One of the hardest things to wrap our heads around – July and August are the dead of winter. Spring officially begins in September and we anticipate a warm Christmas – celebrated with beach barbeques!
We didn’t let the cold stop us. We planned lots of fun things to beat the winter weather. The coldest it got was around freezing, so not too bad. It was strange to talk to family suffering through the Mississippi heat and report on balmy 40 degree weather!
All Blacks
First up – our first All Black rugby test match! Rugby is New Zealand’s favourite sport by far. And the All Blacks – New Zealand’s national team – are a national treasure. Even though New Zealand is a tiny country (just 5 million people) the All Blacks dominated world rugby for years. All-time they have a 75% winning percentage. In recent years other countries have caught up. But the All Blacks are still among the best. Luckily, the All Blacks played Italy in Wellington. So it was easy for us to hop in the car and make a fun weekend of it.
And of course, the All Blacks are most famous for the haka. The haka is a traditional Māori “dance” that involves chanting, stamping feet, hand movements, bulging eyes and sticking out your tongue. It was a show of physical prowess but also of cultural pride, strength, and unity. The All Blacks famously begin every test match with a haka at midfield, and the opposing team has to stand and watch. It was so exciting to see in person! We are still learning the seemingly confusing rules of rugby. But it’s such a fast paced game to watch and brutal with the bone crunching tackles and no pads! So much fun!
Taupō Half Marathon
We planned to run a half marathon in April 2020. We did most of the training, but it was canceled by COVID. Now seemed like a good time to plan another one. We picked the Taupō half marathon due to the incredible scenery. Plus it is about a 3 hour drive from Palmy – and a beautiful trip at that, through the countryside and past Mount Ruapehu.
The race runs along Lake Taupō, an incredible 238 square mile lake surrounded by mountains. The lake was formed 25,000 years ago by the massive Ōruanui volcanic eruption which caused the ground to collapse and form a giant crater (called a caldera). The lake is considered sacred in Maori culture and is legally owned by the local iwi. If you’re going to run 13 miles, it should be somewhere beautiful right?
I mentioned that July is the dead or winter. It was freezing (literally) at race start time! But we were gifted a beautiful sunshine day which made all the difference.
We both finished (that was the goal). This was Lauren’s first half and Dusty’s second. Being the gluttons for punishment that we are, we signed up for another one in November!
We spent a few days in Taupō and really enjoyed our visit. We took a cruise of the lake and saw the Ngātoroirangi Mine Bay Māori rock carvings. Just outside of town, we visited Huka Falls and the Waikato River (New Zealand’s longest river) . Taupō has some fantastic restaurants and we ate some delicious meals along the way. We plan to come back in the summer when we can enjoy warm weather and watersports on the lake.
Winter Fun in Palmy
We don’t spend all our time traveling, even though it may look that way. We had lots of fun at home this winter too. First up, a charity masquerade ball in Palmy. We didn’t take any pictures with ours masks, but we ended up with two great photos from the night.
Our British friends hosted a Eurovision watch party. This was a first for us. Eurovision is an annual music competition where each European country (plus Australia) enters one song to be performed live on television. It is wacky, tacky and very European. We had fondue, which is apparently very traditional and had a great time. Dusty still listens to his Eurovision playlist on Spotify. He loves “Bangaranga” by the Bulgarian competitor – look it up and give it a listen!
July marks the anniversary of the day we first met. Most probably don’t know that we celebrate lots of different anniversaries in addition to our wedding date. Poppy really loved the spread for our special meet-a-versary dinner and made herself a place at the table.
New Zealand is famous for sheep, and Palmy is no exception. There is a paddock near the beginning/end of our running trail. And this winter baby lambs arrived! At the end of runs, its so nice to stop and watch the babies play.
Palmy has a vibrant local theatre scene. Our friend and Dusty’s colleague has starred in a few plays. So the whole crew showed up to support him. We really have met so many great people here.
And finally, we have seen so many rainbows in New Zealand. There’s probably an explanation, but we don’t know what it is. Here is a great example of a perfect rainbow from our front yard. Sometimes it’s the little things!
A Poppy Update
This was a big season for Poppy. She is so sweet and so full of personality. She already sleeps in bed with us – the crate training didn’t last very long. And she is such a good snuggler. She also survived the spey procedure and was the cutest pup in her donut. She is now 9 months old and has gotten very mischievous. Despite the fencing around the herb garden, she managed to find her way in. But who could be mad at that sweet face!
That’s all for now. We have several fun trips coming up that we can’t wait to share with you in the next post!
