Rain Rain Go Away!

I was supposed to climb Mt. Maunganui today. (And for the record, not only can I spell it, I can pronounce it too!) However, we've had hours worth of torrential rains, so it would be a muddy slippery mess. Buggar!

Our pavlova experiment went well, but we're going to try again tonight. Because you can never have too much pav. I've also aquired my Aunt's recipe for chocolate fudge cake, so I'm bringing back that, and some wine biscuits to make it. Another thing I'm bringing back - Pea, Pie & Pud. Yummy!

Toured a kiwi fruit farm yesterday, and got to see the packing plant where they were sorting and packing boxes to ship all over New Zealand. The area I'm staying in is called the Bay of Plenty. They have tons and tons of fruit that gets exported from here, from Tangelos to Avacados. I tried the feijoa Debbie - yummy! I liked it much better than the passion fruit. My dad and brother took a helicopter ride over the Bay of Plenty and said it was awesome.

We also got to play in the ocean a little yesterday. I think I preferred the beach in Dunedin, but we found lots of pretty shells, including a paua shell! I've bought a lot of paua jewlery on this trip.

I talked to Delaynie this morning, Gary pulled her out of school Friday at lunch time and took her out to lunch and to play glo-golf. I'm going to come home and she's going to be spoiled rotten.

Oh - I sent a bunch of postcards in Dunedin, the mail system here is SO confusing -- I wound up buying stamps for 2 different systems without knowing it. Either way, it's $1.50 to mail a postcard! So I'm not getting to send as many as I'd like. If anyone reading this gets one, you'll have to let me know when it arrived, and we'll see which mail system is faster. ;-)

Tomorrow afternoon we leave here and head to Auckland for our last few days.

Spotted: Kiwi Birds!

I saw my first kiwi birds today. We went to Te Puia (don't ask me how to pronounce it) which is in Rotorua (pronuounced like it looks) - home of the hot mud pools and geysers as well as a Maori cultural center. It was amazing!

A big geyser was blowing as we came up to it, the mud pools were just wild! My cousin Zoe and I decided next time we were bringing our suits and going into the hot mud spas. My parents had visited here before, and I really wanted to go, but didn't think I was going to get to. Turned out it was only 40 minutes up the road from where we were staying.

They also had a Kiwi House, which was home to 2 real live kiwi birds. They're nocturnal birds, so they have them in a darkened environment with lighting that reverses daylight hours, so that us loopies can see them in action. I was surprised at how big they were - about the size of a computer monitor. They were both digging holes when we went in, but one of them was kicking up dirt like my dogs! He/She turned right and looked at me - it was so funny! LONG pointy beak, black beady eyes. Every bit as cartooney as they are on the tourist merchandise. It was quite a treat to see one in real life.

There was a really interesting Maori performance too that we really enjoyed. After the performance a security guard walked right up to me and Zoe and handed me a feather, telling me it was from a real kiwi. I'm not sure, but that might mean we're going steady or something.

My dad and youngest brother Chris arrive tonight from Australia. I haven't seen them since Christmas, can't believe I had to go half way around the world to see them!

A few misc. notes:

I'm on dial up access at my cousins, and haven't had a lot of computer access over all since I've been here. I did NOT bring my laptop, and I'm really glad - it's bad enough all this airport hopping I've been doing, and there haven't been a lot of places I could have pulled it out and used it. Although I was in a McDonald's today that had wireless.

Because of that, I haven't been proof-reading and editing my blogs, just slamming them out. So all of you who compliment my writing are now getting a taste of the raw thing. I also haven't had a chance to read the comments.

I did buy a computer card for the hotel though, so hopefully in the next couple of days I will get a chance to get on fast access.

I think that's it for now. It's overcast here today, so no playing on the beach. Hoping it's brighter tomorrow.

Now, in a joy that only Carey and Debbie will fully understand - I have been to the Pack & Save and bought all the ingredients -- tonight we are making Pavlova!!!!!

Cousins, Cousins, Cousins!

We have arrived in Papamoa. I was sad to leave Dunedin, it was SO wonderful. We flew out this morning to Auckland, and caught what I'd call a "gooneybird" plane to Tauranga. 10 rows, 2 seats across, the flight attendant was also the co-pilot.

FINALLY got to meet my cousin Tania today. And her husband and two daughters and my Uncle Robert. My Aunt Patricia had been over for my wedding. We have a cottage here on the beach. Life is good.

More soon I hope. Oh my gosh, my photos are AMAZING.

Tomorrow we're going to Rotorua! yay!

I've Gone Back to School!

Greetings from the University of Otago!

I've snuck into the University after hours to blog, but before I get to that, I want to clarify something I put in my last post.

I said that the portion of the trip I was most excited about was my trip to Dunedin. My trip is divided into 3 sections -- Dunedin (my mom's hometown), Tauranga (where I'll meet up with my family) and Auckland (where I'm getting to meet Debbie!) Seeing everything in Dunedin was the thing that I really insisted upon doing if I was coming all the way over here. But the single most exciting THING to me is getting to meet my cousins Tania and her family. But as far as the trip as a whole, the Dunedin portion of the trip was my MUST DO.

So, my NZ impressions: Absolutely AMAZING. I can't even begin to tell you all the things we've done since I've arrived - I can't even believe it's only been a few days. I've tramped all over the Dunedin, went Shania Stalking in Wanaka, rode a gondola to the top of the mountain in Queenstown (where my parents honeymooned) and seen the most AMAZING scenery ever. OH - visited the home of the original Bungee Jump -- and no, I didn't jump.

The "oh wow" moment for me was going to the church my parents were married in. Having seen so many photos, but never imagining I would actually get to GO there, it was when we walked in there that the enormity of the trip I've undertaken completely overwhelmed me. Going there was worth every bit of anything I went through to get here.

I met my Great Aunt today who was just cute as a button. I've become addicted to "pies" - I've been eating them for every meal I can. These are not dessert pies, they've got meat and cheese and all kinds of different varieties, and they are yummy. I'm learning lots of new words too, like "loopies" (of which I am one).

Tomorrow I climb the Steepest Street in the WORLD - Baldwin Street. Assuming I survive that, I will be leaving Wednesday morning for Tauranga, where I'm going to meet a gaggle of rellies. (Those are relatives for you Yankees..)

By the way, it's 8:20 at night here. I haven't had any trouble with jet lag at all, the only thing is I'm tired earlier at night, and am wide awake at 5:30 in the morning.

I should have internet access again at some point after Thursday. Hope y'all are behaving yourself while I'm gone!

Kia Ora!

That's hello to you non-kiwi's. :-)

It's beautiful here. SOOO much to tell you all. I'm keeping a handwritten journal so I can go back and fill in the blanks.

Back to where I last left you... LAX. What an ugly airport. My friend Tara McNamara - who many of you remember from her days hosting CMT programming - came up and took me out for dinner. It was great to see her, and I had a delicious Louie Salad.

My trip over was fine. Long. Slept a little. Qantas was great. Watched "The Queen", which was interesting. Thought of you Moni - lots of Diana footage. Have you seen it? They fed us twice on the flight - dinner (at around Midnight Nashville time) and a really good hot breakfast. I spent a lot of time listening to Radio Q - the inflight radio. Their country channel is called "Big Country" which cracked me up... sounds like a channel that would air on our competitor. ;-)

The programming was really well produced - had a guest artist - and wouldn't you know it, his name was Garth. Garth Porter. The host was really good too, and an interesting mix of Australian and American music. About every 3rd song was American. Rodney Atkins, the Dixie Chicks, MG, and Dierks Bentley.

Right now I'm at the airport and need to give someone else the terminal. We're getting ready to fly to Dunedin - which is where my mom was born and raised. It's the part of the trip I'm most excited about!

I haven't learned yet how to say goodbye in Maori.

Greetings from Los Angeles !

So far, so good! I forgot how long that flight to LA is... I was bored silly. Thankfully the next leg of my flight has on-demand movies in the seats. I sat in front of Bon Jovi's manager on the Nashville - LA leg. Got to hear all about the CMT Awards post-party, a clinic in NJ that Jon supports, and their rehearsals for Live Earth.

Having dinner tonight with my friend Tara and her munchkins. It's currently 10am in Auckland. I'm wearing a watch set to kiwi time wondering how on earth my body is ever going to adjust.

Survivor: New Zealand

Can I really live for 2 weeks in a foreign country on everything I have in this luggage? Keep it right here to find out!

If you're a first time visitor, go back and read the first entry before going any futher. Then come along on the journey with me - you won't need ANY luggage!

I leave Nashville in 2 1/2 hours. Hope to talk to you from Los Angeles.