Happy Easter from New Zealand!

We explored the Botanic Gardens last week with our friends visiting from Vancouver. This weekend is Easter and both Friday and Monday are public holidays. It makes for a lot of traffic on the roads and we haven't decided yet whether we will head off hiking and camping, or if we will stick around home and go hiking next week.

Humphrey

Most people probably don't know that I once played piano. I took lessons from the age of 6 or 7 and played until I got sick with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome at the age of 12. I was too weak to hold my hands up to the keys, and when I was finally well again at the age of 16, my priorities were school and friends. But, for many years now I have wanted to learn to play again. So, I scoured the TradeMe site for used pianos, and gathered all my birthday money, and bought this lovely Humphrey.

I bought it from a young Mum who had used it for exactly what I am doing. Since having a couple kids, she had not had as much time to play, and they are shifting houses and won't have room for it. I got it tuned today and the piano tuner told me it was likely about 100 years old. A previous tuner wrote on the inside "tuned to concert pitch, 1941", but today I was told it will never get to concert pitch again. I assured the tuner that I wouldn't get to concert level and so Humphrey and I are a good match.

Abel Tasman Coastal Track

Last weekend we flew to Nelson and met up with A and M - good friends from our time in Montreal who have come to NZ for a few weeks. Steve and I flew with SoundsAir - a little charter company that only flies between Wellington and the Nelson-Marlborough region. I had never flown in a little plane before, and loved sitting in the seats just behind the pilot, watching all the dials and controls and scenery below.

The Marlborough Sounds sit at the top of the South Island and we passed over them about halfway through the 35 minute flight.
Once we met up, we grabbed some lunch at the Nelson market, got some groceries for the next few days, and took a shuttle to the Abel Tasman National Park. It is one of the most popular parks in NZ and the Coastal Track is a 3-5 day hike through the park. Each day we hiked for 2-5 hours and each night we set up our tents alongside golden sandy beaches and listened to the waves.
The trail is relatively gentle with the occasional climb over a ridge, and has a wonderful variety of lush forests, long sandy beaches, and vast estuaries.

We swam in the clear ocean waters, collected shells and explored sea life on shoreline rocks.

On our second-last day, just as we were at the peak of feeling our sore muscles and craving food other than pasta and trailmix, we saw signs for "Awaroa Cafe and Lodge". We couldn't resist the temptation of a cold drink and fresh bread, so we took the path to the cafe and found a little oasis of civilisation in the middle of the park.

Our last night was spent at Mutton Cove - a beautiful bay with a long beach, and clear waters. We explored the beach and nearby rocks, and steamed fresh mussels for dessert.

We shuttled back to Nelson on the 17th and enjoyed a meal surrounded by St. Patty's Day festivities. That evening, Steve and I flew back to Wellington and our friends continued on to explore the rest of the South Island.

Fabulous February

My mom and sister arrived on a beautiful sunny Wellington day, and today, three weeks later, they had another beautiful day for traveling back to Canada. The day after they arrived, however, they got to see a true Southerly sweep in with cold temperatures and gusty wind and rain. I think they will believe me now when I say how cold it can be here, even in the summer months. After a few days of exploring around Wellington, the three of us took off for a week of driving around the middle/bottom of the North Island. We drove up to the Art Deco-filled city of Napier first, and took many breaks in the shade of beautiful big trees.

Then we drove to Taupo, where we stayed two nights. We explored the geothermal hotspots, hiked to a waterfall, swam and read by Lake Taupo, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

After Taupo, we visited Lake Rotopounamu (Roto = Lake, pounamu = green stone or jade) and also made a quick visit to the top of Mt Ruapehu. It is one of the active volcanoes in NZ, and in the winter months it is the North Island's busiest ski hill. The next day we took the "Forgotten Highway" - a beautiful drive on winding roads through green hills and farmland. We continued along the "Surf Highway" where Mt Taranaki (site of my disastrous boot explosion last year) sits on one side of the road and the ocean sits on the other. We stopped at various beaches to explore and snap pictures.
After our North Island trip, Mom and K spent a week on the South Island. They explored some of our favourite places, and found some neat spots that we have yet to visit. They came back in time for my birthday, which made it perhaps my most memorable birthday ever. I got to spend the day with my loved ones, who know me so well, and that is something I don't take for granted anymore!

Summertime at Mt. John

Hello all. Steve here once again to report on my recent trip south to Lake Tekapo. One of my advisors (who works in Australia) was visiting NZ and also had some telescope time at the Mt. John Observatory. I went along so that we could discuss my project and also use the spectrograph attached to the 1 metre telescope.

Unfortunately the weather all week was terrible for astronomy - it was cloudy every night we were there. A couple of the afternoons were clear though, so my advisor decided to observe during the daytime. Using the telescope, the star we were after was bright enough to see against the bright blue sky (see the action shot above).

This is a view of Lake Tekapo from a hiking trail that goes around the summit of Mt. John. The tall purple flowers in the foreground were all over the mountain.

At sunset one night we were treated to this rainbow against the mountains in the background.

And on my final morning there, cloud from the Canterbury plain to the east started flowing through a notch in the mountains. It was amazing to watch - like a slow motion waterfall.

Pohutakawa season!

This is the season for the deep red blossoms on the Pohutakawa trees to bloom, and they are just as beautiful as ever. They line the streets and are perched on hillsides; some are small like bushes and other have grown into huge billowing trees. Here are a few shots of the ones around our yard...

A Karaka tree and its poisonous fruit, which eventually turn bright orange/yellow. The fruit used to be eaten, but then they discovered that the seeds are poisonous.

Another bit of colour in our yard...

Steve is at Lake Tekapo for the week, doing some work with the observatory down there at Mt. John. He's taken the camera with him, so hopefully he will post some of the pictures when he returns.

Home Sweet Home (Canada, that is)

We are back in NZ after a wonderful month of visiting with family and friends, eating the most delicious meals, and enjoying the wintery weather of Canada. Our flights home felt incredibly long due to several lengthy layovers, and we were very happy to finally arrive in Vancouver. We were there for two days - just long enough to enjoy the familiarity of home, get a Christmas tree, and visit with my grandparents. Then we were off again to Ontario.

We had several delicious holiday dinners, and were happy we could be part of the annual "turkey picture" with Grammy Inez and the cousins.

We also spent a few days in Ottawa with our friends, who had graciously let us store all our belongings in their basement for the last year. We rented a truck and moved everything to Listowel, where the Gibsons are graciously letting us store everything in their basement for the next few years!

The rest of our time in Ontario was calmer. We spent a few days sorting and "shopping" through all our belongings, having fun seeing all the long-forgotten things we had packed away, and deciding what to bring back to NZ with us.

I also got to spend nearly five days with a dear friend and her family, and Steve got to visit more with his family and friends around Listowel.

We flew back to British Columbia for Christmas, where my family got to enjoy the first Christmas together in four years, and Steve got to experience his first Hoffmann Christmas!

It was crisp and cold, but sunny and beautiful weather for most of our time in BC. For many years, my family would do a day trip over the Christmas holidays to Galiano Island, one of the Gulf Islands off the coast of Vancouver. So, re-living our old tradition, we went again this year. We walked onto the ferry and hiked to Bluff Park for a picnic lunch overlooking a stunning view of the Gulf Islands. A bald eagle sat at the top of this tree the whole time we were there.

We were fortunate to have Steve's aunt join us (she lives just across the border in Washington state), and we all had fun exploring the forests, mosses, rocks, and beaches.

After Christmas, a few of us drove to Manning Park for a day of cross-country skiing. Steve and I used to go weekly during our winters in Ottawa, so we loved this chance to be in the snow again.

Our flight back to NZ was fine - the only real frustration was in Vancouver. Our flight went via San Francisco, so the recently added security measures for US-bound flights resulted in very long waits, delays, and last-minute baggage adjustments. At one point, after sitting on the plane for nearly an hour in the Vancouver terminal, waiting to leave, Steve looked at me and said "Where are we right now?" Thankfully, it went smoother from then on, and we were even allowed to keep all our containers of yummy Maple Syrup.

Now we are back in windy Wellington, where it hasn't quite warmed up to feel like summer yet, but the days are long and flowers are in bloom. As always, it was sad saying goodbye to our families, but we have much to look forward to this year, and we hope to make the most of our time here. We are so thankful that we were able to home for the past month, to enjoy a "real" winter - where it's cold outside and cozy warm inside - and most of all, for the chance to see our families.