NZ part 2

After a fun but quick weekend in Hamilton, we continued on with our road trip around the North Island. 

We woke up early to drive down to the famous glow worm caves in Waitomo. 

There was a series of 3 caves- the first famous for it's glow worms, and the last two had many staligtites and staligmite formations and rivers to admire. 

We learned a lot about the glow worms and their life cycle before we took a boat through the densely populated cave. It was definitely one of the most peaceful things as we sat in the boat on the smooth dark, black water in absolute quiet looking up at the glowing worms. God is real.

After the glow worms, we headed to the other caves to admire all the amazing rock formations.

The cool thing about New Zealand is that there are soooo many natural wonders everywhere you drive. Every day we pulled off the side of the road for a quick 5 minute walk to an arch, waterfall or lake. 

Close to the glow worm caves was the huuuuuge natural arch... so big you can't fit it all in a picture, so our pictures from the short walk will have to do. 

Also close to the glow worm caves was one of the prettiest waterfalls I've ever seen! 

 It looks almost too perfect and man made... but it's not. I could have stared at it all day!

We spent the night in Taupo- right next to the giant Lake Taupo in the middle of the island. It was a cute town, and again we had the nicest AirBnB. The New Zealanders were so hospitable.

In the morning we woke up to take a sail boat on the crystal clear lake to see the Maori Rock carving.

 It was a very comfortable boat, and we enjoyed just sitting back and taking in all the scenery.

Not too mention how amazingly cool is that rock carving?

After the sailing, we did a little bit of shopping, and ate the yummiest Gyros. 

Outside of Taupo are the very powerful Huka Falls. 

The water was so incredibly turquoise it was unbelievable!

We made it back on the road and headed an hour north to Rotorua. Rotorua is full of sulfur hot springs... so it's a little smelly. It's also full of many Maori cultural centers. So we spent the night with one of the Maori tribes, eating their traditional meals they cook in the ground from the hot springs, and enjoying a show. 

After Rotorua, we headed back to Auckland and spent the day shopping, eating and taking in the views of the city. 

And of course the stock exchange!

We took the short hike up to Mount Eden for great views of the city and burbs.

Some of the best times were just sitting at dinner with my in-laws talking about the gospel. 

Such a fun trip that I won't forget! 

NZ part 1

Seriously so behind... but oh well. 

Last but not least we made it to Kiwiland(aka my new name for New Zealand)!

Lee and Susanne were waiting for us at the airport in their full on traditional garb with cameras in hand, it was the cutest.

We had our bags ready to go, and jetted off to the Coromandel, on the East Coast.
But first... ice cream.

Salted Caramel/birthday cake was heavenly.

The only time we ran into Mormons they entire trip was our very first day... and at the Pokeno ice cream shop. One of the groups was even from Salt Lake! Sure is a small world in the church.

Our first stop in NZ was the Coromandel Coast. It's the Northeast Coast of New Zealand. 

We stayed in the cutest AirBnB... actually all the AirBnB's in New Zealand were amazing, and the hosts were all soooo kind. 

Lee and Susanne needed towels though for our beach adventures so the store was our first stop. Wish I coulda taken this cute guy home with me :)

We spent the evening eating out and walking along the most shelly beach I have ever seen! 

^This was just a sample of a small one foot area! It was so cool, and we found so many spiral shapes, and colorful shells. 

We took a bright yellow sailing catamaran out on the coast the next morning. 

We cruised up the coast on the green waters and admired the tall white rocky cliffs and saw the gorgeous Cathedral Cove. Mostly all video on the gopro because Aar and I get anxiety with our phones close to water like that. 

I was a little bummed the Hamilton temple was closed for cleaning, but that meant Lee and Susanne had more time to visit with us! It was a pretty temple on a hill overlooking NZ farmlands on the outskirts of the city. 

Luckily church was at 9 am so after church we had the rest of the afternoon to explore. So we trekked to Bridal Veil falls... and then Raglan Beach.

See where it gets the name Bridal Veil?

Raglan Beach was on the West Coast of the North Island, about an hour away from Lee and Susanne's house. It was such a big flat beach! It was gorgeous though! The same green water, tons of shells and plenty of room to spread out!

Aaaand to top it all off, Lee let me test out driving the car on the right side... only in the parking lot, but it was still so fun!

Bula Fiji!

After 3 days in Sydney, we jetted off to Fiji!

Since we were there for only 4 days, we decided to stay on the Coral Coast of the main island Viti Levu. Although I've heard the other small islands are awesome, I didn't want to spend the time plane hopping and driving.

We flew into Nadi, and drove down to the Beachouse where we stayed during our time there.

 It was a beautiful resort... right on the beach with plenty of hammocks to lounge in and the perfect pool. 

It was awesome and low key... but almost too low key. We had a hard time getting the resort tour guides to take us anywhere... even after offering a hefty amount of money. The Fijians were pretty flakey when it came to helping us with anything. We have too many funny stories of trying to go snorkeling, deep sea fishing or taking supplies to the local village.

 I was a little bummed it was rainy and overcast during our time there.

I couldn't appreciate the crystal clear water in full splendor without the sun peaking out.

We still enjoyed it as much as we could.

We hung out on the hammocks lining the beach way too much.

Climbed up the palm trees.

Drank coconut water straight out of the fruit.

Kayaked and snorkeled.

The water was incredibly warm and comfortable, wish it was like that on the West Coast here in the states!

We didn't love the food in Fji.

 ^This was the breakfast we had every day. Buuuut at least they had normal Diet Coke!

They had the prettiest sea shells, and I'm kicking myself that I didn't save any to bring home.

We took a day trip to Suva- Fiji's capital. Mostly so Aaron could visit the stock exchange and take a picture. Everywhere we go, he likes to visit the stock exchange so he can put that picture on the map. Nerdy.. but cool.

 They were the nicest there and took us right into their meeting room and explained to us how everything there works. They would have talked to us all day if we let them. Very interesting, but a good reminder of how great the US is!

We also stopped by the Suva temple. It was a cute little temple that stuck out the moment we walked around the curvy road.

Our last day in Fiji, we finally made it out snorkeling at the resort reef! I'm so glad Aaron finally got to snorkel, we had so much fun! 

And of course the day we flew out the weather was perfectly sunny!

Down Unda

We are finally back in the groove of "normal life" after our 2 week long trip down under. 

We had thee best time, and there's nothing like a vacation to places with humble circumstances or different cultures to remind you how great the USA is, and specifically HOME. 

We started our trip in Sydney Australia, and I have to say it was our favorite destination of our trip. We loved Sydney and can you tell why? 

Sydney Harbour was our favorite! Views of the Opera House and the Bridge were the best! Our AirBnB was about a 10-15 minute walk so each night we would walk around the harbour for the views and gelato. 

After we settled in we did the Coogee to Bondi beach walk to curb our jet lag. Jet lag to Australia was not near as bad as Europe... during our entire trip we were anywhere from 18- 20 hours ahead of Utah time, so it was definitely doable.

The Coogee to Bondi walk may have been my absolute favorite thing about Sydney.

Our first day in a new country and we lounged from beach to beach to beach along the towering green cliffs. Not sure if there is anything better.

We started at Sunny Coogee for a dip and walked along the path.

Each corner we walked around there was a new vantage point, a new beach, new pools and new emerald green water.

With the beach alongside the cliffs and sprawling homes scattered everywhere, it reminded me a lot of La Jolla, CA.

Coogee to Bondi is 4ish kilometers. We almost made it to Bondi, but ran into a pretty big thunderstorm, so we had a milkshake at a beachside cafe and Ubered back to rest.

But right before the storm, I captured one this picture below... one of my favorites.

We ventured over the Harbour Bridge for some more great Opera House and harbour views.

Walked through the Rocks Market.

Visted the stock exchange.

Went on a dinner cruise around the harbour on a gray night.

Took a ferry out to Manly and Shelly Beach.

It was gray and dim while we are at the beach, but right as we left the sun showed up.. of course! 

We had to try one of Australia's meat pies... they were okay, but I think I'll pass next time.

And ate wayyy too many "chips" aka french fries. 

I lucked out and there was plenty of normal Diet Coke everywhere we went. 

Hope to make it back to Syndey one day!