator for the kitchen where every tourist is trying to get in for dinner.  Luckily we got seated and had a romantic dinner for three by one tea light candle!  It was fun!  The power outage was caused by the remnants of a hurricane that happened a couple days earlier but there was still some wind and lots and lots of rain.

Saturday morning we were supposed to do a heli-hike on the glacier.  However due to the power outage, wind, and rain, the tour was cancelled.  A bit disappointing but I guess safety first.  So we decided after breakfast that we would just continue on our way down to our next stop -Queenstown.  But before leaving the glacier village we attempted to drive to the base of Franz Josef Glacier but all we saw was lots of grey mist and got soaking wet.  We also walked around the base of Fox Glacier and continued to get soaked.   After a quick change to drier clothes we left for the hopefully drier south.   En route to Queenstown we stopped for some more beautiful scenic photo ops and some lunch in Haast.  We made it to Queenstown for dinner time (another long day of driving - thank goodness for Dave who drove every step of the way!).  We ate at the famous Ferg Berger!

On Easter Sunday we took a beautiful walk through historic Arrowtown and did the Tobin Track hike with beautiful views over Queenstown and Arrowtown.  The fall foliage was in full effect - just beautiful.  Before heading into Queenstown we had some Easter Sunday ice cream at the famous chocolate place Patagonia.  On Sunday afternoon we did a walk around Queenstown then a gondola ride up to the top of the mountain overlooking Queenstown.  Up there we did three luge runs on the mountain- lots of fun!  We had a very nice traditional Easter dinner - a lovely roast dinner at an Irish pub!   We then made our way to our hotel – St. Moritz.  The hotel only had valet parking so this is where the camper van that smells slightly of mold from all of our wet clothes along the way plus who knows what from previous campers was valet parked by staff of a five star hotel!  (Note four days in and no one has slept in the camper yet!) Our hotel had a hot tub garden so after dinner we hung out in the hot tub and I looked up and saw a shooting star so that was really neat! The sky was so clear that it was full of many stars to gaze at.

On Monday we went white water rafting in Queenstown before driving 5 hours to Milford Sound.  Queenstown is known for adventure sports – skydiving, white water rafting, abseiling, etc.  When we went to collect Gordo from the valet after our rafting trip he said – and you guys have the camper – yes, yes we do!  We had some delicious Mexican take out in Gordo while we drove to Milford.  During our drive we of course stopped for photo ops along the way.  We arrived at the Milford Sound Lodge for an evening of dinner and Skip-bo!  

Drive from Milford Sound to Queenstown

On Tuesday we took a nature cruise in Milford Sound and saw dolphins, birds, and seals!  The landscape was just beautiful - hard to capture in a photo - actually NZ was hard to capture in a photo as a whole - such a beautiful country.  Then we drove 5 hours back to Queenstown.  Wow...we sure did drive a lot.  On the way back to Queenstown we stopped for lunch in Te Anu.  Once back in Queenstown, it was at this point that I separated from Liz and Dave as I had an early morning flight up to the North Island on Wednesday morning.  It was actually good that I was alone this night as I turned my phone on again and called in to do a reading for the funeral mass of my Gammy who I found out passed away on Holy Saturday.  So even though I was thousands of miles away I still got to be a part of the mass.  Probably vary unique for the church to hear the reading from a hotel room in Queenstown but it was important for me to be involved some way.  

Mirror Lakes en route to Milford Sound

Queenstown

First glimpse of blue sky driving from Glaciers to Queenstown

The south island did not disappoint.  It was such a beautiful place and I can’t wait to go back someday and explore more.  And exploring this amazing place with some of the sweetest expats sure was a treat. Stay tuned for adventures of the North Island.....

All things New Jersey Come Down Under

Baseball Diamond at the SCG

Baseball was born in Hoboken New Jersey.  On June 9th, 1846 the first organized baseball game was officially played in Hoboken.  I have loved baseball since I was five.  I remember my very first major league baseball game.  My mom was waitressing and my dad and I dropped my sister off at my aunt’s house and my dad and I were on our way to Philadelphia.  We went to the old Veterans Stadium on the corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue to see the Phillies.  From then on we went to a few games a year.  We also toured the baseball stadiums of the east coast – Fenway, Camden Yards, Yankee Stadium, and Shea Stadium to name a few.  

1993 was a big year for us in baseball.  In the summer we went to Cooperstown, the baseball hall of fame.  And that October the Phillies were in the World Series so I was lucky enough to see them play the Blue Jays in game 3 in Philadelphia.  Another big baseball moment in my life was seeing the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004 in Red Sox Nation ending an 86 year curse.  I was also lucky enough to see a Red Sox vs Yankee game at Yankee Stadium with my good friend Dan which is quite possibly one of the best sports rivalries to watch.  

By moving to Australia I have deprived myself from the classic American game.  I miss seeing games but thanks to friends, family, and espn.com I can keep up to date with the standings.  But in March 2014 Major League Baseball debuted down under and I finally got to see a live game.  

Stars and Stripes - National Anthem at the SCG

They transformed the Sydney Cricket Ground into a baseball diamond and the games played between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks counted towards the 2014 standings.  The game was great – there were homeruns, attempted steals, great catches, and great pitching.  Overall it was a great taste of home since they even sang the National Anthem and Take Me Out to the Ballgame for the 7^th inning stretch.  

Bruce - February 2014 Olympic Stadium in Sydney

Auckland Night 1

Bruce Springsteen is a New Jersey native who continues to grace the Southern Hemisphere with his presence.  In the past 12 months I have seen five of his shows in two countries.  All three Sydney shows and the two Auckland New Zealand were spectacular and unique.  He always switches up the set list so between all five shows I got a variety of 67 different songs.  Some songs were only played once but then there were some classics and fan favorites that made every show.   I would have to say that the first night in Auckland was by far the best show ever – the energy, the song selection, the outdoor venue – it was perfect.  

It’s always nice to have these little tastes of home between visits home to remind a Jersey Girl of her roots.