Emily's Visit

Emily arrived on Monday, March 17th, a beautiful, warm sunny day here in Wellington. That afternoon we walked around a little bit downtown, then went to the grocery store to pick up some dinner. Emily was tired from travelling, so we both went to bed pretty early. Tuesday, we spent the day (another hot, sunny day) exploring Wellington. In the morning we went to the Te Papa (New Zealand's main museum) and then had lunch on the water front. We then went to the beach down the street from my apartment. It was a little bit too cold to actually go into the water, and we didnt have beach towels, so we didn't spend too long there. Then we went to get gelato at Kaffee Eis, right across from the beach. Emily absolutely loved the gelato, and we ended up going 3 more times while in Wellington! Tuesday night, Emily and I met up with some of my girlfriends here in Wellington for dinner at my favorite Indian restaraunt and then we went to see P.S. I love you (yes, my second time).

Wednesday morning we flew to Christchurch. We caught a shuttle to our hostel, which was a refurbished jailhouse just outside of the city. Despite the really small rooms, the hostel was extremely clean, and the people working there were great for directions and helping us to book dolphin swimming for that Friday. Emily and I headed out to get lunch and explore the area for the afternoon. It was 30 degrees celsius, and so after walking for a while in the hot sun, and my sandals, we were not in such a great mood by the end of the day (I had a huge blister, and yes, I made sure Emily knew about this about every 5 min!). When we got back to the hostel, we got a movie from reception (Memoirs of A Geisha) and watched in their "cinema," which was a room that projected movies onto a white wall in front of semi-comfortable chairs. We then cooked dinner together in the hostel kitchen, read for a bit and went to bed. Thursday morning we walked into town (my blisters were a little better, and it was less hot!), and on our walk we walked through the botanical gardens. When I was in Christchurch during the winter, a few times I ran in these gardens, but obviously nothing was in bloom. This time, the gardens were gorgeous and it was such a pleasant walk. I'm really glad I had the opportunity to see Christchurch again, with much better weather, because now I have a better picture of it in my mind. Emily and I went on a tour of a fudge kitchen in the arts centre area of Christchurch, and spent the rest of the day window shopping (there isnt really much do to in Christchurch...). Thursday night was the Jack Johnson concert (which is why we flew to Chch in the first place).

The tickets said that the concert started at 630, which I thought was strange for a concert, but we didn't have anywhere else to be, so we walked down there at 630 (about 10 min from our hostel). There was a massive queue (aka line), because the doors had yet to open. I immediately realized that this was typical Kiwi organization, and that the concert organizers had misprinted the start of the concert, but it wasnt worth it for us to just go back and hang out in the hostel. Matt Costa (the opening act) came on around 730 and he was great. He definitely is going to be a big in a couple of years, he was a great performer and singer, although would have been a little better in a more intimate setting (not a medium size arena). Jack Johnson came on around 9, and although Emily and I were tired from standing for so long, we still really enjoyed the concert. His singing was exactly like the album, he had a great stage presence, and it's always great when you know most of the songs!

Friday morning we were up early to get a shuttle to Akaroa, a small, waterfront town about 1.5 hours south of Christchurch. The drive was stunning though the hills and then eventually down to the water. The town was even cuter than I expected, as most small Kiwi towns are pretty much the same and really hard to distinguish from each other. This one has a lot of French influence, and as a result a lot of character. Emily and I got suited in our wetsuits, and then hopped on the boat with the rest of our group to spend about 45 min swimming with Hector/Maui Dolphins. The experience was different than I expected because this one was more enviromentally/animal friendly. We were not allowed to touch the dolphins, but it was still a lot of fun floating around in the water while the dolphins swam around and through our group, on a very beautiful day. That night, Emily and I had a great dinner in downtown Christchurch, and then got ready to head Auckland the next day.

Once in Auckland, we picked up the rental car and then drove off (very nervously!) with Whangarei as our destination. After the first 10 min, I was a lot more confident about the whole driving on the other side of the road situation, and I began to really appreciate and enjoy the freedom of having a car while you travel. (Even though I was a lot more confident, Emily still had to frequently point out that I was too close to the left side of the road). After about a 2.5 hour drive to Whangarei (a magnificent drive by the way), we arrived at our hostel, which was located about 10 min drive from Whangarei's center, on a big farm. It had the feel of a B&B, and our room was really plesant, it made you feel like you were renting someone's Cape Cod house. Sunday, we were up before the sun, to drive to Tutukara where we leaving from to dive the Poor Knights. The Poor Knights (named my James Cook, supposedly b/c the area looked like his breakfast, called Poor Knights), is ranked as one of the top ten dive spots in world. I was really nervous to dive because it had been awhile, and I was afraid I wasn't going to be able equalize my ears, and thus not be able to dive for the day. Emily was nervous because the water was really cold (about 68 degrees farenheit) and her wet-suit didn't fit that well. All our fears were quickly squashed. The wet suits (7 mm thick) worked amazingly well, and diving with a guide was not only good for showing us the way under the water, but also she helped us rusty divers get down and up safely. The two dives were great, less too see compared to the tropics that Emily and I were used to (obviously) but still really amazing to be 20 meters below sea level and exploring that world. My favorite part was during the second dive when we swam up to an underwater cave and came up into the cave, took out our regulators and chatted, all while we were 7 meters below the sea!

Sunday night, Easter night, Emily and I ate a nice dinner at one of the only restaraunts we could find open. It didnt feel like Easter at all, but it was still a really yummy dinner, and after such a spectacular day, it was my favorite Easter by far. Monday, Emily and I slept in and then decided to head to the beach. We didn't really have directions, so we didn't end up getting to the beach we wanted to, at first. The first place we ended up was literally at the end of the road we had driven on for close to two hours. The drive was so amazing, and when the road ended we were at an estuary with a small bridge over it. The place reminded me of Westport, or any other small waterfront town, and the bridge was filled with locals fishing and jumping off of. Emily and I walked around the waterfront, took some pictures, and then it started to rain a bit, so we got back in the car and drove back, trying to find our original destination. We found the correct turn off and eventually got to the Ocean Beach we were looking for. The beach had some great waves and was a huge beach, complete with sand dunes. As soon as we got out of the car, I was even more excited to get to the sand area because it smelled just like beaches in New England! Emily and I ate our lunch, read, tanned and then each took turns swimming in the water, which was surprisingly warm.

Tuesday morning, we drove back to Auckland, returned the car and then flew back to Wellington. Tuesday night, we ordered Hell's Pizza (a popular Kiwi pizza chain) and watched House and Boston Legal (a Tuesday night tradition in my flat). Wednesday, Emily's last day in Wellington, we spent shopping and eating all the delicious treats that are special to New Zealand (like Melting Moments). I had such a good time travelling around with Emily. We were blessed with amazing weather the entire time, which not only made our travels more enjoyable, but also allowed me to appreciate parts of New Zealand (like Christchurch that I had only experienced during the weather). I loved being able to scuba dive in the North of New Zealand, something I definitely would not have done without Emily, and so I'm so happy we had that opportunity. I am also really glad that I was able to share my life with Emily, so she can understand what it's been like for me living over here.