USA

We are back in the states after a great trip in Fiji. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, our computer died so I haven't had a way upload our pictures.

Our trip to Fiji was wonderful, we had great weather and it was so relaxing.

I will post more later!

Aramoana

A couple of weekends ago we rented a cabin ( which they call a bach) on the beach for all of our friends to come and stay at for the weekend. It was in the seaside village, Aramoana about 25 minutes away from Dunedin.It was the last weekend where all of our friends would be together and it was perfect to have everyone come out and hang out for the weekend. The house was perfect, it was on a spit with the ocean on one side and the ocean salt flats on the other side. We were actually stuck in the house during high tide. The house had great colors in it, two fire places, three bedrooms, kayaks, a trampoline and a great record player with records. We fell in love with it. The weather wasn't as wonderful out as we hoped it would be, but it didn't matter too much because we still had a great time. It was also guy fawkes day which you can find out about here, so we got fire works and set them off both nights.

Pictures of the house

 

The girls cooking

me, Eve, Kate A., Leona and Kate S.

 Kit and Charlie went kayaking

sunset

The group jump shot

 There was a lot of night beach hanging out, setting of fireworks, talking, drinks and looking at the stars.

We decided to make words with Sparklers to see if we could capture it on camera, which we did and loved.

 Lots of games played: Chess, Uno and Backgammon

 

and of course you can't have a beach side house with out a little swimming.

hang ten

A couple of weeks ago, a group of us went out to surf. Most of us had never been before but we had some good teachers. Thanks Charlie! We rented wet suits and surfboards from the University Recreation Center.  It was a beautiful warm 75 degree day which made getting in the water much more bearable. Us newbies, didn't actually stand up, but Kit got into a crouching position and I got on my knees a couple of times. We had a awesome day and Kit and I can't wait to go surfing again.

Matt trying on his wetsuit.

Eve sure looked the part!

Kit and Burt coming in for a break. It was exhausting!

Kit and I suited up

headed out

I was pretty proud of the fact I actually went surfing.

Typical surfing pictures

rachel, kit, me and charlie

kate, kit, me and charlie

 

and a fun picture of a guy who rides his bike on the beach with his huskies pulling him along. Beach sled dogs.

Anniversarys

Kit and I celebrated our three year wedding anniversary on October 13th. We were planning on renting a cabin or bach for a night, but decided to take a day trip instead. We drove about 30 miles north to a town called Karitane. Karitane is a coastal town with great views and beautiful cliffs. Along the way we also stopped at some of the other beaches we have heard about. The weather was very crazy that day. When we left Dunedin we almost put shorts on, (which in Dunedin means it was probably around 65, which is a warm day), however we decided maybe it was a little chilly for shorts. We grabbed jackets since we didn't know what the weather would be like there or for how long we would stay. We were so happy to have those jackets about 10 miles from Dunedin. A huge cloud bank was hanging over some of the beaches were were visiting and it got cold. By the time we made our way to Karitane, it was still cloudy so we decided to have our picnic in the car. It was a beautiful place, on a cliff over looking the ocean.  The sun came out and we enjoyed exploring the town of Karitane.

We drove back to Dunedin and went out for a nice dinner at a lovely Indian place. We talked about how three years ago we never thought we would be celebrating our anniversary in New Zealand. We also had another anniversary to celebrate which was being here for one year! Amazing One year.  We are so thankful for our adventures here in New Zealand and the friends we have made. We have had an amazing year here and we will be sad to leave. It seems crazy to think in March we will be moving to another country and starting another adventure in England.  New Zealand will always hold a special place in our hearts and we hope that some day we will be able to come back and visit the places we never got too.

Doctor's point

Great cave

 So many daffodils.

Enjoying our picnic lunch. Yummy bread, cheese, avocado, tuna, olives and wine

 Our view from the car

Karitane use to be a whaling village.

baby geese

beautiful beaches

Searching for shells that didn't have a inhabitant in them

there use to be a maori village in Karitane, now it is just a hike with signs to tell there story

Our hike

Kit pondering life

me dancing

I had to put some flowers in my hair

the lovely yellow gorse on our drive home. 

Thank you again New Zealand for showing us new amazing places to explore everyday.