Chinese New Year Celebration

Today was a pretty low key day. We cleaned, read some books, and watch some TV. Erin also made a Beef and Barley Soup and I went to the gym. The rain stopped and the sun came out later in the day and we headed up to Albert Park to the Chinese New Year Lantern Festival. There were a ton of food vendors and we ate a bunch of food, and walked around and looked at the various lanterns. It was a good time overall. We saw some monkey lanterns and I think our niece Avery would have loved them and thought that they looked like Curious George or 'George' as she calls him.

Leaving Auckland

Friday morning was pretty low key and my parents and I just walked around to a few final shops in Auckland to buy a few more things. We also made it up to Albert Park to look at the Chinese Lantern festival which was to celebrate the Chinese New Year (It's the year of the rat in case you didn't know).

We met up with Erin for some lunch at Degree and then we headed to the airport. My parents flight schedule was very complicated and had many rules. Because of this, they had to fly back to Queenstown on Friday and then on Saturday fly back to Auckland on their way to the US. The weather was great for their final days in Queenstown on Friday and Saturday. Erin and I headed to the airport on Saturday afternoon to pick them up for 1 last meal prior to their departure for LA. They had about a 4 hour layover, so we went to a restaurant close by to ensure that they wouldn't miss their flight. We had a very tasty meal at an Irish Pub and then brought them back to the airport.

We had a great time traveling around with them for the week and are looking forward to our next guests' arrival. Who's coming next?

Sights around Auckland

Today was yet another very busy day down here in Auckland. Although it didn't entail any parasailing (with shoes), lighthouses, or complaints about meals, we had a great day. Erin was unable to join us for the day's events as she had to work and bring in the $$. The 3 of us headed out of the city to Piha beach which is on the West Coast (Tasman Sea).

It was a beautiful day and my Dad and I climbed up Lion Rock on the beach and we all enjoyed the very soft black sand.

We then headed back to a few of the volcano cones around Auckland and spent some time at One Tree Hill which is in Cornwall Park as well as Mt. Eden. All of the locations provided great views of the city and surrounding areas. We were very hungry and went to Mission Bay where we stopped at the Belgium Beer Cafe to have a few drinks and lunch.

Today was a special day in Auckland as the Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship docked on it's final cruise of it's almost 40 year sailing life. It has sailed over 5.5 million nautical miles. We took some pictures and watched it leave port. We went to about 10-15 different shops throughout the city and my parents ended up buying some souveniers. We decided that tomorrow, which is their last day in Auckland, we would hit some more stores and spend some more money.

We ended the day with dinner at the top of the Sky Tower which is 328 meters high, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere, the 12th largest in the world, and a building that I have jumped from (do you remember that blog entry)? All of our meals were great and we enjoyed the views of the city, harbor, and the cruise ships.

Adventure in the Bay of Islands

Sunday morning began with a quick video call with Carrie, Charles, and Avery on Skype and then the 4 of us piled into the car with our stuff for a four day adventure to the Northland of New Zealand. Our first stop was at the Parry Kauri Park where we took a short walk through the woods and saw a HUGE Kauri tree which was over 800 years old. We made it to Whangarei ('Wh' is pronounced with an F) where we stopped for lunch and Dad had a few complaints about his sandwich as he asked for the cheese to be removed, but it appeared that they forgot. Arriving in Pahia around 2pm we checked into our 2 bed/2 bath apartment which had 2 huge balconies over looking the water and the wharf, it was AMAZING! We headed over to Russell which was a 10 minute ferry ride across the bay where we saw the oldest Church in New Zealand and had a couple drinks at the first Pub.



On Monday morning we jumped on the Mack Attack boat which took us 15 miles out to the Hole in the Rock which doesn't sound too great but sure is amazing. We then headed to Keri Keri and learned about the olden days and went into a bunch of shops looking for chocolate, fudge, and other various goods. Today's lunch was interesting as we went to a stone grill place where we are responsible for cooking the food on our own. When Dad's meal arrived he looked very nervous and said "My chicken isn't cooked!" After we explained to him again, he calmed down, but he wanted to send his food right back to the kitchen.



At night, we went to a great Maori cultural show and I was chosen to be one of the chiefs. I was responsible for leading the group to the show and greating the warriors before entering. After entering I was also responsible for performing the Maori greeting which entails touching noses with the chief male and female Maori's. The show was outstanding and we all had a wonderful time learning about their culture.
On Tuesday we headed north of Paiha and had a day filled with various adventures. The adventures included:
-walking and surfing down giant sand dunes
-eating lunch on a huge beach by ourselves
-Cape Reinga Lighthouse
-The meeting of the Tasman and South Pacific Oceans
-Driving on 90 mile beach
-Eathing Fish and Chips at the famous shop in Mongonui




Wednesday was unfortunatly our last day up north, but we all wanted to make sure that we finished our adventures up strong. All 4 of us went Parasailing. Erin and I have had previous experience with this in Hawaii, but not my parents. They showed a little nervousness as we headed to the boat, but were the first pair to go 1200 feet in the air and did GREAT! (They both loved it as well).




We started our drive back south and stopped at a cave where we saw glow worms, stalactites, and stalagmites. Our stomachs started to get hungry so we stopped for another meal in Whangarei. Similar to other meals my Dad was slightly unsatisfied with his meal as he ordered a plain pizza, but got an "everything" pizza. So I decided to eat it, and ended up getting a little sick. I powered through and we made the lovely drive back home to Auckland for a few more days of fun.

Stay tuned for the rest of our fun. "Hello to all of our friends" love, Wendy and Paul

First 2 days with M&D Ciaccia

My parents arrived safe and sound on Friday afternoon. Their luggage was one of the first ones off the plane and we headed back into the city to drop stuff off at our apartment before heading to dinner. We had dinner plans with some of our friends and we didn't want to be late for that.

Although we had a few problems with getting the correct meals to our table, we had a very nice 3 hour meal and decided to head back into the Viaduct. 8 of us made our way to Minus 5 which is an ice bar. (Erin and I went here probably about 4 months ago) We bundled up in winter jackets, boots, and gloves and headed into the bar. The cups were made out of ice and we had a fun time seeing all of the ice sculptures, etc.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and headed to both PwC and Hudson to give them a brief tour of our places of work. We then hopped on the ferry over to Waiheke. We spent the day on the island hitting numerous vineyards and tasting A LOT of wines. The weather cooperated pretty well for the day, but we had a few passing showers that came through, but for the most part the weather was great.




We made it back to Auckland and just relaxed at our apartment for the rest of the night. Now it's time to get ready for our trip to the Bay of Islands...

Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day! Down here in New Zealand it's still a pretty big event, but there isn't nearly as much marketing surrounding it or as much candy in the stores to be sold. None the less, the restaurants were packed and the florists were very busy charging very high prices for roses. Erin and I went out to have some "Fresh Asian" food at a new restaurant called Chow. It was great!

In addition to that our night was spent cleaning and doing laundry to prepare for the arrival of Mom and Dad Ciaccia tomorrow. They are enjoying their last night with their tour group in Queenstown and have a flight up here to Auckland tomorrow afternoon. We are looking forward to their arrival and have a great dinner with a bunch of friends planned for tomorrow night at a restaurant called Pontoon.

Cricket time

On Tuesday night I (Jeremy) went with a bunch of people from my work to see a Cricket match. It was New Zealand Black Caps vs. England.

Cricket is a very interesting game which appears very confusing when looking at the score and watching a little bit of a game, but in actuality it's not too difficult to understand. After asking a bunch of questions, I finally understood "most" of the rules. Cricket matches can last for days, but we went to a 20/20 cricket match which usually lasts about 3 hours. Unfortunately NZ couldn't pull out the win, but it was a great experience and I will be looking forward to attending another one in the near future.

Hopefully I will be able to convince Erin to come along to the next one.

Day 12 - Up up and Away!

We woke up for our last day of vacation hoping that we would be able to finish things off with a hot air balloon ride. I called the hotline and...Yes! The flight was still on. We hurried to get ready and meet our team to prepare for the ride. When you ride in a balloon, there is more than just riding involved. We helped to prepare everything. Jeremy was in charge of the high powered fan.

Upon takeoff we were gently lifted into the air. It was amazing how quickly we rose. Above the trees, above the clouds, pretty soon we were up, up, and away - 5000 feet off the ground and rising!
The ride was calm and scenic. We made a safe landing in a local farmer's pasture and finished the flight with a champagne toast and a Balloonists Prayer from 19th Century Ireland:

May the wind welcome you with softness

May the sun bless you with his warm hands

May you fly so high and so well

God joins you in laughter

And may He set you gently back again

Into the loving arems of Mother Earth

We then headed back to the hotel to pack our bags for our flight back to Auckland! This wraps up our first trip of 2008. We had an amazing time filled with experiences we will never forget. We are glad we could share some pictures and stories with you. Stay tuned for many more adventures. Coming soon...Auckland and Northland with Wendy and Paul!