Auckland Adventure Weekend!

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It was nice to reunite with our Canadian buddies Charlotte and Duane and meet their flatmates. Thursday night was the big Chemical Brothers concert, it was at a stadium built FOR concerts where they sometimes have an ice rink brought in (the opposite of a hockey rink we have concert in back in Canada!). The concert was sold out and vibrating; they put on a great show with a ton of energy and awesome visuals.

We enjoyed a nice weekend with C & D with a game of Tacklebox, our first kiwi cinema experience, the amazing concert, and even some baking. One of their flatmates, Mo, is a chef from Jordan who swapped us an amazing lamb curry meal for a recipe and batch of Kirby's famous chocolate chip cookies. Here, cookies and crackers are referred to as biscuits, and you don't find homemade soft cookies; Mo now wants to make his millions marketing cookies.

Another highlight of the weekend was a priceless three hours spent high in the trees at Tree Adventures in Woodhills. With a harness and a helmet, we took on 7 courses in the treetops - they started about 4 meters above the ground and slowly built up to 10 meters above the ground! Sometimes we were walking a high wire, stepping across swinging logs, swinging tree to tree or taking a zipline ("flying fox") down to the ground. We conquered any fear of heights we had when we first started and couldn't wipe the smiles from our face. Best workout ever!

We popped over for a nice supper at aunt Evelyn and John's place and caught up since our arrival here in December, we shared stories of our travels and work, and they shared some of their sailing tales. Now at the airport we are headed back to Nelson and our South Island adventures... with all of the fun we have been having, it is time to look for jobs again!

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Photos

Flying to Auckland
A country-side view from above

Big & Loud
This is one of the first infamous loud clicking bugs we hear everywhere!

Kitchen Duties
Duane discovers he can play chess just with his voice on our laptop, and Kirby bakes some cookies and cake for Charlotte, Duane, and their flatmates.

Embarking on the Tree Adventure!
Three keen adventurers all harnessed up and ready to ascend high in to the trees.

Getting the Hang of It...
Christina tries to show how safe the harnesses are...

Tarzan Christina
This was one of the scarier ones at first. Lots of fun though!

Christina Clings for Dear Life
On the Tarzan, you swing from one platform into a net where you must unhook your cables and climb to safety.

Christina Reaches Safety!
Thrilled to have made it, she shares a big smile!

Kirby Building Up the Desire
Kirby on the highest platform (10 meters, not feet!), waiting for the wind to be "just right" before taking the longest zip line down.

Kirby & Christina on the Ropes
Murray we forgot the boxing gloves you gave us for our wedding...

Morning Fog
Before flying home to Tui in Nelson, we took this from Charlotte & Duane's back yard.

Comments

[huckleberry grin]

scary!!!!
whoa, those are some high heights!!! And ps- I noticed the glasses... :~

[Clousou]

Taking courage to new heights
Quite right - we always knew there was some minkey in you!! Now you are ready to take on Kato...