Sorry it has been so long since we have done a post! I had no clue that the last one was in June! Whoa. Well to give a quick update of what we have been up to...
The beginning of July, we drove off to Coramandel, NZ for our one year anniversary! I cannot believe we have been married a year now! We spent an extended weekend in a place that completely reminded us of our honeymoon. It was bliss. We went to Cathedral Cove, which has a beautiful beach and amazing rock formations that are unforgettable; dug a hole in hot water beach to sit in at low tide, and did some discovering of the town of Coramandel. We had the best weekend and still cant believe how far our lives have come since that wedding just over a year ago.
At the end of July, we got the great pleasure of spending two weeks with my brother and sister-in-law Justin and Gina. They came and visited us, and we did a lot of site seeing in and around Auckland. We also went to Rotorua for a weekend, with a site trip to Waitomo to the caves to see glow worms. By far the coolest adventure we have had in NZ. If you ever come to NZ, go to Waitomo and do the glow worm caves! I cant remember half the things we did while they were here, but to name some. we went to Piha Beach, Waiheke Island where we did lots of wine tasting, and saw dolphins on the ride over! That was really cool, and Matty's and my first time seeing them. We also explored Auckland city, showed Justin and Gina the church we have found here, went to Hunua Falls, and did some amazing hikes in those park regions, went and saw Harry Potter in gold class (a very cool and expensive experience haha), luged and zorbed in Rotorua, did the Waitomo caves, and probably more haha! We had such an awesome time with them, and we miss them so much already!
Right before Justin and Gina came over, we got the news that Matty's work wants to keep him, and he signed a contract to stay with them until the end of July next year. So here's the big news in this one; we are staying in New Zealand until mid next year! We are excited because we love NZ, and we havent seen enough of it. We also have some really great friends over here that are all extending their contracts as well, and we arent ready to say goodbye to them either. We are getting ready to go through the visa extensions, so its not official yet, but that shouldnt be too hard. Our old contract is up at the end of next month, which is so hard to believe that we have been in NZ almost 11 months now. We arent ready to leave, but we do miss family a lot! We are happy to say that we will be making the 13 hour plane ride home for Christmas for two weeks! We are so excited to see all of our family, and be in Reno for 2 weeks! We cant wait to see you all! Mark your calenders.
I would have done some blogging after Justin and Gina left and when we got this news, but we also ran into some computer problems. Our laptops were not working well with us, but we got a new one once my parents came to visit us, which was for two weeks! They came at the end of August and just left last Thursday. It was really wonderful to see them since it had been 10 months! We had another wonderful two weeks with family, and it went way too fast! I cant believe they are gone already. We did a ton of exploring around Auckland city, saw the city getting spruced up for the Rugby World Cup coming to New Zealand, went to church, went to Piha Beach, did some hiking, went to Devonport, which is a cute little town outside of Auckland, took a ferry to Tiritiri Matangi Island, which is a bird sanctuart. We saw some really great birds there, saw some baby lambs!, hung out with our good friends Mo and Matt Dearing, went to Hawkes Bay in the middle of the North Island, where we did some wine tasting and site seeing of the beautiful country, and my dad even got to be a part of the Auckland Mustang Owners Club, where we got treated like a celebrity. All-in-all, it was a great way to end the time of visiting family, at least for 2011. If anyone wants to come visit us, we are open :) We miss you all already.
It is usually really hard to say goodbye to family, knowing it will be a while again before we see you all again, but this time was meant to be the hardest, because my parents are the last ones coming. But the blow was lessened with the coming of the RWC 2011 to Auckland. My parents left September 8th, and the opening ceremony was September 9th, and only a 10 minute walk from our apartment. I had a lot on my plate, and we had a LOT to look forward to. We have never lived in a city that hosted anything this big, and we hardly even know what rugby is living in the USA, so this was extra cool for us. We got to follow a new sport! The opening ceremony was really cool, albeit extremely packed and crazy! We had a lot of fun, and got to see some really cool fireworks, and the opening match that we watched from a friends place. We also got the great opportunity to go watch a match in person! We saw Australia v Italy, where we became honorary Aussies for a day. All of our friends that we went with are Aussie, so we had to cheer for them :) It was so much fun, especially since it was my first professional sports game ever! Too much fun! Yesterday was also USA's opening match against Ireland, and although we didnt see it in person, we got to cheer them on on the anniversary of 9/11 (in NZ anyway). We olayed a good game, but still lost. Good job USA!
Thats what we have been up to, and I am in the process of uploading pictures for you all to see of the things we have been up to, but you can find me on facebook to see them too. We love and miss you all and Im looking forward to keeping up the blog again!
Carla and Matty
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Happy Birthday to Carla
I just wanted to do a quick post about my birthday! We have the greatest friends here in New Zealand, and we were able to go out to dinner on Friday night to The Waterfront Cafe (which Matty and I have been to A MILLION times haha!). Of course, you cant get away from the rain in NZ, and walking is not fun in the rain! We had to walk from Matty's work to dinner, which was a good 15 minute walk in the rain. Lots of fun haha! But once we got there, we enjoyed the heat lamps, yummy food and much needed cocktails! Also, Matty had it planned that our friend Claudia would make me an awesome cake! Was so pretty and mighty yummy! Thank you to everyone who came to dinner and for all the wonderful pressies :)
Saturday, woke up to nice weather (we take it when we can), went to the farmers market, got a cake tray from a baking shop, got some "lollies" from The London Lolly Shop, and headed to lunch at our favorite japanese restaurant, Haro No Yume, where I got a free sushi roll for my bday. Yes, they do know us by name, as we do go there at least once a week haha. :D After lunch, we headed home, got to skype with all of the fam, talked to my brother and his wife about coming over (3ish weeks to go!) then went to a wonderful dinner at a cute little french restaurant, La Cantine du Torchon. Had the best steak ever and Matty enjoyed some Beouf Bourguignon. Then went home, watched a movie, and called it a night!
Overall, best birthday ever, even though my mom thought I was turning 25 not 24. Thanks mom! Haha just kidding, love you lots :)
Here's some pictures from my bday:
Monday, June 6, 2011
Hanua Falls
Thanks to Queen Elizabeth (the original Queen) having a birthday, Matty got a day off work yesterday, which of course meant that we had a three day weekend. We wanted to make sure that we made good use of it, but since we have an anniversary coming up, we want to save a little bit of money. We decided not to go out of town, but we still wanted to get out of the city, so we rented a car, and each day we went a little ways out of the city.
Day 1 we went to Albany, to the Westfield Mall (yes this is where the tornado was. but its ok, were safe), which is about 20 minutes by car away from where we live. The mall was a girl's heaven, and we spent ALL day there. We didnt spend all our money there but we did manage to get a casserole dish so I can make Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon, we got groceries much cheaper, and we even saw X Men First Class. I know this makes me a huge dork, but MAN that was a great movie! I would definitely recommend it to anyone thinking about seeing it.
Day 2 (Sunday), we found a church! Woohoo! We have been trying to find one for a while now, and our pastor back home (thanks Pastor Dan!) found this one for us. Funny enough, its called Grace Baptist Community Church. The only problem was that it is pretty far from where we live and without a car, its sure not easy to get over there. We wanted to take advantage of having the car, so we went, and fell in love with the church. Its really tiny, but they teach what we believe, so we will be finding a way to get there every weekend if we can. The best part of this church is that it is run by an American pastor with the last name of Walker! Too funny!
After church on Sunday, we took a drive just an hour away, to a place called Hanua Falls. It is a nature reserve that has a 30 meter waterfall right off the road! You dont even have to take a hike to get there! Thats pretty awesome! Here is my funny husband posing for a picture in front of the fall.
And me.
After seeing the fall, we took a small hike, and were able to see some pretty awesome plant and bird life. NZ has some really great birds here. We saw the famous Tui bird, who sounds like R2D2 (google it; its awesome), and another bird called a Fantail. He was so cute and he seemed to be following us around. Too cute. We even saw a hawk, but was unable to take a picture of it.
And for the last day of the weekend, we spent it skyping with family and friends, and went back to the mall (I know, I AM a girl afterall). It was SO much fun and a relaxing weekend.
Here is the link to the rest of the pictures from Hanua Falls.
https://picasaweb.google.com/104540783822954012462/HanuaFalls?authkey=Gv1sRgCJDgvp7UmpySPA&feat=directlink
Also, go check out www.carlascookingwithoutakitchen.blogspot.com to see our new apartment.
Day 1 we went to Albany, to the Westfield Mall (yes this is where the tornado was. but its ok, were safe), which is about 20 minutes by car away from where we live. The mall was a girl's heaven, and we spent ALL day there. We didnt spend all our money there but we did manage to get a casserole dish so I can make Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon, we got groceries much cheaper, and we even saw X Men First Class. I know this makes me a huge dork, but MAN that was a great movie! I would definitely recommend it to anyone thinking about seeing it.
Day 2 (Sunday), we found a church! Woohoo! We have been trying to find one for a while now, and our pastor back home (thanks Pastor Dan!) found this one for us. Funny enough, its called Grace Baptist Community Church. The only problem was that it is pretty far from where we live and without a car, its sure not easy to get over there. We wanted to take advantage of having the car, so we went, and fell in love with the church. Its really tiny, but they teach what we believe, so we will be finding a way to get there every weekend if we can. The best part of this church is that it is run by an American pastor with the last name of Walker! Too funny!
After church on Sunday, we took a drive just an hour away, to a place called Hanua Falls. It is a nature reserve that has a 30 meter waterfall right off the road! You dont even have to take a hike to get there! Thats pretty awesome! Here is my funny husband posing for a picture in front of the fall.
And me.
After seeing the fall, we took a small hike, and were able to see some pretty awesome plant and bird life. NZ has some really great birds here. We saw the famous Tui bird, who sounds like R2D2 (google it; its awesome), and another bird called a Fantail. He was so cute and he seemed to be following us around. Too cute. We even saw a hawk, but was unable to take a picture of it.And for the last day of the weekend, we spent it skyping with family and friends, and went back to the mall (I know, I AM a girl afterall). It was SO much fun and a relaxing weekend.
Here is the link to the rest of the pictures from Hanua Falls.
https://picasaweb.google.com/104540783822954012462/HanuaFalls?authkey=Gv1sRgCJDgvp7UmpySPA&feat=directlink
Also, go check out www.carlascookingwithoutakitchen.blogspot.com to see our new apartment.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Hanging out with the Walkers
Hey guys!
Sorry its been SO long since we have done a blog post! We havent been up to much, trying to save some money, spending time moving into our new apartment, and most importantly, trying to save up money so we could spend some time with Matty's parents!
I will put up pictures of our apartment on my baking blog so you can see that I can no longer call it "Cooking Without a Kitchen".
Matty's parents arrived here on April 13th, left NZ on the 28th :( and we hit the ground running and didnt stop moving the entire time! As Matt and John like to say, we were going 90m/h or 144.8km/h the whole time they were here haha :D.
Unfortunately Matty had to work, so he wasnt able to spend the entire time with his parents, but the first weekend we all went up to the Bay of Islands, which is about 3 hours north of Auckland. Over Easter weekend, Matty took Thursday, Friday and Monday off and we flew down to Queenstown, one of the most southern parts of the South Island. So although Matty had to work most of the time, he was able to spend a lot of good time with his parents, and we were able to see A LOT of the country!
The very first day the Walkers arrived, we took a walk downtown, went to the Sky Tower, walked all the way to Parnell (which is about a 30 minute walk from the city, and I may have underestimated the walk a bit haha), had lunch and took the bus back to the apartment! John and Denise were happy about that :)
Here's what we did while they were here:
-Viewed the CBD and Parnell
-Went to the Auckland Museum
-Ate dinner at the Sky Tower
-Ate the best dinner ever at Pasti's (French restaurant)
-Went to the Bay of Islands
-Took a 40 minute drive to Piha Beach
-Ate dinner at Buenes Aires, an Argentinian restaurant
-Flew down to Queenstown for Easter weekend, where we got to hang out with our good friends Mo and Matt Dearing (oh yeah and also got to see Sam Neill at a wine festival). Queenstown was such an AMAZING town, we didnt want to leave! We got to go see so many things, and got to spend so much time with Mo and Matt, who recently moved from Auckland to Christchurch, so we dont get to see them much anymore. The colors were so pretty (its fall here), and the South Island is a lot colder than the north, so they are hitting fall harder than we are here. It was so much fun, we didnt want to come back here! I could live in Queenstown EASY!
-Watched people bungy jump (no way we didnt do that!)
-Went to Waiheke Island (a 40 min ferry ride from Auckland)
-Went to Devonport (a 20 min drive from Auckland)
and SO much more that I cant even remember it all!
We had such an AMAZING time and we were all sad to have them be leaving. It was so great, and to us, it honestly feels very surreal. It almost feels like a dream. It went by so fast, but it is so nice that we were able to have such a special time!
Im going to post a link to the pictures, and I will post more later. I had to stop uploading them because the internet was having some problems, but I will post more as soon as I can.
Enjoy and check back soon, because I PROMISE I will put up more as soon as I can :)
https://picasaweb.google.com/104540783822954012462/WalkersTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCOWWv4HbsaGogQE&feat=directlink
Sorry its been SO long since we have done a blog post! We havent been up to much, trying to save some money, spending time moving into our new apartment, and most importantly, trying to save up money so we could spend some time with Matty's parents!
I will put up pictures of our apartment on my baking blog so you can see that I can no longer call it "Cooking Without a Kitchen".
Matty's parents arrived here on April 13th, left NZ on the 28th :( and we hit the ground running and didnt stop moving the entire time! As Matt and John like to say, we were going 90m/h or 144.8km/h the whole time they were here haha :D.
Unfortunately Matty had to work, so he wasnt able to spend the entire time with his parents, but the first weekend we all went up to the Bay of Islands, which is about 3 hours north of Auckland. Over Easter weekend, Matty took Thursday, Friday and Monday off and we flew down to Queenstown, one of the most southern parts of the South Island. So although Matty had to work most of the time, he was able to spend a lot of good time with his parents, and we were able to see A LOT of the country!
The very first day the Walkers arrived, we took a walk downtown, went to the Sky Tower, walked all the way to Parnell (which is about a 30 minute walk from the city, and I may have underestimated the walk a bit haha), had lunch and took the bus back to the apartment! John and Denise were happy about that :)
Here's what we did while they were here:
-Viewed the CBD and Parnell
-Went to the Auckland Museum
-Ate dinner at the Sky Tower
-Ate the best dinner ever at Pasti's (French restaurant)
-Went to the Bay of Islands
-Took a 40 minute drive to Piha Beach
-Ate dinner at Buenes Aires, an Argentinian restaurant
-Flew down to Queenstown for Easter weekend, where we got to hang out with our good friends Mo and Matt Dearing (oh yeah and also got to see Sam Neill at a wine festival). Queenstown was such an AMAZING town, we didnt want to leave! We got to go see so many things, and got to spend so much time with Mo and Matt, who recently moved from Auckland to Christchurch, so we dont get to see them much anymore. The colors were so pretty (its fall here), and the South Island is a lot colder than the north, so they are hitting fall harder than we are here. It was so much fun, we didnt want to come back here! I could live in Queenstown EASY!
-Watched people bungy jump (no way we didnt do that!)
-Went to Waiheke Island (a 40 min ferry ride from Auckland)
-Went to Devonport (a 20 min drive from Auckland)
and SO much more that I cant even remember it all!
We had such an AMAZING time and we were all sad to have them be leaving. It was so great, and to us, it honestly feels very surreal. It almost feels like a dream. It went by so fast, but it is so nice that we were able to have such a special time!
Im going to post a link to the pictures, and I will post more later. I had to stop uploading them because the internet was having some problems, but I will post more as soon as I can.
Enjoy and check back soon, because I PROMISE I will put up more as soon as I can :)
https://picasaweb.google.com/104540783822954012462/WalkersTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCOWWv4HbsaGogQE&feat=directlink
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Art Auction
Hey Everyone!
So as everyone knows there was the big earthquake in Christchurch, NZ. And now there has been a huge one in Japan... pretty crazy things happening in the world right now.
One of my friends and fellow animator at work, Claudia Kleinheinz, has organized an art auction where all the money for every piece of art we sell will go to the Red Cross charity for Christchurch. I have donated a piece of art along with some incredibly talented artists from around the world. We have got character designers from Walt Disney Animation Studios and animators and illustrators who are internationally known. Check out the link below and see some of the art that has been submitted so far. When the auction begins, feel free to bid on some art work. You could buy an incredible piece of art for your home, as well as contribute to a good cause.
http://www.art-for-christchurch.blogspot.com/
Thank you for checking this out and we appreciate your support.
Matt & Carla
So as everyone knows there was the big earthquake in Christchurch, NZ. And now there has been a huge one in Japan... pretty crazy things happening in the world right now.
One of my friends and fellow animator at work, Claudia Kleinheinz, has organized an art auction where all the money for every piece of art we sell will go to the Red Cross charity for Christchurch. I have donated a piece of art along with some incredibly talented artists from around the world. We have got character designers from Walt Disney Animation Studios and animators and illustrators who are internationally known. Check out the link below and see some of the art that has been submitted so far. When the auction begins, feel free to bid on some art work. You could buy an incredible piece of art for your home, as well as contribute to a good cause.
http://www.art-for-christchurch.blogspot.com/
Thank you for checking this out and we appreciate your support.
Matt & Carla
Saturday, February 26, 2011
People of Auckland
Hey everyone!
Its been a while since the last post, but we are doing good! On a serious note, there has been a huge earthquake in Christchurch, which has made international news. Its pretty bad, but Carla and I are safe. We are actually quite far from the damage. But the people down there are going through a hard time, so our prayers go out to them.
But to lighten things up a bit, I wanted to do a post about the people in Auckland. I walk to work everyday and I see SO many interesting people in the city. There are some characters in this city! So I've made it a goal of mine to find someone everyday that sticks out to me. Then when I get to work I sketch them! Its fun, and it gets me off to a nice, creative start to my day of animating. Here is a few of the people I see around Auckland, New Zealand!
All Angles
Little Fat Guy waiting at the light
Mr. Slick
Right out of the 50's
Ultra Skinny Woman grabbing a pastry
Tiny Legs 
Morning skateboarder
Running fingers through her hair
I hope you liked them, I'm still learning everyday. And there are certainly some challenges that I'm trying to get through.... the dreaded hands! haha But I'm really enjoying this creative outlet. And like I said, its even helping my animation. I'm seeing posing clearer and developing a strong shape language. Everyday I'm learning more and more.
Its been a while since the last post, but we are doing good! On a serious note, there has been a huge earthquake in Christchurch, which has made international news. Its pretty bad, but Carla and I are safe. We are actually quite far from the damage. But the people down there are going through a hard time, so our prayers go out to them.
But to lighten things up a bit, I wanted to do a post about the people in Auckland. I walk to work everyday and I see SO many interesting people in the city. There are some characters in this city! So I've made it a goal of mine to find someone everyday that sticks out to me. Then when I get to work I sketch them! Its fun, and it gets me off to a nice, creative start to my day of animating. Here is a few of the people I see around Auckland, New Zealand!
Backpack Surfer
All Angles 
Little Fat Guy waiting at the light
Mr. Slick
Right out of the 50's
Ultra Skinny Woman grabbing a pastry
Tiny Legs
Gracefully skipping over a puddle (shoes in hand)
Morning skateboarder
Running fingers through her hair 
I hope you liked them, I'm still learning everyday. And there are certainly some challenges that I'm trying to get through.... the dreaded hands! haha But I'm really enjoying this creative outlet. And like I said, its even helping my animation. I'm seeing posing clearer and developing a strong shape language. Everyday I'm learning more and more.
Oh, by the way, I got a new desk at work! I'll do a post with some pictures soon!
-The Walkers
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Auckland Seafood Festival
Yesterday Carla and I got to go to a really fun event. The Auckland Seafood Festival! It was so cool. We were by the water with all of these really nice boats around. And it was a day that we got to try some really good and fresh fish!
First we tried some smoked marlin. That was so good with a really nice smokey flavor. Next we went and bought some fresh full prawns! Here is Carla with a basket of them.
So if you know me, Im picky and I dont really like shrimp. But I thought hey, Im at a seafood festival, I might as well try! So I did and they were so good! Carla and I had a great time pulling them apart and eating some great prawns.
It was a really cool festival with tons of people. We even got some ice cream later. It was definitely a day of trying new things, we even saw something we had never seen before. And that was a woman walking around wearing nothing but paint! We are certainly in another country! But we had so much fun, and the food was fantastic!
We also had some wine there which was great and we got these cool wine glasses that we can keep forever!
Here are Carla and I at the end of the festival. We had such a great time and got to try some fanstastic seafood!
First we tried some smoked marlin. That was so good with a really nice smokey flavor. Next we went and bought some fresh full prawns! Here is Carla with a basket of them.
So if you know me, Im picky and I dont really like shrimp. But I thought hey, Im at a seafood festival, I might as well try! So I did and they were so good! Carla and I had a great time pulling them apart and eating some great prawns.
It was a really cool festival with tons of people. We even got some ice cream later. It was definitely a day of trying new things, we even saw something we had never seen before. And that was a woman walking around wearing nothing but paint! We are certainly in another country! But we had so much fun, and the food was fantastic!
We also had some wine there which was great and we got these cool wine glasses that we can keep forever!
Here are Carla and I at the end of the festival. We had such a great time and got to try some fanstastic seafood!
And again, heres a link to the rest of the pictures:
Just to let you guys know, we will still be putting up posts, but we are going to be trying to stay in a bit to save up some money so when our families come and visit, we can go on some adventures with them!
Keep checking in!
Matty and Carla
Holiday Road Trip Part 2 - Wellington
Ok, so please forgive us for taking so long to finish our posts on our holiday trip. We have been really busy, and mostly, we have just been slacking. But without further ado, here is Wellington!
So after having a blast in Rotorua, we got on the road again and headed down to Wellington. You cannot imagine how green the entire country is. It is just so crazy, that we had to show you all a picture of the scenery that we were driving through.
And for all you nerds (and non-nerds) who have seen the Lord of the Rings movies, this next picture is of the infamous Mt Doom! And isnt this just a great picture of it, with the fog rolling off of it.... very dark haha
Then we got down to Wellington, and a couple friends of ours were so great and let us stay with them. It was so fun haning out with them and being shown around Wellington. When we got there, we didnt really know what we were going to do, so Emily, who we were staying with, took us to Mt Victoria, which is also a small Mount in Auckland (very creative these Kiwi's are); but the view from here was incredible. As you can see behind us, that is a view of the Wellington harbor. Its such a pretty city.
We then went out to Thai food with Jeff and Emily and some of Jeff's coworkers. Those people were great, and really funny. That was also our first time having Thai food! So we were a little nervous but it ended up being really really good!
So after having a blast in Rotorua, we got on the road again and headed down to Wellington. You cannot imagine how green the entire country is. It is just so crazy, that we had to show you all a picture of the scenery that we were driving through.
And for all you nerds (and non-nerds) who have seen the Lord of the Rings movies, this next picture is of the infamous Mt Doom! And isnt this just a great picture of it, with the fog rolling off of it.... very dark haha Then we got down to Wellington, and a couple friends of ours were so great and let us stay with them. It was so fun haning out with them and being shown around Wellington. When we got there, we didnt really know what we were going to do, so Emily, who we were staying with, took us to Mt Victoria, which is also a small Mount in Auckland (very creative these Kiwi's are); but the view from here was incredible. As you can see behind us, that is a view of the Wellington harbor. Its such a pretty city.
We then went out to Thai food with Jeff and Emily and some of Jeff's coworkers. Those people were great, and really funny. That was also our first time having Thai food! So we were a little nervous but it ended up being really really good!The next day we went to the Wellington Botanic gardens and those were pretty amazing. We even got to ride a cable car up to them. Then me, Carla, and Emily went to Jeffs work to pick him up for lunch. Jeff works at Weta so we all wanted to go check out the Weta Cave which is their gift shop and film sculpture displays. Right here is one of the Orcs from Lord of the Rings. It was probably 7 feet tall!
And here is Gollum! The sculpture is so cool and detailed! It was a ton of fun to seem, and Carla and I were dorks and both got pictures with it.
We went out to lunch and had a great time hanging out. Then after we dropped Jeff off, Emily took us for a drive around the harbor. Its so beautiful, and there are so many turn offs. So we stopped at this little rocky area. It was amazing! The water was so crystal clear and there were sea shells everywhere. Carla even found a full abaloni shell!!
Emily was even kind enough to take a picture of us with the beautiful background :) That area is so cool, all of the houses are built on a cliff and some of them even have a gondola to take them from the garage to the house! We also stopped at a beach that was so different from any we have ever been to. Instead of sand it had little smooth multi colored rocks. It felt very strange to walk through. Also, another different thing about the beach, is that it is a clothes optional beach... haha yeah. Pretty funny. We also hear that in the winter it is not rare to see a blue penguin at that beach! Too bad we wont be there to see it. But we did see some bright blue jellyfish! At the end of this post we will put a link to the rest of the pictures from our trip, that way you can see what weve been talking about! Please go check them out!
The last thing we did in Wellington was took a night tour at this place called Zealandia! The four of went on this tour that went from 8 to 11pm. You walk through a nature reserve in the pitch black dark and you listen to all the different kind of wildlife. We saw and heard lots of NZ bird life, including the Tui bird, the Kaka bird (a NZ parrot), and tons of others. We also got to see this animal in the picture below. It is called a Tuatara, which is a lizard, but the cool thing about this animal, is that it is considered to be the last of its species. Which species is it you ask? The dinosaur species of course!
On this tour, when it got really dark, we were able to see hundreds upon hundreds of glow worms lighting up the cliff walls as we were walking along. We were unable to take pictures of them of course, but they were astounding to see. They looked like small bright blue LED lights just floating in mid-air. It was really cool!
And here is Gollum! The sculpture is so cool and detailed! It was a ton of fun to seem, and Carla and I were dorks and both got pictures with it.
We went out to lunch and had a great time hanging out. Then after we dropped Jeff off, Emily took us for a drive around the harbor. Its so beautiful, and there are so many turn offs. So we stopped at this little rocky area. It was amazing! The water was so crystal clear and there were sea shells everywhere. Carla even found a full abaloni shell!!
Emily was even kind enough to take a picture of us with the beautiful background :) That area is so cool, all of the houses are built on a cliff and some of them even have a gondola to take them from the garage to the house! We also stopped at a beach that was so different from any we have ever been to. Instead of sand it had little smooth multi colored rocks. It felt very strange to walk through. Also, another different thing about the beach, is that it is a clothes optional beach... haha yeah. Pretty funny. We also hear that in the winter it is not rare to see a blue penguin at that beach! Too bad we wont be there to see it. But we did see some bright blue jellyfish! At the end of this post we will put a link to the rest of the pictures from our trip, that way you can see what weve been talking about! Please go check them out!
The last thing we did in Wellington was took a night tour at this place called Zealandia! The four of went on this tour that went from 8 to 11pm. You walk through a nature reserve in the pitch black dark and you listen to all the different kind of wildlife. We saw and heard lots of NZ bird life, including the Tui bird, the Kaka bird (a NZ parrot), and tons of others. We also got to see this animal in the picture below. It is called a Tuatara, which is a lizard, but the cool thing about this animal, is that it is considered to be the last of its species. Which species is it you ask? The dinosaur species of course!
On this tour, when it got really dark, we were able to see hundreds upon hundreds of glow worms lighting up the cliff walls as we were walking along. We were unable to take pictures of them of course, but they were astounding to see. They looked like small bright blue LED lights just floating in mid-air. It was really cool!Now, as cool as all of this was, we were not going to be happy if we paid for this tour and were unable to see/hear the main event.....
We were walking along a path, all trying to be very quiet, when our tour guide said "Stop! Look there!" and we saw a KIWI bird running across the path right in front of us. Please go google a Kiwi bird if you have never seen one, because they are the cutest (funniest) looking animal ever, and looks like it should be extinct! It was so cool to see one running across our path. They are these little, clumsy, flightless birds (dont even have wings) and this one just walked around without a care in the world. It didnt even care that we were standing not 5 feet away from it. It was so amazing, and this is one of the hardest birds to see here, as they are night animals, and are mostly found in the "bush" or woods. Of course, we were unable to get pictures of these either, but we will never forget them!
And the links to the rest of the pictures:
Thanks so much and hope you all enjoy the pictures.
Love,
Matty and Carla
Friday, January 21, 2011
Cooking without a Kitchen!
Hello to all of you out there!
So we have to take a quick side track from our trip to Wellington, which I promise, more is on the way! But right now I want to share with you a new blog that is being written by my beautiful wife, Carla!
Because I am at work all day, she is taking this year to explore a passion of hers... Baking! She has picked up a New Zealand baking book and she has picked out a lot of recipes that she is going to bake this year, and if she finds she truly loves it, we are going to look into some culinary schools when we get back to the States. But that's not all! If you have seen our apartment, we hardly have a kitchen. Its tiny and doesn't even have an oven, so head on over to her blog and read about her joys and challenges of cooking without a kitchen!
Bon appetit!
Matty and Carla
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Holiday Road Trip part 1: Rotorua
Sorry for the long wait, but here is the first part of the road trip we took while on Christmas break! We hope all of you had great holidays and now its time to tell you about ours!
So Carla and I decided that we needed to take advantage of the 2 weeks I had off of work for Christmas. So we rented a car and drove the entire North Island of New Zealand! It was pretty incredible, we saw and experienced SO much new stuff!
So the first step was renting a car. We had never rented a car before so that in itself was a bit of a challenge, but we figured it out! We got to the car rental place Monday morning ready to pick up our car and our handy GPS unit. Oh wait... thats right, they were all out of GPS units! Even though the day before we had called twice just to make sure we would have one. Well, what are you going to do. We are proud to say that we made the entire trip the old school way... with a MAP!! So we had our car and our map... then all we had to do was figure out how to drive on the other side of the road! We sat in the parking lot for probably 15 minutes just pumping ourselves up to have the courage to go.
And were off!
Driving on the other side of the road was quite an experience! Everytime a car drove past us I think I stopped breathing... so overall I dont think I was breathing the whole way to our first stop, Rotorua. But we made the 3 hour trip nice and safe and we got to our hotel.
We went to check in and the lady behind the counter was the sweetest Kiwi woman we have met! And then something happened that we had never experenced before. We were given our room key... and a carton of milk. Hmmm... you might be asking why? Yeah, so were we. I almost didnt take the milk until she insisted that we take it. When I said "the milk is for us?" She said, "Of course, for your cup o' tea" hahaha our cup of tea!
This place was so cute and the funniest part of the entire hotel was hot tiny the bathroom sink was. I mean look at it! Look at Carla putting her hands in the teeny tiny sink.
So Carla and I decided that we needed to take advantage of the 2 weeks I had off of work for Christmas. So we rented a car and drove the entire North Island of New Zealand! It was pretty incredible, we saw and experienced SO much new stuff!
So the first step was renting a car. We had never rented a car before so that in itself was a bit of a challenge, but we figured it out! We got to the car rental place Monday morning ready to pick up our car and our handy GPS unit. Oh wait... thats right, they were all out of GPS units! Even though the day before we had called twice just to make sure we would have one. Well, what are you going to do. We are proud to say that we made the entire trip the old school way... with a MAP!! So we had our car and our map... then all we had to do was figure out how to drive on the other side of the road! We sat in the parking lot for probably 15 minutes just pumping ourselves up to have the courage to go.
And were off!
Driving on the other side of the road was quite an experience! Everytime a car drove past us I think I stopped breathing... so overall I dont think I was breathing the whole way to our first stop, Rotorua. But we made the 3 hour trip nice and safe and we got to our hotel.
We went to check in and the lady behind the counter was the sweetest Kiwi woman we have met! And then something happened that we had never experenced before. We were given our room key... and a carton of milk. Hmmm... you might be asking why? Yeah, so were we. I almost didnt take the milk until she insisted that we take it. When I said "the milk is for us?" She said, "Of course, for your cup o' tea" hahaha our cup of tea!
This place was so cute and the funniest part of the entire hotel was hot tiny the bathroom sink was. I mean look at it! Look at Carla putting her hands in the teeny tiny sink.
So then we decided to take a look around Rotorua! New Zealand is such a beautiful country, and we will have more pictures of the drive in later posts. But for now, here is the infamous sheep of New Zealand! If you havent heard of the NZ sheep, this country has 10 times as many sheep as it has people. haha so here they are :)
The next stop was something that I have been wanting to do even before me moved to this country. ZORBING!!! Now for those who dont know what that is, its a Kiwi invention where you basically roll down a hill in a giant inflatable ball. It is SOOO much fun!!!! Here is a picture of people rolling down the hill in the Zorb balls.
So we get up to the top of the hill and the gentleman up top says, "ok, so what youre going to do is take a headfirst dive into the ball" So you dive through this little hole into the inside of the ball. Carla and I dive in to the same ball then the man outside starts filling up the ball with water! So we are already soaked and the ball is half full of water. Then we stand up, wait for the guys signal, then you just starts pushing forward. We get to the edge of the hill, and it is actually very steep! Then down we go!!! Once the ball starts rolling, the two of us just start flopping around, water going EVERYWHERE! You roll down that hill REALLY fast!!! We got to the bottom all wet and disoriented and all we wanted to do was go again! Unfortunately we werent able to go again, just because we had some other things we wanted to do, but man that was awesome! Brilliant even! Here is us at the bottom of the hill with the Zorb ball behind us.
After that we had lunch a a place called The Fat Dog! haha yeah, funny name, but fantastic food. And I think the best part of it was the way they give you a number. Instead of giving you a number for your order, they give you some random item. So we ate lunch with a plastic pink duck.
We didnt realize it, but we were right down the road from Lake Rotorua. So we went there and checked it out.
So all over New Zealand you will hear this clicking noise up in the trees. And it is loud! We never knew what it was until we walked past a light pole and saw this giant bug! Its like a cricket type thing, but huge! And there it was, clicking away.
And here is Carla driving on the other side of the road! She was such a brave wife with trying that out! I was so proud of her! And she did really well! Her only problem was drifting to side of the lane hahaha she didnt like having the oncoming traffic so close to her. Believe it or not, my biggest problem was speeding. Back in the States Im known as a slow driver. haha But I blame it on the fact that I was driving in Kmph instead of Mph... so yeah, not my fault :)
Rotorua is famous for being a place with an abundace of thermal hot springs. There are these steaming pits everywhere! And they are.... really smelly! Horrible! The town smells like old farts. hahaha But we had to experience Rotorua and stop on the side of the road and check out this pits. They are amazing! Its just a huge hole of bubbling mud! They are extremely hot, we've heard 100 C wich i think is around 200 F! Thats why the city builds these fences around them, to help keep people from falling in.
Yeah, they stink!
So the last thing we did in Rotorua was going to this popular hot springs spa called The Polynesian Spa. We were able to book a private pool, which of course meant that we were alone, and we got a "deluxe" one, which meant that it was overlooking Lake Rotorua, which ended up being really relaxing and fun to do. This didnt smell as bad as we thought it would, but it was still up there. :)
The next stop was something that I have been wanting to do even before me moved to this country. ZORBING!!! Now for those who dont know what that is, its a Kiwi invention where you basically roll down a hill in a giant inflatable ball. It is SOOO much fun!!!! Here is a picture of people rolling down the hill in the Zorb balls.
So we get up to the top of the hill and the gentleman up top says, "ok, so what youre going to do is take a headfirst dive into the ball" So you dive through this little hole into the inside of the ball. Carla and I dive in to the same ball then the man outside starts filling up the ball with water! So we are already soaked and the ball is half full of water. Then we stand up, wait for the guys signal, then you just starts pushing forward. We get to the edge of the hill, and it is actually very steep! Then down we go!!! Once the ball starts rolling, the two of us just start flopping around, water going EVERYWHERE! You roll down that hill REALLY fast!!! We got to the bottom all wet and disoriented and all we wanted to do was go again! Unfortunately we werent able to go again, just because we had some other things we wanted to do, but man that was awesome! Brilliant even! Here is us at the bottom of the hill with the Zorb ball behind us.
After that we had lunch a a place called The Fat Dog! haha yeah, funny name, but fantastic food. And I think the best part of it was the way they give you a number. Instead of giving you a number for your order, they give you some random item. So we ate lunch with a plastic pink duck.
We didnt realize it, but we were right down the road from Lake Rotorua. So we went there and checked it out.
So all over New Zealand you will hear this clicking noise up in the trees. And it is loud! We never knew what it was until we walked past a light pole and saw this giant bug! Its like a cricket type thing, but huge! And there it was, clicking away.
And here is Carla driving on the other side of the road! She was such a brave wife with trying that out! I was so proud of her! And she did really well! Her only problem was drifting to side of the lane hahaha she didnt like having the oncoming traffic so close to her. Believe it or not, my biggest problem was speeding. Back in the States Im known as a slow driver. haha But I blame it on the fact that I was driving in Kmph instead of Mph... so yeah, not my fault :)
Rotorua is famous for being a place with an abundace of thermal hot springs. There are these steaming pits everywhere! And they are.... really smelly! Horrible! The town smells like old farts. hahaha But we had to experience Rotorua and stop on the side of the road and check out this pits. They are amazing! Its just a huge hole of bubbling mud! They are extremely hot, we've heard 100 C wich i think is around 200 F! Thats why the city builds these fences around them, to help keep people from falling in.
Yeah, they stink!
So the last thing we did in Rotorua was going to this popular hot springs spa called The Polynesian Spa. We were able to book a private pool, which of course meant that we were alone, and we got a "deluxe" one, which meant that it was overlooking Lake Rotorua, which ended up being really relaxing and fun to do. This didnt smell as bad as we thought it would, but it was still up there. :)
After the spa, we headed back to the hotel and relaxed and went to bed early. We woke up the next morning at 5:30, got ready and headed out of Rotorua for Wellington. We absolutely LOVED Rotorua, and were bummed that we only spent an afternoon there, so we definitely plan on going back.
We will do another post on Wellington, so check in soon for more!
Matt and Carla
Saturday, January 1, 2011
2011 and a side of Rangitoto!
Happy New Year!!!
We entered the new year one day before most of you that are reading this which was a weird experience. Carla and I had a wonderful New Years. We spent New Years Eve on the beach soaking up the New Zealand summer sun! We went swimming in the ocean which felt great, and then had some ice cream after :) And all of this while it was snowing back home in Reno... Crazy! We also had a really nice relaxed night and were able to watch the very impressive Auckland fireworks from our balcony. It was a spectacular view!
The other story we have for you includes some great pictures! We climbed to the top of Rangitoto!! Rangitoto is an inactive volcano and a natural reserve. It is a beautiful island where you have to make sure you don't bring any insects or rodents or even seeds on the bottom of your shoes. They are really trying to make sure the island stays as natural and undisturbed as possible. So when you're on the island you really are in such a pure natural environment. Oh and I forgot to mention, there are NO shops or restaurants or hotels on this island... 100% natural!
So here is a picture of it from our ferry ride. We climb to that peak you see there.
So we get onto the island and they have these nice little paths at first so you know where to go to see some very impressive views. See how its all black volcanic rock! Its such a nice contrast to the gorgeous green plants.
Carla took this picture of me because I was just saying how the path looked like it was going to lead right up to the Snuggly Duckling with the trees and the rock stairs. And if you don't know what I'm talking about with the "Snuggly Duckling" go see Disney's new movie Tangled. It is AMAZING!!! A mentor of mine and a couple friends worked on that movie and I was so proud of the work they did. A huge step for Disney and for animation! Ok ok, that was my animation talk for this post... back to New Zealand!
Look at how absolutely green some of these leaves are!
It was such a beautiful day and Carla and I had such an incredible time getting out of the city.
I know.
This picture below is at the top, and this is actually a portion of the crater rim. A better picture on the whole crater in just a minute :) Oh, little side note... See how about in the middle of this picture there is that one lone palm tree. Doesn't that just remind you of like the switch that will open a evil underground volcanic lair to one of James Bond's enemies? No?... just me?... moving on.
This is the view from the top. It was just amazing! We are up on the top of this volcanic island and the views are so beautiful! You can see the ocean and other islands, as well as downtown Auckland if you look another direction.
Carla looking very pretty at the top :)
And here is the crater! Its just so amazing to know that at one time this was full of bubbling lava and now it is full of life. Just one of God's many beautiful masterpieces.
And myself at the top :)
We entered the new year one day before most of you that are reading this which was a weird experience. Carla and I had a wonderful New Years. We spent New Years Eve on the beach soaking up the New Zealand summer sun! We went swimming in the ocean which felt great, and then had some ice cream after :) And all of this while it was snowing back home in Reno... Crazy! We also had a really nice relaxed night and were able to watch the very impressive Auckland fireworks from our balcony. It was a spectacular view!
The other story we have for you includes some great pictures! We climbed to the top of Rangitoto!! Rangitoto is an inactive volcano and a natural reserve. It is a beautiful island where you have to make sure you don't bring any insects or rodents or even seeds on the bottom of your shoes. They are really trying to make sure the island stays as natural and undisturbed as possible. So when you're on the island you really are in such a pure natural environment. Oh and I forgot to mention, there are NO shops or restaurants or hotels on this island... 100% natural!
So here is a picture of it from our ferry ride. We climb to that peak you see there.
So we get onto the island and they have these nice little paths at first so you know where to go to see some very impressive views. See how its all black volcanic rock! Its such a nice contrast to the gorgeous green plants.
Carla took this picture of me because I was just saying how the path looked like it was going to lead right up to the Snuggly Duckling with the trees and the rock stairs. And if you don't know what I'm talking about with the "Snuggly Duckling" go see Disney's new movie Tangled. It is AMAZING!!! A mentor of mine and a couple friends worked on that movie and I was so proud of the work they did. A huge step for Disney and for animation! Ok ok, that was my animation talk for this post... back to New Zealand!
Look at how absolutely green some of these leaves are!
It was such a beautiful day and Carla and I had such an incredible time getting out of the city.
I know.
This picture below is at the top, and this is actually a portion of the crater rim. A better picture on the whole crater in just a minute :) Oh, little side note... See how about in the middle of this picture there is that one lone palm tree. Doesn't that just remind you of like the switch that will open a evil underground volcanic lair to one of James Bond's enemies? No?... just me?... moving on.
This is the view from the top. It was just amazing! We are up on the top of this volcanic island and the views are so beautiful! You can see the ocean and other islands, as well as downtown Auckland if you look another direction.
Carla looking very pretty at the top :)
And here is the crater! Its just so amazing to know that at one time this was full of bubbling lava and now it is full of life. Just one of God's many beautiful masterpieces.
And myself at the top :)
Here's the two of us at the top of Rangitoto! We were fortunate enough to have a kind Scottish man take our photo :)
On the way back down we found some trails leading to some lava rock caves! So we went to check those out and on the way we found this HUGE fern... theres tiny little Carla next to it!
There is one of the ferns all rolled up. That's what they look like while they're growing. And NZ actually takes pride in their ferns and you will see this rolled up design on a lot of products in NZ.
The trails got a little tougher, but they also got much more beautiful.
We found the entrance to one of the caves. But it was just a little one.
But then we found a big cave. It was kind of scary looking in there because its actually quite a big cave and its pitch black in there. But we had to go in! How can you go to a lava rock cave and not go in?
Theres Carla and the entrance behind her. Its so cool in there! But you really had to watch your step. I used the flash on my camera to get my footing at times.
Me and the look on my face means "I have no idea where this cave leads to!" But it just goes and goes and eventually comes out on another side. I don't know what it is about caves, but they are just scary... and awesome!
We had an amazing time at Rangitoto!
And now we are back down at the bottom waiting for our ferry again. The water was so bright blue and that ocean breeze was so refreshing on such a warm day! It was a very fun experience, and if any of you come and visit us, we can take you there! Its only about a half hour ferry ride away from our apartment!
And now you have seen Rangitoto! As for Carla and I, we are heading out on a road trip tomorrow! This will be our first time driving on the right side of the car and the left side of the road... so wish us luck!
On the way back down we found some trails leading to some lava rock caves! So we went to check those out and on the way we found this HUGE fern... theres tiny little Carla next to it!
There is one of the ferns all rolled up. That's what they look like while they're growing. And NZ actually takes pride in their ferns and you will see this rolled up design on a lot of products in NZ.
The trails got a little tougher, but they also got much more beautiful.
We found the entrance to one of the caves. But it was just a little one.
But then we found a big cave. It was kind of scary looking in there because its actually quite a big cave and its pitch black in there. But we had to go in! How can you go to a lava rock cave and not go in?
Theres Carla and the entrance behind her. Its so cool in there! But you really had to watch your step. I used the flash on my camera to get my footing at times.
Me and the look on my face means "I have no idea where this cave leads to!" But it just goes and goes and eventually comes out on another side. I don't know what it is about caves, but they are just scary... and awesome!
We had an amazing time at Rangitoto!
And now we are back down at the bottom waiting for our ferry again. The water was so bright blue and that ocean breeze was so refreshing on such a warm day! It was a very fun experience, and if any of you come and visit us, we can take you there! Its only about a half hour ferry ride away from our apartment!
And now you have seen Rangitoto! As for Carla and I, we are heading out on a road trip tomorrow! This will be our first time driving on the right side of the car and the left side of the road... so wish us luck!
We are driving down to Rotorua for some Zorbing (rolling down a hill in a giant inflatable ball) and some mineral baths at one of their thermal pools. Rotorua is famous for its volcanic pools. The natives believe the water to be "healing waters". So we are very excited for that experience! From there we are heading down to Wellington where an AnimationMentor friend and his fiance are living. They are being so incredible and are letting us stay with them! So we will get to experience Wellington and get to hang out with some great people!
We will be back on Thursday and will have lots of fun and crazy pictures I'm sure! So wish us luck on the other side of the road and we'll be sure to watch out for sheep crossing... yeah it happens :)
Love,
Matty and Carla
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)