New Zealand Road Trip-North Island

Our most recent adventure was a trip to New Zealand. Visiting New Zealand was certainly a dream come true. We'd both wanted to travel there, especially after seeing the gorgeous scenery in the Lord of the Rings movies.

New Zealand didn't disappoint. It seems like traveling to New Zealand from Japan would be much shorter than visiting from the U.S., but it's still a LONG way down there. We flew from Nagoya to Hong Kong, which took four hours, and then from Hong Kong to Auckland, which took around 11 hours. Needless to say, we were pretty exhausted when we arrived. But, that didn't stop us!

Here's a brief breakdown of our trip: Auckland, Thames, Coromandel, Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Rotorua, Gisborne, Napier, Lake Taupo, Tongariro Crossing and then back to Auckland. I designed the trip to be relaxing. We avoided long rides in the car so we could be sure to get out and enjoy as much as possible. We stayed in a combination of B&Bs, hostels and hotels, which made for a fun and interesting experience. You'll have to ask Travis and me about those experiences! We did lots of hiking, which was quite important since we also did LOTS of eating.

New Zealand's scenery is hard to describe, but I felt like it was a combination of Hawaii, Ireland and the American Northwest. There are many volcanoes and gorgeous coastlines, which reminded me of Hawaii. The countryside is filled with rolling green hills covered in sheep, which reminded me of Ireland. It's also mountainous and covered in redwoods, which reminded me of the American Northwest. In other words, it's pretty much paradise.

Below are several pictures from our trip. Perhaps too many. :)

This photo was taken along our drive in the Coromandel Peninsula.

This is one of the secluded beaches we walked to. I was so surprised to see no one on the beaches. We visited New Zealand during their fall, but it was still very warm in this part of the country.

This photo is of Cathedral Cove, a popular tourist attraction. We hiked for around an hour to see it.

Another tourist attraction in the Coromandel Peninsula is Hot Water Beach. At low tide, you can dig your very own hot tub! The water underneath the sand is so hot it was boiling in some places.

Here's Travis digging his tub.

The highlight of our trip was hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which has been called the best one-day hike in the entire world. It was 18 kilometers (about 11 miles) long. But, it was well worth it.

At the beginning of the hike, I was a little worried because it was freezing. We saw lots of icicles along the streams, and I was really nervous that I was going to freeze to death on the top of a volcano, but after a couple of hours, it really warmed up, and we were stripping off layers in no time.

For the first few hours of the hike, we were able to see Mt. Doom (Lord of the Rings) by our side. Breathtaking.

After one of the more grueling parts of the hike, we were greeted by the Emerald Lakes. Just amazing! The scenery was so unique and beautiful. A bit nerve-racking to see the ground steaming in several places, though.

The hike was so much fun, and I highly recommend it. I will say that after six+ hours of non-stop hiking, I earned the biggest blister you have ever seen! I have pictures, but I will only share them upon special request. ;)

Another trip highlight was a visit to Napier. The city was flattened by an earthquake in the 1930s, but it was completely rebuilt as an art deco city. It was totally adorable, and it may make it on my list of Possible Places to Retire. It was that cool.

Napier is located in Hawke's Bay, a famous region for New Zealand wine. So, of course, we had to do a tasting.

We had a really fun time. The wineries were beautiful, and of course the food and drinks weren't bad either.

Prior to visiting New Zealand, I read some information on the road conditions there. The roads were in great shape, but they were certainly treacherous. They are extremely curvy and narrow. Plus, we were traveling during logging season so we met several trucks along the way. Thank goodness Travis doesn't mind driving.

One of the funniest experiences we had during our trip was driving along and meeting a huge herd of cattle on the highway.

I was raised on a farm so I was somewhat familiar with this sort of thing, but we really didn't know what to do. There were so many of them! One of the farmers told us to, "just drive through them." So, that's what we did. It was hilarious.

We visited the town of Rotorua, which is famous for all sorts of funky geothermal activity. We visited a park there, and it completely blew my mind! The B&B where we stayed was also located right next to a redwood forest.

We had a fun time exploring the forest, and then Travis had the great idea that we should run through it. Ugh. Speaking of, I ran my first 10K in Napier! We ran a total of 15 miles on this vacation. At one time, I thought I wouldn't run 15 miles within my entire lifespan.

We also visited the town of Mount Maunganui, which is also now on the list of potential retirement locations. We climbed the mountain and were rewarded with a 360-degree view of the surrounding area.

What do you think of my Mickey Mouse t-shirt? I swear, Japan is getting to me.

Another one of our trip's highlights was a visit to Kerosene Creek. We heard about it at our B&B and packed our swimsuits. After visiting some other areas, we headed there. It. was. incredible.

The weather was a bit chilly that day, but the creek's temperature was perfect. It felt like a hot bath. I couldn't believe it just existed there naturally. It may have been my favorite part of the entire vacation.

We ended our trip with a couple of days in Auckland. On our last day, we took a short ferry ride to Devonport, an adorable little city filled with lots of colonial architecture, cute cafes and shops.

We took this picture from the top of Mt. Victoria, an inactive volcano.

New Zealand was a great vacation for us, and I can't wait to go back to explore the South Island, which is typically the more popular of the two islands for tourists. It was an extremely relaxing and easy vacation. I'm sad it's over.

Speaking of over, today marks 43 days until our move back home!

Almost a month?

Oh no! Why didn't someone tell me it's been almost a month since I've updated the blog?! Wow, so sorry about that. We are really swamped right now with all sorts of preparations for our big move (only 48 days away), and we're trying to make the most of our last bit of time in Japan. All of that has made for very little free time. Anyway, I promise a few blog posts are headed your way. Don't give up on me! Look for a post about our recent road trip through the North Island of New Zealand. Coming soon!

Birthdays are the best

I'm a little behind since my birthday was at the end of March, but it was so great that I have to tell you about it. I received lots of nice cards and gifts in the mail from friends and family back home, which made me feel so special. Sometimes it's hard being away from home on your birthday because you feel forgotten, but I certainly didn't feel that way! So many of you called me, too. Thank you so much for that! It meant so much.

On my actual birthday, I had to work late. But, when I got home Travis had sweetly prepared me a dinner of delicious Thai green curry. It was so good. And, he pulled a beautiful cake out of the closet! It was beyond delicious, and I helped myself to two pieces that night, one for breakfast the next morning and more for dinner the next night. It didn't last long!

The following Friday Travis arranged a big dinner with several of our friends at one of my favorite restaurants. It was so much fun, and we followed it up with some karaoke, which was a blast. It was one of my favorite nights.

Here are the girls. We had such a great time singing Black Eyed Peas and No Doubt. These girls are so much fun to be around! Our boys were there, too. But, I think they were too busy rapping Gin and Juice to pause for a picture.

The next day, Travis took me to Kyoto for the weekend. We had the best time there, and it was undoubtedly one of the most memorable weekends of my life. Travis made reservations for me at a photo studio where I was able to dress like a maiko, an apprentice geisha.

The process began with a full makeover. My makeup was done in the traditional style, and then I chose a kimono and wig. Afterwards, I headed to the studio to have professional photos taken.

Travis took a shot of me during the photoshoot. It was so much fun!! I was actually really surprised by the photos. They turned out wonderfully, and I'll try to share some once I receive the finished pictures.

After the photoshoot, I took a stroll near Kyomizudera. At first, I was so embarrassed because everyone stopped to stare and point. After a little while, it became kind of fun. Travis kept going to the other side of the street so he could watch all of the people marvel at the super-tall-foreign-looking geisha. As you can imagine, many funny comments were made (at my expense), too.

Lots of tourists, like the Chinese family pictured above, asked to take pictures with me. I wonder if they felt cheated.

After my short career as a geisha ended, we grabbed lunch at a local restaurant and headed out for some sightseeing. Kyoto was incredibly crowded, since we went on the peak weekend to view the cherry blossoms, but battling the crowded sidewalks and traffic was well worth the effort.

Travis booked a ryokan for us to stay in. It was a beautiful place tucked in the side of a mountain right outside of the city. We were able to enjoy a couple of onsens there, and the food was incredible. Some of the cuisine was a challenge, but it was so beautifully presented.

This picture is of the walkway to our ryokan. It was very quaint and picturesque there.

The next day, we headed to Kyoto again and explored a few different areas. We did a little bit of shopping and enjoyed snapping pictures of the cherry blossoms in full bloom.

We stopped to take a picture underneath a walkway canopied by cherry blossoms. It was incredibly beautiful, and I felt like I was in some sort of wonderland.

Speaking of cherry blossom wonderlands, they are almost gone. We were able to spend a few days in parks enjoying them, but now it's cold and since it rained almost all day yesterday, very few are left. I am really going to miss them next year.

This last photo is a tribute to the cherry blossom. They come and go so quickly. Reminds me of a little thing called life...

I heart Japan.

I've got some catching up to do. We've been quite busy these last couple of months, but we've been having a really great time. With only about three months left, we're trying to seize every opportunity.

Late last month, we headed to Hakuba for one last ski trip. We celebrated Ayako's birthday, and we had a wonderful time. Things didn't exactly go as planned when it took us almost two hours to rent all of our gear, but we still managed to enjoy a fabulous half-day on the slopes. I even learned how to turn both directions on a snowboard. I still have a long ways to go, but I have fallen in love with it. It's so much fun! I can't wait to head out to Colorado and try it in the U.S. I'm going to miss the Japanese Alps so much, though!

This picture is of the four of us in our Passo. We actually traveled with a really large group, and we had a hard time finding space for all of our gear. I can't remember the exact totals, but we fit something like six snowboards, four pairs of skis and ski poles, four persons worth of luggage, boots, three Americans and one Japanese all in our little car! It was pretty hilarious.

I told you we went with a large group! Seventeen of us slept in the same room, too. I'm telling you, we have to bring the slumber parties back to the U.S. It's always such a fun time.

This picture was taken after an afternoon of bowling with our Japanese family (as I like to call them). They really do feel like aunts, uncles and cousins to us. I beat Travis in both games of bowling, which I don't think has ever happened before. Then, we pigged out on some yakiniku together. I can't believe how much food we ate!

On one rainy Saturday afternoon, Travis suggested we visit the Toyota Commemorative Museum, which has been on our to-do list for a while. It is a very nice and well-done museum in Nagoya. It explains the entire history of Toyota, and it's very interactive. I really enjoyed it for the first hour and a half, but I was losing patience for the last sixty minutes. As you can imagine, Travis loved it and could have spent the entire day there!

The picture above is of me with a huge loom machine of some sort. Toyota's initial endeavor was looming.
Here's Travis in some sort of futuristic chair thingy. Unfortunately, it was disabled so we could only take pictures in it.

Another evening, we went to dinner with Travis' close friend and Japanese tutor. He suggested a himono restaurant.

It's basically sun-dried fish. It reminded me of jerky. It was much better than I expected, but it did taste extra fishy.

We also attended a huge flower expo at the Nagoya Dome, which is where the Chunichi Dragons play baseball. I won some free tickets so we decided to check it out.

We had a nice time scoping out all sorts of flowers from around the world. There were especially lots of beautiful orchids to view.
Several days later, a friend of mine invited me to take an English tour of Yagoto Temple. It's funny that I never even realized a five story pagoda existed in Nagoya! The temple tour was really interesting, and we were able to take part in a traditional tea ceremony afterwards. I enjoyed it but had a little trouble understanding some of the worship styles explained. For instance, within the temple, individuals can get a stamp card. If an individual goes to the temple to pray seven times for seven months (once a month), they have their card stamped each time. After accumulating seven stamps, one is assured to have a long and prosperous life. Really?! A point card for prayers?

Last weekend, Travis and I took a day trip to Ise, also on our list of places to visit before we leave Japan. In Ise, we visited Mikimoto Pearl Island. We were able to tour the museum, see lady pearl divers and of course see some gorgeous jewelry.

Here we are at the entrance. We had a great day!

At Mikimoto Pearl Island, you can watch lady pearl divers called ama dive hourly. They wear no scuba gear and must have been freezing!

How's this for the cheesiest photo of the year? We actually learned a lot about how Mikimoto pearls are cultured. Did you know that inside every Mikimoto pearl is the shell of a mussel from the Mississippi River? Yep.

We also visited Meota Iwa, known as the sacred rocks of marriage. The larger rock represents a husband and the smaller, a wife.

See, I said we've been busy! And, I didn't even include everything. We're so excited to be moving back home, and we look forward to catching up with all of our friends and family. The move will be bittersweet as it represents the closing of a unique and exciting chapter in our lives. This is experience has far exceeded all of my expectations, and not a day goes by that I don't thank God for this amazing opportunity.

Only a life lived for others is worth living

Upon our return from Hawaii (in the airport actually), we learned that one of our good friends, Dan Shinozaki, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. We were, of course, completely shocked and devastated by the news and immediately began praying for him. We began thinking of ways we could be good friends to him during his battle and began making plans to visit him in the hospital. He was staying in a hospital nearly seven hours away so a quick trip wasn't feasible. Exactly one week and one day after we found out he had been diagnosed with cancer, Dan passed away. As you can imagine, we have been trying to cope with the loss of our friend ever since.

We were able to attend his funeral service at his family's home in Japan. I am so glad we were able to go to the service because it was wonderful to meet his parents and brother and sister. After meeting them and being in their home, it was so easy to see why Dan was such an amazing and kind person. He was the type of person that immediately put you at ease. He always listened attentively and showed genuine interest in others. He was such a kind and caring person, and he's already missed so much. He had a magnet featuring, "Only a life lived for others is worth living," a quote by Albert Einstein. Dan lived those words.

This picture was taken after the 5K last year. Dan is in the middle holding #547. He was planning to run the 5K race with us again this year. We will run it in his honor instead.

I don't know what else to say. I will never understand why things like this happen in life, but I have already learned so much.

You have no guaranteed tomorrow.

Dan would have been 28 this coming Friday.

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'" Psalm 91:1-2

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Kauai...can I go back yet?

It's difficult to express our Hawaii trip in a blog post, but I'll do my best to hit some of the high points of our vacation. I'll start by saying that our trip to Kauai was my favorite vacation to date. It really couldn't have gone better. The weather was great. It was relaxing, and everything fell into place. Travis and I had a great time together, and we were surrounded by the most gorgeous setting I have ever experienced. I'm not sure I've ever felt so strongly about a vacation destination before, but I must say, I don't think it can get any better than Kauai. It's such a unique place. Kauai has gorgeous mountains, canyons, lush green forests, gorgeous beaches and beautiful rivers. You look one direction and you see desert and then turn your head to see the most lush and greenest fields you've ever laid eyes upon. It's just incredible. Mountains to one side and white sandy beaches to the other. I know you think I'm probably exaggerating or getting some sort of a kickback from a tourism association or something, but I really did love it that much.

We stayed in a small condo owned by a couple from Indiana, and it turned out to be the perfect place. We were able to save some serious cash by cooking almost all of our own meals and packing lunches. It was especially fun to finally grill some enormous steaks, too. Staying in a condo was so convenient and far less of a hassle than staying in a hotel. We didn't have to worry about someone cleaning our room everyday, and we had so much more room. It was really great to have a fully supplied kitchen, and we didn't have to constantly think about where we would go for our next meal. I would highly recommend going that route if you want to stick to a budget.

Travis and I enjoyed several different transportation methods on our trip. We traveled by plane (obviously), sailboat, teeny tiny plane, Harley and Chevy Cobalt. Quite a variety, huh?

This is a picture of us with our friendly pilot. We toured the entire island of Kauai by air, and it was breathtaking. I was a little nervous at first, but once we were in the air, I relaxed and had a great time. I think it's worth noting how cute Travis looks in this picture, too. :)

This is a shot of the Napali Coast taken from the airplane. We later were able to see it from a sailboat, too.

One day we rented a Harley to tour the northern part of the island. I'm sure you can imagine whose idea that was. ;) I was pretty terrified for the first hour and did nothing but pray, but after that I relaxed a bit and even had fun. We rode the bike for almost the entire day but had to cut it a little short because of rain. Of course we didn't have any rain gear so we just tried to pretend it wasn't raining. By the way, if you're in a car and you see someone riding a motorcycle in the rain, it's not polite to point and laugh.

One afternoon, we took a sunset cruise down the Napali Coast. We had a wonderful time despite my very poor wardrobe choice. I'm not sure why I thought a short sundress made of lightweight fabric would be a good choice for a cruise along the water. Let's just say our fellow passengers almost got a different kind of whale show. Speaking of whales, though. We saw soo many! It was just amazing. We were close enough to hear them "talking," and we could hear their blowholes. It was just the coolest. They were popping up out of the water all over the place and pulling out their fins to slap the water. It almost looked like they were trying to high five each other. I was too emotional to take any pictures. I refused to take my eyes away from the water so you'll just have to imagine it. It was a dream come true for me.

We also did a lot of hiking during our trip. We didn't tackle any major hikes, but it was a great way to get some exercise and to experience Hawaii. Plus, I was super excited that there are no snakes in Hawaii! It really is heaven on earth.

We spent our last day in Hawaii on the island of Oahu. We flew into Honolulu and met up with one of my friends from high school and his wife. He was nice enough to pick us up from the airport and to drop us back off. We found out the night before that the airport was sold out of rental cars, and if we were able to track one down, it was going to cost $170 for one day! Yikes!

Our first stop in Honolulu was Diamond Head. We climbed to the top of it and enjoyed a great view of Honolulu. There was an impressive mix of cultures there, too. We saw people from all over the world. And, in some cultures, it's apparently okay to take your shirt off when you're hot even if you're only wearing a lacy bra underneath.

We went to Pearl Harbor and climbed around on the U.S.S. Missouri. Since Remington (my high school friend) and his wife, Olga, are both in the Army we were also able to go on a couple of the bases there. It was so interesting, and I think I must have driven them crazy with all of my questions.

To end our vacation, we headed to Waikiki for dinner. We ate at a place called Tiki's. I had some crab and goat cheese macaroni and cheese, and it was scrumptious.

Overall, I'd have to say our trip to Kauai was a perfect vacation. In fact, I think I'm now suffering from some sort of post-Hawaii depression, and I'm worried that the only cure might be more Hawaii!

* I forgot to mention that we celebrated 11 years together on our trip. Isn't that just crazy?

Snow last weekend, sand this weekend!

It seems excessive, and maybe it is, but we're heading to Hawaii today! I found a really good deal a while back, and we're able to use miles for our flight. We're heading to the smallest island, Kauai, and I can hardly wait. I have always wanted to go to Hawaii, and I'm so excited I'm able to have the opportunity. We woke up to snow in Nagoya today so it seems like the timing couldn't be more perfect. And, I've always dreamt of seeing a humpback whale in the wild so please, please, please let that happen! I'll be sure to post pictures soon.