New Zealand Day 2

I'm a morning person so I was up and at 'em at 6am the next morning. I had a drive before me! I was to go from just about the tip of the north island to the Bay of Plenty all in a day. I packed up and I was off.


There was a town on the way back down south called Waitangi that sparked my interest. I saw this trail and didn't know how far it was until I saw a sign that said 1km you have 4 more to go. Ohh about that...I was in flip flops and knew that wouldn't work for a 6 mile hike. So I turned back around. (I hate not finishing what I've started but knew I had a long drive ahead of me and that it wasn't do-able.) I really wanted to see the falls. Bummer!




Waitangi is listed on the map of the location of the Maori Treaty House. Once a year they come to this location to celebrate the treaty that was signed by the Maori people and the British. See the red arch there? You are to wait underneath it until someone comes to get you since the Maori's consider it sacred grounds. (I learned this from an old wise Maori man later this evening) Well, not knowing, I just shimmied right on in and was taking pictures, just loved all the carvings. I hope I'm not cursed for life!






While I was heading back to my car I noticed a clinking sound on the beach. There were so many shells that when the waves rolled in it made the shells hit each other. I picked up a shell to keep and remind me of how peaceful it sounded there.

Driving through the town on my way out I saw this church, it caught my eye. A plaque outside said 12 Maori Chiefs came to this church to meet with the British religious leaders to ask for protection.



On the way to the Bay of Plenty I stopped by Whangheri, it reminded me a lot of Monterey, CA. (It's actually pronounced Fangaray. In the Maori alphabet they don't have the letter h so they pronounce wh as an f. Just a little fact) Charming town with the boats parked along the wharf. (Do boats park?)

It rained only a couple of spots during the day. Not to fear, only a few times I put on my blinker instead of my wiper blades, and vice versa. (They're on the opposite side)
Since I was only half full of gas I thought I should fill up. Once again I found myself at BP. There, at the Wild Bean Cafe, they had something called Crispies. It was a deep fried hash brown, like from McDonald's, with potato, bacon and cheese. So good! The man behind the counter asked where I got my silly little accent from...America, I told him. Can you believe it...we all talk like this. He got a kick out of that.

New Zealand has an abundant of Sliver Ferns there. It's like California and our palm trees. Well NZ has these ferns that are everywhere. Majority in the Northland but still everywhere. They're so green. I took an opportunity when I had one to pull off and take a picture.


There's a picture that I wish I would have taken but never had the chance to. The road construction workers there wear tanks and short shorts. I saw one and did a double take then as I kept driving I saw more. Safety isn't first there, staying cool is.


I drove back through Auckland and had to used the restroom. I went into a Warehouse store, like our Target. I asked a employee where their bathroom was. She said out in the car park, you had to have walked right by it. I pointed to outside and she giggled and yes, it's outside.





This bathroom is like a vault. Sturdy as all get out. You push a button once you enter and it seals you in. Never seen anything like it before. Very clean too. People were staring at me taking a photo of the toilets but come on...I'm foreign!
As I was getting back on the freeway, "Lee" my GPS voice with an Australian accent, told me to make a right and another right. I looked at how I was going to get back on the freeway. Oh, no problem. I've got the whole driving on the opposite side of the road..we got the green light and sure enough I turned down the wrong side of the street. As I saw my life flash before my eyes, I also noticed the on coming traffic had a red light, that saved me! I quickly and illegally hopped on the freeway and was so embarrassed. I knew that because I wasn't paying attention I could have hurt someone as well as myself. I was extremely alert the rest of the time behind the wheel in NZ!
At the end of my day it was around 8:00pm and I was in Tauranga, my destination. Once again everything was shut down and I knew that I'd be sleeping in my car that night since I hadn't made accommodations. I was actually okay with that. I drove around looking for a church, any church, that I could park at and begin my slumber.
I stumbled by a LDS church that was open and a few cars were there. Thursday night was their basketball night too. :) By the time I turned around most of everyone was gone but I entered the building and heard voices coming from a bishops office. I knocked on the door and then entered after I heard a "Yea?". I straight up said, "Hi my name is Kellie, I'm American and LDS. I served a mission in Spain and I'm here visiting" The bishop asked how long because he'd like to give me a calling. We all laughed. I told them I was leaving in the morning and if I could just stay over night in the church's parking lot. He and the 1st counselor said they could do better than that, Bishop Tata, you want to make the call or shall I? After the bishop got off the phone he said you'll be staying with my family tonight. Holy cow!! I honestly wasn't expecting that. I seriously was just ready to crash in my car. I followed him to his house where I met his wife Rachael. She embraced me with a bear hug to welcome me to their home. Wow! I thought...how cool is this?!? These people are putting up a complete stranger in their home for the night. Awesome!!
I was served NZ ice cream for the first time. DE-LISH!! It was smooth, thick, creamy vanilla that tasted like waffle cone too. So good. Rachel looked at me and asked if I was tired. I told her yes, so much I'm was starting to get dizzy. Their oldest daughter was spending the night at a friends so this is where I was able to enjoy my second night in NZ. Kiwi style!

New Zealand Day 1

I decided to post my trip to New Zealand in segments. Today I'll write about my first day there, then tomorrow about my second day and so on...for those that are interested don't have a novel to read in one sitting.

My friend Lori took me to the airport where I patiently waited to board Air New Zealand. I was so excited and nervous but knowing I had 13 hours in the plane I'd have time to settle down. The stewards on Air New Zealand were awesome. One looked dead on to Daniel Craig from James Bond:Quantum of Solace, he had the New Zealand accent and all.

As we started our decent I opened the window shade and saw the horizon of the sun rise and it was gorgeous. I started getting butterflies in my stomach. I was going to be in New Zealand!!

At customs I declared some snacks that I brought, one of them baby carrots. They took them away because they didn't have them in NZ.

I called the car rental transport and they had a driver there real quick. The first thing the driver said was you must be from North America. I hadn't even opened my mouth and then said yea how could you tell? He replied, well you're on the drivers side to get in. DANG IT! Rookie mistake #1! Reminder...they drive on the left side of the road and the drivers side is on the right.

I realized how amazing the NZers really are at first hand. I had forgotten my drivers licence back in the states. He said that's okay, we seem to have your info here. Just be careful because if you get pulled over the police will want to see it. What state, let alone country do you know of that would have rented you a car without your drivers licence? That could have gone very bad and was thankful for their leniency. Steve did warn me that there was a round about as soon as I exit their "car park" and foreigners make the mistake a lot to yield to the left instead of the right. It took me about 10 minutes to muster up enough courage to leave the car park. White knuckle and all...I did it! I had a note there STAY LEFT but also had a GPS that saved me this trip!! I had to drive through Auckland during morning rush hour and that was a bit nerve racking because it's a major city so I just made sure that there was a car in front of me the entire time.

They had a toll on the freeway that I was warned about. You don't stop to pay. It's via camera. You have two options you can stop at the gas station and pay there or call a number and give them your credit card. I opted to pay at the gas station. There I embarked on my first adventure of getting a mince meat pie. It was huge and fairly cheap. Great flavor however there was a sort of gelatin that was in it that I couldn't stomach. I did eat half.

As I left there was an on ramp with two police cars on each side and the officers outside standing next to them like a road block. My heart beats tripled and I thought this is it they're going to ask for my DL that I didn't have...and they just flagged me through. PHEW!!!

I didn't have any specific plans but to make it to Kaitaia Far North. That's where my hostile was. So I just decided to drive and stop when I wanted. No one warned me that it would take 3x as long to get to places in NZ due to their windy roads with no shoulders. There were so many picturesque scenes that I had to just drive by because there was no place to pull over. When there was a slight shoulder I took every opportunity to pull over and take pictures. Here's a few.

This was on the east side of the highway where people lived and then right across the street was this magnificent view of the water.

This is Langs Beach

This is Waipu Cove

I made a pit stop at Russel. Needed to get out and stretch the legs. I went for a walk around town. Got gas/petrol, full service. That shocked me! Someone told me if you only have a half of a tank you need to get gas at the next stop, you never know when the next one is. I found that so true! I thought I could go straight to Kaitaia from Russel but I would have to take a ferry so back on the road.

From Russel my GPS took me on a one lane windy gravel road for 27 km. I was so scared I honked my horn every time I turned a corner just in case there was another car. I made it. By the time I got to the Kaitaia was about 6pm. Floyd, my brother-in-law, told me NZ shuts down early. He wasn't joking. I took a picture of the town.

There was a Pak-N-Save open and that was it!

As soon as I checked in to the Mainstreet Lodge she said you look tired. I told her I just flew into Auckland that morning and have been driving all day. She rented me a 6 person room all to myself for $65. I knew that was too high but they didn't have my confirmation and I didn't care. I just wanted food and sleep. I walked to Pak-N-Save for some groceries and was asleep by 8:30.

The hostile conditions were extremely clean. I slept like a rock!

Rosco: New Addition

The rumors are true...I've added an extra canine to my crew.

Some history first...Sandy is now 12 years old. I rescued her from the SPCA 8 years ago. She is my guard dog. I feel 100% secure with her around living by myself. She's got my back. Sandy's a mix of breed but mainly lab and shepherd. Labs have a history of hip problems and woulda know...she's started limping around and can't run with me any longer. They say that older dogs train new dogs the do's and don'ts of the house. I've been considering for some time now on getting another one I've been looking on line, made several calls and visited the Manteca pound multiple times.

Meet Rosco, his name was Charlie but I've always wanted a Rosco.

He's 18 months and is a shepherd mix. He's got either rot or pit in him but I'm not worried at all. He's the biggest love bug ever. He's a bull in a china shop, not graceful at all which makes him even more fun!

He's been a part of our little pack since Monday, I rescued him from the Manteca pound. He'd only been there one day before I saw him. I actually went there to look at a black lab of 18 months who they said would drive Sandy bonkers because he's so hyper I said ohh can I look at the mellow one that was next to the lab's kennel. She said oh you must mean Charlie and brought out a different dog than I was talking about. As soon as I saw him I knew he'd be perfect for Sandy and myself.

I brought Sandy to meet Charlie/Rosco at the pound the next day. I didn't want to adopt him and then realize they'd hate each other. She put him in his place real fast letting him know she would be the senior, alpha dog. At the end of the visit he was licking her face, a sign of submission.

Rosco and Sandy have been playmates since I brought him home. They love to play tug-o-war and they'll wrestle around the house together. It's so fun to see her wagging her tail while playing. You have got to understand that Sandy is NOT, I repeat NOT, a social dog. She's made her job to protect me and not have fun with other dogs. So it's great to see her relaxing a bit and having fun.

I've been taking them both to the dog park and they protect each other. If another dog is trying to push Sandy around Rosco comes and intervenes and vice versa. Rosco thinks he is a small dog. At the dog park if there's Chihuahuas or Yorkies there he'll go hang with them. I can't drag him away, he goes right back to them.

A Rosco story for you real quick...

I had brought Rosco home on a Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning was taking some friend to the airport. It would be raining later so I leave my man door open so they can get in and out. I had my car running in the driveway, had breakfast in hand and because my keys were in my car I decided to lock the front door from the inside and leave through the back gate. The dogs were behind me and as soon as I opened it Rosco went through my legs and bolted out. I just stood there thinking I'm never going to see that dog again. I put my breakfast in my car and thought...he likes Sandy so I went back in the gate got Sandy and their leashes. Sandy and I then left from the front door and Rosco was no where in sight. I thought he'd be half way to Stockton by now. Nice Kellie you've had the dog less than 24 hours and you've lost him. Sandy and I started running but before we got too far I heard a noise that made us stop in our tracks. Then another noise that sounded like breaking wood from my house. Sandy and I went back and Rosco was at the gate tearing the bottom of it trying to get back in. Luckily we got there in enough time not that much damage was done. I opened the gate and he went right back in on his own with Sandy. PHEW!

He knew where he'd come from and where he belongs.

There's been no trouble since.

BUNKO!!

Danicia has been part of the Relay for Life Committee and they had a massive BUNKO party which Melanie and I joined happily. Fun girls night out!!

There were dozens of donated gift baskets that you bought raffle tickets for to win. They also had each player pay $15 to play, all proceeds went to RFL. There were over 37 tables. It was an amazing turn out! I had Melanie take a few picture of me so we show just how many folks were there. Well okay and I like having my picture taken too. :)

Back on the Saddle

After getting an okay from my physical therapist in Jan to start training for a half marathon I was feeling great. Since the first went so well I did two more right after. Three half marathons in 20 days. That's right...I'm crazy...

The Shamrock'n Half Marathon #1 Time: 2:07

As far a halfs go this by far was the prettiest I've ever ran. I loved the course. Always a turn and something new to look at than the runner in front of you. I was sooo cold that morning and it was day light savings too. Floyd (my brother in law) and I are standing proudly with our medals. Then yes you see it...My festive toes with a blood blister that I had on each foot. When I got back to Manteca you can see the clever decorations my friends the Nydeggers did. They also left me a plate of cookies and cute sidewalk chalk pictures. Thanks again guys!

I very pleased with this accomplishment because there was a six month span I couldn't run because of my back but I was focused and did everything that I had to to make this happen.

The Modesto Half Marathon #2 Time: 2:05

This half marathon started at 7am and dang Gina it was brisk! We ran along a lot of orchards and you could see your breath for the first 3/4 of the run. It was that cold. I didn't take off my long sleeve until mile 11. This run was a little boring because there were several long straight aways and if you don't have any turns at times you feel like your going in slow motion but still happy to do it. I was jazzed I beat my previous time. :)

Xterra Chanoko Trail Half Marathon #3 Time: 2:41

Okay...this one was crazy. I did a trail run years ago and remembered my time, breathing, and endurance wasn't like anything of how I run on pavement. There is only one word that describes this half...RIDICULOUS!! A total beast! Cindy, my adorable friend there in the pink, was also coming back to running after shattering her ankle in a car accident years ago. (Now that's a trooper!) She invited me to run with her and a friend of hers that she's been training with. They both kicked my butt. They came in more than 10min before me. Well done Heather and Cindy!! There was only two ways to run...up a hill or down a hill. I take that back there were boulders you had to jump off of, huge mud puddles you had to jump over, and several other decisions to make. That's one thing about pavement running, you can just let your mind coast, put your brain on auto pilot and not burn any extra calories/energy by thinking. Trail running, whole different ball game, you have to stay alert and make choices. For some reason I had to commentate the all my obstacles and choices. I had to say things out loud to help me focus. For an example "Okay big puddle up ahead, which way across, which way, left..right...I'll try and jump over it. RATS!!" (I didn't make it, as you can see my shoes)

It will be quite some time before I do another trail run again.

How ever my next half is May 1st...