Tag: New Zealand

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Kiwi Killers

Helensville, NZ

There is an invading force that is, right now as we write this, entrenched in the sovereign territory of New Zealand.

Estimates vary widely but everyone seems to think there are AT LEAST seven invaders for every man, woman and child of this nation.  Yes, that would be a force 30 million strong and growing by the day.

Not happy to simply live here in a land known for its beauty and kind hearted peoples, these soulless devils are pillaging the land and actually killing the natives in their own homes.  Likely, at this very moment a mother is watching powerlessly as her innocent offspring is ruthlessly murdered by this merciless horde.

We are speaking, of course, of possums.  Evil, dirty, disease-ridden, kiwi-killing possums.

Continue reading “Kiwi Killers”

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Sheep Whisperer

Helensville, NZ

We have found in life there are people who have learned to be good at something and possess “skill” (feel free to add the “z” as necessary) and people who have innate ability, which we’ll call “talent.”  While talent does provide an edge to those with the good fortune to posses it, skill ultimately trumps it in the long run, which is why even the natural talents still need to practice.  Sometimes though, an undeveloped latent talent doesn’t fade, or is discovered later in life and it provides us with potential insight into ourselves and our choices.  “What if,” this talent, imbedded in our very beings, asks, “what if instead of taking the road you took, you had developed me instead?”

We bring this up because Greg is convinced he married a repressed sheep-whisperer…

Continue reading “Sheep Whisperer”

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Only one thing smells like bacon and that’s BACON!!!

Helensville, NZ

In case you hadn’t noticed yet, we LOVE Bacon!!

We know, you probably never would have guessed that we were vegetarians for 4 years because we talk about bacon so much.  But bacon is just one of those things that you must make an exception for (ok, and sushi…and BACON SUSHI!  Crispy, salty, greasy yumminess  – that’s what it’s all about!  All Americans understand what bacon is, even though we tend to have some differences in our personal preferences.  Most people like the straight up, traditional bacon – thinly sliced strips of smoked pig with a roughly 50/50 ratio of fat to meat.  Some people like it extra crispy, some like it almost raw.  Now, there are some variations on this theme – apple wood smoked, thick sliced, turkey bacon, vegetarian bacon – you name it, we’ve got It.  Or so we thought.

Continue reading “Only one thing smells like bacon and that’s BACON!!!”

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Living in Rural New Zealand

Helensville, New Zealand

As we’ve previously noticed, the lines between rural and urban New Zealand are quite blurred.  Sheep can be found in the middle of their largest city, and when we tell New Zealanders that we lived in Helensville for a few weeks they said,

“Oh, that’s in Auckland”.

Which it’s not.  It’s about an hour drive north of Auckland into the boonies.  Helensville is a small town (by American standards) complete with a large showground for showing off their various equestrian and agricultural skills.  (Ok, we admit that San Francisco has the Cow Palace, but let me tell you it’s not the same thing.)  When you see people riding their horses FROM THEIR FARM and your water supply comes from the rain on your roof, then there’s just no way that you can consider it to be urban. Continue reading “Living in Rural New Zealand”

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Then We Got Audited…

Helensville, NZ

With Greg’s mom’s departure came the next phase of our adventure.  And, like every other part of this journey, it was not what we expected.

This time was different though because the surprise was not a good one.  What this entry should have been about were the chronicles of us finding and holding a job in New Zealand for a few months, meeting Kiwis and basically enjoying ourselves.

What the next few months ended up being about for us was getting audited by the IRS.

Continue reading “Then We Got Audited…”

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Auckland – The City of Awesome Food

Auckland, New Zealand

So ends the Great Kiwi Road Trip.  Now after all that driving, Who’s hungry!?

As we’ve already mentioned, there is a ton of amazing food in this country.  European food, Asian food, and of course all types of seafood.  One of the local specialties is the New Zealand Green Lipped Mussels.  We found a place downtown called Squid Row where we could get a kilo of these awesome things for NZD$21.  If you see them, you should try some.  They’re great!

Also, remember the Sky Tower?  Well if you want to have the highest tea in the southern hemisphere (because, remember, we judge things that way apparently) they put on a pretty good spread.

Continue reading “Auckland – The City of Awesome Food”

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It’s just so darn PRETTY!

Auckland, NZ

Looking out over Auckland Bay towards Mount Rangitoto.

 We don’t do this very often, but there are a number of pictures that we’ve taken around Auckland that just don’t have much of a story to them, but are still pretty cool.  Here they are for your viewing pleasure!

Continue reading “It’s just so darn PRETTY!”

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Kiwis (The birds, not the people)

From Tortoise orgies to custom made giraffe barns, the Great Kiwi Roadtrip makes it’s way to the Auckland Zoo!

One of the things that we absolutely had to see in New Zealand was an actual live kiwi

(Finally: the bird, not to be confused with the people by the same name)

Being as we were road tripping the length of the country these birds call home, we thought this was going to be relatively easy.  Turns out that it’s not…

Continue reading “Kiwis (The birds, not the people)”

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Storming the Hedges

Dunedin, NZ

The Kiwi Roadtrip continues!

At long last we finally come to it.  Our grail, our Mecca, our El Dorado, our own little land of Canaan in New Zealand, if you will. (yeah, we’re still reading the Bible.)

The culmination of our quest, the living beating heart of our journey (well this part anyway), the Vegas of our Great Kiwi Roadtrip…

 

Castle Kiwi

(Aka Larnach Castle)

There remained but one final obstacle to overcome, one last trial to endure before the castle would indeed be ours as the very land itself conspired to bar our path… Continue reading “Storming the Hedges”

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NZ South Island Grog Files

New Zealand – South Island

Breweries

Monteith’s

Type: Brewery

Rating: 4 sheets to the wind

Website: http://www.monteiths.co.nz/

Notes: When called back to a bachelor party in Las Vegas for his own former best man, Greg could have brought his choice of any variety of drinks…but he chose Monteith’s original ale.  A beer deemed “delicious” by the at-that-time bachelor & assorted cadre of miscreants.  Continue reading “NZ South Island Grog Files”

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