New Zealand: Timaru to Queenstown

On Sunday morning, Sean and I forced ourselves to get up at 7:30 am even though with the time change, that was like getting up at 5:30 am Sydney time.  We took showers, got dressed, repacked our bags, and went to see what progress the kids had made with Sean's parents.  The kids are normally early risers, so we were very surprised to find out they had not even woken up yet!  It was 10:00 by the time everyone was ready and we checked out of the hotel.  We still had to eat breakfast and do some grocery shopping for road trip snacks.  We joked around that it was almost time to find lunch by the time we were ready to get on the road for the day!

Sean and his dad love cars and it is especially fun when they find classic American cars in foreign lands.  This Studebaker Lark VIII was sitting outside the grocery store in Timaru.  The owner had even cut up a couple of California license plates to try to make the car look like it had California plates.  Sean had to get a couple of quick pics of the car when a store worker approached and they started discussing the car.  Apparently the owner of the this car has a few other Studebakers that he drives.  This one is considered his daily driver.

We finally left Timaru and headed south to Queenstown.  There are a couple different options, but we chose the most inland route that would take us through the Southern Alps where there are not just mountains and valleys, but some gorgeous lakes along the way.  The weather was not totally agreeable.  It started out sunny, but as we got closer to Lake Tekapo, it got cloudy, the wind picked up considerably, and it began to spit rain.  Even in these conditions, the southern lakes did not disappoint.  The water was a brilliant aquamarine that Sean's parents compared to the Caribbean Sea.

Lake Tepako

It was so windy that the waves were rolling in as if it was the ocean.

Aubrey snapped a few pictures with her iPod also.

Church of the Good Shepherd on the shores of Lake Tepako

We continued on our journey and drove past Lake Pukaki.  Unfortunately, weather conditions did not improve at all.  We then stopped for a late lunch in a small town called Twizel.  The kids were dying to have a play at the playground, but the weather was still so nasty, we did not let them stay out in the cold, wet, wind very long.

Lake Pukaki

The playground in Twizel

Lake Ruataniwha

Just outside of another small town, Omarama, we stopped at a winery called Ladybird Hill.  Of course, it was located on Pinot Noir Court.  The darn rain would not stop though.  So, the kids lost the opportunity once again to play at a playground.  Sean's mom and I enjoyed the wine though....

After we stopped at the winery and really got into the higher peaks of the Southern Alps, the rain clouds finally lightened up.  The sun began to poke through and we saw patches of blue, sunny sky.  It immediately made everyone feel better.  

We drove through Cromwell, which is supposed to be famous for apples and also has a ton of wineries.  We didn't get a chance to stop by them though since it was after 5:00 pm on a Sunday and none of them were open.  We did stop at a fruit stand and got some wonderful cherries that were in season and being grown all over in the region.

Lake Dunstan outside of Cromwell

A look at the road ahead...

Picturesque vineyards

We finally got into Queenstown around 7:00 pm.  We checked into our hotel, the Crowne Plaza, which was right next to the water of Lake Wakatipu.  It was also located right next to the city center of Queenstown, which is really active with lots of bars and restaurants.  We checked into the hotel and tried to find a place to eat.   It took longer than we thought it would since almost every place was packed full and we were way too hungry to wait for a seat.  We finally ended up at at Lone Star Cafe, a New Zealand chain restaurant.  It is a mix of an English pub and an American bar and grill.   

View from the hotel

View from the other side of the hotel, towards the city of Queenstown

TSS Earnslaw is one of Queenstown's iconic attractions.  It is a vintage steamship in which tourists can cruise around Lake Wakatipu.

It was pretty late by the time we left the restaurant (almost 10:00).  So, we did not spend any more time checking out Queenstown that evening.  We fell into bed that night looking forward to seeing more of this remarkable city in the morning.

New Zealand: Christchurch to Timaru

We chose to tour New Zealand for the last big holiday of our Australian adventure (even though it is not actually in Australia).  We knew we would have a limited time frame, so Sean initially asked me to pick either the North Island or South Island.  I felt the trip would be incomplete to see only one island though; like only hearing one side of a story.    We talked it over, set up a timeline, and decided we would try see as much of both islands of New Zealand as possible in 9 days. 

More than one person said we were a bit crazy to take this on.  After doing it, I now appreciate what these people were saying.  It was a whirlwind trip.  We averaged 4-5 hours of driving a day with only one day off of traveling.  There were many moments when we were stunned by the magnificence of nature's beauty.  There were also some moments that made us marvel at the strength of the destructive forces of nature.    

I'm going to do something a little different when writing about this trip than I have done in the past.  I'm going to make a different post for each day.  We saw so much in such a short period of time and now I want to take the time to sit back and savor it all.  

We were so lucky that Sean's parents flew down to Sydney to join us on this trip.  They arrived in Sydney just a few days prior to the trip.  They make great traveling companions and it always helps to have a couple of extra people to entertain the kids. 

We got up bright and early to make it to the airport to catch our flight to Christchurch on Saturday, January 11.  We found out the international airport is quite a happening place on a Saturday morning during school holidays.    Our plane was delayed, but otherwise, all went well.  Aubrey commented when we got to New Zealand, "That was a short plane ride".  After all these 15 + hour flights, a 3 hour plane ride seems like nothing.    

We picked up our van from a sketchy little place called Go Rentals.  (We had waited a bit too long to make our reservation, and couldn't find a van to accommodate 6 people from all the major rental companies we were familiar with.)  The van did make us a bit nervous when we saw it.  It was covered in dents and dings, the speedometer had over 100,000 miles on it, and the radio had been replaced with some cheap little radio that reminded me of a high schooler's car.  I said a little prayer that it would not leave us stranded in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand.  

The plan was to stay in a hotel a couple of hours south of Christchurch that first night.  We knew we would be seeing Christchurch later in the trip and we wanted to knock a couple of hours off of our driving for Sunday.  So, we immediately started driving south to Timaru.  It was already 6:00 pm at this time, partly due to the 2 hours we lost by changing timezones.  It was kind of a disorientating feeling to be traveling old school without a functioning phone or GPS since we had to get new SIM cards for our iPhones (in order for them to work in New Zealand).  We are happy to report that we were able to read a paper map and roadsigns well enough to find our way to Timaru.  It was after 8:00 pm by the time we got there.  The good news was, the sun did not set in this part of New Zealand until around 10:00 pm because it during in the long days of summer and we were so far south. 

The owner of the our hotel in Timaru informed us at check-in that there was a carnival in town down by the beach at Caroline Bay.  It was still very light out and we were ready to stretch our legs, so we went down to the beach to check it out.  We did not end up going to the carnival since it did not look very big and the beach was much more appealing.  

Caroline Bay

The kids are running on the beach.

It appeared that someone was ready for a bonfire on the beach.

It is so nice when they are getting along and not fighting!!

Gorgeous sunset

While walking in the area, we noticed signs that said there were blue penguins that lived around the beach.  We hung out for a little while to see them.  While we were waiting, we saw one penguin that had not gone out fishing that day and was burrowed down in the rocks.  We tried not to disturb him/her and just took a quick photo.  The photo is not the best quality since it was getting dark and we didn't use our flash in order to not harm the penguin's eyes.  

The penguin is hidden in the rocks.

We waited around until 10:00 pm and it was still not yet dark enough for the penguins to come into land for the night.  We had already seen a huge penguin parade on Phillip Island just a couple of months prior and it was getting really chilly outside with a strong wind coming off the ocean.  So, we opted to go back to the hotel and rest up instead.

Sean's parents took the kids to spend the night in their hotel room that night.  It was an awesome surprise for me.  With all of our travels, I am used to coming back to the hotel at night and working through my exhaustion to get everyone ready for bed.  I breathed a huge sigh of relief when Sean's parents disappeared with the kids and their bags.  It was such a luxury to be unexpectedly relieved of the nighttime duties.  Plus, the kids were excited to spend time with their grandparents.  What a great beginning to our trip. 

Unexpected trip

One concern when you live 9,000 miles away from your family is what you will do if you get "the call" and you need to get back ASAP.  On December 20th, I got that call.  I had a little warning that it may be coming, but it was still very unsettling all the same.  I was with the kids at a local mall when the call came.  We were in a busy place, my mind was racing, I was on the verge of tears, and my children were behaving like monkeys because the only words they really heard were "we are going back to the States for Christmas".

I was very thankful that my husband booked us on a flight out of Sydney the very next day.  I was especially thankful because he did this with a lot of faith.  He knew that his contract with Cerner stated that they would cover a plane trip home in the case of emergency, but he did not have the confirmation of this when he booked the flight.  Also, it was a very, very pricey flight as it was on the last Saturday before Christmas.  But, he did it because he knew it just needed to happen.  (I am also thankful that Cerner did as they promised, and reimbursed us for these crazy expensive tickets.)

Friday evening was spent furiously packing and preparing for our trans-Pacific trip that I usually spend at least a week or two mentally preparing for.  We also were taking the opportunity to bring some items to stay back in the States in preparation for our move home in a month.  We were able to take our entire winter wardrobes home since we wouldn't need them in Australia anymore.

We were all set and we headed to the airport on Saturday morning.  Usually, when we go to the airport with all 8 of our checked bags, as well as carry-ons, we book a van in advance to take us.  There would have been an extra fee if we would have done that this time as it was such short notice.  We decided to take our chance and try to grab 2 wagon taxis down to the airport this time.  This really isn't such a huge chance as we live directly across from a taxi stand, but it was a little less convenient than knowing your van will just be sitting outside waiting for you.

It was all going fine, we got our 2 taxis, we got the airport, and then we went to check our bags.  We told the lady at the counter that we had 8 bags to check.  We load all of our bags one by one onto the scale, they get their sticker to say where they are going, and then they go down the conveyor belt until out of sight.  Once we finish our bags, the lady looks up and says "that was only 7".  Sean and I looked at each other and thought "Crap!".  Did we really only have 7?  Did we leave one in a taxi?  Did we leave one at the apartment?  The bags were already out of sight though, so there was nothing we could do.  It left us with a very bad feeling for a few minutes.  Luckily, between the two of us, we were able to talk it out and realized that we were probably counting our largest carry-on as a checked bag when we were at the apartment.  There was no way to be 100% sure until we were reunited with our luggage in Dallas.  (Another thing to be thankful about, we had just miscounted.  We learned our lesson to be more careful when counting our luggage in the future!)

We had no other big bumps along the way on the flight.  Even with the luggage mishap, there is always a sense of relief once the checked bags are gone and we make it through security.  At that point, you have endless hours of waiting, figuring out how to entertain yourself, and keep everyone moderately happy.  With today's modern technology, we really don't have too much to complain about.  Well, except the legroom (or lack of) in economy seating, but that is really it.

As we were getting off the flight in Dallas, we did all the normal stuff we usually do.  We had to take possession of our bags, see that we had all the bags we thought we should have, and re-check them.  It did not occur to us to check our flight to KC before we re-checked our bags.  We knew there was going to be a winter storm hitting KC, but we just didn't think about it too much.   We are not exactly thinking clearly when we stumble off that long flight.  Wouldn't you know, after we had already re-checked our bags, we saw that our flight to KC had been cancelled.  Sean went up to the counter and found out that we could not get on another flight to KC until the NEXT afternoon.  The guy at the counter even got upset with Sean for re-checking his bags already.  Ugh. What a mess.  We didn't even have winter coats; they were in the checked bags.  

Sean, who is never patient to wait for any sort of public transportation when he knows he can drive to his destination, decided he wanted to rent a car and drive up to Kansas City.  I decided to go along with the plan since we would have to rent a car to get around Dallas for the night anyway.  Plus, we were not even guaranteed seats on the flight the next afternoon, so driving the 8 hours to KC seemed to be a better idea.  

Even with all the hassle, it felt good to be back in the States when we rolled out of the airport in our rental SUV.  We stopped by an Old Navy to get some cheap winter gear, grabbed a bite to eat at Whataburger, and headed north.  We knew we were very tired and we were headed into bad weather, so we didn't push it too far that night.  We collapsed in a Springhill Suites in Ardmore, Oklahoma.  It was such a comforting feeling to go into a nice, clean hotel room for under $100 a night.  And, breakfast was included!!  These are the little things we miss.  You will never see a family as excited we were to go down to the continental breakfast the next morning.  It wasn't even a very good one, but we didn't care.  All we really needed was the cook-it-yourself Belgian waffles!  Yum!

Driving up to KC that day was kind of a slow process.  There was a fair amount of snow and ice on the ground.  We finally made it back by early evening.  We found out our luggage made it back before we did.  Sean ran up to the airport that evening and retrieved it.  We were happy to have finally made it back home.  Of course, the kids were still on a high that they were in KC for Christmas and there was even snow on the ground!  They could not be any more thrilled.  The cold does not bother them.  I, on the other hand, could not breathe for a few moments the first time the arctic air hit me in the face.  Australia's moderate temps have definitely spoiled me!

Carter on the ride from Dallas to Kansas City

Aubrey was having fun playing peek-a-boo with her new stocking cap.

We spent 10 days at home.  It felt more like 2 days.  It was a blur.  We really focused on our family time and not much else.  It was good that Sean spent some time preparing the house for the kids and I to move back in January.  For example, we had forgotten that the kids had broken the shower head in their bathroom the day before we went back to Sydney in July.  We came back in December to find the shower head just laying in the bathtub.  So, that became one of Sean's projects.  

Celebrating Christmas with our family with snow outside was very special.  There is no way we can replicate that in Australia.  Even though we were in our KC house for Christmas, it was still not quite like other Christmases.  We were not going to put up our Christmas tree since we did not spend a lot of time at our house and then we would just have to take it back down again.  We did our best to uphold our Christmas traditions....

This is what we left for Santa.  We had no milk or Christmas cookies.  The kids thought that Santa was getting quite a treat with the Cherry Coke Zero.  On Christmas morning, Aubrey noticed that Santa drank the Coke before she noticed her brand new bike sitting in the middle of the living room!

By the end of this trip, I was having a little anxiety about getting back on that plane to Australia.  I had never done that long plane ride twice (and soon to be three times) in such a short time-period.  There was a lot weighing on my mind also.  As we have learned over the past couple of years, we just pick ourselves back up, keep moving, and it generally works out alright.  

We actually flew back to Australia on December 31st.  We never had a January 1st as that was the day we skipped when we crossed back over the international date line.  It was January 2nd when we landed in Australia.  I was a little disappointed that the Qantas flight crew did not take a moment to wish us a Happy New Year at some point of the journey.  They could have made up some "midnight" during the trip to commemorate the moment.  Oh well.  I did happen to look at my watch at what would have been midnight Central Standard Time, caught Sean's attention, and we shared a New Year kiss over the seats of our 2 children.  You know, we had to do all that sappy New Year stuff.  It is good to appreciate how far you have come.  Celebrate the good things.  Take note the bad things so that you can gain a little wisdom.  And, most importantly, look forward to all the awesomeness yet to come.  

Carter and I on the plane before we took off again for Australia on New Years Eve

December excitement

This is now our second December in Australia and it confirms our initial impression that celebrating the Christmas season in summer feels completely unnatural.  It isn't just because it is warm outside.  It is because summer events and winter events (at least to us North Hemisphere natives) start getting all jumbled up together.  When this happens, your entire sense of reality feels a little jilted.  I will give some examples.  The end of the school year activities include handing out Christmas cards and making gingerbread houses.  You can't go out to look at Christmas lights until after 8:30 at night because it doesn't get dark until then.  There is no sense of feeling warm and cozy snuggled up under a blanket watching a holiday movie.  Instead, you are sitting around in shorts with the air conditioner on.  The list could go on and on.  As with so many other experiences we have had in Australia, things are familiar, but different at the same time.  

We did try to keep as many of our Christmas traditions as possible.  We decorated the Christmas tree the Friday after Thanksgiving.  It really helped that it was a gray, cold, rainy day.  It is not often that we wish for a day like that, but it seemed very fitting for this indoor activity. Granted, a cold day in Sydney at this time of year is around 66 degrees Fahrenheit (19 degrees Celsius).  (I take no offense to people that live the Midwest laughing a little at that.)

Decorating the Christmas tree was actually a pleasant activity this year.  The kids are reaching the age now that they are truly helpful.  They didn't even fight!  I knew we would make it to this point someday!  Maybe I will get a couple of good years out of them before they become old enough that they lose all interest in helping me.  Next year will be the big test though.  We will go back to using our Hallmark keepsake ornaments that require a lot of patience and care.

On December 1st we visited Santa at Warringah Mall.  We purposely got this out of the way early.  Waiting in line to see Santa can be pure torture.  This way, we got in and out with no hassle.  Carter, unfortunately, now knows that Santa does not provide the material gifts on Christmas morning.  He did a fantastic job of keeping the fun alive for his sister though.  He was even a good sport about taking a photo with Santa.  That was great because he is crucial to getting Aubrey to be anywhere close enough to Santa to take a photo.  Aubrey will reluctantly get in the photo, but Carter has to be a buffer between her and the bearded man in the red suit.  

The kids telling Santa what they want for Christmas.  Aubrey just kept playing with her shoe the entire time and wouldn't actually look at Santa.

The real beginning of our "Australian lasts" began in December.  Carter had his last soccer game on December 9th.  He has been playing soccer with this group of boys for over a year.  He won't quite get to finish the summer season with them this year since there are 3 more games in February after we leave for the States.  We haven't won many games, but the boys got along great and had a lot of heart.  Carter has loved playing the game and a big part of that was due to being on a team that fit his personality.  As much as we sometimes dreaded those early Saturday morning games and being exposed to the elements on top the hill at Georges Heights (it has to be one of the coldest spots on the Lower North Shore), soccer was a really positive experience for Carter. 

Most of the team on the day of Carter's last game

Later that week, on Wednesday, Carter had a little going away party at school.  He was one of three children leaving his class, so it was a joint party.  One of the traditions of Middle Harbour Public School is to have all the kids in his class sign one of his school uniform shirts with a Sharpie marker.  I loved the idea as soon as I learned about it, but it brought tears to my eyes to see the shirt after it was all signed.  The kids wrote such beautiful messages.  This shirt will remain precious to Carter for a long time to come.

Friday, December 13th was a big day as well.  It was Presentation Day at the school.  It was the day that awards were presented to the children and when the Kindy kids received their graduation certificate.  It made my heart swell to see my big girl walk across the stage that day.  She was a little young at the beginning as she started school the week before she turned five.  She has done fabulous and she has grown up so much in the past year.  I am so proud of her.

Aubrey walking across the stage for her Kindy diploma

On Saturday, the 14th, we decided to grant a wish to the kids that they had been begging for for a long time.  We went to Luna Park, an amusement park in North Sydney.  It is located right on the harbour and has a boardwalk feel, like Coney Island.  We had been avoiding it for awhile because Sean and I had not been looking forward to riding those rides ourselves and the kids were not old enough to ride them alone.  We are so glad we had waited because we found out upon arrival that Carter IS now tall enough to ride them without an adult.  So, that took a little pressure off of us.  We had a great day.  The weather was a little cloudy, but it never rained.  It was the perfect weather to keep the crowds away and at the same time relieve us from the heat of the intense Australian sun.  The entire family had a fabulous day.  Of course, the kids never wanted the day to end.

Carter and Aubrey down at Milsons Point by Luna Park

At the Luna Park gate

The good old merry-go-round

Even Dad got in on the action!

Ferris Wheel!

The kids loved the ferris wheel.  Sean does not do very well with heights, so he was pretty edgy on it.  The kids kept trying to come over to our side of the basket, making it tip.  I had to giggle a little bit when Sean was freaking out about it.

Aubrey was very proud of her pink truck.

How picturesque is this?!?

The "lasts" really starting piling up around this time.  I was having last coffees and bush walks with friends.  Aubrey's last karate lesson was Dec 11th.  Then, a really big one happened.  The last day of school, and the kids' last swimming lesson, was on Dec 18th.  What a day that was...... 

As this was our last day we had a free babysitter (i.e. school).  Sean took the day off of work and we went to Chatswood to do a little Christmas shopping.  We actually finished up pretty quickly.  To celebrate, we had a leisurely lunch at Manly Beach at The Fish Shack.  Sean then dropped me off in the afternoon to spend a little time with the Kindy class while they had a little celebration at a local park.  Saying goodbye to Middle Harbour Public School was really tough.  All the kids in the school join hands to make a huge tunnel that runs over the entire yard.  All the kids that will not be coming back the following year get to go through this tunnel.  Carter and Aubrey had so much fun running through it.  Then, we had to say goodbyes to countless friends.  It took so long that we were late to the kids'  last swimming lesson.  Of course, that consisted of even more goodbyes.  When I got home that night, I just sat in a stupor for a little while.  I could not have prepared for how taxing all those goodbyes were going to be on me.  When we go through our daily activities it is easy to forget about what an amazing life we have created here over the past 2 years.    

Carter and Aubrey at a local cafe after their second to last day of school.

Aubrey in the morning on the last day

Carter on the last day

Aubrey in the middle of the chaos at the end of the last day of school

Carter helping to make the end of the tunnel after he had already went through it himself

The keepsake photo Carter got from his teacher.  It was taken on the Pyrmont Bridge in Darling Harbour on a class field trip.  All the kids in the class signed the border.

Sean walked around the school in the morning of the last day and took photos of the school yard.  We have spent so many hours there over the past 2 years.  It will always be a special place to us.

The view from Aubrey's Kindy classroom

The view from Aubrey's classroom towards the middle of the school yard.  

Aubrey's Kindy classroom building

The canteen

The athletic field and playground

We had a relaxing first day of summer holidays.  We needed a chance to chill out after such a big day.  We met a friend for lunch and had a play at McDonalds and then spend the afternoon making gingerbread houses.

Thank goodness we took that relaxing day because little did we know that our Christmas plans were getting ready to take a drastic change.  We would soon be furiously packing our bags for an unexpected trip back to the United States....

Thanks

Thanksgiving was on November 28th this year.  For the second year in a row, Thanksgiving has proven to be one of the hardest days for me to be while living outside of the United States.  I suppose it is because it is a normal Thursday in Australia and it all just feels wrong.  I know I have nothing to complain about. It was a gorgeous day in Sydney.  To make it even better, Sean left work for a long lunch and met me in Manly where we ate at Mex & Co.  It was the best Mexican food we have had since being in Australia.  If it had been any other Thursday, I would have considered it a fantastic day.  But, it wasn't any other Thursday.  It was Thanksgiving.  And Mexican food is nothing like eating turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc., etc. at a table surrounded by my family.  So, like last year, I fell into a little funk.  

This funk was not easily shaken off.  It continued into the weekend.  Sean and I were both feeling it on Saturday; we were bickering all day.  In the course of the day, I said a little prayer to ask God to help me improve my mood because I knew I was needing some outside help.  It got to dinnertime and we decided to treat ourselves to a Teppanyaki restaurant (a Japanese Steakhouse in the States).  We didn't have reservations, but we thought if we got there early enough, we could get a seat.  So, we went to a local Teppanyaki restaurant around 5:00 pm.  Unfortunately, they were all booked up for over 2 hours.  We had a good parking spot, so we began walking around on a nearby street that has a lot of restaurant options.  

On a whim, we decided to go to an American restaurant, Blue Plate Bar and Grill.  We had only been to it once and it had been over a year ago.  We had thought it was okay the last time we were there, but we did not think it was anything special.  When we walked in this evening, we discovered that it was not the normal menu, but a set menu.  All the restaurant was serving for the night was a Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings.  It was a little pricey, but we quickly agreed.  It was the best comfort food EVER.  It was served family style and we all ate our fill.  It was some of the best turkey, glazed ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie we had ever tasted.  

The music selections for the night enhanced the entire experience.  It is hard to describe the type of music, but it was a mix of songs that all immediately made you think of America (i.e. The Eagles, the Beach Boys, George Thorogood, Elvis Presley).  I even teared up when they played "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver.  I grew up listening to John Denver and that song has never had more meaning to me than it does now.   

Overall, it was a soul restoring meal.  We all felt awesome when we left Blue Plate that night.  The family walked past the Teppanyaki restaurant on the way back to the car.  We had never been so happy to have our plans go awry.  Every failed decision we made that day had led us to being at the right place at the right time that evening.  It was too perfect to merely be a coincidence.  

I am thankful for many things in my life.  Our family has been blessed beyond belief.  Yet, on that evening I was most thankful for receiving such a strong sign of God's love.  Thanks, Big Guy.

I cannot even tell you how excited we were looking at this menu.

Our food came out and we were soooo happy!