Rotorua!

Spent the Labour Day weekend down in Rotorua (about 4 hours south of Aucks) The area is a majour NZ tourist destination known for it's geothermic activity. There are tons of hot bubbling pools around every corner and in every park, and big, beautiful lakes.

We spent the weekend in a lake house, enjoying the time away from the city. Found a river with some rapids! Here's some photos:

Goodbye City livin'

Well I've moved across the harbour, and now live "on the shore" doesn't it sound lovely. Getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road, and finding my way around over here. Today I found a bed! :) Hopefully I'll have a proper good night sleep tonight.
It's nice having roomies around, and one girl has a mixed up schedule with days off through the middle of the week like me! :) And now that I have a car, getting out on days off and doing some exploring is going to be much easier.

Soccer is over for the season, hopefully beach weather will be just around the corner!

Bluebird Days on the Mountain :)

The last couple of weeks I have finally made use of my season pass to Mt. Rupheau in the middle of the north island. Got some wonderful days in on the spring snow, and a sunburn to boot! *Always worth it though for the smile on my face as I carve down the slopes!* Here's some photos from the trip to the snow!

Spring has sprung!

The days are getting longer! It's almost light now when I go to work :) Yesterday the skies were blue for a change and the flowers are in bloom. We took a walk through Albert Park in the central city. Can't wait until the weather gets a bit warmer! (But first I need to get some more time in on the slopes as the stakes are reading over 4meters of snow at the north island mountain!!)

South Island Snow Adventure

Winter in New Zealand isn't quite has harsh as what I am used to, even all the way down in the heart of the south island the snow doesn't stick or create snowbanks that cars can't see over!

I've just been on a 4 day trip for some mid winter snowboarding, met up with my friend Rob from 5 years ago at summer camp and hit the snow, and the scenery in Wanaka.

Here's a shot as we are flying over the southern alps.

POTHOLE... we can't land as scheduled in Queenstown so we were re routed to Invercargill
View Larger Map and then bussed it north 2.5 hours, where we grabbed a rental and completed the journey through to Wanaka.

Fast forward to the scenic snow shots from Wanaka & Treble Cone.

Incredible views, especially when we hiked it up to the summit on the 3rd day...

Couldn't have asked for better weather during our 3 bluebird days on the snow.

Favorite run was definitely the 1 hour roundabout route after our hike up to 2088m, found some fresh powder stashes way up along the top as we wound around and down past "Far Out".

Can't wait to hit the slopes again, hopefully down to Mt. Raupheau sooner than later before the season is done!

Volcanic Island

Finally had the chance to get over to Rangitoto Island, a dormant volcano in the middle of the harbour. The volcano erupted about 600-700 years ago, and left a beautiful almost symmetrical volcanic cone. No people live on the island, and it has developed it's own ecosystem. The rugged terrain is really interesting and it's incredible that trees have been able to grow in this environment.


My friend Julie and I took a hike up Rangitoto last week, it is about an hour to the top, and the view overlooks Auckland and the around the harbour. In the photo below you can see Auckland's Sky tower, on the peninsula in front is the north shore, towns of Takapuna and Devonport and the hill in the middle is Mt. Victoria (another old volcano).







There are also some pretty cool Lava Caves which we took the opportunity to explore.

Clean Windsheilds!

I drove on the wrong side of the road today! Weirdest experience I've had in a while. Old habits die hard, trying to make a turn, with the windsheild wipers going full steam because the signal lever is on the right instead of the left.... hahaha. Thanks to my soccer teammate Lisha for throwing me into the drivers seat!

You really have to pay attention, and there's a weird depth perception thing about looking to the left and seeing that you still have all that car over there!

New Zealand also has a strange driving rule, about "giving way" to the left, so if you are turning left across the traffic you have the right of way. Luckily I did not encounter this during my driving time today, as I am sure I would have caused a mishap!