"Jumping" Back into it!

Hey Folks!

We are back after a long break from blogging. Well...where to start. Since we last left you a lot has happened. Sarah changed her look (notice the piercing in her nose)! I jumped out of a plane from 12, 000 ft over some of the most beautiful scenery in the world (Over Isengard for you LOTR fans) and we left the lush green country of New Zealand for the Hot Continent of Australia.

I would have to say jumping out of a plane is one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life. I can't describe how amazing it felt, I was ear to ear grinning and was on a high for about 3 days after. All I can say is: DO IT! Sar and I were also blessed with beautiful weather when we got back to Queenstown, and it is very clear why this is so many travellers favorite city in New Zealand. One of the mountain ranges that surrounds the city is called the Remarkables, and for good reason, they are stunning! It was extremely hard to leave Queenstown when the time came.

We continued our journey up the east coast of the South Island through Christchurch en route to Kaikora. Kaikora was up there for Sar and I as our favorite destination. The sun was shinning, the water was a magnificent blue and there was still snow on the tops of the mountains. From the water we heard numerous times that it is supposed to be the best view in the world. Very hard to beat with the ocean and mountains so close to each other. All along the coast of Kaikora is an extremely deep gorge, which drops off very close to shore. This makes ideal conditions for all sorts of sea life: whales, seals, sharks, fish and of course dolphins! Now, the dolphin pods here are know to get up in the hundreds. The type of dolphin found around Kaikora are the extremely acrobatic and playful Dusky Dolphins.

If you've been looking at the pictures then you probably already know that we went swimming with them. Again, we really lucked out, the water was calm, the sun was shinning and the dolphins were playful, despite loosing a few friends a few days before to become Killer Whale food. It was amazing! The more you interacted with the dolphins the more they played with you. It was hilarious because they also react to the noise you make so everyone in the water was doing their best dolphin calls. It was such an amazing experience.

While Sar went on one of the nicest hikes she did all trip (Dang), I went fishing. We caught a ton of sea perch and I caught only one of two blue cod caught that day! We also pulled up some cray pots to catch some NZ rock lobster...I wasn't so lucky with this. I pulled up the first one, and inside was a giant Conger Eel which had a delicious lunch of crayfish...I helped with the second one and this time a giant octopus was on the cage, he too had a nice lunch. So, with one cray pot left we left it in the hands of these two japanese girls (girls are always better fisher"men"), and JACKPOT! There were about 25 rock lobsters in this one! And we finally got our tasty lunch! We cooked up a monster feast of lobster and fish that night with a couple of other buddies who went fishing...3 monster lobsters and about 8 pounds of fish between 5 of us!

Unfortunately we had to leave the South Island to make sure we had enough time for the far north. We were supposed to do the Tongarriro Crossing on the way up but due to a forgetful driver (he left Taupo without us in the morning) we missed it...I havn't been that mad in a very long time. As a consilation, Sar and I went to a hot river to try and cool off...it kinda helped except for the fact it was the nicest weather of the whole trip!

At least we had tons of time to do the Bay of Islands up north. We stayed in Paihia for about 5 days...the first 3 all being rainy and miserable...dang. By chance these two girls in our hostel asked if we wanted to tramp out to Cape Brett. We caught a 45 min water taxi to a bay about a 2.5 hr hike away from the hut on the point of the Cape. It was pouring rain the whole time and we were essentially hiking in clouds. We had to jump over streams that had turned into small rivers, hike on narrow trails with sheer cliffs on either side with VERY strong gusts of wind and up and down massive ridges...WOW...It was by far the hardest (and scariest) hike we have done. But it was all worth it. When we got to the hut it was really cool. It used to be lived in by the assistant lighthouse keeper. The sun came out that evening and I made some hooks and a makeshift reel and tried some fishing...the only thing I caught was a huge wave in my shoes! The next day was so much nicer, we could actually see the Bay of Islands in all its glory! It was amazing that we couldn't see all of the islands the day before because of the rain and fog. That hike was REALLY hard!

Kiwis have to be some of the most friendly people in the world. We finished our hike about 2.5 hrs before our shuttle was supposed to pick us up. We went looking for something that might have a phone, instead we got picked up by a school bus and used the drivers cell phone as he drove us halfway there, and then a couple of guys picked us up off the side of the road and insisted on giving us a ride into town (we weren't even hitchhiking!). Amazing!

After the hard days of hiking we took the easy route up to Cape Reinga, the northern tip of NZ where the Tasman and Pacific oceans meet. We took this cool, jacked up 4X4 dune rider. Cape Reinga is believed to be where the Moari people depart the land of the living through the roots of a Kauri tree located on the last peice of land. It is a very spiritual place for them. The tree itself is cool because it is the only tree growing on that part of land. The day also included some sand boarding and a drive down 90 mile beach (which is more like 90km beach!).

Our last day in New Zealand was spent on Waiheke Island just off of Auckland. It is well know for its Wineries and beaches. We did a tasting at probably one of the most scenic wineries around, Cable Bay. It was just beautiful and the wine was tasty.

Now we are in Perth desperately looking for a place to live. We are fortunate that some friends are letting us crash until we find a spot. Sar started work yesterday and really likes the clinic and the area she is working at. I am just on house hunting detail. No fun for us until we have a roof over our heads! That's it for now. We will try to be a bit better at blogging!

Miss you all,
SarahandRoo

P.S. Mom they call trucks and stuff a Ute, so your name is all over the billboards...you're famous!