Tyler and I landed safely in Wellington on Tuesday evening. We have been out looking for flats the last two days and have another viewing tomorrow. We hope to have a place by the beginning of next week (fingers crossed)! 

I have also been sending out my resume like crazy to any potential event planning companies or hotel in need of an event coordinator. Only a few bites so far, but I will be following up on Monday. 

We have some photos from Bali coming soon as well as video from the Great Barrier Reef, so stay tuned ;)

- Heather 

Last day in Bali. Started the day at the spa, visited Monkey Temple and the gorgeous scenery of Uluwatu finished by dinner beachside! (sigh) Back to reality tomorrow. Next goal: trying to find a job and a flat in Wellington.

After the four of us had been sick with Bali belly for the first week we finally got out of the villa yesterday for some exploration! We went to Ubud and saw rice terraces, hung out with monkeys at Monkey Forest and finished the day watching sunset at the shore side temple of Tanah Lot!

Had a great time in Sydney! Enjoyed Darling Harbour, Harbour Bridge, Opera House, The Rocks, Circular Quay, Manly Beach and Bondi Beach. Saw fireworks, the aquarium, Sydney Festival and heaps of seagulls. Now off to Bali! :)

Shots from a hike to the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains of Australia. 

One of the days we were in Cairns we took the scenic railway up to Kuranda. It is a 2 hour train ride with gorgeous views of Cairns and Barron Gorge. The train stopped at Barron Falls on the way to Kuranda Village. The falls were going but not as strong as when there is a flood. 

We had a nice stroll through the markets and stopped to have a light lunch before seeing some native Aussie wildlife, including crocs, wallabies, wombats, koalas and roos!

- Heather 

Before heading to Cairns, Australia for Christmas we decided to visit Andrew and Te Miha in Wellingtown. They have a cute beach house with gorgeous views of the Tasman Sea. 

On Christmas Eve Andrew and Te Miha took a stroll to the beach and Te Miha found a couple of paua (abalone) on a rock. We watched him prepare the paua and cook it. It was interesting to watch the preparation of the paua. After removing it from the shell he removed the stomach portion and the teeth (who knew?). The paua is a muscle and Te Miha had to pound it to make it tender prior to cooking.  He even made us a portion to try. It was cooked with some onions and garlic and was super tasty! 

- Heather

While passing through the South Island we went on a wine tour of Marlborough around Blenheim, NZ. We went through Highlight Tours and would highly recommend them to anyone else planning on a wine tour of this region. 

We went to 5 wineries:

1. Bouldervines-we had great Sauvignon Blanc and ended up buying a bottle!
2. Framingham-known for their Rieslings. We had a taste of their 2011 Noble and it was so sweet and tasty! 
3. Forest-“The Dr.’s winery” 2 docs own this winery and they experiment heavily combining different wines. We loved their Dr.’s Sauv Blanc and Dr.’s Riesling
4. Hunters-first winery in NZ and put NZ on the wine making map when the owner won awards in Europe. They use a very unconventional way of growing their grapes on an 8ft tall pergola. Great Rose and Bubbles. 
5. St. Clair-a small family winery who actually has scattered wine plots throughout the Marlborough region. Their wines were very earthy!

- Heather 

When Tyler and I were heading out to a camping spot for a few nights we happened to stumble across a family from the States. We camped next to them for a night and ended up chatting most of the evening. They are from Rhode Island and have been living in NZ for about 1.5 years and will be heading back home in April. 

Michelle is a midwife, which is in high demand in New Zealand as 70% of births are via midwife. She is super sweet and educated me on natural and midwife births. 

Andrew does construction around town with native Kiwis. He had lots of stories to share about his and Michelle’s own travels. He is also a full time super dad helping their 3 boys get ready for school each day.

The boys; Ev and Mally are 10 yr old twins and Grit is the youngest at 8 years old. The boys are like sponges, and you would think that they have grown up in New Zealand. They have a bit of an accent, know all of the All Blacks players and have all the Kiwi lingo down.

This family was nice enough to offer us a bed, meal and shower along our route and we took them up on the offer. 

We enjoyed another long evening chatting and having a great meal (fresh form their garden) and greatly enjoyed their company! 

Hope you all are doing well and we will probably see you upon our return back to NZ! :)

- Heather