Wairere Falls: Photo a week challenge

We hiked up to Wairere Falls this morning. It's about an hour drive from our place, 40 minute walk to the lookout, and another 40 minutes to the top.  If you remember to look at the mountains at the right time of your drive towards Matamata,  you can see this large falls from the road several kilometers away.  It's an absolutely amazing place - we saw several tuis and heard LOTS of birds.  It was a large contrast to the lack of bird sounds at Wentworth last week!

While the photo a week challenge is about posting one photo (the best of the week), I'm going to go ahead and post several, because this area was so gorgeous and it's the really the first time I've gotten into using a camera in the last year!  (hint: if you click on one picture, it enlarges the picture and opens a slideshow type view - makes the pictures much easier to look at!)

I'm going to start with my favorite photo - the one that would get posted if I had to choose just one:

Wairere Falls: 17 March 2012. Secon Bridge Crossing

Wairere Falls: Beginning of Trail

Wairere Falls: First Bridge Crossing

Wairere Falls: Tree Fern

Wairere Falls: First Bridge Crossing

Wairere Falls: Along the Trail

Wairere Falls: From the Lookout

Wairere Falls: Closeup of top half

Wairere Falls: On trail to top

Wairere Falls: at the top!

Wairere Falls: Looking Down

Wairere Falls: Head Stream

Now.....contrast that shot of looking down the falls to the one taken over three years ago.  It was taken from several feet away from the edge in order to protect myself (and the camera) from getting wet!

Wairere Falls: 27 Oct 2008. Strong winds blow
the falls water back onto Dave.

Wentworth Falls: Photo a week challenge

An hours drive from Thames lies the beach town of Whangamata.  A short drive further and an hour walk later we reached Wentworth Falls.  It's a super easy walking track - graveled, nicely graded, and brand new bridges across the two stream crossings.  There are lots of swimming hole opportunities for those keen to brave the cold water, but we (and our two couchsurfers) passed on getting wet.


I'm posting two pictures here - taken with a real camera!!!! The top picture is taken with just natural auto settings and the second was taken by changing just the aperture setting to create the feathery water.
Which do you like best?  I'd love the deep green of the top one, but prefer the water on the bottom.
By the way - click on the pictures to enlarge them :)

10 March: Wentworth Falls. 

10 March: Wentworth Falls

Homemade presents:weekly photo challenge

The week is nearly gone but I've got the perfect picture for my blog.  It's a little bit of a cheat, as I didn't take the picture myself.  But I am in the picture!

Here I am modeling my brand new babydoll rasta hat! Thanks Melinda for thinking of me as you made it :)
It's taken with my phone (again! I need to get some proper batteries and start using an actual camera soon!) so it's not the best of quality, but you get the idea of my happiness :)

3 March:  Mel in driveway taking her new hat out for the first time.

Garden Love: Photo a week challenge

So we are nearly packed up and heading out to Rotorua for the weekend when I realize I haven't even considered my blog, let alone pictures for my blog!  Unfortunately, my camera is out of batteries (stupid thing seems to chew through them sometimes! Need to buy some decent rechargeables someday).  Apparently Dave has even packed his camera for the trip (thanks to our slowly becoming organized for these weekend trips to the bach.....and the list we made to check off each time).  I considered using some photos I've got saved from last week of another bay I visited and meant to post, but that seems a little like cheating.  I'm supposed to post a photo I've taken THIS week.  So, I grabbed my phone and headed to the back garden.

I apologize that the photos aren't very good quality.  Between a smaller camera, few focus/zoom controls, and a bright morning sun on half the top half of the garden the pictures aren't amazing.  But you get the gist of our overgrown, but productive space.  Corn, tomoatoes, an eggplant between the ridiculously large unused spring onion (are they even edible after they become leek size?), and a very large Jamaican pepper plant.

25 February: Dohner/Milner garden. Bright yellow marigolds give color
to the tomatoes that are slowly ripening. Leftovers from semi-shucked
corn that will be dinner tonight litters the grounds.

25 February: Jamaican Pepper Plant. Supposedly the "wings"
will be sweet, the heart will be spicy.

Note, due to time constraints (i.e. we are leaving in 10 minutes) I cannot google my Jamaican plant.  I'll look a the label on Monday and give you the scientific name and a google link :)

Waiomu Beach: Photo Challenge

A 10 minute drive up the Coromandel Coast from Thames lies Waiomu.  There is a hip little cafe and a great reserve (park) full of gorgeous pohutukawa's (not in bloom at the moment though).  Here a few views of the beach from the reserve :)

February 19: Waiomu Beach

February 19: Waiomu Beach

Woodhill: Photo Challenge

So we spent this last long weekend in Auckland. We spent Saturday and Monday in Woodhill, mountain biking with our friend Joe.  We spend Sunday sailing on Joe's boat! I'd planned on blogging a bit about the weekend, but I seem to have misplaced the camera that has the sailing photos on it! :(  I've no idea where it could be....a little more than obnoxious really, but hopefully it turns up.

In the meantime, here are two photos taken with my phone while in the Woodhill forest:  I'm using them for my weekly blog photo challenge :)

4 February: Woodhill Forest: Dave coming downthe trail (Joe further behind in red)

4 February: Woodhill Forest: Joe feeling the bike love.

Long Rotorua Weekend

So it's only February and I'm already behind on my photo a week challenge!  I was so excited to get photos during our long weekend in Rotorua, that I forgot to get a photo for the week before the weekend!  Then....I forgot to bring my camera to Rotorua!!!!  What a goose!

Fortunately, I have a fairly decent camera on my phone, so I was still able to capture a few memories of a wonderful weekend spent with friends (which just happened to fall on my birthday as well :) )

So, instead of just one photo to tempt my readers, I'll post a few :)

We spent the weekend staying at the family bach (vacation home). It's small and cozy, like a traditional bach should be.  Our good friend Joe made the trip from Auckland Saturday evening, while our flatmate David brought his bike along for some mountain biking. At the bach, I discovered "swing ball" (like tetherball with a tennis ball and paddles).  It was GREAT fun!

Dave and David playing swing ball

We met up with our friend Renee on Sunday day and took a walk around Blue Lake:

Dave and I gaze loving at each other

Renee, Dave, Joe, and David at Blue Lake

Renee tries barefoot walking

 After a lovely walk around the lake, we headed to a natural hot stream called Kerosene Creek.  It's a bit out of town, but well worth the effort.  Unfortunately, I have no pictures from that day!  But, here is a picture I stole off a friend back in 2008 (see WAY BACK post to read about another Rotorua weekend)

Kerosene Creek, taken in 2008. It's a naturally hot
creek that has a natural spa pool

Unfortunately, the creek is down a gravel road with lots and lots of potholes......

Flat tyre (yes, that's the way kiwi's spell it)
on the way home from Kerosene Creek

 Back at the bach, we love the kittens that grace us with their presence.

Everyone say "awwwww"

We spent my birthday taking the morning shuttle to the top of the mountain biking tracks for some bone jarring downhill.

David speeding downhill

Karaka Trail: Photo challenge

I saved posting my photo blog for the weekend, so I could take a picture on the walk Dave and I planned (in an effort to start training for our 5 day honeymoon hike on Stewart Island).  So, of course I forgot to take my camera!!!!  What a dope!

Fortunately, the flash new phone that Dave bought me for Christmas has a fairly decent camera, so here's a shot of the Karaka Stream after about 45 minutes of walking from our house:

21 Jan: "Karaka Bush" Behind our house lies a trail that eventually
leads to the Kauaeranga Valley (8 hours? away).  It's overgrown &
muddy, but close to home and a good escape without needing a car.

Photo a week challenge

I went for a bike ride on the 2nd of January.  I took my camera.  The thought occurred to me that I NEVER take my camera anywhere anymore!  It's like I retired my camera from use since I settled in Thames!  Seriously, we didn't even think to take our cameras to the open day at the Rapaura Watergardens (which we liked so much we changed the country in which we are getting married!)

So as I rode towards the coastal walkway I thought to myself, I should start taking a photo a day.  Then I should put it on my blog!  Then I decided a blog a day is WAY to ambitious, especially for a new year's resolution (no point dooming a resolution to failure!).  So I decided a photo a week would be much more plausible.

But...here I am, 12 January.  Nearly 2 weeks into the new year and no photos!  But, I have posted several other blogs related to the wedding, so it's not all a wash.

Dave and I went for a bike ride this late morning. (The 2nd sunny/nice day in nearly 3 weeks of rain). I took my camera!  I've decided that people reading my blog for wedding info might like seeing different pictures of New Zealand in order to remind them why they are saving large quantities of money for travel :)

So, without further ado, I am introducing my photo a week challenge!  With a bonus photo today (to catch up for last week, and to make up for all the ramblings above).

12 January: "The Swing Bridge" (though the swing bridge has not existed in this location for more than 30 years), a local swimming hole ~ 15 minute bike ride from our house

2 January:  "Small Gauge Pohutukawas"  Taken along the coastal walkway in town.  The Pohutukawa in the foreground is blooming, the ones in the back have lost their petals.....note the red color beneath the trees are the fallen petals.

Travelling to New Zealand

So you've decided to throw down a hunk of cash and make the trip for our wedding!?  How exciting!

Here's a few things you might want to know (directed at everyone coming over from the USA).

• It's expensive!  I'm sure you've already realized that, but my point is: If you're spending all that money to fly 12 hours over the Pacific Ocean,  you'll want to plan on staying for at least 2 weeks, more if possible.

• New Zealand is made up of 3 Islands.  The North Island (we live near the top of this island), the South Island (the bigger of the 3), and Stewart Island (it's heaps smaller than the other two, rains a lot, and has only one town on it......but it's your most likely place to see a kiwi during the day (as kiwi birds are nocturnal, but being so far south, this island gets light for long periods of time in the summer and the kiwi's become adjusted).  You'll just have to hike through a lot of mud in order to improve your kiwi spotting chances).  

• We live in Thames.  It's about an hour/hour and a half from the Auckland International Airport (AKL).  This is the airport to choose for your arrival before the wedding if coming straight from overseas to the wedding.  If you want to tour the S. Island first, fly into Christchurch International Airport (you may have a layover in Auckland anyway?).  If you're lucky, Christchurch will have finished shaking by the time you arrive.  (They just had a 5.3 yesterday (7 Jan) at 1:30 am).  There is a smaller airport (Hamilton) that may or may not be cheaper to fly into/out of if flying within NZ.  Thames has an airport, but it is for super small, private charter planes.

• We drive on the left side of the road here.  It's a bit unnerving to begin with, and you might find it helpful to continually chant "keep left keep left keep left", but you get used to it.  We also use the metric system here, which means that we drive in kilometers per hour (km/h).  The "open road" speed limit is 100 km/h.  This sounds like a lot, but I've only just now looked up the conversion......it's only 62 miles per hour! Hence, most people routinely drive 10 km/h (or more) over the speed limit.

• While NZ is quite a small country (slightly less area than the state of California), there is HEAPS to see and do.  Prioritize what it is you want to see while you are here.  2 weeks is barely enough time to see the North Island, I wouldn't recommend trying to see both Islands in that time.  However, you could do bits and pieces of the both islands. Drive times between towns can be found here.  Send me a message (through my profile to the right) if you have questions about where to go to see certain things (penguins are on the South Island, as are most sea lions, all glaciers, and the large rocky mountains....the North Island has massive kauri trees, lush green vegetation (when it's not been turned into grazing land), and lots more people).

I'm working on a list of my favorite NZ places.  When it's done, I'll put a link here.

Wedding

I'm getting married!!!!

8 December 2012

Thames, New Zealand

Watch the space below for new and updated links to information on visiting New Zealand

and other wedding information.

27 July:  Registry

Our invitations are nearly finished! I'll be mailing the first batch when I am in Idaho....in 2 weeks!  In the mean time, if people are wondering about our registry information, this is the info that will be included with the invitations:

We understand that many people prefer giving a personal gift, but we have spent the last 4 years turning Dave's house into our home. Therefore we have everything we need at the moment. Thus....

In lieu of gifts we request that donations be made in our names. Below are some suggestions:

NZ: Westpac Helicopter (we may need to use this someday!)     http://www.chopperappeal.co.nz/donate

USA: Animal Shelters (Mel Volunteers in NZ)     

Juneau, AK:    http://www.ghspets.org/  (This is where Mel's beloved Yang was found)

Worldwide: Kiva  http://www.kiva.org/gifts/kiva-cards#/print      Mel loves  the micro-lending organization kiva, and she lends frequently.

Alternatively, we will have a wishing well at our NZ wedding reception. The wishing well can be used to give us congratulations cards and tell us where you donated. Or, if you prefer spending money directly on us, you may include a small gift (cash /voucher)

8 Jan:    Visiting New Zealand
15 Dec:  How the date/venue was chosen.

Wedding Day

So....We've set a date!  8 December 2012 :)

This time next year I will be newlywed! Wow!

So why December 8th?

Up until a month ago we had been planning on getting married in my mom's backyard. We had a vague idea of spring or autumn wedding with her beautiful flowers as a background.  I liked the idea of being home with my sister and best friend. I liked being in a place that my dad had helped create. I thought I would feel dad's presence more in that space.  There was nowhere here in New Zealand that said "get married here".  I don't like sandy beaches (gah, sand EVERYWHERE and in everything) and I don't have any emotional ties to any town halls.

However, on an ordinary weekend in November, Dave and I went up to Rapaura Watergardens for a free open day.  It didn't take long before I was saying "I could totally picture getting married here".  The majority of our time spent in the gardens was talking about a wedding.  We tried to consider the pros and cons of a wedding in New Zealand.  While I know it will cost more and I will miss the presence of many important people in my life, I really felt that this green, lush garden was where I wanted to start my life with Dave.

I was really worried about telling mom.  I didn't want to hurt her feelings.  She'd been thinking about her garden as a wedding venue for the last year.  She was planning on moving plants and wanting to know my colors so she could new plants established.  And, to be honest, there is a HUGE part of me that still wants that.  I want to walk down the cobble path that her and dad built (okay, hired people to build) and stand under the pergola while I say my vows.  And, to be honest, it probably would be the smarter thing to do. I'm worried about how cooperative the venue hosts are going to be.  I'm worried about money.  I'm sad that my best friend can't come to New Zealand.  I'd love to leave the wedding details to my family in Idaho.  I could just fly in  a week or two before the wedding and everything would be sorted, right?  No stress!  But, that's also not really fair to everyone in Idaho.

So, in the end, we are going ahead with the wedding here in our little town.  And I'm excited.  Despite all my reservations and worries, I'm excited.  Why?

 POHUTUKAWA TREES! 

 The iconic "New Zealand Christmas" tree.  

Barring any kind of bizarre weather patterns, the trees should be beginning their bloom cycle when we get married. I realize I'm setting myself up for disappointment by counting on nature to cooperate, but we're pretty certain that a week in December should see our coastline turning red.  So, if all else falls through, I can take my fiancee down to the waters edge and get married on a rocky beach under a pohutukawa tree.  (and even without their red flowers, their gnarly trunks are picturesque enough)

We've chosen the 8th, to give us the comfort zone for flowering season to start and before Christmas fever sets in.

This is my interpretation of
pohutukawa blooms
created in felt

Midnight Memories

Kristi, Me, J Dub......hungover as hell on my sisters 2nd day in Juneau 2005.  Ready to shred though!

Fun Fact:  I'm wearing that same long sleeved shirt RIGHT NOW!!!! in 2011!!!)

It's 12:30am.  Dave is sound asleep.  I should be, but I'm too used to working evening shifts.  1am isn't an unusual bedtime anymore.  I have a blanket over my head and around my shoulders (because who knows what I would loudly knock around in the dark bedroom while searching for a hat!). It's not really cold, but it's definitely chilly.

I booted up one of the spare computers so I could respond to a couchsurfing (CS) request in time for the surfer to get it in the morning.  After writing the message, I found myself doing a quick couch search for availability in Thames.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the number of participants in our small town had dramatically increased since we started hosting!  Of course, I had to click on each profile (there aren't THAT many participants).  It was fun to see so many lovely personalities; some I've met in the "real world" and others that I haven't .......but I could!  I've wanted to organize a CS get together for well over a year now.  However, with the minuscule numbers from our town it seemed a bit pointless.  I had grand plans for a peninsula get together over summer, but somehow got busy (probably working).  Now, however, is a totally different story!  It doesn't even have to be a potluck, we could just meet for drinks!  If nothing else, there are a few people that I wouldn't mind private messaging and seeing if they want to meet up some day.

Anyhow....all this profile skimming led, of course, to looking at our own profile.  One of the first bits of the profile page is a "summary" of the person: age, hometown, occupation, etc.  There is also a link to "my website" (which I just noticed is not actually visible to all you non-member types).   Obvioulsy, this website, the one you're currently reading, is "my website".  So I started perusing my past entries.......  Ok, I just scrolled down looking at pictures!   There were two noticeable things
   1) I've missed some important events lately!  Hello, I raised NZ$1,000 shaving my head for cancer and now have 6+ weeks worth of growth!  AND I'm freaking ENGAGED!  How the hell did I not blog that!  Stupid bloody facebook.......
   2)  It's been a LONG time since I've posted anything not related to the house/home/garden/crafts.......where is all the travel/adventure/wildlife?
 (okay, I do have a post regarding our Easter travels half way completed.....I think I might have to be happy with half and just post it).  Part of the reason I am so slack in blogging is because of the writing.  I'm sure everyone has noticed by now, but I'm excessively verbose! And long winded!  That makes for some tedious typing!  Then....I feel obligated do a half hearted proof read of the entry.  I HATE proof reading.  I wrote it once, why do I want to read it again?

So, as I contemplated the idea of posting a few pictures with a brief (hahaha....as if brief is even possible for my parenthesis loving self) account of the pictures, I went back to looking at my CSing profile.  Which, of course, led to my going through all our profile pictures.
Most of them include Dave, since I took the BIG step of adding his name to my profile when we decided to start hosting in 2009. (Adding his name, to me, meant giving up my individual CSing identity......but I also got to make Dave a DOHNER!!!!!  That's one step closer to HIM changing HIS name after a certain wedding.)
If you visit our photo pages you will find, to the left, that we have three albums.  In the "top level" album are the pictures I added when I was a CSing newbie!  They're of me, and my life as a kick ass woman.  I've got work pictures and play pictures, Alaska and Idaho/Montana pictures. (none from Hawaii though, because they are before the digital era and will probably never get scanned).  These pictures reminded me that I've had some pretty awesome adventures and i have some pretty decent stories.
 I'm going to start sharing these stories!

However, I'm pretty typed out now.  So instead of going into detail about the picture I started with (when my sister stayed with me for at least a week in Juneau), I'm just going to post another picture from that same week (stolen from CSing because I'm not on my computer where my THOUSANDS of pictures are stored....and I'm not going to rummage in the dark for my backup drive either).

At the Juneau airport, 2005.  I'm saying goodbye to Kristi, but also dressed to hit the town
for folk fest.  Notice my hair is significantly shorter in this picture than the one taken
a week earlier with the snowboard on my back.  There is a crazy story involving cliffs and ropes, but
I'm pretty sure I'm going to run out of caption space some time soon!

Fun fact: That coat just made the trip to NZ this past Christmas.....the skirt is in my closet too.
I think I may have a hoarding issue.........

Solo Sewing

About a month ago I was lent a sewing machine!!!!  Dave's mum lent it to me.  She even lent me an afternoon of her time to teach me how to use it!

She brought the fabric and a pattern for me to make a little girl's pinafore dress.  I figured it would take me two days to finish such a project, but we knocked it out after lunch just before I had to head to work!  Kathy was patient with my slow use of scissors and my not so lead foot on the machine.

I was pretty pleased with my first project, and apparently Dave's niece likes it too

I'd been wanting a sewing machine for a while.  I kept thinking about pillows, curtains, skirts.....  Of course, once I had a sewing machine, I had no idea where to begin!  I was still a beginner with this machine.  The little dress had definitely educated me, but I wasn't exactly ready to start making designer dresses!  After searching the internet for a bit I decided an apron would be a pretty a good place to start.  I LOVE aprons.  Granted, I already have 3, so I didn't really a need another.  But, I figured I could always give it away.

I found a free apron pattern online and printed it out.  Well, I printed the instructions out, I had to actually make the pattern using baking paper and the measurements from the instructions.  At the bottom of the instructions, among the notes and variations, was the idea of a reversible apron.  I though, how cool would that be?  You could choose which design you felt like wearing!

I didn't have anyone really in mind when I went to the fabric store, but I fell in love with a couple of kiwiana designs: one black and white kiwi bird and one lime green background with blue pukeko birds.  It seemed like a great contrast for a reversible project!

Fortunately, the saleslady added the cost of the fabric up for me before cutting the cloth (while wandering the shop I'd mentioned I was a beginner).  I was a bit short on funds that week, so I would have felt like a total knob going over what I could  afford!  The lady then pointed out the cheaper (and plain) fabric behind me.  I decided she was right, no point blowing my bank account if I was only going to screw up and need to start again!  I opted for the cheapest "calico" (cream) cloth to start.  I decided the bold red cloth would make a nice contrast. 

I didn't have an actual plan in mind when I started.
 The instructions told me to make a rectangular pocket, but that seemed kind of boring.  After cutting out both sides of the pattern I was left with lovely curved sections that would make perfect little pockets.  I decided two little red pockets would look better on the calico side than one big red rectangle.  

The instructions didn't go into detail for making a reversible apron, but I knew I could sort it out (after all, I'd just had plenty of experience sewing seams on a small scale!)  I was smart enough to realize that I would have to start with my pockets, or else I'd end up sewing though both aprons! LOL

  I was super pleased with my first efforts!!!

I was particularly pleased with these pockets for two reasons:

•   I'd followed the directions and made them stand alone pockets (meaning I sewed them together, turned them inside out to be a free floating pocket, and then sewed them on.....which seemed like a lot of work really)
• I had sewn a pretty respectable curve :)

The white pocket I made for the red apron was a contrasting rectangle. This time, however, I decided to skip sewing the pocket first and just sew a piece of fabric onto the apron.  This pocket seemed to be just as secure as the little red pockets but required a touch less sewing (and less fabric, as there is now "back" to the pocket).  ....Does any of that make sense?.....

I decided that a plain white pocket seemed pretty boring.  I'd spent some time flipping through the machine book and had found an "appliqué" setting (used to sew patches with a zig zag stitch).  I decided I'd try using this stitch to add some interest to the pocket.

I was pretty pleased with the result, especially since I didn't get an iron-on bonding stuff to make it stick in place first.

However, I did notice the slight puckering around the large heart and decided that I probably wouldn't be able to do it on a smaller scale, so I scrapped the little heart in the upper corner 

Now the the pockets were all done, all I had to do was put it together!  It wasn't a tough job and really wasn't that time consuming.  However, I did have to make the ties.  I'd decided early on that I was not using ribbon (that didn't sound very sturdy) and thought that having contrasting ties on each side of the apron would be cool.  Sewing the ties wasn't that bad, but it did take a while to turn the long tubes of fabric inside out with a wooden spoon! LOL.  

The whole project took me around 1.5 weeks, but really only 4-5 days working part time in the afternoons.  I was SO stoked the night that I finished the project.  I ran around the house wearing my apron on one side and then other.  Then I made Dave take pictures.

I'm not really sure at what point I decided to make this apron for Kathy.  I know it was pretty early into the project, because I quite enjoyed top stitching the red pockets for her.  In fact, I enjoyed this project all the more knowing that I was giving it away.  Not only did it seem like a good way to say "Thank You" for lending me her sewing machine (indefinitely), it would make a great mother's day gift!!! :)  hahahaha, I also remember thinking, as I was sewing crooked seams, "the great things about mothers is that it doesn't matter what you give them, they are always happy to have something homemade......no matter how imperfect it is!" LOL.

Thank you Mum, for trusting me with your sewing machine!!!!

Oh, and in case you're wondering.....I sent my mom back in the USA flowers.  I couldn't give mum such an awesome gift and not get mom anything!  Turns out, mom got a great deal.  I bought her live chrysanthemums, but she got a huge live Azalea!!!!  (and it is huge, I saw it over skype).