Labour Day Weekend and Taylor's Mistake Part 2

Jocelyn pushing her limits and climbing the ladder down to the ocean




Bumble Bee in the flowers/moss that seemed to be growing on all the hills and rocks


Mussels growing on the rocks








Trey exploring down by the ocean


Trey after climbing down to the ocean









Look for Trey in the bottom left


Rocks in the cave - one of the detours


Cave outline looking out to the ocean


Trey sitting on the bench that was inside one of the caves


Exploring the cave


Jocelyn inside the cave










Para sailor



This past weekend even though we were meant to go with friends to Lake Tekapo we decided to stay in Christchurch and enjoy what we have close by.

Friday we found a sushi place by our house. Strangely Kiwis eat sushi that consists of cooked chicken and tuna salad but the Japanese woman working at the restaurant spotted that we were Americans because we ordered the raw maki rolls. They were soooo good! We enjoyed the rolls with some beer on our balcony which was really relaxing.

Saturday we did some shopping and Sunday we drove out to Taylor's Mistake again to do the detours on the hike that we didn't have a chance to do last time. We brought snacks and just enjoyed the outdoors together. It is still crazy to think that we actually live here. It really puts things in perspective when you have scenery around all the time that is so incredible and peaceful.

Monday we slept in and Trey surprised Jocelyn with breakfast in bed with strawberry champagne!!! He even garnished it with a strawberry. Good man - he knows that if he wakes Jocelyn up before 10am on a "weekend" he better bring the bubbly!



It was truly a perfect weekend. In 3 weeks we are off to Sydney. We are going to be planning our itinerary over the next few weeks and are doing research on restaurants in Sydney so they can splurge one night on a gourmet meal :)

The meat in the sandwich.........

Drinks at Liquidity on Oxford Terrace


Dinner at our new place with Mark and Lily


Joc & Lily


Kissy face


Joc and Lily before a night on the town


Hanging out at Liquidity


Dancing at Boogie Nights downtown


Too much dancing!!!! :)

Hello or Kia Ora from New Zealand!

It has been a busy few weeks but we are settling nicely into our new home. It really does feel like a home. It is good to be residing on Peterborough Street again! Simply a world away is all!

Last weekend we had some friends over for dinner. It was nice to be able to host people in our place. Jocelyn made lamb ragu' and eggplant parm and our guests brought onion dip, salad and a paeaches and cream trifle for dessert. Mmmmm We were able to pair the meal nicely with the Pinot Noir we purchased on Jocelyn's birthday from Pegasus Bay winery. We highly recommend the wine for those who like sweet reds!

We finally took this past weekend to relax and just enjoy our new surroundings. We are working our way into summer here and can't say that we are missing Boston too much after hearing about October snow fall!!! No thank you! :)

Work is still going well for both of us although one of Trey's pieces he ordered is apparently stuck in customs! Apparently Trey will need to get a customs agent to fill out paperwork before they will release it. I guess Trey will just need to wait a little longer to rule the world! :)

As for Jocelyn she is still at hairyLemon and enjoying it. Times are tough though and the recession seems to be hitting hard here now. Conversations that many Americans had last Winter I feel like companies here in NZ are having now. People are pretty stressed though not quite American-stressed - still stressed. She would like to get something permanent event related and is still working on it but is quite content for now. We are both enjoying walking to work together for a half hour each morning.

Last night we finally met up with Andy and Jessica. Andy grew up with Scottie who Jocelyn worked with at Pine Street Inn. Scottie had connected us before the departure from the US. We went to the Belgian Beer Cafe near our place and enjoyed some yummy mussels and chips! Andy and Jess both work at the University of Canterbury in the Psychology Dept. Andy is from NJ and Jessica is from NZ. We hit it off immediately and think we will be spending a lot more time with them in the future.

This weekend is a long weekend as Monday is a public holiday (Labour Day). We are not sure about plans yet. We may go to Lake Tekapo with friends or just enjoy another lazy weekend - maybe go hike Taylor's Mistake again or head to Lyttleton Harbour. Either way, we will keep you posted!!!!!!

Moving or "Shifting" as they call it here in New Zealand!

We are officially in our new apartment and are loving it! It feels so much more like a home and we can actually do one of our favorite things again which is to eat breakfast together at the table! I know it sounds silly, but you would be amazed how you enjoy the little things when trying to make a new home in a new country.

Since we know we are staying in this place for a while, we went out and purchased a few things to add our own personal touches to the place like a bathroom rug and a welcome mat. :)

We are trying to recover though and are planning a very low key weekend. It is amazing how we already have these new friends and new plans and of course, there is sooooo much to see and do in this incredible country.

Jocelyn has started doing personal training at her new fancy or "flash" gym as the Kiwis say! So far Jocelyn is enjoying it but is VERY sore. Between that and all the travelling on the weekend (hiking, rock climbing, skiing) she will be fitter than she could ever imagine in no time!

Tonight - another birthday party for a new friend - Babs. We went to her fiance Gordie's birthday party this weekend. We ate at a place called "Henry Africa's" which had a jungle/safari theme. It was a little strange but the food was super yummy. Trey had a special lentil dish and Jocelyn had a dish called Shanks A Lot......bet you can't figure out what that was......just kidding! Of course it was lamb and as they say here in NZ, it was GORGEOUS (delicious)!

The fun continues here in the land below the land down under. :)

Keep on keeping up with us!

Kaikoura Seafest and SEALS!!!!!

Like most rules in New Zealand that are for your own saftey no one followed this 10 meters rule.









































































Mmmmm Lamb shank!!!















This past weekend we spent our weekend in Kaikoura. It was a beautiful, sunny perfect day and only about a 2.5 hour drive away. Kaikoura is a beautiful place!

Kaikoura township is located on a rocky peninsula, protruding from lush farmland beneath the mountains. In the waters off the peninsula, a complex marine system provides an abundantly rich habitat for marine mammals and seabirds making it an ideal place for getting 'close to nature'. And boy did we take advantage of the nature and the animals!

We enjoyed the scenery on the drive up though as we got closer to Kaikoura there were some very windy roads that starting to make us feel a bit less than well. Once we arrived we got our tickets at the visitor centre and headed into Seafest. As you enter Seafest they gave us each a cup to wear around our necks that were meant to be filled with beer or wine that we purchased at the festival!! There were about 30 booths of food and booze. The food and alcohol was relatively inexpensive (approx. 5 dollars for a glass of wine). We started with beer, tried some NZ green lipped mussels, a smoked salmon wrap and crayfish (which to Americans in lobster - here used interchangeably). A new thing we tried was whitebait patties which were basically like salty pancakes. The fish were so small they looked like little worms. We had to put that out of our minds. Jocelyn also enjoyed a yummy lamb shank that they served like a drumstick. Mmmmm. For sweets we had some mini pancakes with banana and chocolate and waffles with chocolate, strawberry and whipped cream. All the food was so good. There was also a music tent and Jocelyn even ran into a friend from work! This country is really small. :) We found it interesting that many people dressed up in group costumes for the festival and we were not really sure how that all fit in.

After we were full and happy we left the festival. Little did Jocelyn know Trey had a huge surprise in store for her! Trey suggested driving out to the end of the Peninsula before they headed back to Christchurch. As they approached the end, admiring the amazing snow-capped mountains reflecting from the ocean Jocelyn noticed a sign that said "Seal Colony." Boy was she excited!! We got so close to the seals and even saw a few baby seals. It was awesome!

Work is going well for Jocelyn at hairyLemon and they actually renewed her for an additional 4 weeks until mid November. She is enjoying the people there even though the work is a bit out of her comfort zone. She has been asked to take over some of the projects and manage them as well as doing administrative work. She is even using web terms like "populate content" and "leave breadcrumbs" with surprising ease! As the Kiwis say, "Jocelyn is winning" which basically means she is doing well! Trey is enjoying work as well and has even gotten some of the equipment he ordered so he can begin his experiments. Sunday we enjoyed the afternoon with Trey's boss and his family (wife and three adorable children!) They made us sweet potato soup (from the Moosewood Cookbook! - For those of you who don't know, the Moosewood Cafe is in Ithaca, NY where Jocelyn went to college) and spinach/cheese quiche. It was delicious and it was great getting to know Richard and his family. They are extremely nice people.

Tonight we went rock climbing. It was Jocelyn's first time so we started with a quick lesson on how to ready all of the gear to ensure a safe climb. We tried to take photos but unfortunately our camera was low on battery. It had been a while since Trey had gone so he really enjoyed trying a few different routes. The scale they use to rate the difficulty here is different than what Trey is used to in the U.S. so it took him a while to figure out what runs to try. Jocelyn stuck to the beginner ones but got to the top a few times!! It was not Jocelyn's favorite thing but she will definitely go again.

This weekend we move into our new place and we are very excited. The landlords already seem nice and have bought new things to enhance the apartment like a newduvet cover. It should be an easy move since we do not have that much stuff and no furniture of course.

Last, but certainly not least, last weekend - October 1, we became an Aunt and an Uncle. Heather, Trey's older sister had a baby boy - Luke Carlton Snider. Hooray!