ANZ Days 15 & 16: Auckland, NZ

We had to set our alarm today since we had to be out of our room at 8am, eating breakfast before 8:30, and in the theater to wait for our disembarkation announcement by 9am. Getting off the ship was fairly easy, getting our bags was a bit wild, and exiting the holding area was downright crazy! Thankfully my friend, M, was ready and waiting for us as soon as we got out! We loaded up her car and headed for her house to spend the last day or so of our vacation before we had to go back to China.

At M's the kids made instant friends with her two boys, who are a year older than C & K. The kids played while the adults chatted and it was time for lunch before we knew it! P and M suggested Mexican and didn't have to twist our arms at all!

Driving to lunch

After a yummy lunch we walked to the beach for more chatting and playing, then onto another playground (you'd think we were traveling around the world trying to set some kind of record or something!) where there was more chatting and playing. After that it was time for ice cream- yum! On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store for a field trip (and to pick up some things for dinner). It's always fun to check out the grocery store in a new place. They had dinner rolls! I was tempted to buy them and bring them back to China with me :). We did pick up some candy for Xiao Tao and Mr. Mao. Dinner was burgers and hot dogs on the grill (I'm not sure if it's the "Barbie" in NZ) and more fellowship! Saturday morning was more of the same with some more packing in the mix. The kids also enjoyed playing wii together while we were there.

It seems like we get to end lots of our trips these days visiting old friends before we come back home. I like it that way :). This whole trip has been a huge blessing and a wonderful experience! I can't deny, though, that it's going to be nice to sleep in our own beds! Thanks for following along on our adventure down under!

New Wheels

I've got some new wheels!

Ok, they're for the family.  We're all really excited!  We got our very own motorized rickshaw (aka tuktuk, aka pedicab) from some good friends (who were also our neighbors) who are repatriating this summer.

Isn't it just screaming 4th of July parade at the lake?!?  We think we may be able to bring it home at the end of our time in Shanghai, but ultimately, we'll have to wait and see.  (People who don't know about the lake think it looks like an Ice Cream Truck, by the way!)

It will mostly be used to get around the neighborhood (to school!) on rainy days, but I may get brave enough to take it outside for short distances.  I had to drive it about 10 miles to get it from our old house (where we bought it) to our new house (pictures to come).  By the way, these pictures were both taken this week.  I just picked it up last Thursday!  It's just been very cool here.  At least until yesterday when it jumped to humid and 90 - yuck!

Whether it comes home to Michigan or we just have it while we're here, I'm sure we're going to get our money's worth.  So far it's a big hit!

(P.s. For those of you wondering, this is the shirt I made back in March.)

ANZ: Cruise Critters

I've got one more post to do about our last stop on the cruise, but since the next post is after we disembark, I thought I'd take this chance to show you who we shared our room with during the cruise:

ANZ Day 14: Tauranga, NZ (1/3/2013)

Today we were supposed to take our last shore excursion, but we ended up canceling it because of the lunch issue. I talked to the people at the shore excursions desk about my issues with not being able to get lunch and they weren't able to do anything to help me, but they did offer to refund my money. I was pretty disappointed :(. We did try to make the best of the day, however, by getting a little extra sleep and then heading into town. We were actually docked in a small town right next door to Tauranga, Mount Maunganui. We strolled through the shops, dropping in here and there and checking out the incredibly high price tags! Things are not cheap in New Zealand! We hiked up a path to see if we could see a blow hole. When we got to the top, we weren't sure where to look, but it was a nice view!

Can you se M sitting on the rocks?

His view of us!

We love to hike :)

In front of "The Mount"

We did see some water smashing into the rocks and spraying up. It was fun, regardless. After the hike we promised the kids we would stop at the playground for a while.

They were happy to let off some steam. I watched K dive onto a moving merry-go-round. Maybe I'm wrong about her career as a politician and she's actually going to be a stunt woman or action movie star! We then made our way back into town and had lunch at Burger Fuel. The burgers were good and they had these cool cardboard holders so the "stuff" won't fall out of your burger! We were all fascinated with them!

"Doofer" is the name of the cardboard holder, not the burger.

L&P is a lemony New Zealand soda pop

  

Once we got back on the ship there was some nap/play/packing time. We had to have our bags in the hall by 11pm, so I had my work cut out for me.

Our laundry at the end of the cruise!

On our way to dinner we stopped at one of the shops onboard and bought some inexpensive glass figurines to remember our trip. They weren't made at the hot glass show, but that's ok! Our last dinner was nice. The kids bought presents for Joel & Nikola - a 3-in-1 laser pointer/flashlight/pen. Can you guess who picked it out? C was sure Joel would want to use it right away for writing down our orders and pointing to the chef's recommendation! We had pictures with Joel & Nikola and the kids gave Joel a kiss at his request.

Our waiter, Joel

Our assistant waiter, Nikola

Once again, I'm so glad our family doesn't have to make the heart-wrenching kind of decision that Joel's does. We skipped the show tonight and headed straight to bed. At least, that's where the kids went. I had plenty of work left to do!