Week 18 of BZ adventure

April 25 - May 3

Saturday April 26
Woke up sick. I am not surprised as Disneyland was a germ Mecca. We said good bye to Mike and Lori who were off to LA for their flight. We cleaned and organized the condo then locked her up.
We drove to Vegas for 3 nights which I got for free so we were excited. Arrived at Planet Hollywood at 3:00 and checked in right away. We have a nice room on the 12th floor. Lennie entered a poker tourney and I hit the slots even though I felt crappy. I hit $1000 right away - sweet.

We ate dinner late at the Earl of Sandwich and I had some soup. It helped a bit. We went to bed to try and beat this cold/flu.

Sunday April 27
Woke up late and Lennie was gone to a poker tourney. I took a shower but still didn't feel any better. I walked around a bit and even went to Paris and Bally's for some fun but not too many wins today. For dinner we went to Gordon Ramsey's burger restaurant and it was terrific.

Monday April 28
Woke up feeling worse. Now it is a chest cold and flu. I have been so lucky on this trip to not get ill as Lennie has had a cough for weeks. I took a hot shower, went for a walk, and rested in the afternoon. Lennie went in a poker tourney and won some money. I went back to the room and Lennie went to the outlet mall. He bought me some soup and a sandwich and I continued to crash.

Tuesday April 29
Woke up and had to check out for our trip to Bakersfield. We are driving to Seattle so today would be a 4 hour drive up before hitting San Francisco tomorrow. I still feel awful and am coughing yucky stuff up. Our drive was beautiful and saw so many farms, wind turbines, orchard, and go to Bakersfield at 4:00. Lennie has free hotels for us all the way to Seattle through his American Express card so that makes it cheap but the places are wonderful. Tonight we are at the Four Points Sheraton in downtown Bakersfield.

Lennie left for a poker tourney at the local casino but it doesn't have any slots so I stayed back and sat in the sun. It is so beautiful here and the 30 degree weather is making me feel better. Lennie came home and we snacked on pizza.

Wednesday April 30
Woke up and left to check out Buck Owen's Chrystal Palace then began the drive to San Francisco.


It was about another 4 hours and more wonderful California sights to see along the way. I made lennie stop a lot to take photos of cool Cali stuff. Added a lot more time to the drive but it was cool.

Lennie had us booked in a fancy hotel downtown and we could see the bridge and harbour. We checked in and hit the pool for a couple of hours as the sun was beautiful.

We left to go on a city walk/tour. We got to see so many sights. We took a boat ride out to Alcatraz and the Golden Gate bridge.



As we were giggling taking more pictures along the fishermans wharf, a parent of some former students spotted us and said hi. We finally have seen someone we know on our adventure.


Thursday May 1
Woke up in San Francisco and knew we had a long day ahead of us. 10 hours to Portland, Oregon. We drove to Oregon last summer so were familiar with the scenery and roads. Just gorgeous forests and people along our way.


Lots to see in Portland but it's just a stop over before hitting Seattle and my brother's house tomorrow. Our hotel is located right downtown and we went for a beautiful dinner at an Italian place. We reflected on our amazing trip and what we should plan for next. We have some bills to pay off but will do this sabbatical again for sure. Lennie is golfing tomorrow and I am going to find the Nordstrom's Rack store and hope it is as good as the one in Dana's Point.

We found the greatest sign on the way to Portland today. Ironic or what?

Friday May 2
Got up in Portland, shopped and waited for Lennie to come back from golf. We began the couple of hours drive to Seattle. We have driven to Seattle before but not to the new house of my brother. They bought a house on a less busy street so the kids could play outside safer. This house is terrific and more roomy than their other home. My brother is slowly fixing it up and has a great spare room for us. We are here till May 7th when we make our way by ferry to Victoria, BC to be with Lennie's brother and family.

We have a very busy few days here with brunches, my nieces communion, some family dinners, and hanging with the kids. So beautiful this new house.

Week 17 of BZ adventure

April 18 - 25

Saturday April 19
Woke up in Auckland and began a long long long journey to California. An 8:00am flight to Syndey, 1:00pm flight to LA, 12 hours later, 3rd flight to San Diego, then picked up rental car and drove 3 hours to Dana's Point to see our friends; Mike and Lori McCrae who we are vacationing with us for the week in a beautiful condo. It shouldn't have been 3 hours but Lennie didn't have the address and was so tired he screwed up the directions. I kept my mouth shut and just helped with the directions if he asked.
Happy, exhausted, sad from leaving our new friends, but thrilled to be in North America and in California which Lennie wanted to see. We will be driving to Seattle over the next couple of weeks to see my brother then taking the Victoria clipper to see Lennie's brother.


We arrived and went for a great Mexican dinner (my and Mike's favourite).


Sunday April 20
Woke up at 5:00 then 8:00 then 11:30 sweet. I was so tired and really have no idea what time my body thinks it is. Boys went golfing so Lori and I relaxed, went for Starbucks, got some groceries, and hit the pool/hottub. What a perfect afternoon talking and catching up. The boys came home and hit the hottub. Since we had Mexican last night we went for Italian tonight. We found a gorgeous restaurant but it turned out it was French. We had a delicious meal and all we so tired we went to bed.

Monday April 21
Mike's brother is in Cali too so he asked if we would meet him for lunch in Malibu. We drove for 3 freaking hours through yucky traffic but by huge beautiful houses.
We arrived at Mike's brothers place and drove to Paradise Beach for lunch, walked along the sand, and saw surfers.


We left Malibu and headed to Venice Beach where we walked the boardwalk up to muscle beach. A lot of interesting looking people for sure. It was dirty but pretty cool.

We left Venice beach and Mike took us to Beverly Hills. We drove for hours through the streets to look at movie stars homes. Plus we went up and down Rodeo drive. We found Mel's diner and ordered amazing milkshakes.
We drove home late and were pretty tired.

Tuesday April 22
Lennie's turn to drive into town today. 3 freaking hours into LA for our TMZ tour. The traffic here is nuts!!!!!! We got to the tour too late but was able to go on the 12:30 one. It was so fun, we saw the whole crew from America's Got Talent; Howie, Howard, Heidi, and Mel.


Mike got us free tickets to a TV show so we left Hollywood down to the CBS studios and we saw 2 tapings of the Late Late Late show with Craig Ferguson. We saw Cedric the entertainer, Billie Piper from Dr Who, and Billie Bob Thornton.


We left the TV show and went to a Dodgers game. They were playing the Phillys and it went into extra innings. They lost. It it was so cool.


We got home really late just in time for the TV show. We saw us on the screen as we were in the last row and they filmed us from the back - cool.

Wednesday April 23
We got up late and the boys had left for golfing. At 12:30 we went to Santa Ana shopping. We found a Starbucks and Nordstrom's Rack. I got my nails done while Lori scoped out the deals. We shopped till 6:30pm oh my. We went to DSW too and I got some awesome shoes.

We got home and the boys ordered pizza and made Caesar salad. We shared our stories from the day and watched hockey. Lori is very stylish so she helped me get great stuff.

Thursday April 24
We were to go to Catalina island today but Lori suggested we go to Disneyland. Lennie has never been there so we all thought it would be awesome for him.


I hate that kind of stuff but I thought I would suck it up for him. We drove another 2 hours into town to the park, caught a shuttle, entered the park and spent the next 12 hours walking around experiencing the adventures.


We ate a ton of fair food; a chicken salad and we split a sundae. Later we got popcorn and more ice cream followed by left overs back at the condo.
So exhausting but Lennie loved his day. I went on some rides but not the huge roller coaster. I even caught Lennie and them on the water ride. My gap fingers were greasy from the popcorn I was chopping on :)


Friday April 25
Boys got up really early and went golfing again. This makes me happy because Lennie loves golf and hasn't had a chance to do it for a while. Lori and I went back to the mall and enjoyed a wonderful day including a lunch at Nordstrom's cafe. I found some great deals and we checked out some beautiful house stuff. I am excited to get home soon and do some redecorating and reorganizing.

We returned home, started to pack and get organized, did laundry then went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Mike and Lori are flying home to Calgary tomorrow while Lennie and I are driving to Las Vegas!!!!!!!!





Wouldn't this look good in our family room? Actually 2 of them would be perfect. Darn you Pottery Barn.

Week 16 of BZ adventure

April 11 - April 18

Saturday, April 12
Woke up in Paihia, packed, and toured the town till 1:00pm. We got back in the van and returned to Auckland. We went to the casino, had dinner, and met some of our new tour mates. Tim and Jane Anne from California are done their tour with us and so is Andrea from Swizerland. We welcomed 2 Brits, another German, and a wonderful person from the country of Gibraltor.

The casino was hitting tonight. Won about $500 on the slots which will help pay for some extra excursions we want to do. Man this country is beautiful.
I am rooming with the boys again tonight; Lennie, Martin, and Felix, both wonderful guys from German.

We have a 4 bunk bed room with a bathroom. Tomorrow we stay at some fabulous holiday home.

Sunday, April 13
Woke up at the same hostel as day 1 and took off for the southern coasts. We stopped for coffee in a great town, made our way to Raglan and an Eco farm. The farmers had donkeys, chickens, cats, sheep, alpaca, parrots, and a ton of fish.

They shared their life with us and made us a traditional tea time.


They walked us to our meeting area for our sea kayak and introduced us to Vicky our guide. We spent about 2 hours kayaking down the river into a habour, it was a beautiful day. We raced, splashed, and picked oysters.


We landed at a boat and we greeted by Rock and B who took us on a tour and made us a BBQ.


They dropped us at the pier where we were driven into town to buy snacks. We were then taken to our house for 2 days, it is huge. It is some California surfer dude's holiday house. Me and the boys have the basement apartment and all the girls are upstairs.
We showered and went to see the sunset. Marie arranged a transitional fish and chips dinner for us so we drove back to the pier and pigged out.
I went to bed about 9:30 as I have not slept for the past 2 nights, tomorrow we surf.

Monday, April 14
Woke up and ate breakfast. We were taken to a yoga spot to get ready for surfing lessons. It was the most beautiful yoga spot ever called inspiration pint just 200m up from the house.


We then moved another 200m up the road for our dry land training. They top aught us a simple way to get up on the board; push/lift, knee forward, foot front, and up. Seems easy enough on land. We practiced a million times, learned about the surf and beach spot where we will be surfing and got back to the house to get a ride to the bay.


We were taken to the bay 5 minutes for our house. Rock from the boat yesterday and his team were our instructors. They said everyone will get up on a wave because they keep it simple and use big board. We were put I to our full wet suits as the water is cool but the weather was gorgeous. It was busy as this is their surf school area.


We went out into the water and Lennie got up on the board on his first try so he moved down the beach with the people who had surfed before. Rock stood behind me and pushed me into over 20 waves but I could ever stand up. It was really fun, not scary, and I could of gotten up but my left foot would come forward enough. I wonder why? When 2 hours was up, we moved to the beach to get out of the water and one of the instructors came over to me to point out that because my wetsuit was so big, water got in and trapped at my ankles. It looked like I had 2 watermelons for calves. That is why my feet felt so heavy and wouldn't come up far enough. Damn.

After surfing we showered and changed, and went for lunch in town, yummy Mexican. Marie our CEO knows all the cool, cheap, and fun spots. You would not even know this Mexican taco truck existed if she didn't tell you.
In the afternoon I signed up for bone carving lessons for 89$. 7 of us went back to the surf lesson hut and met Age our instructor.


He gave us each a shape, explained its traditional meaning, showed us techniques and 5 hours later our creations were done. Age put them on braided twine for us and made them into necklaces, plus he carved some small designs on the front. It was awesome.


I love mine and this is something I really wanted to do on this trip. We went home and a BBQ was prepared for us by Rock and Zed our surf instructors. Lamb, stuff zucchini, chicken, salad etc. So good after a long day.


Tomorrow... Glow worm caves.

Tueday, April 15
We woke up at the holiday home and packed the bus early as we need to get to our adventure to see flow worms and caves. There is optional excursions you can pay for so I chose a tour by dingy Lennie chose a tour by inner tube. I didn't want that one as you got wet, wore a wet suit and had to craw thru small places to get to the caves. We dropped all the tubers off and 4 of us headed for our boat. For 65$ we were transported by van to a beautiful site where we hiked to a river and cave opening. We were give hard hats and lights to see our way.

We walked thru the cave opening and immediately could see 1000s of glow worms when we all turned our lots off.

We continued to walk to a river's edge that had a dingy waiting. 12 of us entered the dingy and they guided pulled us down and up the river by a rope. There we saw millions of glow worms, it was truly unbelievable. We then walked out of the that cave I to a beautiful field where they had a tea set up for us. We rested then walked further into the fields to another cave. No hard hat needed or nights as this cave was much taller and had a lit path. This cave had awesome bones, sink holes, stalegtites, and cave stuff. It was a 500m walk to see all the structures.


We exited the cave, got driven back to the beginning spot, got in the van, and picked up the tubers. They had a great time but Lennie said I would of hated it was it as very claustrophobic.


We hit the road again and stopped for lunch and Lennie and I had eggs and toast. It was so good.
Moved further down the road to meet a Maori guide Shiloh for a personal tour of his village. He sang for us, told stories, greeted us with the nose to nose greeting, and welcomed us into his home.


We left the village and headed for Rototura where we stayed at a hostel. The boys and I had a 4 bedroom, got some groceries at the store to snack on a hung out.
Marie our CEO arranged for a traditional Maori dinner for us "Hongi" and it was amazing. The woman brought it to the hostel for us and we all enjoyed dinner together. Hongi is chicken with vegetables that is cooked underground for 12 hours. It was So good and reminded me of a thanksgiving dinner.


We all went into the hot tub and hung out.

Rototura is famous for its thermal hotsprings so natural bathes as a treat since I don't like hot tubs because of the chlorine. We all relaxed and went to bed because tomorrow is the big 20k hike to the volcano.

Wednesday, April 16
Woke up and Marie shared that we can do the Tongariro crossing as it is 3 degrees on top and 40 mile winds.


I'm not too sad about that as I didn't want to hike anyways. We all got to relax, sleep in and go back in the thermal tubs.
We made our way downtown and hit the shops while 3 people went white water rafting. It was raining and we have rafted before so that wasn't something we wanted to do.
We all met up at 11:30am and hit the road for our afternoon of mud baths and spas.
We landed at our hostel and everyone took a little 6km hike to see waterfalls and it was a nice day. This hostel is gorgeous and is really a ski chalet. It is new Zealand's highest hotel. Lennie and I got our own room but we beside our German buds. We got a delicious BBQ dinner Buffett and everyone laughed and ate a ton.


Thursday, April 17
Woke up for our drive to Wellington. On the way we stopped at fun places along the way. Saw the worlds biggest carrot, had a gumshoe throwing contest, and shopped at a small town that specializes in outlets.


We arrived in Wellington at 3:00 and people went to the movie museum or the national museum for the PM. At 7:30 we have our final dinner together as we get driven back to Auckland tomorrow while most of the crew are continuing to the South Island. So sad to leave these great people. I just love my German boys and roommates. They were so sweet.


Friday, April 18
Woke up and sadly said goodbye to our friends and boarded a bus to drive straight back to Auckland. We joined the South Island tour who are finished and heading north while our team joined the South Island tour heading south. We slept on the bus until we hit Auckland. We called for a shuttle to take us back to our airport hotel where we did laundry and rested for our early departure to California.