South Pacific Escape

Last week we were off to visit the polynesian island of Rarotonga. In doing so, we dodged a week long wind and rain storm in Auckland - that's right, it apparently lasted the entire time we were away. Rarotonga is the largest of the 15 islands that comprise the Cook Islands. Getting there is a four hour flight from Auckland, and you cross the international date line en route (we left Sunday at 4pm and arrived there on Saturday at 8pm...weird). Well worth the journey though - when we got off the plane and were greeted with warm breezes, an old Maori gentleman strumming his ukelele, and amazing smelling leis placed around our necks.

Though the largest of the Cook Islands, Rarotonga is still quite small - just 32 km in circumference. It has a wonderful, laid-back vibe where everyone adheres to "island time", ie. no one pays much attention to time at all, so the bus that circles the island comes every hour on the hour (give or take 15 min), the chemist opens at 10am (give or take 30 minutes), etc. Makes you totally chill out about keeping a schedule.

Beach, lagoon, island...amazing

Weeeeee!

Our resort was situated on the amazing Muri lagoon. It was very shallow, so no matter what the tide, you could walk from the mainland to two small islands across the lagoon without encountering water higher than 4 feet. This made it great for water sports, snorkelling, and Georgie splashing. As luck would have it, the little lady got sick the day we arrived with a virus (not surprising considering I was invited to a playdate a few days before we left where the mom neglected to tell me until 30 mins after Georgia had licked every virus-ridden toy in her house, that her baby was quite sick with a bad cold...). The first few nights weren't great for her/us, but she had some major naps during the day, and because our room was on the beach, Scott and I could enjoy the beach just outside while she snoozed away in her 'bedroom' (ie. pak n' play strategically placed in the bathroom - the house cleaning staff either thought us crazy or neglectful, perhaps both). We snorkelled, we kayaked, we explored, we read, we drank Pina Coladas and BFKs (a Cook Island special - frangelica, Bailey's and Kahula), and we replenished our Vit D stores. That about sums up what was a great week.

SW tearing it up

From our patio

The good news about being back in NZ...spring has sprung. The sun is back, daylight savings time has kicked in, and the lambs are plentiful. Next week, we're looking forward to Auntie Court and Granna arriving and celebrating a big first birthday.

Almost one

Big Week in NZ

It was an eventful week here. I'm sure most everyone heard about the earthquake that rocked the city of Christchurch on the South Island. Luckily, there were no fatalities (quite surprising since the quake registered 7.1 on the Richter scale and caused an estimated 4+ billion in damage). We didn't feel a thing on the North Island, but Michelle and Chris, though quite a distance from Christchcurch when it happened, were woken from sleep in their hotel room by shaking beds, creaking walls, and doors slamming shut due to the tremors. They were in Christchurch only a couple of days before the big event, so narrowly missed all of the excitement. On the same day as the earthquake, also in the south island, a group of tourists crashed in a small plane during take off for their sky diving adventure and all sadly died. So, for a country that usually doesn't draw much international attention, making 2 headline stories in one day was a big deal, although neither story was one they were happy to tell.

Michelle and Chris on a hot air balloon ride over Christchurch (pre-quake)

Michelle and Chris arrived back in Auckland on Thursday for one night before their journey back to Canada. We had a nice evening celebrating Michelle's birthday and hearing about their amazing South Island travels. On Friday morning, we popped by Mount Eden for them to have one last spectacular view of Auckland before heading to the airport. It was a great visit - we were sad to see them go.

The view from Mt. Eden

On Sunday, Scott, Georgie and I decided to explore the north shore of Auckland. We drove to town of Devonport for brunch and a stroll through some of the lovely shops in the area. The cafe we chose was great, complete with a play area for the kids and a great (big) brekkie. Georgie had her first big girl breakfast out - a massive portion of delicious pancakes and berries. We meandered through some great shops before heading back to the south side of the city for the rest of the afternoon. All in all, a great day.

How's this for a generous kiddie portion?

Georgie devouring some reading material...

And finally, I took the plunge and quit FaceBook this week (this one's for you Scott and Chris). So if you were one of my FB friends prior to my retirement, please send pics and updates to my email account (millerpei@gmail.com) from now on.

MacAulay/Millspoon shot

Welcome Michelle and Chris!

We were really pumped when Michelle and Chris decided to swing by (from Halifax no less) for a visit. They arrived on Aug 27 in time to celebrate Scott's birthday. It has been amazing to have such good friends here to visit, and as an added bonus, it seems they brought some sunny weather with them (thank god).

On Saturday, we crammed into the Subaru and started out for the Coromandel Peninsula. The peninsula juts into the pacific east of Auckland, about a 2 hour drive from the city. The clear day made for some fantastic scenery along the way. We got settled in our great cottage (complete with outdoor hot tub), and set out to explore Coromandel Town. It is an old gold mining town jam packed with heritage buildings, great cafes, and artsy shops. We panned for gold at the Coromandel battery but sadly lefty sans nugget. Scott bailed in the creek so took with him a soaked sneaker and pants. We finished the afternoon with a short hike on the ridge above the town to catch part of the sunset, and then headed home to admire the southern hempisphere consetllations while sipping vino and soaking in the hot tub. Heaven.

The scene from one of several stops we made along the drive

to take in the amazing landscape

The MacAulays with Coromandel Town in the background

We were up bright and early the next morning to start the day. First up, a great brekkie in one of the town's cafes (Chris had already mastered the complex art of ordering a kiwi coffee by this point). We hit the road to drive to the eastern side of the peninusla. We took the road less travelled and made a few stops along the way, one to visit a waterfall and the other to see a group of the massive, towering, solid-as-a-rock, Kauri trees. The definite highlight of the day was hiking to famous Cathedral Cove beach to see the impressive limestone rock arch and natural waterfall shower. Before heading back to Auckland that afternoon, we re-fueled at a great cafe near the hot water beach in the area.

Along the hike to Cathedral Cove

Mich and I with the limestone arch in the background...the pic doesn't do the impressive structure justice.

After a great weekend escape, Michelle and Chris left for their south island adventure and we got back to our usual thing here in Auckland. We're looking forward to having our visitors back for one more night at the end of this week before they head back to Canada.