new zealand

First off, wanted to say how devastating the images and stories of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan are, I am very relieved there was no severe damage to the area where I used to live, Akita-ken on the western coast, and all my friends and former co-workers there seem to be ok. The eastern coast of course was not so lucky and my heart goes out to the people and families affected. Google has a good list of orgs doing relief work, if you are interested in donating to the efforts.

The city of Sendai, one of the areas hit worst by the tsunami, on a beautiful spring day – took my parents here when they visited

I have been very slack in my posting so back in time it is, again, to New Zealand over winter holidays…to visit Matt, go surfing and admire the beautiful sheep

Of course since I had a few hours in Hong Kong on the way I had to stop in and take a quick trip on the star ferry…impressive holiday decorations!

one of my first views of new zealand…we stayed at matt’s family friends in auckland and they brought us to this beautiful park

downtown auckland

I insisted on going to the zoo to see a kiwi (bird) but frankly was more impressed with the australians…just look at this cutie wallabee!

pit stop in paeroa to try the famous NZ soft drink….pretty good stuff

another pit stop on the way to Matt’s house, at a pretty gorge

where Matt had the bright idea to go for a walk through an abandoned, very scary railroad tunnel in pitch black darkness, we made it about 1/4 of the way before I had a little freak-out

my first gorgeous view of a NZ beach – Waihi…in love!

Was pretty hard to keep movin on from here, but we had to get to matt’s mom’s birthday party

pohutukawa tree in bloom

at the heads, whakatane

whale island

whakatane

matt n me

matt n cuz sam

ohope beach, first swim!

the bryson family farm, mount edgecumbe in the background

Farmer Matt

the, uh, grain mixer…thing…mixing up some golden grain!

matt’s family sheep, for reals

new pool with freshly distributed pumice, partially courtesy of yours truly

honey, the dog

Christmas swim in the pool, enjoying the fruits of my labor, with lucky the dog hanging out in the background, getting very very angry at water

loungin in the pool

just after our crazy fun black water rafting adventure in the glow-worm-filled waitomo caves…i mean, how often do you get to float down a river in a cave lit by glow-in-the-dark maggots? pretty freaking cool

at a kiwi(fruit) orchard

ridiculously beautiful scenery on a crazy route i picked to get to raglan

raglan beach

Matt at the weird stage-amphitheater thing at our hostel, overlooking the awesome coast

fun in the hammock on the deck

view from the deck

about to go surf on that

We had a lesson and I was able to get up on the board more than once…win!

the road trip mobile

sam and matt trying to superman…failure!

…success!

one of my fave pics of the trip, now just wish i was a real surfer

last views of the beach before heading off

raglan was a super cool little town, highly recommend a visit, and a little surfing sesh, if you’re ever in the area

back in Whakatane at a lil waterfall

Matt’s friend Dale had a pretty fresh antenna

Matt in the swiss wool hat i got him for xmas

New Year’s swim in the pool

sheepy!

Green lake, near Rotorua

some geothermic activity

plop!

The coolest place ever, hot and cold river, though it was a bit eerier at night, lit by just a few candles…this hot spring flows into a freezing cold river at this spot, creating a very interesting swimming experience