Re-entry is hard

First Day in New Zealand

Last Day in New Zealand

We made it home! It was both exciting and overwhelming to be back to our normal lives here in Oregon. The boys went back to school after a morning of sleeping in and right away were busy catching up with friends, doing school work and swimming and lacrosse practices. Jackson had a lacrosse game the second day we were home! There really was no easy way to do the transition. It was kind of like ripping off a band-aid.  But a week later things feel more settled. There's still mail to be sorted through, a few outstanding school projects and getting up to speed on junior high planning, but we are all doing well.
      The trip was nicely timed. We left Fall and came back to Spring! Flowers are blooming everywhere and the sun is out...not a bad time to be back in Oregon. The one thing I miss like crazy is the view of the water. At our rental house, driving to the grocery store, taking the ferry to Auckland....just about everywhere you go in New Zealand, there's a view of that beautiful blue water.

This nicely captures Jim's sabbatical experience!

Another good sabbatical moment

 New Zealand was a great spot for a sabbatical trip that was both adventuresome and relaxing. It was an easy country to explore with so many unique and beautiful areas. We didn't have a language barrier though at times the accent wasn't easy to understand. It was fun learning all the New Zealand names for things....togs/swimsuits, torch/flashlight, chilly bin/cooler, chockers/full, boot/car trunk, jandals/flip-flops. It was more ethically diverse than I imagined.....so many different nationalities in one country. I liked that just in our little neighborhood there was quite a mix of Maori/Pacific Islanders, Asian and Indian families. Probably the only small negative was the food. To be fair, this was not a foodie kind of trip so I can't say we really tried to find good restaurants.  However, the baked goods left something to be desired! (Most bread tasted like really cheap French bread). On the plus side...ice cream!!! So much good ice cream!! It's a good thing we were all pretty active during the trip because we certainly ate our fair share of that wonderful New Zealand specialty...hokey pokey ice cream. We look forward to more travel adventures as a family. The boys may be a little behind in school but they'll catch up. And the education we all received in exploring New Zealand is priceless.....or, as they say in NZ, truly "sweet as"!

And finally, Raglan

Our mini trip was to Raglan, a little surf town about 2 1/2 hours from Auckland. It was featured in the 1966 surf movie, Endless Summer and is known for having the longest left hand break in the world. I'm not exactly sure what that means but basically it means very good surfing conditions.  We rented a little house high up on the hill above town. It had a small view of the Tasman Sea and was surrounded by exotic plants and trees and chirping birds. We heard lots of tuis which are native New Zealand birds that have the ability to mimic many different sounds. They also have 2 voice boxes so they are interesting to listen to. (I really need to do a separate post all about NZ birds!).  Anyway, back to Raglan. The town is a quintessential laid back surf town. There are just enough stores and cafes to make it a fun destination. But as with most New Zealand places, the natural beauty steals the show.

The boys did a surfing lesson.

Jackson did really well!

Father son bonding.

Another attempt at a nice photo...look at Jackson's face.Grrr!

Looking out across the Tasman Sea.

A common expression here...something good is "sweet as" .

 

Baches and Hiking on Rangitoto

One more thing on our New Zealand "To-Do" list was to take the ferry to Rangitoto Island and hike to the top. Rangitoto is a volcano that erupted here 600 years ago. There's no worry in eruptions happening anytime soon, according to local vulcanologists.(Side note: there are quite a few vulcanologists in the Auckland area and they are regularly featured in the local paper!).  

A trip to Rangitoto isn't complete without an understanding of the history of the baches or beach houses on the island. There are about 35 "baches" or beach houses left here from a time when there was a lively community of New Zealanders living on the island. The baches were built in the 1920s and 1930s and prison labor built roads, pathways and even tennis courts. Bach owners formed a tight knit community throughout many generations. By 1937 there were 140 baches in three different areas on the island.  There was quite a busy social scene here for a while. There were community dances, film nights, fishing contests and tennis tournaments. There were even holiday traditions like Santa arriving on a boat, dress parades and carols with the island's very own band.    It sounds like an amazing time, but sadly it wouldn't last. Because the baches were built on public land, many people began to question the legality of their existence. There was also concern about the impact on the island's flora and fauna. Initially bach owners were given a time frame of 20 years to remove the structures. In 1956, another review was conducted and this time bach owners were given the right to keep the structures for the lifetime of the current lease owners.

Many leases expired in the 70s and 80s and baches were torn down until only 35 remained. By this point, some wise individuals realized there was historical value to the baches and the destruction was halted. The future is still uncertain but as it stands now, the baches will remain until there aren't any remaining family members to take over ownership. At some point the baches may be turned over to the DOC (Department of Conservation) but for now they remain in use by families, mostly for summer activities.     

 As you can see in the photos, the baches are small! They do not have electricity, water is collected from the roof and the toilets are rustic. Cooking is done with bottled gas, a wood range or open fire.  But I imagine there are many wonderful memories shared by the owners and they are still a very magical place to be in the summer. 

Here are some photos from the hike....

The start of the hike is on pathways. It turns into a steep trail near the top.

There are lava tubes carved out by the eruption so of course there was exploring!

The view at the top was amazing.

One of the lava fields. You can see Jackson and Sean peeking over the top.

Volcano facts!

Muriwai Round Two

Before our time in New Zealand is over, we are trying to go back to our favorite places near Auckland. Muriwai beach was at the top of our list. It's a gorgeous wide open beach with the black sand found at several west coach beaches. Plus it has rocky cliffs with pathways to explore and also is the spot where the gannets have their nesting colony. Unfortunately, it was also the scene of a shark attack about a month ago. We all went in the water for some boogie boarding but stayed fairly close to shore.