Last post - goodbye Wellington!

Back in the states now, but I thought I’d cheat and leave one last update on my blog to fill in and post some pictures of the last couple weeks – I guess I was too busy with adventures to stop and write about them! I’ll go from memory.

Week 6:

This week started out with a trip to Taupo and Hamilton to do some interviews for work stuff. The flying experience was great – zero security, no ID check, just roll up 15 minutes before the flight and walk out onto the tarmac. The plane was itty-bitty, just 20 seats, and the view flying north from Wellington to Lake Taupo was beautiful.

Armed with a hand-drawn map courtesy of Thom, I went for a run through the town to Huka falls. It’s a spot in the Waikato River where the normally 100m wide river is forced through a 20 meter passage and dumps 220,000 liters of water out on the other side. Enough to fill 5 olympic swimming pools each minute. Sweet.





Then I ran back on the other side of the river and wound up at a spot where a hot springs falls down a small waterfall and makes a series of perfect hot tub-sized pools. After a couple minutes of enjoying a nice soak, I was joined by four girls from Malaysia. We had a fun time trying to communicate. Here's a pic of my own private warm waterfall.



The next day I woke up in the backpackers, stepped out on the lake-view balcony to the cheapest million-dollar view I’ll probably ever get! The clouds had cleared away to reveal the lake stretching out under a clear blue sky with Mt. Ruapehu dominating the horizon. Mt Ruapehu is a volcano and the biggest ski destination in NZ, and also filming site of Mt. Doom in LOTR. Cool.





Bus to Hamilton, then back to Wellington for a quick trip.

Wednesday night I went for another film festival movie. Highlight was biking there and back through the basin reserve. Basically a massive cricket stadium that you can cut through by biking through the stadium gates and around the field in massive roundabout style. Biking is made pretty easy here.

That weekend, Katie and I were supposed to travel up the north island a ways to go tramping with her friend, but the weather was supposed to turn and get really messy on Sunday, so we didn’t want to get stuck. Instead, we took a day trip on Saturday up the Kapiti Coast. We took a great train ride up to Paekakariki, a small town on the coast with dramatic steep hills on one side and the coast on the other. I was amazed at these tiny sheep able to live perched on top of some truly steep hills. After a quick coffee, we went down to the beach for a barefoot day walk with some running mixed in. the whole walk we had Kapiti Island on our left and a view of the South island way behind us. We went and visited some of her friends in Raumati and then went to her Aunt and Uncle’s place in Paraparaumu for dinner. They had a sweet garden with all sorts of produce and trees and a live dome-shaped covering for a bench made from willow branches. And chickens. They sent us home with a homegrown massive pumpkin.





A junk sculpture along the beach:



Sunday was a pretty relaxed day. Went for a run to avoid the rain that was coming later on, then made some black bean soup and cornbread. Apparently both of those are strange cuisine over in NZ – when I took leftovers to work the next day, the other research analysts kept questioning me about what cornbread is made from!


WEEK # 7:

This week started off with a bang. The southerly winds arrived! Running along the water was a challenge. I was doing fast intervals and the wind was so strong that there were moments when I was literally standing still, as if running on a treadmill! Later that night, I looked up the weather and saw a stat for fastest wind in Wellington in the past 10 minutes: 84 km/h!

Tuesday was another exciting weather day. At some point in the morning it started snowing – really snowing, which is unusual down at sea level. The hills had already been getting some snow and one of our former co-workers was snowed in, but we also got some down in Cuba Mall. This called for a mid-morning break. Meet the bucked fountain and some of the other RAs – Levi, Alex, and Mohit.



The rest of the day we were treated to more snow, sleet, rain, lightning and thunder. Don’t worry Mom, I took the bus home. As part of giving in to the weather, we had a quiet night at home watching Downton Abbey – a highly addictive British TV show featuring Thom’s cousin, a British actor!

Wednesday saw some more crazy and cold weather! Layer upon layer during runs - thank goodness for Stanford gear. Wednesday and Thursday night we had a couch surfer from Florida come stay with us and we went into a pumpkin pie and sticky date pudding cooking frenzy. Friday was a normal work day, followed by some last-minute planning for the weekend and dinner at some of Katie’s friend’s place.

Saturday morning we headed off on our flat adventure. We had decided the weather wasn’t exactly tramping weather, and ended up hearing back from a farmer in Waikanae who rents out bunks in the room above his farm, which was just perfect for us. We headed off and drove through Petone for a little op-shop browsing, then on to some other small townfor a quick lunch. We decided to take the scenic route through the country and then pop out along the coast once we hit Paekakariki. Remember those sheep living on top of a steep hill I was talking about? After winding through the country side for a while, we went through this pass and then suddenly popped out at the top of that hill for a sweet view. Here is Jeremy and Katie claiming the Island for their own overlooking the view to the ocean and Kapiti island.



Then we made our way to the farm just in time for a quick walk and some exploring. Walked through some foresty areas, along a stream and through some hilly pastures. It was nice. We ended up having the place to ourselves, which was great. We got a good fire going and enjoyed some local apple cider.





The more pricey cabin we didn't stay at:



In the morning we went for a nice 2-3ish hour walk through the bush. It was great, and super dense. I wanted to include a picture of some of the trees, just to show how much growth there is in the forest - plants and moss growing everywhere, even on tree trunks. Because of the weather and all the snow, which was now gone, there were a lot of trees that had fallen and blocked the path, so it was fun climbing and bush whacking our way through those.





A New Zealand fern:



Once we got back, I went for a run around the Miramar peninsula that is off to the side of Wellington, something I’ve wanted to do for a while. I’d never been over there, so it was quite an adventure, and over 14 which I think is my longest run yet. It was great running along the water the whole time though.






WEEK #8:

Yikes – last week here! So sad! Was working like mad to try and finish up my project, so work was busy, but still pretty good. Monday I snuck away to grab an afternoon coffee and solved a great mystery. I had been smelling the most amazing smell on my runs and sometimes biking to work: a cross between overcooked chocolate, smoky hazelnut and coffee. Turns out all of People’s coffee’s beans are roasted in Newtown, so that delicious smell would just waft around. Mystery solved.

Tuesday night I said goodbye to my bible study group, which has been great. Wednesday we had after work drinks and I said goodbye to some people at the office, since it was my last day. I also said goodbye to my sweet purple cruiser bike, since I would no longer need the esteemed vehicle for trekking to work.

Thursday morning the group of research analysts flew to Nelson on the South Island to go to a conference to do presentations about our work. I was first up, and luckily it went pretty well. In the afternoon, I was able to sneak away and go for a run. It was great – ran along the beach then along the road tracing the coast. When I came back I hung out on the beach for a while and jumped in the water. It was freezing, but I couldn’t resist!









Then I flew home for my last night in Wellington! Thom, Katie, Jeremy, and I went to Monterey, a restaurant in Newtown for drinks and burgers. Just as we were ordering one of each dessert to really be extravagant, Chloe and Ellen came and joined us, so we had a good group going. We stuck around playing cards for a while, then headed home to drag out goodbyes! Sadly, I found myself in bed at 2am, with only 3 hours of sleep ahead of me! 5am came early, but Katie and Thom were nice enough to get up to see me off, which was really sweet. Then it was goodbye to Wellington for who knows how long!

Flight over to Australia was amazing – got a great view of the Marlborough sounds. Definitely a place to go visit someday! This picture is fuzzy through my window, but you can kinda get the idea.



Now I’m sitting in the LA airport, on my way home writing this blog as the last of my journey (so excuse the typos – I’m tired!). Overall an awesome trip! Thanks for reading!!

An Overdue Update!

Uh Oh! Time for a pretty big update! I’ve let the last 5 weeks slip by without a post.

WEEK 3:

After recovering from hiking and getting back into the swing of things with working again, it was a pretty relaxed week. I finally tried fish and chips one night – a New Zealand specialty. Friday night after work, I met with Katie to go pick up our vege box. Each week, we get this box of fresh, organic veges from a local coop. You never know what you’re getting, and so you spend the whole week trying to work various crazy vegetables into dinners. Personal favorites: pumpkins and kumara (sweet potatoes). After that we went to a café downtown to see a couple of folk artists putting on an acoustic concert. A fun, relaxed night complete with a chilly walk home!

Saturday I got up for a nice run up to the top of Mt. Victoria. Mt. Vic is a large mountain on one side of Wellington. Parts of it were featured in Lord of the Rings (though to be honest, a little hard to tell what part – there are no dead giveaway homes with circle doors), but the best part is an amazing view of all of Wellington city and the harbor as a reward once you make it to the top. I took a nice break to read about the history of Wellington and how it grew from a 5,000-person town to the 390,000 person population of today. After Mt. Vic, I ran down to the harbor and around the coastline back home. As nice as it had been in the morning, it quickly turned cloudy and rainy, almost without warning. Took the chance to stay in and make a real Saturday of it. Some shots along my run:





Sunday I got up for another great run. Started out by running opposite Mt. Vic to Mt. Albert, which gives a view overlooking Island bay and facing the South Island. On a day this clear, you could see the tips of snow-capped mountains on the South Island. This brought me only a couple miles into the run, and then I just wandered for the rest. Katie pointed me in the direction of a nice dirt track to Island Bay, so I followed that, ran right along the water by Island Bay, then turned up into a valley called “happy valley.” All this directionless wandering was all fun and dandy, but after a while I realized I was getting far away from home. So, I trucked it up a giant hill in the general direction of home, hoping it would connect. I got lucky and ended up on the “city-to-sea” walkway dirt track which meandered up and down the hill and then spit me out at the Marae and into Island Bay which connected me to Newtown and our flat. Only seems fitting that this was such an enjoyable and memorable run, since it marked my 10,000th mile since starting to keep track at the beginning of college. Was kicking myself the whole time for not having my camera!

Later on I went to Zealandia, which is a huge nature preserve surrounded by a predator-proof fence meant to protect the native birds inside. I saw some cool birds and a crazy number of plants and ferns. Then I went home to dinner with the guys and we sat around putting in requests for Jeremy to play on the acoustic guitar. Overall, a solid week!

WEEK 4:

My last week before coming home for Brian and Leanne’s wedding was a whirlwind of a week. Monday after work we all went out for a drink at the Matterhorn, which was this cool and understated bar and restaurant along Cuba Street, the main walking street.

Wednesday, I set off on an adventure traveling the North Island up to Auckland on my way out of the country. I had to go up to Lake Taupo and another city called Hamilton to do some interviews for work, and got to see some things along the way. Wednesday I caught a bus from Wellington to Taupo. The whole way I was amazed by the changing landscape – not to mention the changing weather! Although someone at worked introduced me to the phrase “it’s a monkey’s wedding” when sun and rain happen at the same time to make a rainbow, rainbows are not at all rare as that label would suggest – I think I saw 3 or 4 on the bus ride alone! One from the bus window:



Once arriving in Taupo, this girl named Holly studying at Yale and I stayed at a sheep and beef farm with this really great and welcoming couple that have been involved in the policy I’m researching. In the afternoon, we went for a soak in some natural hot pools then out to dinner for Taupo Beef. As sheep and beef farmers, the couple I stayed with are piloting a project where they feature their local, grass-fed, and “sustainably farmed” beef at restaurants around Taupo. I put “sustainably farmed” in quotations because my flatmate Thom harassed me for even daring to suggest that beef could be farmed in a way even remotely sustainable. Anyways, I officially broke my month of vegetarian dining with a nice, big, local steak. We also got to meet the chef – he had recently been front-page news in this small town for a picture of him chasing Taupo Beef on the farm with a skillet and a butcher’s knife. An exciting night, for sure.

In the morning, we woke up early, put on our all-weather gear and went out to do farming stuff! We sloshed in our rubber boots through the wind and rain out to move some cattle from one paddock to another. Cows are funny creatures. First they would all make a huge circle around us, as if afraid of us. Then one would creep towards us as if testing the waters. Then ten would follow, then suddenly the whole herd. It just took one curious cow to get it all started.





After that we came in to warm up and have some coffee. Later, we did the interviews and a I asked the farmers all sorts of questions about the policy I’ve been researching. Once that was done, I went for a run with Holly down to the end of the road. Rolling hills with little streams running through made me feel like I was in the Lord of the Rings. Wished I had my camera until it started to pour midway through!

Later that night, had some wild pig crusted with rosemary and delicious roasted veges. Oh yea, speaking of LOTR, someone called to see about sourcing some wild venison or pork or maybe even Taupo Beef for Peter Jackson and the rest of the cast and crew of the Hobbit. Don’t know if it’s going to happen, but kind of cool anyways!

Friday morning, Holly and I headed into town early. Did another interview and then caught the bus to Hamilton, where I had another interview. My second interview was canceled, which turned out to be fine by me since the sun came out and I could stash my stuff at the bus station and take a run along the river. Next I caught the bus to Auckland. I got there kind of late so I didn’t do too much that night, just grabbed some dinner and crashed in the hostel (just as my roommates were headed out for the night!).

Saturday morning I had all day until 9:30 to explore around before catching my flight. Started off the day with a run (noticing a pattern?) to the Auckland Domain. Basically ran through the city up to a giant park with soccer fields, woodsy trails off to the side, the Auckland museum, and of course, a rainbow. There was also a mile loop where a cross-country team was doing what looked like a serious workout. This is about when I noticed I was out of shape! I also stumbled upon a farmer’s market. And a fernery and some crazy botanical greenhouses - one was cold, the other hot and filled with tropical plants.



After coming back and showering up, I went to a café for some delicious muesli and a cappuccino, which hit the spot to a near-starved traveler. I know it's a little odd-ball to put a picture of food, but this could be the best looking yogurt and granola combo I've seen yet!



I headed up K Street to wander around and check out the op-shops (second hand shops). Once that got old, I walked to the museum, and spent a few hours checking that out. It was a huge museum, filled with Maori history, natural science, colonial history, and NZ’s involvement in the World Wars. Once I emerged it was a gorgeous day. Thought I needed some proof that I’d been there!





Then I walked down to the water just to keep looking around. I was trying to walk as much as possible and get really tired before my flight back home in hopes of sleeping. Finally, it was time to head to the airport and catch my flight. I got there 3 hours early which was a good reminder for why I rather cut things close than be an earlybird…


VACATION FROM MY VACATION:

After touching down in SF for the night – just long enough to see Harry Potter with Brian and repack my bags – I flew off to Bozeman, Montana for the next 10 days. Once I got there, I was exhausted, but happy to be around family and friends. Highlights of the trip:

#1. The Wedding. So fun! Leanne looked stunning and it was such fun.
#2. The Rehearsal Dinner. Another blast
#3. Tubing down the Madison River – greatest lazy summer activity
#4. Horseback riding through the mountains
#5. The view from our porch overlooking the sunset
#6. Getting repeatedly destroyed in ping-pong by both Matthew’s right and left hands!
#7. Yellowstone
#8. Grilling burgers, leeks, and s’mores.
#9. Music on main street
#10. Hiking up to the giant “M” on top of a hill


WEEK 5:

My first week back in Wellington was great – though it was a shock to switch from summer straight back into winter! Getting back into the swing of work was tricky (but this blog isn’t about work anyways!).

The NZ film festival is on for a couple of weeks. Wednesday night I went to see Norwegian Wood with Thom. Katie and some of her friends were there too – which was good since they could explain what details we had missed from the book.

Friday morning I came across a little baby seal on my run hanging out on princess bay. At first I thought he was dead, so I stopped to have a moment of sadness. Then he started flapping around his awkward little back fin/paws. It was adorable. Luckily I had my iPod with me by chance, so I took a quick video. Work was an easy day – it was the last day of work for two of the people in the office, so we had morning coffee and carrot cake and after dinner drinks, both of which made the day go by quickly!



Friday night I went out with Jeremy, Thom, and Katie to the San Francisco BathHouse on Cuba Street to see The Nudge, bluesy-rock NZ band. The SF was a small venue so we were all packed in making the floor shake. They played in giant chicken, bear, and rabbit costumes, which was kinda odd. But they were really good.

Saturday morning, Katie and I went on an adventure to the Hutt Valley to pick up our four new flatmates – chickens that were born on Thursday! Well, they aren’t really ours, just on loan. She got them for her classroom at school, but until she gets final approval, we get to babysit! They are the cutest little fluffballs ever. The challenge is to keep them warm, which is tricky in our old and breezy house (have I mentioned that you can sometimes see your breath when you're in our house?). Heat lamp and hot water bottles lining their cardboard box helps, so they are pretty happy!



That night, Katie had some friends over for dinner. Later, we headed off to a bar in Newtown to watch the New Zealand vs. Australia rugby game. Usually the biggest game of the year, but this year the second biggest, seeing as the rugby world cup is on in September. It was fun and definitely a quintessential New Zealand experience. One friend argued that the All Blacks are the best team in all history across all sports, based on winning percentage. Sports buffs, is that true? Another guy, when I asked if he was a fan, said, all New Zealanders are fans. Anyways, glad to have done it!

Sunday morning I slept in, Skyped with the fam, and then headed off for a run. I ran to the waterfront market which was good – loads of fresh fruits and veges, little coffee trailers, and ethnic food carts, but I had to keep going. Here are some pics from along my run.









Since the weather was pretty sunny and warm, I decided to take the chance to take a dip in the South Pacific. So I biked to a nearby beach and took the plunge. Luckily there was a dock with a ladder I could just jump in all at once, because I don’t know if I could have done it gradually if I’d walked in the sandy bit. It was freezing and took my breath away (twice!). Here's my beach:





Just as I got back home, it had clouded over and started to rain, so the perfect time to jump in the hot shower! Since the weather had turned, I figured it was a good chance to go to the museum. I only looked around for an hour or so, then headed o the theater to meet Jeremy and Thom for another film festival movie, cria cuervos. Then we biker-ganged home and called it a night.

Tramping Adventures

Last weekend, I ended up going on a last-minute tramping trip with Katie and her friends Steph and Laura. Tramping is Kiwi-speak for an overnight hiking trip. Maybe a hybrid between trekking and camping? Anyways, it was an amazing trip from start to finish.

Saturday morning we got up early and drove a couple hours outside of Wellington, to the Tararua mountain range. Since I wasn't prepared for winter hiking trips, I had borrowed a pack and woolen gloves, hat, and other gear from Thom. I had a layer of long johns and spandex running tights on top with running shorts over top and wool socks poking out of running shoes. Pretty sweet combo. Anyways, we started off the day with 4 hours hiking in the bush. The bush was full every shade of green plant life you can imagine - ferns, trees, grasses, and loads of other things I couldn't name. We stopped for lunch at a small shelter that had been pre-built in Wellington and then flown up by helicopter and assembled on the mountain. After the first 4 hours or so, we passed through Powell Hut, a big cabin where you can stay the night. We thought about staying there for the night, but it was early and we also hoped to make it to Jumbo peak and then on to Jumbo Hut for the night. Since we would walk to Jumbo peak along the ridge line and we heard there might be some ice along the way, we decided to give it a try but turn around as soon as we got uncomfortable with the ice. So, I put on two pairs of wool socks, then tightly wrapped a plastic bag around my feet before putting on my running shoes in an attempt to make them waterproof. Worked like a dream!

We headed out the back door of Powell hut and stepped into what felt like a completely different place. Powell hut was right along where the bush line ends and alpine terrain starts, so we stepped out into a treeless snowy mountain! Following the path was a little tricky, but luckily, a couple people had gone before us, so we could stick to their tracks and it never got too slippery. Also, it wasn't that windy which was fortunate. So, we hiked about 3.5-4 hours through the ice on a trail lined with frozen solid plants, which was good for something to hang on! A picture of our intrepid group of explorers.



After about 3 more hours of hiking, either it cleared up or we got above the cloud line (or some combo of the two) and we emerged to the top of Jumbo just as the sun was going down to the most amazing view: sun setting and clouds streaming down the face of the mountain so you could see the valley opening up and some mountain peaks popping up out of a blanket of clouds. So cool! We were all blown away and it made the afternoon hike through the ice well worth it. We were happy with the afternoon even before we saw the view, and even moreso after. I got a little snap happy.







We then made our way down the ridgeline to Jumbo Hut just as it was getting dark. Katie made a delicious dinner of couscous and lentils, and then we were passed out by 8:30. Best part? Brushing teeth on the freezing cold porch under the most stars I've ever seen in one sky.



In the morning, we were treated to another nice view, and I took some pictures of the hut to show what the inside is like.









Then we set off for another 4 hours hiking along a river and through the bush and over 1-person-only suspension bridges and then back to Wellington. So fun!

Rundown of Second Week

Week 2 was pretty great. Starting to get into the hang of things. Usually start off with a nice run at 7am, which can be quite unpleasant for a sleeper like me, but by the time it's 7:20 and I'm running along the water and the sun is creeping up over the hills, it's all worth it! Here's a pictures from along my run:



Then I bike to work on my awesome little purple bike, reminding myself to stick to the lefthand side and all decked out with helmet and lights. I am sure you're getting the image, but I am look pretty cool at this point. The work day is good. I like what I'm doing, and the other younger guys at work are great fun - quite a mix of characters and it's fun getting to know them. Highlights are tea breaks and lunch time. Then after work, I bike back to good company at home, delicious vege dinner, and any number of fun things (friends stopping by, fort-building, trying to get our cat Lula to tolerate me).

This week I was also introduced to "southerly" winds. These are icy cold wind patterns blowing wind literally from Antarctica. Can get chilly, but luckily it was mostly rain-free this week.

Next up - a post on tramping adventures from this past weekend.

So many adventures!

Way behind in posting, but I'll try to recap the adventures of the last two weekends and the week in between!

Last last Friday we went out to see flatmate Jeremy's band Newtown Rock Steady rocking out at the coolest bar in town. Neat indoor area and cool outdoor area with blankets, hot water bottles and fires to keep warm! New favorite beer: Sassy Red.

Saturday I went on a run with my flatmate Thom up to a wind turbine on the hill. The climb was crazy, but well worth exploring the neighborhoods on the way and getting a view of all of Wellington and the bays. It was a beautiful clear day, so we could see really far, but not quite to the South island, which apparently you can sometimes see. The view:



After a little pick-me-up from a cafe called Espressoholic (who, me?) I went and explored the waterfront a little, walking past skaters and sailboats and markets and streetside musicians. Quite the vibe going on down there and definitely a nice place to be!







Sunday was a Wellington Open Days event - so lots of sights around the city on sale for a $1 donation. I kicked the day off with a nice muddy run up and down Mt. Victoria - part of the "Town Belt" which is basically a series of trails winding in and out of green spaces preserved all along the city.

Then I went to an event at Mojo Coffee Central, where I learned all about growing and roasting coffee beans - including the crazy things that wind up in a crop of beans such as pins, nails, bits of glass, and even bullets! Turns out that a lot of the people making their living off of growing and exporting coffee beans are women, so another good reason for a morning brew.

After that I took the Cable Car (highly popular for the 8 to 10 year olds of Wellington) up to the Botanic gardens and wandered around for a while. Then in keeping with the discovering my inner child I went to the zoo, which was good because it was small and full of all sorts of foreign wildlife. Big favorites were the baby kangaroos, blue penguins, and tamarine monkeys. Didn't see a kiwi bird so that's a reason to go back! More to come...