Three Weekends Away

This post is following VERY shortly after the previous one so if you haven't read the engagement post be sure to read that one first!

We have been trying to save money and we have done a lot of the easy to reach weekend spots now that we have been here almost four years.  Wow, how the time flies when you are having fun! I can hardly believe it has been so long because each day is new but you notice it in the events you miss.

Wellington

We visited Wellington as Chris's Christmas present from the previous Christmas.  Santa was good to him that year, Santa even bought Chelsea a ticket too! Nice Santa! We went a few weekends after Easter so we could have more short work weeks in a row.  Santa understands.

Now before you read any further I have some disclaimers to make. Chris was having one of the worst weeks of his life and I wasn't sure if he would even want to go to Wellington or get on a plane and fly back to Canada.  He didn't want to fly home, I think he wanted life to move on.  He spent most of the week in a quite state of remembrance and hardly anything could wake him from it.  It turns out two things can help.  This is the first:

This is Maria (named in honour of his beloved Nonna who died two days before she arrived)

Maria is a Lotus 7.  And Chris has been diligently taking care of her and fixing her up all winter and even now as I write this he is out in the garage with Maria.  I have decided that I do not mind this other woman although it is annoying when you hear things like "be careful when you go in the spare room closet, I put the windshield in there" or "I think we need a bigger place because I can't store everything for the car."

The second thing that could help Chris (and the least I could do) was make our trip to Wellington be the only thing on his mind and prevent him from thinking about anything else.  Now, if there is one thing I have mastered in my life it is the art of not letting people around me relax and get in their head.  I accomplished that for Chris that weekend.  We did the Craft Beer Trail around Wellington.  Most people would do it at a leisurely pace.  Not me, I was on a mission to distract Chris and a leisurely pace would have meant that he might stop and have time to think.

If you are curious, here is a link to the trail:

http://craftbeercapital.com/trail/how-it-works

The trail consists of 20 pubs which specialise in craft beer.  They are arranged like so:

You can choose to do half the trail if you like but they have arranged it so that they are all across the city on both trails so that you can't easily accomplish one at a time.  The goal is to finish all 20.  When you have done that you get to mail in your card and they will send you a free T-shirt.  However, if you only finish one of the trails then you have to include $20 to get your T-shirt.  It is not cheap as you need to buy at least a beverage (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) or a food item at each place.  This was shaping up to be an expensive weekend but it was perfect to help Chris focus on something else.  Just what the Doctor ordered!

Disclaimer #2: DRINK RESPONSIBLY. 

So it started at the airport in Auckland.  Chris had a pint.  I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to start before Wellington but who was I to stop him.  He is a 30 year old man who needed a medicinal beer.  Our room was right across the street from one of the pubs so we didn't hit that one up because we thought we could get it easily later.  We tackled that map like it was the last thing we were going to do.

That night we made it to 3 pubs! I managed to drink half of my drink at each one, good for me! I don't like beer but hopped cider is really quite special.  Never had it before but love it already.  After this I thought it would be great to take Chris to a little bar that Hayley and I had already been to called CGR (http://www.cgrmerchant.co.nz/).  It was recommended by a friend and I knew Chris would like it.  It is easy to miss because it has only a wee little sign above a door to some stairs.  However, at the top of the stairs is a small bar which infuses their own rums and gins.  It is something special.  The drinks are certainly one of a kind.  One last think to note, if you are trying to tackle 20 pubs in a weekend, don't switch to hard liquor.  This was the last place we went that night before walking back to our room.


The next morning we walked to the Wellington Cable Car and took the ride up.  We visited the astronomy place a the top and watched a cool video in the dome theatre.  I can't remember what it was about because I might have closed my eyes for a few seconds but it was about stars and really cool.  I also forgot my raincoat belt there and they mailed it back for free!!! Nice place!!!

Also something to note, Hayley and I walked the entire way to Zealandia, it took an hour.  You can take a cable car up the hill (save a massive climb) then take a shuttle straight to the doors of the park.  At least we accomplished something!

Before the first drink, stone cold sober but after our little nap in the star dome.

The first pub of the day was up there.  Thankfully we checked the map right as we were about to go back down the cable car, that was lucky! I also discovered that they serve half pints.  They are more expensive than the cost of half of a pint but I don't waste as much!  Chris decided that half pints are for sissies.  He was drinking full pints.

We did a lot of walking that day.  I think we did take a bus though, three times.  We went out to Weta Workshop in the morning and got a tour.  They made  costumes and sets for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies.  They have done many more but I stopped listening past that point.  We also got to see the miniature sets for the Thunderbirds remake they are doing.  Chris has seen the original show but I never had.  At least I thought the sets were cool!

I think we polished off 10 pubs on the Saturday.  We met up with some friends from work and Chris drank an Irishman under the table.  Perfect for getting his mind away from thoughts of home.  We ate our second night in a row at a night market (good job Wellington). and called it early because we were done.  I would like to thank the bars that stamped my sheet with me only drinking tap water.  Very kind of them.

We spent our last morning at the Farmers Market outside Te Papa before we checked out the museum.  We really enjoyed the Gallipoli exhibit the Scale of the War because we had learned about how Weta made the giant people.  It as a very moving exhibit about the Gallipoli campaign in WWI and the ANZAC contribution to it.  It also mentioned the brave men of Newfoundland and Labrador who found there as well.

We only did three bars on the Sunday (I was worried about Chris's physical health on top of him mental health now).  And do you know what that bugger did? We called it quits (never got to the one right beside our room) and he went and ordered a pint of beer with his dinner.  We could have done another place!!

This is our card now:

We finished Trail 2 and just have 4 more to do on Trail 1

So it looks like we will have to go back to Wellington together and finish those last four, after the weekend we had it should be easy!

Raglan

We decided to head down to Raglan for a weekend away from Auckland.  We wanted to try leaving Jesse in the kennel over night and thought that we should use the excuse to get away for a wee while while the boy was being taken care of.

Raglan is a small surfing town west of Hamilton and about 2 hours south of Auckland.  Perfect for a weekend away! Chris is a pro at Book a Bach now and always manages to find us nifty little places.  This one was Bali theme and even had our own private hot tub, perfect for a winter get away.

 That evening we drove south a bit and did a short hike before the sun set.  As per usual in NZ the hike was narrow and steep so we didn't go too far because we didn't want to be stuck out there after it got dark.  The view from the base of the hike went straight to Mount Taranaki.  I had never seen it before so it was a real treat to add that to the list of places I have 'seen.'

Chris pointing out Mount Taranaki in the distance

Sunset on the West Coast.  I couldn't look through the view finder because of the sun so you have to tilt you head a bit.

The mountain is a little clearer with more zoom after the sun had set.

The next morning we headed to a nearby waterfall.  If you didn't know it was there you would never find it as it is surrounded by farm fields.  The locals told us about it and the signage was poor, it would be easily missed.  But it was stunning.  The view from the top was fabulous but when did anyone ever stop at that without asking 'wouldn't it be better if I hiked down this stupid long flight of steps to see the bottom?'

View from the top of the falls

View from the halfway point!

View from the bottom.  The rock face has some weird features due to the erosion.

I guess the view from the base made it worth the climb up.  What do you think?

 We went on a lovely hike through some pine forests and cow fields.  I think all hikes in NZ have to have the following items to make them legitimate:

1) Hills, steep and lots of them
2) Cow fields where you have to bravely walk past the pretty ladies while convincing them you are harmless

There were some unusual shelters in the forest, my guess is local kids having fun but it made for neat settings.

That night we went for a walk along the 'beach.' There was no real trail and it was more of a scramble over rocks but it was beautiful in the sunset.

Sunset on the West Coast

Chris on the stony beach

It was the perfect two night getaway.  Also, when we picked Jesse up he was the only dog who stopped wagging his tail when he saw his parents.  Talk about a dagger to the heart.  Thanks Sir Stinky-Bum!

Tekapo

Now that planning was in full swing we thought we should take a trip to Tekapo and check it out for the first time. It was also a great way to see if Jesse still loved as after four nights in the kennel!

So we left Auckland at 6am on a rainy Friday morning.  We arrived into rainy Christchurch and by the time we had made it three hours down the surprisingly straight highway to Tekapo the skies had cleared and we had a gorgeous weekend.  Really couldn't have asked for better weather!

We stopped at the Church of the Good Shepherd on our way into town to check it out, pop inside.  It really is a gorgeous church that looks like it has been there for centuries.  I can't wait to go there again in March.  We walked all over and it should be perfect.  I hope we can get just as lucky with the weather.

'Our' church, the Church of the Good Shepherd

We went straight to Peppers to check it out and have a tasting.  They treated us like royalty.  The chefs prepared us a three course meal with three options for each course so we could pick our favourite two.  It was amazing they let us sample the wine and beer too.  They made it really special with our own menus and fine linens, which I naturally made not so white! We were even upgraded from the cheapest room they have (the one I booked) to their nicest Lake View room.  It was spectacular!! 

That evening we went to the Tekapo Springs with a pass that we were given by Peppers, they treated us like royalty they really did.  We spend two hours soaking in the pools over looping the lake before we headed back to our room.  We couldn't be late because we had a tour booked at the Mount John Observatory that night.  We booked the first tour of the night (which included a tour of the research facility) because the others started too late and we had been up since 3am.

We took the bus up to the Mount John Observatory.  Now this is special.  Mount John is a little mountain in the middle of the middle of the Mackenzie Basin.  The entire basin is a dark sky reserve.  You could see the headlights from the cares are brighter then the entire town of Tekapo.  So up we went to check out the MOA telescope.  This scope has been designed to measure light changes of planets revolve around distant starts.  They work with another telescope in Chile so that if one sees something interesting they can get the other to look before the next night.  Good team work I guess.  It was really cool.  They have a few telescopes there, all are optical.  One is just for the public on the tours.  The highlight for Chris and I was seeing the Tarantula Nebula.  It looked just like the postcard we picked up cheap at the gas station.  It was gorgeous!!!

The next morning we hiked back up Mount John with 30minutes of switch backs, yay.  But the view was even better than the night before.  Sure, at night the star light was reflecting off the snow capped mountains in the distance but during the day you could see across the plains and it was beautiful.  It was worth the climb.

Lake Tekapo is on the right

You can see the town in the foreground

I was very tired after the climb

We returned the same was we came because we had to make it south of Timaru for a cake tasting.  Local cake made with local ingredients.  If you want berries, she grows them.  Perfect to high light why we are getting married in this region.  We stopped by to meet the minister who will be marrying us.  He was wonderful and we had a lovely chat about our families and New Zealand.  I can't wait for March!

That evening we went back to the church for some more photos.  I wanted some without tourists.

Using Chris's hand to hide the tourists!

So blue!

That night we tried out the room service to really get a sense of the local food.  I think they had an astrix next to our room number because they went all out on it.  We bought beer/cider at the 'nicest' Four Square in NZ.  It was across the street with stunning views of the lake.  So stunning that the grocery store had panorama windows all along the back and side wall!

The Sunday we left we decided to head south to Twizel before leaving the area.  There was a fresh water Salmon farm that we really wanted to check out after having enjoyed their fish in our tasting on Friday.  We drove past Mount Cook (the tallest mountain in NZ to get there).

Me trying to show that the salmon are swimming counter-clockwide instead

Counter-clockwise

We fed the salmon and sampled the salmon. They were delicious! Apparently fresh water salmon is 'lighter' than regular but we didn't notice any difference.  They taste the same to me.  Oh so yummy!

Eating salmon in front of the salmon swimming in the pool behind him, cruel!

On the way back to Tekapo we took a side trip up to the wee little town of Mount Cook.  You get a better view of the mountain from the main highway though as there is another mountain between the town and Mount Cook.  However, we were there so we went for a short 45min hike.  It was a lively trip until we passed a little building on the way back to the car.  When we were about 10m away it let out an air raid siren for 10 minutes straight. I thought we had triggered it somehow but as we found out later it serves the same purpose as the one in Arva, to call the volunteer fire department.  Someone had managed to roll their SUV in a single car accident with no clouds int he sky or wind on a straight road.  At least it looked like everyone was okay.

That is not Mount Cook in the background.

Siren is in that little building in front of Chris

We made the way back to Tekapo and on wards to Christchurch.  There wasn't a great place to eat downtown with parking (even though half the city seams to still be parking lot) so we ended up eating a terrible meal at the airport before flying back to Auckland.

I can honestly say that I think we made the right choice, they will make our big day very special!!

Just so you all know, Jesse did keep wagging his tail when he saw us this time.  He must love us after all!

Love, 

Chelsea

xoxoxo

And then he asked me to marry him...

This post is long over due but I thought I would share it now.  I will try to catch up with a few things in this post, almost a year of travelling (well not much travelling, we have a wedding to save for!)

It all started before Easter.  I was in Australia for work.  Someone who had never seen a map of Australia planned my trip and I crossed the country three times pretty much.  But I ended in Adelaide in South Australia and was to be flying out to NZ in the evening so I could arrive at midnight on Good Friday.  This would give me the entire weekend with Chris and Jesse.  Chris had even booked us a nice bach near Pouto.  However, Air NZ had another plan for me.  At this time a massive storm was heading towards NZ and the forecast was the worst it had been in ages.  Air NZ cancelled all flights to the country and I was stranded for Good Friday in Melbourne.  Melbourne is a lovely city, one of the best in Australia but it is frustrating knowing you are there and a lovely bach is waiting for you at home.  Plus Good Friday is one of the holidays that NZ and Australia respect.  Nothing like being in a wonderful new city and having absolutely everything closed.  Fortunately a friend from Matthews Hall is living there so we met up for a meal on VERY short notice and her and her fiance showed me around a bit on their day off work.  It was very kind of them and it was great to catch up.

I arrive in NZ 24 hours late and we headed straight north! Chris was happy to see me and Jesse seamed to enjoy the car trip.  We arrived after dark due to the delays of my flight.  Oh, and that massive storm, it missed the North Island but better to be safe than sorry.  The lady who met us to unlock the door was nice, she even gave us homemade Guava Jelly.  It was really nice to find a hound friendly fully fenced place and we knew that Jesse would love to explore in day time.  However, he is a dog who like his routine and he clearly was not in it that night.  He spent most of the night pacing back and forth between the living room and our bedroom whining the entire time like we were going to leave him.

The next day we were able to see the view and it was gorgeous!!! We were on a massive cattle/sheep farm with stunning views of the harbour and across to the mainland.  The owner of the bach came out to greet us and meet our 'very skinny dog' as the lady had reported to him the previous night.  I must say he was pretty relieved that it was a Greyhound and we don't just starve our dog.  He invited us over to the main house and told us everywhere we could walk on his property.  It was a pretty easy rule to follow: You can go everywhere except the paddocks with the Angus bulls in them.  That seemed like sound advice as those things were HUGE.

These cows don't know how luck they are.

We went for a lovely walk through the paddocks and to a wonderful look out.  Jesse really enjoyed the smells and especially liked the sheep paddocks.  He seemed unfussed by the cows but didn't really enjoy some of the steep hills.  We imaged him complaining that he is not a mountain goat and prefers the flat ground.  Jesse also enjoyed exploring the massive fenced in area around the bach.  You could tell he was still slightly worried about the new environment because he kept disappearing and when we found him he was always lying beside the car door so we couldn't leave him behind.  Little stinker!

Jesse exploring his surroundings

One happy dog!

Our tradition is that when I go to Australia for work I bring Chris back a nice rum from duty free.

Don't you wish this was your backyard?

You can see our batch across the valley in the very back of this shot.

I could walk here everyday

This is such a beautiful area.  It is the same distance from Auckland as the Coromandel but there are way less people (and less to do but hey, great for a weekend away!).  You drive north to Dargaville and head down the penninsula. A bridge would easily shave an hour or more off the trip but then it would be far to assessable to the JAFAs (J-ust A-other F-ing A-ucklander like us!).

This is actually alarmingly steep

We took a drive southward (down the peninsula) to some famous sand dune beaches.  They were gorgeous and although we would have loved to just let Jesse run his recall is atrocious and the last thing we wanted was to lose him somewhere in the dunes because none of us knew the area and we might never find him again.  So safely on leash he stayed!  It was a great Easter Sunday.

He is Batman!

That beautiful time just before the sun sets.

 The next morning we did another loop of the massive walk through the fields and down the valley.  It was a beautiful sunny day and Jesse loved it as much as we did.  He was much more settled the second night but his attempts to access the car were stepped up.  Once we started opening doors to lead the car he jumped and nothing would budge him.  When the owner came by to say good bye and let the dogs play we had to drag Jesse out of the car, drag him.  He was floppy and didn't realise we weren't laving for another few hours so he had to get out of the car anyway. 

This country is so beautiful

I tried to help Chris load the car but he kept telling me that he was fine and to go inside.  So I started playing with Jesse outside and was told to play with him inside.  No idea why he was being so weird. Who doesn't want help packing a car?

So I signed the guest book thanking them for a wonderful weekend and was giving Jesse some pets (inside the house) when Chris came running in telling me there was a cool bird outside.  What can I say, the man knows me! So naturally I went sprinting out of the house at top speed, I didn't even get my runners on right because I didn't want to miss the bird.  I following him (at high speed while hobbling in the shoes because I didn't want to crush the back of them) around the house and two thoughts occurred to me:

1) That is not a real bird, it is not going to fly away (immediately bent to fix shoes)
2) Why did he get me to run around here to look at a fake bird? (Is there something in the bird?)

There was something in the bird.

Do you see the ring in the fantail?

Chris asked me to marry him in typical engineering style...with a painted 3D printed ring. He knew that I would want to have say over the ring I was to wear for the rest of my life and he wanted to design something too so we made a start with his design and together we would finish it.  His design was simple and meaningful.  He used a one twist Pikorua to make a ring.  This symbol is very common in Maori culture and symbolises two lived joining together for eternity.  The perfect meaning for an engagement ring! I never knew that Chris was secretly super romantic.

So I said yes...and we were both super happy.  I immediately wanted to Skype our families but Chris asked that we wait until we had the real ring.  That didn't seem like too much to ask so I happily agreed.  Then it would be really official and until then it would be our happy little secret.

Chris signed the Guest book after me and wouldn't let me see it. To this day I still don't know what it says.  I can't wait to go back and read it.

So that is it.  How we became engaged and why we kept it a secret for a bit.  If we had known how long it would actually get to have the ring made we would have told everyone right away but that is water under the bridge.

Over the next three weeks we designed the most beautiful ring in the world that combined Chris's folded pikorua design, my requirement for no sticky-up bits because how do those women do that?  Then after being told it would take 5-6 weeks to make (and many false starts on Skype) it was ready for pick up 12 weeks minus one day!!! And it really is the most beautiful ring ever!!!! I still look at it too much.  But there are things I have discovered about wearing an engagement ring:

1) Yes when it is a wide ring like mine taking it off can sometimes feel like you are dislocating your finger (especially when it is hot outside or when you are first engaged and EVERYONE wants to see it)
2) You have to get used to it on your hand when you wash your face as it can hurt.
3) You will get a sore finger from continually holding it straight to stare at it.
4) Chris will get annoyed if you go "do you want to see something beautiful...BLING!" and shove the ring in his face more than 3 times a day since August. Under three times a day you are fine.  Oh, and don't wake him up in the middle of the night to say "look how it shines in the moonlight" he won't like that either.

Okay, that is really it.  The full story. I should have posted it months ago.

Since then we have been saving money but we have managed a few weekends away.  We have visited Wellington, Raglan and Tekapo! I will write about those in a separate post.  I want to keep this one just for our engagement.