Tsunami Warning

I'm sure everyone has heard about the earthquake in Chile, last night. We were woken abruptly this morning when Carson had received a text from a friend, and he burst into our room saying "a tsunami is going to hit in 30 minutes, we have to get up to higher ground!" We turned on the radio and TV, and sure enough, there was a tsunami warning for all of the east coast of New Zealand. We grabbed a few things, threw them in the car, and headed to MacDonalds for breakfast!

At that point, we had heard from several people that Wainui Beach (were we live), was not likely to be affected. Two other beach areas in Gisborne, however, were evacuated. Civil defense personnel walk through neighborhoods at 4:00 am knocking on doors, and asking people to pack up and move to higher ground. We headed back home, and got ready for church. No mention of the tsunami there. As the day progressed, we watched reports of the tsunami moving across the Pacific, and by this afternoon, the warning was downgraded to an alert.

The tide in front of our place receded to very low levels (lowest we've seen) and then move to very high tide in the space of 10 minutes, and it has done this repeatedly. People are still asked to stay away from the beaches, though there were surfers out there this morning! At the end of the day, it seems no damage has been done, everyone is safe, and we've been reassured that people here take these things seriously. We are thinking of all those people in Chile who have lost loved ones, their homes and everything they own. The end of this day will not bring any such comfort.

The Dairy

A New Zealand icon -- the Dairy. . . just a little convenience store on every other street corner. You can buy milk, bread, lollies, some have groceries, others a fish 'n'chip shop, and of course every one has luxurious NZ ice cream. The best! I heard a middle aged Maori teacher explaining to a kid that in North America, people get in their cars and drive 15 minutes to a "Mall" for a litre of milk! "You can't walk to the dairy over there." Here are the dairies I pass everyday on my 10 minute drive to work.

Near Te Karaka

Stopped on my way home from a school visit for these pics

 

Gone Fushin'

Surf casting with an 18' fishing rod. Happy days

Sheep Shearing day

Professional shearers are hired by farmers to get wool off annually. The shearers are so fast, they can do 2 sheep every minute (or was that 1 sheep every 2 minutes?), and keep at it for a whole 8 hour day! Oh, my back was sore just watching

Abel Tasman

The New Zealand roads are crazy! The windiest you've ever seen. They even managed to make the boys queasy.

What is it?

A Lamington Log! I know it doesn't look like food, but . . .

Bungy anyone?

Here's the closest I'll ever get to bungy jumping -- watching! A 50 meter bridge. You could choose a "dry jump" (you don't hit the water), a finger tip dip or a plunge. Bungy is like some kind of rite of passage for kiwi's. Lucky I'm Canadian.

North Island

 

Central Otago, Blue Lake

 
A man made lake that was the result of years of hydrolic mining - called "sluicing"?!

Parachute!

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Carson here;

We were lucky enough to get to go to Parachute Music Festival; the biggest Christian Music Festival in the Southern Hemisphere. Somewhere around 25,000 people came to Mystery Creek, just outside of Hamilton, to sample the many bands playing throughout the weekend. Did I sound enough like a news broadcaster there? I did my best.

Anyways, we saw a bunch of great bands. Lieutenant Funk, Rapture Ruckus, Leeland [phenomenal], Kingston [abysmal], NewWorldSon [energetic and Canadian], Family Force 5 [Much to crunk for Mum and Dad], and Switchfoot [The Best]

To the West Coast

We had to stop for sheep on the highway to the west coast. Only in NZ

Central Otaga Rail Trail

Pickards took us on a great walk (boys biked, we walked) on the Rail Trail. We only did a few kms, but you could go for 150! Next time!

Queenstown

We did some more site seeing in this very trendy, tourist-y place. The guys played a round of disc golf in the Queenstown gardens. . . a very funky and challenging course. Challenging because it was set on a slope, and if your disc started to role, it landed in the lake!

On to Central Otago

We visited the Pickards, near Alexandra, and spent three great days in the Central Otago area. Great, serene expanses of farm land.

More South Island photos

Dunedin was one of our favourite cities to visit. Strongly influenced by the Scottish, lots of beautiful architecture, great character, set on the side of the hills looking down onto the Otago Harbour. We said often that we wished we had more time to explore some of these beautiful places!