A trip to Mordor

Last weekend we went down to Taupo. We had beautiful weather there - it had that autumn crispness in the air that just makes you want to drink apple cider and eat halloween candy.

While there we visited with one of Noah's collaborators (Matt) - a microbial ecologist who studies hotsprings. So, of course we got the deluxe tour of a hotspring complex near Taupo with his family and members of his lab group.

We crossed the river and took a hike around the geothermal area.

Of course - we had a temperature probe along with us to get some readings (microbial ecologists are embarrassing like that). That is not a fogged lens - there was a lot of steam in the air - life a sulfurous sauna covered in awesome microbes.

Boiling mud pits! A perfect place for a 4-year old.

Alas - we made it out alive without boiling the children.

Matt has 2 kids - and the 3 L's (Luna, Luca, and Lily) got along very well. The highlight of Luna's trip to Taupo was playing with the kids and going to the 4-acre kiddie pool in town that was heated to bath temperature (the advantage of abundant geothermal energy).

The Taupo area is incredibly beautiful - lots of stunning mountains and rivers. The color of NZ waters never ceases to amaze.

We can't believe we only have one month left here. 

Chumming the waters

Yesterday, the owner of the house we are renting took me (Noah) out fishing. It was nice to get out in the Tasman Sea and see the coastline from another angle.

Unfortunately the photos from the fishing expedition are not too impressive given that I spent a good chunk of time hanging over the side of the boat barfing my guts out. Evidently old salty Kiwis find it hilarious to see the guy from Colorado holding back the dry heaves while cutting bait fish in a 5 foot swell.

Fortunately we caught some red snapper and lemon sharks (which we did not keep). Here is Luna enjoying the snapper - it was tasty - almost worth the hours of nausea required to catch it.

Birthday!

Luna is now 4 years old! She had an awesome birthday, made even more awesome because Grandma and Grandpa McKenzie traveled all the way from Ohio to see us here in the middle of the South Pacific.

The weather wasn't the best while they were here, but we still managed to get around to visit the local beaches. When in Rome....

Luna loved having her grandparents here - she played the tour guide and introduced grandma and grandpa to all the local flora, fauna, and geologic wonders. She has already learned the first lesson of academia (when you don't know what you are talking about, just say it loudly and with confidence).

Of course, she also had to show off her sand dune surfing skillz.

Birthday morning!

Gifts included all sorts of magical unicorns and a special greenstone necklace from Grandpa.

Luna has already informed us that she is now a 'big girl' and will 'soon be a teenager because 4 is almost 14'. Dear God.

Luna shared her birthday party at the beach with Maia, her best friend here in NZ (in the red sweater). Maia and Luna have the same birthday and they share the same friends, so it worked out perfectly. The party was interrupted by a brief rainstorm, but that didn't stop the cake-fueled festivities.

Here are Maia and Luna dancing to "Love is in the Air" at school.

South Island - part 2

Our days were pretty mellow (befitting a vacation in the middle of a sabbatical) but we still managed to fit in lots of fun stuff.

We went to Abel Tasman National Park to explore some beautiful beaches.

The hiking wasn't too shabby either

One beach even came with a dinosaur cave:

complete with a velociraptor

Time to get back on the boat and head to our campsite -

where Luna hosted a feeding frenzy party

Other days were spent checking out the wildlife (seals just north of Kaikoura)

There was even a rogue panda spotted in a grassland

Panda snuggling with her mom while waiting for the sun to set:

Of course, lots of time was spent exploring various other beaches around NZ:

After all that exploration - it is time for some yoga in the middle of the road

South Island - part 1

We just got back from a 10-day trip to the South Island. We flew to Christchurch and then did a circumnavigation of the northern part of the island. It was spectacular - every time we got in the campervan to drive to another campsite, we were treated to incredible views.

This was our campervan - essentially a converted minivan. Noah crammed himself into the pop top - like a mermaid in a clam shell. Val and Luna snuggled below.

According to Luna - her two favorite cars are "Our campervan and a Dodge Viper". She told us we should check the campervan in with the luggage and send it back to Colorado with us on the airplane.

We stayed in some pretty nice campsites. Here is one in the Marlborough Sounds

... and one south of Blenheim on the Pacific Coast.

Some of the campsites came complete with a trampoline - which Luna calls a 'jumpoline' and Dad calls a 'hyper-active child containment facility'.

Of course no campsite was complete without every camper's best friend - a bottle of local sauvignon blanc.

The views weren't too shabby either - here is the scene from one of our campsites in the Marlborough Sounds (and, no, the rainbow wasn't photoshopped in).

The weather was generally pretty good, but a cyclone did roll through NZ while we were there so we spent a day and a half holed up in Nelson. We still managed to do a rainy tour of a local Japanese garden.

Another weekend at the beach

This weekend we went to Ruapuke Beach about 20 km south of Raglan. Just another in a long line of stunning and deserted beaches. It had a beautiful stream winding through the beach sand - a perfect place for Luna to spend hours pretending that she is a T-rex hunting a turtle.

Also a good place for Luna to practice her surfing technique. 

Back in Raglan to watch Noah working on his newest obsession (standup paddleboarding) from the porch of our house.

Microbes and Mowgli in the Big City

We are about to head out for 10 days of camping on the south island of NZ so I thought it would be a good time to clear out the backlog and post up some misc. photos from our past few weeks.

We went to Auckland about 2 weeks ago to attend a microbial ecology meeting (a.k.a. nerd-fest). The organizers put us up in a very nice hotel suite. Can't complain about the view from our hotel room...

... nor did Luna complain about the bed/trampoline in her room.

Toddlers and scientific meetings are usually a bad combination, but Luna was awesome (and was probably better behaved than her father). She even attended some of the talks and managed to stay awake (with help from the Jungle Book).

Then it was time to visit a city park so Luna could pretend she was Mowgli escaping the tiger .

Auckland is really a beautiful city. Great food and scenery with fountains for baptizing a beloved blankie.