America! New Zealand! South Africa! New Zealand!

18 Feb 2012

So remember last time, when I said I was bad at blogging?  Apparently, I’m worse than I previously thought.   I always think “Hey, I should sit down and pound some stuff out!”  But other things always win.  Like drinking wine, or laying in the sun.

Sampling in the barrel chai @ Justin

Last time I updated, I was just getting back to the states!  Well, let me tell you...I learned a lot back in California.  I worked vintage from August-November at Justin Vineyards and Winery.  It solidified my passion for wine and taught me so much.  We made such amazing wine at Justin, I even stowed three bottles to bring back here to NZ.

At Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula, North Island, NZ

I came back to NZ!  Oh, so briefly.  I returned shortly after Thanksgiving, 29 November to Auckland and into the loving arms of Sean.  He rented a sweet campervan for us, and we scuttled around a bit of the north island for a week.  After that week we flew to South Africa (with a short 6 hour layover in Perth, AUS).

The only things in Johannesburg, South Africa that loved me more than Sean, were the mosquitoes (or ‘mozies’ in SA tongue).  I was covered in bites!  The mozies even had the audacity to sink their noses into the bottom of my foot.  As some of my family will recall, I used to get the crap bit out of me in Alaska in the summer time…the little buggers used to bite my eyes when I was sleeping!  Do you know how hard it was to roll around as a 4 year old with two swollen eyes?  Let alone being my parents and trying to convince everyone that they were mosquito bites…

Playing with cubs at the Lion Park

Aside from the insect wild life, Africa had a lot to offer.  We visited the Lion Park, which contains plenty more than lions.  We cruised around viewing hyena, jackal, springbok, gemsbok, impala, zebra, giraffe, ostrich, waterbuck, wildebeest, LIONS, WHITE lions, cheetah, African wild dog, meerkat.  THEN we played with lion cubs and fed giraffes.   

 And the Elephant Sanctuary; which had some meerkats running around too.  At the Elephant  Sanctuary, we had the opportunity to touch the elephants, feed them, and walk around with them, holding on to their trunk.

Feeding an elephant at the Elephant Sanctuary

Feeding giraffes at the Lion Park

 We stayed with Sean’s mum Liz for the majority of our trip to Johannesburg, visited a couple of Sean’s aunts, cousins and gran in Haenertsburg, Limpopo (AKA the “Mount”), and had some good parties with Sean’s friends.  He was happy to see all his friends and family (and overjoyed when it came to his boys) since he'd been away for nine months in NZ.  Everyone was very welcoming, and made me feel right at home!

The Mount

What do three girls, with three fishing men, one inflatable lawn pool, and a beautiful day at the dam equal? Three girls using lung power for 20 minutes to blow UP that pool, then float around in it while the boys ignore us... I'm sure it was quite a scene, ladies taking turns (two at a time) to blow up a 2.5 m x 1.5 m pool. Then, pushing it into the dam and flopping in like seals.
 

Ryan, Danny and Sean fly fishing

While Sean, Danny and Ryan were in THEIR float tubes, flippering around after fish...Sarah, Candice and I decided we needed to be in the water too. Armed with only the inflatable pool that Sarah and Ryan planned to take to Zimbabwe with them, we finally got in. As we were quite proud that it floated the three of us, we were screeching and giggling, and very sure the men were flippering quickly away from us. So, Candice and I took turns pushing us as close to them as possible, we figured we were helping scare the fish TOWARDS them...right? We got very little praise for our efforts, and it was getting chilly, so we pushed our pool back to the beach.

 The following day, sadly Sarah and Ryan took off on their holiday, but left the pool. So, the boys brought a foot pump and Candice and I happily floated around for hours. Incurring some minor inappropriate sunburn along the way; and, requiring a rescue from our flippering men due to wind. 

After Stanford, we met their friends Barry and Ryan down at Ebenezer Dam, and their dad took us out on the boat for sundowners and drinks. We topped off the evening with pizzas at the Pot 'n Plow, a local watering hole.

The day before we left, we went on a zip-line canopy tour that was absolutely breathtaking.  It was too bad we didn't have a camera, but I can still remember zipping along and looking down past my feet at the gushing river and waterfalls below!

We took a few days before Christmas to visit Cape Town and the Stellenbosch wine region.  Sean asked me, “What do you want to do while you’re visiting SA?”, of course I said “Wine tasting!”.  Duh!  Both Stellenbosch and Cape Town were absolutely breathtaking, not to mention the amazing wine. 

My section on the trip to Stellenbosch ended up being terribly detailed, so I’ll post it another day.  It’s a meal in itself!

Christmas, though not a big she-bang at home anymore, still was a bit hard without my parents. The last few years it's just been the three of us, but my first year away was harder than I thought.

The next couple weeks before I left went by fast. We visited afore mentioned Elephant Sanctuary, and did some rock climbing out at Hartebeespoort.  We were climbing some routes just above the Harte dam so had a great view from the top. I led my first outdoor climb (2nd, ever), and shortly after we had to escape due to impending baboon attack...
 
Sean's sister Christine, niece Rowan, and aunt Melanie arrived for a visit a few days before I left for New Zealand. They certainly enjoyed a couple weeks away from the Scotland winter! Sean stayed behind for an extra 2.5 weeks for extra family time.
 
I, on the other hand returned to Auckland, and stayed with some of his family while I sorted out my new work visa. Then, I had a nice holiday at Papamoa beach with some friends whom we worked with at Cardrona in the winter.
 
Holiday! Even though the majority of New Zealand had a rubbish summer, it was lovely staying with Rochelle, Lara, Ryan and Tino at their house across the street from the beach. We got a few nice days, which were used for sun bathing, and bike riding. With no car, the house developed a 'bike gang' commonly referred to around Papamoa as the "Killer Wheels".

View from the back side of Mt Maunganui with Lara and Rochelle

One sunny day Juan Pablo Poon showed up, and we had a great day hiking up Mt Maunganui, feasting on Turkish food, frozen treats, sun bathing AND swimming in a fancy pool. We were afraid that the day would be un-toppable, so proceeded to do absolutely nothing the following day.
 
 

I bummed around Papamoa for over a week, but just before I left, Rochelle and I decided we wanted some adventure. We caught a bus down to Whakatane, and attempted to camp. Unfortunately, the only proper campground in Whakatane was $20/person for a tent site. I scoffed and we ended up setting up our tent behind a backpackers for $15/pp a night. 

Rochelle, Benjamin, myself and Marie

 The next day we invited the Frenchies we met at the backpackers to accompany us on our planned hike for the day: a 7 hr circuit from Whakatane, around to Ohope Beach, up through some farmland with a return to Whakatane.  Blessed with another beautiful day, we hiked up the ridge overlooking Whakatane, the harbor mouth, and finally down to the beach for awhile until we reached Ohope. 

We stopped for a seriously cheap and filling lunch then continued on our way. Lunch turned out to be too filling, and I had to concentrate on keeping it where I put it for a few kilometers. 

Lunch in Ohope

We were now hiking in the bush, trying to spot some of the legendary (but nocturnal) Kiwis. An hour or two through the bush, we came by some sheep and then down into farmland. Back up through the bush and then finally the street where we tramped back to the backpackers.

Next stop: Papamoa Beach

We bid farewell to our new French companions Marie and Benjamin, then hitched a ride in the cab of a refrigerated ice and bait truck back to Papamoa. Thankfully, for our bags, the chillers were off...but they did smell slightly fishy after.
 
The next day I took off on the Naked bus back to Bucklands Beach (East Auckland) and awaited Sean's return from South Africa on 29 Jan.