Piha

So we had a beautiful sunny weekend :) We went to Piha on Saturday... it is one of the top beaches in New Zealand. It is best just to look at the gorgeous pictures that we took! The first is an overlook of the beach. The big rock in the second picture is lion rock. If the sand looks kinda dark in the pictures, it is because it is a black sand beach. We had to sprint down to the beach since the sand was so hot. It is black because of the high iron content do to the volcanic activity New Zealand previously had. It was really fun to sit on our towels and watch people sprint to the water. We took the jeep top off as you can see in the third picture... which was really fun :) The next photo is of me climbing lion rock, and then the last is of me at the top. We had a ton of fun, and this beach isn't too far, so maybe we will be going back soon :) Waiting for pictures for tomorrow's blog... keep checking!! Miss everyone!

Hot, Hot, Hot

So it is a beautiful summer day in Auckland.... low 70's and humid, but as you guys can see I made my little AC unit :) Those are ice trays on a mixture of books and my ironing board... what can I say, I got desperate. I had the oven going with a chicken I am making for this weeks meals, and the laundry is going, too. There is no external air vent for the dryer so it all exhausts into the house making it smell like persil (laundry soap) and very sticky. It does not help that the humidity is at 94% either. I will have to get Brandon to take me for a ride in the jeep when he gets home from work!
We took the jeep out this past weekend to an off roading course that is for jeeps! It was our valentines day trip. It was sooo fun! It consists of tracks going around this hilly area on the west coast of the Auckland area. It rained that day so the jeep was coated in mud... it looked like something out of a commercial. I drove a couple of the tracks until I almost flipped the jeep... then I was done :) Brandon went through the rest, and even did some doughnuts in the mud field they have set up. I forgot my camera that trip, but I am sure we will be going again before too long.
That is all for today!
Missing everyone back in the states.