Eric and Amber

From New Orleans to the Land of the Long White Cloud.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays everyone! We've been having trouble with blogger so we're starting to upload photos to flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ambernewzealand/). I've just uploaded photos from Eric's mom's visit, and plan to upload past photos there too. You DO have to register, but it's free and they don't send a lot of spam/emails so it's a fairly small nuisance.
We love you & miss you!
Amber & Eric

Saturday, July 07, 2007

It's been WAY too long - Part 1

It has been too long since our last post! We've both been busy getting everything in order. Our permanent resident visa was recentlly approved and we're both very thrilled that we can remain in New Zealand "indefinitely." :) Thank you to everyone who helped gather the documents we needed, especially those last minute panic documents. Now that you know we'll be here - start making those travel plans! We'd love for all of our family and friends to be able to experience this beautiful country with us.

At the end of May, our friend Mark from New Orleans came and stayed for two weeks. We visited several of the Auckland region attractions and took a four-day trip to Rotorua and Lake Taupo which are located along the "Thermal Explorer Highway."

The next few photos are of Whatipu, one of the many west coast beaches in Waitakere.






We took a ferry to Rangitoto Island, which is a semi-dormant volcano. It's visible in many of our previous photos.








Mark took several photos of our "everyday" life ...


Burty's veggie store - a place that Eric frequently visits.




Okay! I've run out of time tonight , but wanted to at least get a little something up. I PROMISE to complete the rest VERY soon.

Temp Test

Temp test

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Week of Waitakere Ranges and Beaches

We've spent all day almost everyday this past week exploring the Waitakere Ranges and the west coast beaches. We continue to be amazed with the spectacular sights only minutes away from our door. I go back to work tomorrow after over 2 weeks off, but I'm sure we'll continue with our neighborhood tour. :)



























Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Far North

Eric and I took a tour through Northland, New Zealand last week and had a fantastic time. We stayed four nights in Paihia (Pie-he-uh) in the Bay of Islands.



We went kayaking to a waterfall the first full day we had in Pahia.






The second full day we took a trip to Cape Reinga, the very tip top of New Zealand. It was extremely exciting. Our tour bus drove along 90-Mile Beach (actually a little over 64 miles). The drive from bottom to top took a little over half an hour.





Our tour guide dug up a whole bucket of clams to take home.













These sand dunes are HUGE! We climbed to the top (harder than you would think - the top half is almost vertical and sand isn't the easiest to climb) and then slid down on boogie boards! It was very very fun. Eric was really good at it - he almost ended up in the water at the bottom. My pockets were full of sand for the rest of the day.



These next few photos are of Cape Reinga, the very tip of New Zealand where the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea meet. I think this was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.



Looking toward the Pacific Ocean.


Looking towards the Tasman Sea.




The water looked like it was glowing.





Shortly after leaving Cape Reinga we stoped to eat lunch at Tapotupotu Bay, which faces north from the top of the island. Georgeous!











On the third full day, we decided to kayak out to the little islands in the bay. (The next photo was taken from the little island.) We weren't very smart when we decided to "just float" for a moment. We drifted farther than we should have and then the weather changed. Suddenly we were battling extremely strong winds back to the little islands. At one point I really couldn't see how I was going to make it back. Ferrys and speed boats kept passing by me, sending me backwards! We were EXTREMELY glad when we finally made it back to land. (Didn't get the chance take photos of that bit! :)





We had a half day left before our bus was set to leave, so we went on one of the many walks in the area. The following photo was taken from one of the lookout points.



Well we wish everyone a very happy and wonderful 2007 (and we hope you will come visit us during the year)!