Aoteroa!

This was an adventure! 

Up to Mt. Hood with uncle Patrick to get some last minute apple picking in - trying to squeeze all the last little bit of fall out of PDX!

We were wrapping up and packing up our lives in Portland when the Lion King came to town.  We got tickets and took the kids to see it as a last hurray of the Portland scene before heading off!  It was a great show!

Look at this kid with his cool dude pose.  

Soccer was really hitting the stride!  Elliot was becoming more and more competitive and comfortable - this was after a tough won 2-1 victory and I think is her battle face!  

Wes and Conrad hanging out on the walk home from school. 

An exciting event before we left was a bike bus ride with Benson Boone - this is one of Elliot's favorite artists and she got to ride with (and talk to!) him prior to going to his concert that night.  An exciting end to the summer in Portland!



The night was capped off with Elliot / Mom going to the Benson Boone concert - it was a great first concert for Elliot!

Cool kids pose....

Then the goodbyes began - Fiona's soccer team was sad to see her go. 

The moms took Crystal out to get permanent jewelry. 

We also said goodbye to our wonderful blue Subaru Ascent - it was a great car and we LOVED it but there was no way to store it for the time we would be gone and shipping it was unreasonable.  

Last day of Alameda for this girl!!  She is such a big kid - started kindergarten in the midst of the pandemic and then rocked out, loving school and becoming a curious, engaged and thoughtful learner.  

We then had a friends get together at Pizza jerk to let people come over and say goodbye. It was a great reminder of the community that we have in Alameda.  



And now final packing! With the help of movers were were able to get the vast majority of our stuff safely upstairs and tucked away for our year away.  

And then the trip began!!  We needed three (3!) Simon Says cars to get to the airport  where we opened special presents from Grandma and Grandpa Cook - notebooks to journal our time in NZ and special cameras to keep track of things!!  It was a lot of bags to check in and we brought them all right up to the weight limit!!

#adventuregirl

Here we go!!



The Air New Zealand 787s have sky couches that pull out into a bed so you can sleep laying down.  It was a BIG plus for a long flight with kids.  We connected through San Francisco and took off into the setting sun - off on our adventure!!

as long as people didn't kick you all night....

Welcome to Auckland!!

OMG we have a lot of stuff!  It was a lot of slowly maneuvering trolleys through the airport.  I hope we get a lot of use out of these bikes...they were a pain to move.  

After a smooth trip through customs (no crying and no grape tickets) we got on a shuttle to Ohope.  It was a bouncy and twisty 4 hour drive...and Fiona threw up once...but it wasn't terrible and then we got to our rental!!!!

Welcome to Ohope!!

The beach was right across the street from us.  

There is a Sunday farmers market in Whakatane that we went to - it wasn't huge but good food, good coffee and a good vibe getting connected to the community.  

Overlook of the ocean from the top of the hill between Whakatane and Ohope. 

And now to the first day of school of Ohipe beach school!!  Most notable thing...most kids don't wear shoes (!)  Apparently everyone is barefoot inside the classrooms and most kids wear Crocs or sandals to school to make it easy (or go barefoot)!!

It was a stressful first day and people needed a break afterwards.  

School was off at a great clip - they did athletics at school (track / field in the US) with long jump being a hit for Fiona and Wes / Elliot excelling at throwing sports...I guess all the overhand throwing they have done so far was worth something!

It wasn't long before they adapted to the kiwi approach to shoes...ie no shoes / yes service!

Within a month we were getting ready for Halloween.  Crystal had brought costumes from the US and we were a StarWars theme this year.  It was a bit strange trick or treating in the sun and the during the day (as opposed to the dark and the rain) but certainly was less worried that kids were going to get lost or unintentionally run over.  It isn't as big a holiday here as it is in the US though there were a number of kids out and the lollies (candy) were flowing!

We met a giant inflatable Axolotl (it was Wes' friend Iz)

Emergency bush pee!

Even though all the logistical challenges of getting the family here and set up - a cup of coffee while the sun rises of the bay of plenty is a FANTASTIC morning together.  We are getting to spend a lot of time together as a family and really take advantage of it!

And they have smoothies at Ohope general store!

The day after Halloween was the roller skating party at the Whakatane roller club!  Crystal took them all by herself (Mac was exhausted from being up with his master's work) and they came in, as Miley Cyrus says, like a wrecking ball! 



Running Toi's track to get ready for a 16K race - the trail is up down and over mountains and includes a run along a stretch of beach...definitely a great trail run!

Somewhere along the way we bought a Ute - A Toyota Hilux named Uma.  It was a bit of a splurge but makes it easier to transport all the toys around and fits 5 people.  It is also 4 wheel drive for all the mudding that we *might* do. 

Our first weekend away was an overnight trip to Rotorua. It was a spur of the moment thing with not much packing.  We visited Whakarewarewa, the living Maori village, and got to eat corn cooked in the volcanic steam!  

As well as the Redwood forest and tree walk during the day. 

and night!

A Maori Rugby league tournament was a highlight of the trip (at least for Mac...nobody else seemed to much care).  

And yes Crystal did go to work occasionally - seen here with our Corolla that the hospital leant us for a month.  

Living by the beach has resulted in a lott of opportunities to head across the road and get some boogie boarding in! The kids really love it and while Fiona was a little tentative at the beginning - she has really started to enjoy the waves and boogie boarding!

We also start surfing class - which they call Groms.  I am not sure what a "Grom" is - but the kids LOVE doing it!!! They love surfing, they love the waves, the love the wetsuits and they love the worm showers after the class!  It is great to see the smiles and see them grow!!



















x