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Published: December 16th 2007
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Ok, we’re really bad at giving updates. We realize this. Admitting it is the first step, right? It’s the doing something about it that we struggle with… But we’re trying - again.
It is now mid-December. We’re about to leave Kerikeri to see a few more sights on the North Island before crossing over to the South. We quit our jobs on December 8 and have been enjoying being bums again. It’s been a welcome break (especially for Ryan) from the LONG work days. We’ve spent the last week sorting though our stuff (it’s amazing how much you can accumulate in 5 months when you don’t live in a van) and getting Shifty back into travel shape. The repairs never cease. But that’s part of the fun, right?
Our time in Kerikeri absolutely flew by. While we spent the majority of our time working, we managed to squeeze in quite a few fun things as well… Here are some highlights:
Anniversary Compound - we spent our 8 year anniversary in Whangaroa (about an hour north of Kerikeri) at a wonderful place called “Coastal Chalets.” The view was incredible, the house was fully stocked with nearly everything we could
possibly need, and the 3 hot tubs were amazing. That’s right - 3 hot tubs. We were the only people staying there for the weekend, so we were upgraded (free of charge!) to the nicest and largest of the resort’s chalets. It was like a palace. Since no one else was there, we had free reign over everything, including the other chalets’ hot tubs. It was our own personal anniversary compound. We’ll always love Sparky, but this place took the cake. Very romantic.
Halloween - We did our part to destroy Kiwi culture through Americanization by throwing a Halloween party (on a Saturday! It was our first Saturday off in months…). Nearly everyone rose to the challenge and arrived in full costume. As with any self-respecting Halloween party, there was an abundance of candy, drinking, dancing, sporting events, party crashers, and squash-that-somewhat-resembles-a-pumpkin carving. Ryan even tried to roast the dozen or so seeds. They didn’t turn out well. Morty and Babs had a wonderful time socializing with penguins, princesses, and other obnoxious American tourists while on holiday from Del Boca Vista. Thankfully, they’ve gone home. Just like Gopu, they are never coming back!
Skydiving - You may have
already read about this, but it’s worth mentioning again. Any time you throw yourself out of a plane, it’s noteworthy.
Sailing - After several months of hoping and begging, we finally made it back out on the water. Andrew (who Erin worked with at the printing company), and his partner Melanie took us out on their boat, the Abbagale. Although neither of us had any sailing experience whatsoever, we tacked and jibed and somehow managed not to sink the boat. Erin even steered us back to the dock single-handedly (her other hand was holding her beer). It was a beautiful day and we can’t wait to do it again! Someday we will have our own yacht (Shifty-of-the-Sea?)…
Vacation with the Pennypackers - In late November we recovered from the bird flu (thanks Takako!) just in time to take a week off of work and spend some time with Bruce and Sandy, who were visiting New Zealand. It was a fun and eventful week, chock full of beaches, fish and chips (our traditional Thanksgiving dinner, followed by beer on the beach), tall trees, curry, vomiting (not caused by curry - unfortunately, Sandy got a bit of food poisoning on
the way up from Auckland), hiking, climbing, even more fish and chips, and search and rescue missions. If you actually want to hear the details, send us an e-mail and we’ll fill you in. Let’s just say, for the sake of relative brevity, that after going through their own personal Survivor, Dad and Sandy were saved (and anxious to never set foot on another boat) thanks to a combination of brute girlie-bando strength, iron-willed determination, and a Swiss (millionaire?) guy with no shoes or boating experience. It was a LOT of fun!
That’s about if for Kerikeri… We leave tomorrow (but we’ll be back in May). We’ll have two weeks traveling around the North Island before crossing to the South Island on December 30th. Since we may be incommunicado while traveling, we want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
And to those of you from Kerikeri, we’ll really miss you! And the curry (we’re in the beginning stages of withdrawal - it’s not pretty). We will see you again in May. Until then, enjoy living in paradise!
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