Almost Home! Post from Matthijs

We’ve been really busy since landing in America again. We started in San Francisco. We went to the Pier first and saw some really cool ships. We also saw millions of sea lions on the pier. Next we made our way up the California coast and saw the humongous redwoods. They were so big, you could drive your car through them, and some people even made houses out of one stump! It was fun to walk around the forest looking at all these huge trees and finding lots of sticks to play with. We also used the sticks to protect us from mountain lions! We felt like little elves walking around these trees. Then we drove up the coast of Oregon where we saw some people with telescopes and we were able to look through them at some rare birds with bright orange feet and sea lions. Then we drove through Oregon and some of Washington to Glacier National Park in Montana. We earned a Junior Ranger badge and certificate at the park. The park was amazing and very beautiful. The scientists say that the glacier will be gone in 10 years. You better hurry up and come see it, or you’re going to miss it!
Then, we went to Yellowstone and saw my mom’s dad (my Opa), and his wife, Laura. The thought of them made us happy and cheery. We got to spend four days with them looking at and tracking animals around Yellowstone. We got to see so many animals, including a grizzly bear with two cubs, a black bear, 2 moose, a wolf, millions of elk and buffalo, mule deer, a bald eagle, and the footprints of Bigfoot! We even saw bear tracks with bones around it!
It even snowed on my papa’s birthday and we had a big snowball fight and got snow everywhere! We also got our Junior Ranger badges at Yellowstone. We went to Jackson hole and saw millions of antlers. The boys scouts are allowed to pick them up and sell them to make money every year. We had a lot of fun with Opa and Laura! We wish we could bring them with us on the rest of our trip!
We then had to leave Yellowstone and said sad goodbyes to Opa and Laura and headed to the canyons in Utah. We have gone to Bryce Canyon National Park and gotten Junior Ranger badges there too. Then we went to Zion National Park. They have lots of beautiful red rock mountains. Then we went to Los Vegas, where they have lots of casinos. It was sad to see all those people loose their money. My papa kept his money in his pocket! All the hotels there are amazing. One was a pirate ship, one was a pyramid, one was a castle, and the biggest and best one was just like Venice, Italy on the inside. They even had the canals inside where you could ride gondalas! That hotel was really nice. My mom wants to become mayor of Vegas so she can clean up the city, otherwise she said she’s never coming back. Then we went to San Diego where we swam in a really big nice pool, had huge yummy sandwiches, took walks around the city, and had homemade tortillas with great Mexican food. The Mexican ladies were cooking the tortillas outside on a big stove right beside us. It was soooo good! Now we had left San Diego and have driven up the coast of California. The coast is so beautiful and we even got to walk right up to elephant seals laying on the beach. I was so close, I could almost touch them and I could definitely smell them! They are huge with bulging eyes and their noses are shaped a little like elephant trucks. Just not as long. Tomorrow we go home! Hope we get to see you soon!

Hawaii

Wow! It actually feels good to be in America again! Hawaii has been truly a paradise this week! The scenery is gorgeous, from the most amazing variations in color in the ocean, to mountains in which you can actually see the fingerprints of God. The beaches are fantastic. Each one offering something different, from really great snorkeling, huge waves, or, if you want to relax, completely flat and calm. The atmosphere is so nice and relaxing. In Waikiki, the Hawaiian's are busy dancing and singing in the evenings, which lends to the very tropical feel and doesn't let you forget where you are! We have loved our 'stop' here and it was nice for me to refresh some memories from when I lived here as a little girl. Maybe I have a bit of a soft spot for Hawaii...

Kiama & Blue Mountains

Because of the weather, we ending up returning to where we started... Kiama, just south of Sydney. The weather there was perfect and it is a lovely little beach town. We had a house for 6 nights with a beautiful view of the ocean and coast line. We have been nonstop since coming to Australia, so it felt good to stop and relax with a few days on the beach and taking walks along the coast.

Since we have been in Australia, we have spent a lot of time looking up in the trees for Koalas, but with no luck.... so far. We aren't giving up yet!

The birds here are amazing, with every color you could think of. The trees are full of the sounds of loud squawking and we have heard (and seen), on multiple occasions, the crazy monkey-like laugh of a kookaburra. All the birds here are so beautiful to look at, but the beautiful chirps and tweets of song birds are usually drowned out by all the noisy squawks! In this country, outside can be a very noisy place!

Matthijs celebrated his 9th birthday last week. He woke up with us singing 'Happy Birthday' to him with balloons dancing around his head. Ash gave him a classic Australian children's book, full of adventures of all the animals that we have seen here. He loved it. Since Matthijs is our little lover of fine food and good books, he decided to spend the day eating his favorite foods, at the library reading, and at the beach playing in the waves.

After Kiama, we headed to the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney for a couple of days. It is a beautiful area, but was a bit strange driving to, as we couldn't find the mountains! The Blue Mountains are, actually, a massive deep gorge, very much like our Grand Canyon, but green and gorgeous. It is full of over 100 different kinds of eucalyptus trees (Still no koalas though!). We did a couple of long hikes and had a great time. We now have our last night in Sydney and leave tomorrow for a week in Hawaii. American soil!
Below is a video of some of our encounters with the wildlife since we've been here, thus far, but be prepared, it's long! Enjoy!

Autumn & Animals

Well, we ended up taking a little detour to the Highlands and Canberra to visit friends we had met at the Elephant Camp in Thailand. It is a beautiful area and after being on the coast, reminded us that fall is here! Along the coast, you can catch glimpses of autumn with an odd tree or two, but really everything is quite tropical and the trees loose bark rather than their leaves. Going into the highlands was lovely; the air was crisp, the towns were cozy and the (planted) trees were ablaze with their autumn colors. I love fall and this year I’ve gotten to experience it twice!
The highlight, of course, was seeing ‘Bruce’ and ‘Sheila’ again! The time was too short, but we managed to have a picnic in the park together and the lovely ‘Sheila’ filled our cooler with yummy snacks. Thanks to her, we are now addicted to a chocolate cookie called Tim Tams... lucky for me, we don’t have them at home! After leaving our friends, we headed down the coast to Eden in the southeast corner of the country. There we spent some time lazing on the beach.
Afterwards we headed west towards Melbourne, taking a few days to enjoy the scenery and a detour through the mountains for a scenic taste of autumn again. We took two days in the very nice city of Melbourne; walking the streets, markets, and beaches.

At this point of the trip, going into cities is a ‘nice’ reminder of how raggedy we are starting to look after 4 months of traveling and wearing the same few clothes! After this wake up call to our appearance, we high tailed it back to the country where, at this point, we seem to ‘blend’ in more with the wildlife than the city folk. Here starts the very sad part of our story. Rain, Rain, And More Rain! We headed towards the beautifully scenic Great Ocean Road... and it rained!
(Our first and only stop along the Great Ocean Rd before the rain started!)

The rain came in along the whole south coast and is staying for a whole week! Well, a week is a little long to sit out any rain cloud, so, we headed to Halls Gap in the Grampians National Park. We were hoping to be far enough north to escape the rain, but that was not to be the case. Even though we were shrouded in mist and only caught glimpses of the beautiful mountains around us, all was not lost. We squeezed a lot into the brief moments without rain! M & A learned how to play a didgeridoo at the Aboriginal Center. We saw tons of kangaroos, emus, and the boys (all three) fed cockatoos from their shoulders! Even though it sounds like a day at the petting zoo, it wasn’t! Just a typical day in Australia!


(The boys watching the kangaroos behind our cabin.)

So, after these adventures, we again had to escape the rain, and headed towards Mildura to get a taste of the outback. Driving here, and especially further on, it is very dry and desolate. The funny thing is, just around Mildura, it is full of vineyards and fields of citrus. The irrigation system was pioneered here! The front of every car here is completely covered with a nasty brown mess from all the bugs that smash against them. And the bugs are HUGE! We saw what looked like a flattened fly that was the size of a bird! They wouldn’t just annoy you at a picnic by landing on your food, they could actually pick it up and fly away with it! Because of all the kangaroos that like to jump out in front of moving vehicles, big metal kangaroo racks on the front of cars are also very popular with the locals. Today we headed for a little drive further into the outback and were blessed with seeing a very special lizard crossing the road. Of course, we had to stop and examine it (I’m sure the one local car that passed us standing on the side of the road taking pictures of the ground thought we were crazy tourists!).

On closer inspection, we saw that it was just over a foot long, had a short fat tail and it’s shape and texture resembled a pine cone! We are seeing things up close and personal that, until now, we have only experienced on Animal Planet! The immense variety of animals that God has created is an incredible marvel... and we are getting to see so many of them are in this beautiful country!

Queensland & New South Wales, Australia

The city of Cairns made us feel like we could be visiting any town in Florida; palm trees, beaches, even a Target and Walmart (which they call BIG W!). But, as soon as you raise your eyes to the horizon, you know that you are somewhere very different. The area is surrounded by beautiful mountains blanketed in thick rainforest and waterfalls. The countryside is nothing like we have seen till now. The combination of gorgeous mountains covered in farmland and rainforest is just stunning. Quaint villages, and beautiful waterfalls abound in this area. Driving through the forest and looking high up over the roads, we saw little swinging bridges that are made to help the little mammals cross the roads safely. The boys have already gotten to pet and feed wallabies, kangaroos, and a kola bear. The trees and skies here are full of colorful birds.

We’ve seen thousands of flying foxes (huge bats!) flying through the night sky, very big spiders, and poisonous plants. Matthijs wrote about one plant, another one was shown to us by a local, with a warning! It was a prickly tree and if you touch it, it would sting you and the stinging and burning would last for 12 months! The boys know not to venture off the trail while we are hiking here in Australia! We have snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, twice, and what a wonderful experience that was! It was so incredibly beautiful! The different types of coral and fish was a kaleidoscope of different colors and textures. It was a very special experience for us. One highlight was being able to swim with a sea turtle as it passed us! We followed him for quite awhile as he glided gracefully through the water. Wow!

We had a fabulous time in Sydney. It’s a beautiful city surrounded by many inlets, bays and sandy beaches. It’s such a nice change when you’re in the right city... we could definitely live here! Ash had his birthday while we were there and he woke up surrounded by balloons and us singing to him. He knew that his present was waiting for him at home, so he was surprised to have a present from his brother... a cool sun hat that he loves. We spent the day at the beaches.
We are now making our way south along the coast towards Melbourne. We have spent a few days in Gerringong, and leave tomorrow for a long drive to Eden to spend the next couple of days.

Amazing Australia... post from Matthijs

Australia is so amazing. I love it! I love all the new cool animals we've seen, and not just the birds! The birds are really cool too. They have a lot of very colorful parrots and cockatoo's everywhere. My favorite one is a white cockatoo that is pink under it's wings with a yellow crest on top of it's head.
One day, we even got to feed wallabies, they are soooooo cute, they are like little mini kangaroos. I loved it when they grabbed my hand for the food. They were out in the wild and are shy unless you have some food for them! We also got to feed and pet some kangaroos.
We also went to the Great Barrier Reef. It was fun! We even got to see a turtle! I saw a giant clam that was about a meter wide! And lots of other amazing fish and coral. I was the only one to see a starfish floating with the current. While we were walking through the rainforest, we heard about a poisonous berry. If you only touched it, you would have a rash on your skin and a headache for 6 weeks! We had a great time in Sydney. It is a really nice city and fun to hang out in. Now, we are in a house, which is great because now we have a lot more room to roam around. There is also a boogie board and a surf board in the house for us to use. We aren't so good at the surfboard, but we love catching the waves with it! We've spent the last two days at the beach trying it out. We leave tomorrow. I’ll write a lot more soon!

Australia... post from Ash

Wallabies are like little kangaroos. They hop very fast! We saw one with a baby in it’s pouch. We got to fed them and they were in the wild. They were so cute! They would eat out of our hands. My wallaby could hold a bag of food and my brother’s could too! They would also pinch my hand with their little claws because they wanted the food so bad. But I didn’t mind. One pinched my hand so bad that I had a red spot!
We also went snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. It was great! We saw turtles and we saw lots of different kinds of corals. Some were soft and some were hard. We saw clown fish and learned that the biggest one is the female. The males look after her. It was awesome!

I had my birthday in Sydney. It is so awesome in Sydney! When I woke up, I had seven balloons all around me! I got a hat from Morgan, I love it! It can transform into another kind of hat. We went to the beach all day and we did a one hour walk along the coast. It was great! We ate lasagna for dinner. I had a great birthday!
I’ll write more next time! write more next time!

Post by Matthijs

The petrified forest is something that you hardly get to see. It is so special. There are logs underground and the sea pounds on the ground for years and years and then uncovers petrified logs! The logs were so amazing and old! I loved jumping from log to log and from stump to stump. There was a little river with lots of seaweed and purple rocks. The seaweed is everywhere here on the south coast. We have named the seaweed Mermaid Hair because it attaches to the rocks and looks just like really long hair floating in the water. But it stinks and does not make me want to go swimming in it! There were some waves that came while we were standing by the mermaid hair and it looked like a sea monster!
We went to see penguins one evening. It was so cool to see the penguins feeding their young. They are the most rare penguins in the world! The yellow-eyed penguin. It was so amazing. The day after that we also saw some seals, there were about 17 seal’s swimming in a pool!
We have also seen the Royal Albatross. One of it’s wings is the length of my dad’s arm and shoulder together. They are about 3 meters (10 feet) total wing span. They are huge! We got to see the babies nesting. They are already really big! They spend 85% of their life flying above the water. They can fly around 1,000 kilometers a day! After they learn to fly, for at least the first 5 years, they never even touch land. They just fly and sleep on the ocean. They fly all the way around the earth between Antarctica and the tip of South America and then nest in NZ. This little spot is the ONLY place in the world where they come on land to nest! So, it was really special to see them!
We went to a beach that had huge round rocks. Nobody knows why they are like that. But they were really cool and fun to climb on!
We also went to the steepest street in the world! It is in the Guinness Book of World Records. It was so steep that we could hardly walk up it! There was a car that went up it and hardly made it, then it came back down and was going so fast that the hood was flapping up and down. Can you figure out this picture?

Good-bye New Zealand, Hello Australia!

We have seen and done a lot since our last post... the boys filled you in on quite a bit with their entries. Till now, they have been dictating to me and I have been typing for them. They have now discovered that they really enjoy pecking everything out on the computer themselves! It takes forever, but it keeps them occupied!
We left the west coast over a week ago and made our way east via the Gates of Haast. We stayed a few days close to Queenstown and had a lovely and relaxing few days exploring some very cozy villages. We then made our way to Te Anau, which would serve as our base for exploring Milford Sound by car and by boat. Te Anau is the closest town to Milford Sound and from there, it is still a two hour drive. Two hours may seem quite long, but it is an amazingly beautiful drive. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with us and there was a nice steady rain falling the entire time. It was cold and wet enough to stop us from doing any of the really nice walks that are found along the way. That was a pity, but we had been blessed with a nice heavy rain the night before, and as a result, we were able to see hundreds of waterfalls. We were in complete awe the entire time. Literally, we were gazing up at all of them with our mouths hanging open. Everywhere we looked, we were surrounded by waterfalls. No wimpy trickling streams either, they were all massively tall, gushing waterfalls. In various places, we counted all the waterfalls we could see at one time and we averaged between 25-30! I couldn’t manage to get a picture that could do it justice. It was truly amazing and exceeded all of our expectations.

After dragging ourselves away from Milford Sound, we then headed to explore the Catlins, which is along the very south of the island. Here we had beautiful beaches, bays, waterfalls, and lots of great walks through the rain forest. This is where we were able to see the very rare yellow-eyed penguins. They were coming in from the ocean, after spending the whole day fishing, to feed their young. The babies were left behind in the nests while their parents spent all day in the ocean, but they were now old enough to come out of their nests to meet their parents on the beach. We were all so excited to finally get to see penguins! Again, it was an amazing experience.
Through the Catlins and then off to Dunedin to view the Royal Albatrosses. This is the only place in the world where they nest (on the mainland), so getting to learn about them and observe them in the wild was pretty special. The boys wrote quite a lot about them, so I’ll not bore you with repeating any details.

(notice Bart standing behind this HUGE fern on one of our walks through the bush)

Our last few days in NZ were spent in Christchurch and in exploring the surrounding areas. We spent our days walking the streets of this beautiful city and visiting the various bays, beaches, and small towns around Christchurch. It’s hard to believe our 2 months in New Zealand is now over. It’s hard to say goodbye to this wonderful place, as it has definitely captured our hearts and minds. It has been a truly fantastic and amazing experience. And that seems to be the word that sums up New Zealand quite well... Amazing.

We have arrived in Cairns, Australia, and the weather is.... rainy! Somehow, my research was a bit off and we have arrived at the tail end of the rainy season (I read it would be over!) and the tail end of killer jelly fish season! (also read it would be over!) The rain is a steady light rain, but it is warm enough that it shouldn’t be too much trouble. Yesterday, we had the whole day in Cairns, feeling a bit tired after waking up at 4am to catch our flight and a 3 hour time change. The boys played at a water playground and went for a swim in the lagoon along the waterfront. Our first day in Australia has been pretty unproductive, but that always seems to go hand and hand with a lack of sleep! Even on our lazy first day, we have already managed to see the most colorful parrots imaginable and a tree full of hundreds of flying foxes! We were walking back from the grocery store when we heard what sounded like hundred of squawking birds in the huge tree over our heads. Looking up, trying to spy the birds, we saw, instead, hundreds of HUGE light brown colored bats! They call them flying foxes, but they look like bats to me! I decided I wouldn’t be there when it became dusk and they all took to the sky! So, walking under all these bats the ground was surprisingly clean. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it had just rained... maybe not. So, the boys have a question for you... (without looking up the answer on the internet!) How do bats poop? Remember, they’re hanging upside down!
Today, we are getting a car and making our way to the Atherton Tablelands, where we will spend the day exploring, hiking to some waterfalls and swimming. At least there aren’t any killer jelly fish at the waterfalls...

Post from Ash

We went to a petrified forest and we did lots of fun stuff and the logs looked like rocks. A petrified forest is made from a flood (like Noah’s flood!). It is not really a forest anymore, it is a fossilized forest. This one was at the ocean and they are really special because there are more found under the ground than above it. We had fun walking and jumping over the stumps.
Penguins are the most special ice creatures. They are so cute! I got to see them feeding their babies on the beach. They are like torpedos in the water! Now, I’m going to write about some seals, guys! Seals are amazing too! We saw some today. They were swimming in a pool (not a real swimming pool!) at the bottom of a cliff. They were also like torpedos in the water!
The Royal Albatross is an amazing bird! It goes around the globe but never touches land, only here in New Zealand! All the things that the Albatross' do are amazing! We got to see some real life babies, not in the zoo, but in the wild! Albatross' eat squid. Sometimes they eat them whole and sometimes they chop them up with their beaks. Now, time to write about biking!
We biked on an old train track that they have made into a bike path. We biked about 22 miles (35 kilometers) in one day! It was easy for me! (luckily, we had wind in our back almost the whole time!) We also biked in a long tunnel and over lots of bridges. That was really neat! I love biking!
This trip is great all the stuff we have seen is great! I love this trip! Bye, everybody, I’ll write more next time!

South Island, NZ

We’ve been on the south island for just over a week and we have done and seen so much! First of all, the ferry ride from the north to the south island must be one of the most beautiful in the world. It was 3 hours of stunning scenery. We spent the first few days in Upper Moutere, close to Nelson, at a cozy B & B called the Gingerbread House. We ended up relaxing and reading on the front porch for a few days longer than we expected, because the boys befriended two sweet girls that lived at the B & B. They were able to have a couple of days riding bikes and playing out in the yard with their new friends. It was a much needed play time and break for them.

We spent one whole day at the Golden Bay, which was one of the most breathtaking bays we have seen. We hiked along the bay in the Abel Tasman National Forest, which offered amazing views the entire time. Afterwards, we headed to a beautiful waterfall. The boys love hiking when it entails jumping over rocks, crossing streams, and swinging bridges... luckily, this had all of that, otherwise, the 3.5 hours we did in one day would have been too much for them! (It also had a group of naked women who were just finishing a swim in the falls when we arrived. They then proceeded to hike back out butt naked. Don’t we learn so much in all our travels?)

We also went to an amazing natural spring that has almost the clearest water in the world, second only to Antarctica. It was pretty amazing to be able to look at what looks like a pond and be able to see all the way through to the bottom. It had the most amazing colors, and was so clear that it was like looking through glass instead of water.

We then made our way south along the west coast and stopped at Punakaiki to see the Pancake Rocks, crossed the longest swinging bridge in New Zealand, and then on to Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers.

I have to say, that the glaciers, particularly, the Franz Josef, was the most spectacular thing I have ever seen. To walk along a old river bed surrounded by lush greenery, various palms, dense ferns and the odd waterfall or two.... Then to see this magnificent, huge glacier butting up to all of this. Amazing... A rainforest resting right beside this massive slab of blue ice. It didn’t even look real. We felt like we were looking at a canvas of a painting. I was in complete awe of God’s handiwork. He takes my breath away.

We really wanted to walk to the top, but there were various reasons why it didn’t work out for us. First of all, it is a minimum of a four hour hike and 7 years old for the age. Ashwin really wanted to try it, being that he’s a pretty tall 6 year old and will be 7 in a month, but if you can’t make it, they have to send a helicopter for you (at your expense). Plus, the glacier can actually be quite dangerous, as it is consistently moving and shifting. And the last reason (and really the deciding factor) would be that Bart was stung by a waspy thing and his foot has swollen up two times its normal size. He managed to make the hikes to the terminal faces of the glaciers, but to put on boots with spikes and hike for that long would have been a bit much. Poor Bart... he's already getting better though. The photo below is from about 2 weeks ago. I thought it went well with his current condition. He seems to forget how tall he is and hits his head quite often... this was after one such incident and then a day later we were all playing tag and he ran into a tree. He actually broke the branch. I'm certain that's why he's lost all his hair. His dad still has his. Bart must have scraped it all off throughout the years. ;-)

Moeraki Station

So, we've been a bit out of touch with the real world lately, as we've enjoyed living a week far from everything! We've spent the last week at Moeraki Station which is 30 minutes down curvey and partly dirt roads from the adorable little town of Martinsborough in the south east. It was FANTASTIC! Such a beautiful place. It is a new little house located on a 8,000 acre sheep and cattle farm. Yep, that's right, 8,000 acres of majestic views in every direction! We enjoyed just hanging out and relaxing together... just soaking up all of God's beauty around us! The pictures are of the house and us all jumping for joy in our new backyard!

Ash & I dancing in the backyard.

Glowworms, Rotten Eggs, & Volcanoes

Well, we completely forgot to mention the astonishing glowworms we saw a couple of weeks ago. They are only found in caves here in NZ and are an amazing sight to behold. The worms are tiny, white and glow a bright green light on their tails. They reminded us of lightening bugs, just for the fact that they also glow, but their glowing is actually caused by their poop that they use to attract a mate. They spend their whole lives in the darkness of the caves. After we walked deep into a dark, damp cave, we turned our flashlights off and looked up at the ceiling. It was amazing! Glowworms were everywhere! It was just like looking up at the stars.
A couple of days ago, we were walking an old rail car trail that had been used for mining in the past. This walk took us through old tunnels high up in a hillside that were used to transport quartz by rail carts pulled by oxen. The tunnels were about 100 yards long and very dark! We walked quite a few feet, clinging onto each other, (actually, we were all holding onto Bart as he lead the way!) in pitch black darkness before (literally) seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! My fear was that Ash would lose his flip flop while walking and we would never find it! We also had a few glowworms with us there in the dark, but they only provided a distraction, deffinitly not enough light to see anything! The boys loved following the rail tracks and crossing the swinging bridges on that walk.

We spent two nights in Mt. Maunganui which is actually a town with a volcano that sits out on a peninsula and offers amazing views of the coast. We walked around the base and it was such a nice walk with slightly rolling hills and great views, that we decided to try and jog it the next morning. Matthijs and Ash did great! It was about 2 miles and Ash did the whole thing! Matthijs left us in the dust and did extra as he turned around at the end and jogged back to us. Now, I’ve got some jogging partners when we get back home! That same evening we walked up to the top and back down the volcano and that took 1.5 hours without stopping. The boys slept good that night! And then the next morning we jogged it again...

The next couple of days we visited Lakes Rotorua and Taupo. This is the area of the country that has the most geothermal activity. The whole town of Lake Rotorou was lovely, but due to all the steaming fumaroles in the area, a smell like rotten eggs hung over the town. We were so glad that we were only there for one day! We also went to a park with boiling pools of mud, water, gysers, and water pools of various colors like bright green, orange, and yellow. The colors seemed so unnatural, but they are all due to the various mineral elements found in this area. It was all very interesting. Actually, Matthijs’ exact words when I asked if he liked it were, “I think this is much more spectacular for grown-ups.” Maybe so... although, the bright green pool did leave a bigger impression on them than anything else.

The lakes in the area were gorgeous and like the ocean, they are so incredibly clear, clean and blue. Beautiful black swans were swimming everywhere, which is very rare to see.
We only have one week to go in the north island, and that is being spent in the wine area from Napier on south. We are enjoying every minute of it, but we can’t wait to head to the less populated and even more spectacular south island.

Luging- Post by Ash

Luging is when you get in a little car at the top of a hill and ride all the way to the bottom. You control your speed with your handlebars. Forward was stop, middle was go, and pulling the handlebars towards you was slowing down. We also had some good views, it was lovely! I got to go on two different tracks by myself and one time together with my mom. I went a lot faster with my mom than when I was by myself! At the bottom of the hill, you put your lunge onto a band and it rolls towards the ski lifts. Then you got on the ski lift, but the cool thing was, that the lifts had hooks on the bottom and the lunges hooked onto them and that’s how they went back up the hill too. Then we all went back up and did it again and again!

New Zealand...

New Zealand is a land of intense and almost untouched beauty. It’s climate ranges from subtropical to subantarctic. It is one of only two places in the world where you can begin your day in a tropical garden filled with exotic flowers and in an hour or two end up on the top of a glacier. The Pacific “ring of fire” begins here and it is one of the most active volcanic regions in the world. At Hot Water beach, the boys dug their own thermal spa in the sand. Water fills the hole from the ground as you dig and it is HOT! Everyone has to be very careful about where they stand and dig, as some areas are much hotter than others. In one area, it actually scalded your skin if you stood in it. The funny thing is, we haven’t dealt with crowds the entire trip in NZ, but here, the beach was crowded with people lounging in their own personal spas, laughing and joking around with each other, with only a short wall of sand separating pools. Okay, Nederlanders, crowded is relative... nothing like your beaches, maybe 250 people, but for here, that’s the most we’ve seen in one spot!
The landscape here varies from rolling green pastures, dotted with sheep and cows, to snow capped mountains. Orchids filled with kiwis, apples, oranges, persimmons, avocados, and various other exotic fruits. Vineyards abound, producing some of the finest white wines in the world. Spectacular cliffs and bays along the coast with crystal clear blue water. On the surface, it is a paradise of sorts. The landscapes of Ireland, England, South of France, and the Alps (the list could go on), all rolled into one amazing country. New Zealand is one of the most isolated and least populated countries of the world. It is one of the few places left where you can find your own private beach, or walk for hours and not see anyone else along the way. There are still quite a lot of gravel roads here. They are very narrow- clinging to the side of cliffs and going around hairpin curves, we feel like we have accomplished something when we make it back in one piece at the end of the day!

The towns here are like stepping back in time to small town America in the 1950’s. The main streets are filled with various shops and eateries that serve as the center of shopping, and in most cases, the only shopping available. Various shops line both sides of the street such as the butcher, bakery, pharmacy, clothing stores, and restaurants. It’s like visiting a lost and forgotten time in America that, for me, was only experienced on old TV shows, but always seemed so ideal. Now, I feel like I get to walk around a new Mayberry everyday! (That’s something only those from the south will appreciate.)

Before people came to New Zealand, there were no native mammals (other than nectar drinking bats) . The only land mammals that are here now are those that have been introduced by the native Maori people and European settlers. These animals have posed a great threat to the native bird population. New Zealand is known for it’s unusual birds. In the past, not having any significant predators to eat them, a number of these birds are flightless. With the introduction of various mammals, these birds are now fighting for survival... with the help of most New Zealanders. We have seen numerous signs posted to keep dogs on a leash because they, and cats, kill their much beloved kiwi bird. Possums eat the tender young shoots of two particular native trees. These trees are very important for producing nectar for a great number of the birds. Wild boars root out kiwis and eat them. The government arranges helicopter drops of poison (that is illegal in almost every other country in the world) into dense areas that target possums and any other mammal that may not be able to resist its lure. Hunters, and those concerned with safety, protest these drops because they are also causing the death of the deer, wild boar, dogs, and any other animals that may eat it. Since none of these mammals are native to the land, the government, basically, shrugs its shoulders, putting the welfare of the native birds and plants before these animals that came later to NZ. It’s a tricky situation that doesn’t seem to have any immediate answers on the horizon.

So, still on the subject of birds... of the 17 different species of penguins in the world, six are in New Zealand. These are the erect-crested, Rockhopper, Snares, Blue, Fiordland Crested, and the Yellow-eyed Penguin, the world’s rarest. We haven’t spotted any yet, but hope to have more luck on the south island in a few weeks. We also haven’t had any luck yet with spotting a Kiwi; being nocturnal, they are a little more tricky. But there are plenty of signs that they are in the area. Unless you love birds and sheep, you definitely don’t come to New Zealand for the animals. Wildlife aside, it is a nature lovers paradise. Walking trails abound and the scenery never fails to take your breath away. Thailand gave us plenty of animals encounters to hold us over until we hit Australia. We are anxious to see the cuddly kangaroos, koala bears, and wallabies in a few weeks... oh, I almost forgot, AND some of the most deadly animals in the world! Maybe we do need to enjoy this break from wildlife for the moment!