Sun, Surf and Santa

Christmas certainly has a different flavor in New Zealand. But it is still Christmas, there are friends/family gatherings, exchanges of gifts, Christmas shopping and holiday baking. And Santa will definitely be out and about in his singlet, stubbies and gumboots. We were most fortunate to have one of the hottest Christmas's on record this year. It was 30 degrees C on Christmas Eve and the same on Christmas Day. My splurge for the week was buying ice. It was so hot outside all we could think about was a tall glass of water with ice. It is rare to have a refrigerator that makes ice, and ice is usually not served in cafe's, and our freezer is so small, a bag of ice takes up half the space. So we cleared out the freezer, bought a bag of ice and felt so flash drinking our lemonade with ice cubes. Most kiwi homes do not have AC, nor heat as we all know from my previous posts, so the only way too cool off is to head to the beach for a swim in the the Tasman Sea. We found ourselves down there twice on Christmas Day just to cool off, and instead of cooking in the oven that day as it would of heated up the house,  we ended up grilling out some salmon and steaks for our Christmas dinner. It was a lovely way to spend the holidays and once again we feel very blessed and lucky to have another kiwi Christmas. However our heart does lie back in the states where we usually had a white Christmas, some skiing or sledding, warm fires in the fireplace and plenty of hot chocolate. We missed not having family around to help share in the holiday cheer. 

Cutting down our Christmas tree on a hot day, which was a new experience for us. 

Decorating our Christmas tree with the help of some friends.

Christmas breakfast on our deck.

Christmas Day

Having fun with our water proof camera.

The popular kiwi dessert- Pavlova

Making our Gingerbread house and planting flowers on the same day just did not feel right.

These are just a few pictures from Lindsey's Oakura School Graduation. The kids sitting down are the graduates. There were 18 year 8 students that graduated and will be heading on to High School this year. We are proud of Lindsey, she received her excellence awards in sports and citizenship, and was voted best athlete by her peers. This small community and small school are a perfect fit for Lindsey. Kids are more widely accepted here to be "who they want to be", not "who they feel pressure to be". The schools  in NZ with their broad range of programs really develop the students to be socially, emotionally, and academically well rounded kids. The learning environment is such that the students feel valued, confident and emotionally safe. The kids here have more time to just be kids, for example the older students still went outside 2x a day for free time. And I would watch the kids play 4 square, jump rope and different ball games. Finding a middle school back in the states where the kids still go outside for recess and the girls played jump rope would be rare.

Well our favorite time of the year has arrived, Summer, and we are down at the beach every chance we get. The kids got out of school Dec.14 and have a 7 week break. Skyler has a new found passion in surfing and asks us everyday to take her out. She is on the Oakura Microgroms Surf team. Her coach says she is one of the keenest students he has ever had. She got a new surfboard last week, and one of her goals this summer is to learn how to "duck dive".

Skyler and one of her best friends, Arianna. These two would surf morning, noon, and night  if they could.  I love it that they have each other to surf with and most of all have fun together. 

Owen decided to enter the surf competition last week and have a go. He had fun, rode his surfboard like a boogie board but managed to catch a few waves and ended up placing 3rd. Owen is full of self confidence and as a result will try anything new and have fun while doing it. 

The weather has been so fantastic that we have headed to the beach for bonfires with good friends. We found some American marshmallows in a local store, they are huge marshmallows, bigger than any I have ever seen in the states. They are perfect for roasting. Since NZ does not sell graham crackers we are not able to make smores. But we have told all our international friends about the delicious American pastime and hope to make some next month after our family brings some out to us.

This is the Kiwi ice cream truck, Mr. Kool. They sell soft serve ice cream, not Popsicles. The ice cream can be dipped into what they call sherbet, which is flavored sugar. 

We discovered a local berry farm, which is only a 20 minute drive from our house. The kids picked strawberries, raspberries and boysenberries. They were delicious, the strawberries were so sweet and juicy.  

Homemade ice cream with fresh fruit added!!

The Surf lifesaving New Year's Day Carnival. It was the perfect way to bring in the new year. 

The Miss. Taranaki Beauty Pageant

Lindsey and her buddies enjoying the carnival. 

The kids would strap on these "hamster balls" and run full steam ahead and knock each other over. It was hysterical to watch the kids clobber each other and try and get back up. 

Skyler stuck upside down after her brother knocked her over.  She was like a turtle stuck on her back, she couldnt' do anything until someone came and knocked her upright. 

This is the National IRB competition that took place at our beach this weekend. They had 3m swells to deal with so it made for some good entertainment. 

Stay warm to all our friends in the Northern Hemisphere, enjoy the football playoffs, and ski a few turns for us. Brad still follows the Broncos and tries to watch them whenever he can. It looks like the Kansas Jayhawks are prime for another amazing basketball season, and the Chiefs stink like usual. We are off to go for a surf, but first I think I'll have another cup of water with ice. Cheerio Jenny

Oakura Happenings

As the the Indian summer gives way to longer nights and the brisk chill of winter beckons in the holiday season for all our Northern Hemisphere friends and family, we have no such reminders that Christmas is upon us.  While back in the States we would have begun decorating and shopping during Thanksgiving weekend.  Here it is almost the 10th of December and we don't even have a tree yet.  Instead of unpacking our winter gear and sleds we have been heading to the beach for boogie boarding or surfing (though not so much this past week due to Taranaki weather).

We wanted to use this blog entry to update everyone a little on what our lives have been like here this Spring (October / November).

One of the kids favorite holidays has always been Halloween which hasn't really caught on down here.  The Kiwis generally find it a little peculiar that children dress up and come knocking on their doors for treats.  While most everyone knows what Halloween is and how it is celebrated in the US, the vast majority of New Zealanders don't want anything to do with it.  

Enter my wife Jenny, the consumate planner.  Last year we had a small party at our house with 6 or 7 families attending and it was a lot of fun.  This year, not wanting to leave anyone out, she rented the Surf Lifesaving club and extended an invitation to all the kids at the school.  About 100 of them showed up all dressed for the occasion and we distributed candy around to several houses in the area so they could all go trick-or-treating.  A good time was had by all

The Organizing Committee representing The USA, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Ireland

Princess Popcorn

Wolverine

Lindsey, Izzy and Cream as a very convincing Zombie

Skyler, Melonie and Aoife at the Hangi

The Hangi or earth oven is the traditional way in which the Maori cook food underground using hot rocks and steam.  When the rocks are red hot from a fire they are placed in a pit, wire baskets of food are placed on top, and this is covered with wet sheets and finally covered in dirt.  The school was invited to the Oakura Pa which actually means fortified village or refuge in Maori lore.

Here they are uncovering the cooked meals.  

We had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner at our good friends Paul, Mary, Gavin and Melonie Bishop's house.  Mary, an Italian American introduced us to several additional antipasta courses to go with the traditional turkey, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc.  Andy, an English mate of ours, incredibly made the most delicious homemade pumpkin pie, no canned pumpkin here.  Wendy, Andy's wife also made an incredible pecan pie. We were joined with friends from Germany and New Zealand. It was an excellent meal and a real opportunity to feel thankful for all that we are blessed with including great new friends in this "New World" of ours.  

Lindsey having a go with sailing with The New Plymouth Yacht Club in the Harbor

Oakura Take Out

Jenny ran legs 13 and 14, total of 15.5 km

Skyler ran legs 15 and 20, total of 8.7 km

Brad ran leg 17 total of 8.7 (barely made it)

Thanks to organizer Emma Wilson and the entire Wilson family for inviting us to run on their team

Owen has been playing Cricket this spring.  Rather than try to explain a game we really know little about, we thought we would give you a description of it rendered by one of our favorite authors.  
"It is not true that the English invented Cricket as a way of making all other human endeavors look more interesting and lively; that was merely an unintended side affect. I do not wish to denigrate a sport that is enjoyed by millions, some of them awake and facing the right way, but it is an odd game. It is the only sport that incorporates meal breaks. It is the only sport that shares it's name with an insect. It is the only sport in which spectators burn as many calories as the players, more if they are moderately restless. It is the only competitive activity of any type, other than perhaps baking,in which you can dress in white from head to toe and be as clean at the end of the day as you were at the beginning.

Imagine a form of baseball in which the pitcher after each delivery,collects the ball from the catcher, and walks slowly to center field, and that there, after a minute's pause he takes to collect himself, he runs full tilt towards the pitcher's mound before hurling the ball at the ankles of a man who stands before him wearing a riding hat, heavy gloves of the sort that are used to handle radio active-isotopes, and a mattress strapped to each leg. Imagine moreover that if this batsman fails to hit the ball in a way that heartens him sufficiently to try and waddle 40 ft with two mattresss strapped to his legs, he is under no formal compunction to run; he may stand there all day,and, as a rule,does. If by some miracle he is coaxed into making a misstroke that leads to his being put out, all the fielders throw up their arms in triumph and have a hug. Then tea is called and every one retires happily to a distant pavilion to fortify for the next siege. Now imagine all this going on for so long that by the time the match concludes autumn has crept in and all your library books are overdue. There you have cricket. "

Bill Bryson

In A Sunburned Country                                                                                            

Owen "bowling".  The ball has to be delivered with a straight arm and at this age it can really go anywhere.  

Owen as a "batsman".  After hitting the ball you run back and forth to the wickets to score.  You keep batting until either an opponent catches one of your hits, the bowl (pitch) hits the wickets or you get caught running between wickets when the fielders get the ball back in and hit the wickets with it.  

We are very proud of Owen.  He doesn't really like Cricket, and who can blame him as even at this level the games go on for over 2 hours, but he has stuck with it and has greatly improved.  Rugby is more his sport.