My advernture all began when my Vinncenta picked me up at 2 P.M. March 25th to take me to my flight in San Diego. I got on my flight at 4:30 P.M. Where I arrived to LAX. I ate dinner and got on my next flight for Auckland at 7:30 P.M. I took Air New Zealand (which is really nice). On the plane there are lots of movie selections and they gave me more food... Yummy... I put on a movie and took some nightquil and went to sleep... I woke up a few times because I was a bit uncomfortable but managed to get at least 8 hrs of sleep!! Finally at around 3 A.M. New zealand time (8 A.M. US time) I had breakfast and the captain came on to annonce that it was just about time to land! At 4 A.M. our plane landed and I was able to get my bag and make my way through customs in less then 30 minutes (this is a record!). Oliver was waiting for me after I got out of customs. As we went out to his car I proceded to get into the passanger side... oops that is actually the drivers side... LOL... Oliver kind of looked at me funny when I was about to get in and was like "Oh that is the drivers side!" I couldn't stop laughing for a moment there. We got on the road and set out for Olivers parents house, which is about 40 minutes from the AUK airport.
Oliver and I caught up on our lives during that time. It was dark out so I could not see the scenery very well, but I could tell it was in the country. We finally made it to olly's house and when we got out of the car he pointed out the Southern Cross (FYI: you can only see the southern crossing in NEW ZEALAND!) This was really special to see. After we got inside his parents woke up and we sat down to some tea and canned peaches that his mum (Rose) canned back in 2007. Oliver's parents are AWESOME... Oliver's dad (Dave) is a riot... always making jokes... All of them made me feel really welcome and right at home. All of us talked for about 5 hours... The best story of the morning was Daves about how he is trying to get rid of the possiums who keep going up the peach trees and eating the peaches!! Dave quoted "12 gauge of the 22 needs to come out or the traps... sounds like a movie right?" Oliver showed me a bit around the farm and pond then it was lunch time! We all sat around again and had sandwiches... After lunch I took a nap... Then Oliver and I went to Maori and saw the Garrnet birds and Muriwai beach... At the beach we found loads of shell.... Oliver's brother Nigel texted him as we were in the car going back to Olly's house saying "surfing?" Olly and I went back to his house picked up some wet suits, surf board, and body board and met up with Nigel (he is awesome as well). Dave made me some coffee so I could stay awake and we were off to Muriwai beach!
A little about the family... Dave used to grow eggplant and other vegetables in green houses. He also did various constrution jobs. Rose took care of the home and the three boys: Glenn, Nigel and Oliver. Glenn is the oldest and is married, he lives in Auckland and is an architech. Nigel is married to Vicky, just moved back to Auckland from Austrila and is a health/PE teacher for a High School. He is currently working on his Masters. Oliver is finishing up his post grad at AUC Uni in Sport Pychology, he does some personal training at a local gym and farm work.
Anyhow, Nigel, olly, Vicky and I went out surfing and body boarding... The waves weren't that good, but I got some on the body board.... The beaches in NZ and everything around me is so green and lush... Sometimes I feel like I am in a dream... Especially stepping out of Olly's house on the deck and seeing nothing but green, trees, SHEEP and cows... What a beautiful place! Now back to the beach... We all stayed out about an hour then Olly and I went and had dinner with his parents who made us: grilled veggies, Venison (a little too gamey for me when I tried it), a bit of sweet potatoes and regular, bread, and some great pinot from Malbrough NZ... so smooth on the palate! For dessert we had some canned apricots. After dinner Olly and I got ready and we went to Nigel and Vicky friends house... Nigel and Vicky got me some NZ Vodka 400-30... or something like that and we had a great time with them... then we went to downtown Auckland to a nightclub and did some dancing. At around 1:30 A.M. NZ time (5A.M. US time) we decided we were too tried to dance anymore and called it a night. Olly and I had a great time with Nigel and Vicky. Olly and I finally made it home by 2 AM and I was almost too tried to take my contacts out, but I did and I got into bed and slept in till the next morning (oh yes Katrina you would be proud that I slept until almost 4 PM US time!).
Oliver and I caught up on our lives during that time. It was dark out so I could not see the scenery very well, but I could tell it was in the country. We finally made it to olly's house and when we got out of the car he pointed out the Southern Cross (FYI: you can only see the southern crossing in NEW ZEALAND!) This was really special to see. After we got inside his parents woke up and we sat down to some tea and canned peaches that his mum (Rose) canned back in 2007. Oliver's parents are AWESOME... Oliver's dad (Dave) is a riot... always making jokes... All of them made me feel really welcome and right at home. All of us talked for about 5 hours... The best story of the morning was Daves about how he is trying to get rid of the possiums who keep going up the peach trees and eating the peaches!! Dave quoted "12 gauge of the 22 needs to come out or the traps... sounds like a movie right?" Oliver showed me a bit around the farm and pond then it was lunch time! We all sat around again and had sandwiches... After lunch I took a nap... Then Oliver and I went to Maori and saw the Garrnet birds and Muriwai beach... At the beach we found loads of shell.... Oliver's brother Nigel texted him as we were in the car going back to Olly's house saying "surfing?" Olly and I went back to his house picked up some wet suits, surf board, and body board and met up with Nigel (he is awesome as well). Dave made me some coffee so I could stay awake and we were off to Muriwai beach!
A little about the family... Dave used to grow eggplant and other vegetables in green houses. He also did various constrution jobs. Rose took care of the home and the three boys: Glenn, Nigel and Oliver. Glenn is the oldest and is married, he lives in Auckland and is an architech. Nigel is married to Vicky, just moved back to Auckland from Austrila and is a health/PE teacher for a High School. He is currently working on his Masters. Oliver is finishing up his post grad at AUC Uni in Sport Pychology, he does some personal training at a local gym and farm work.
Anyhow, Nigel, olly, Vicky and I went out surfing and body boarding... The waves weren't that good, but I got some on the body board.... The beaches in NZ and everything around me is so green and lush... Sometimes I feel like I am in a dream... Especially stepping out of Olly's house on the deck and seeing nothing but green, trees, SHEEP and cows... What a beautiful place! Now back to the beach... We all stayed out about an hour then Olly and I went and had dinner with his parents who made us: grilled veggies, Venison (a little too gamey for me when I tried it), a bit of sweet potatoes and regular, bread, and some great pinot from Malbrough NZ... so smooth on the palate! For dessert we had some canned apricots. After dinner Olly and I got ready and we went to Nigel and Vicky friends house... Nigel and Vicky got me some NZ Vodka 400-30... or something like that and we had a great time with them... then we went to downtown Auckland to a nightclub and did some dancing. At around 1:30 A.M. NZ time (5A.M. US time) we decided we were too tried to dance anymore and called it a night. Olly and I had a great time with Nigel and Vicky. Olly and I finally made it home by 2 AM and I was almost too tried to take my contacts out, but I did and I got into bed and slept in till the next morning (oh yes Katrina you would be proud that I slept until almost 4 PM US time!).
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