Waiheke Island, New Zealand

G'Day all. After a loooong flight from Hawaii, which included a stop in beautiful Fiji, where we never left the airport, we have arrived in New Zealand!

Our current location is lovely Waiheke Island, a 35 minute ferry ride into the Hauraki Gulf off the coast of Auckland. It is late spring here--headed for the Summer Solstice, and people are gearing up for summer. School ends in two weeks and the beaches are calling. As you can see, Debbie and I have been taking advantage of the warm weather and long days, along with our new friends.

The people here are laid back and the island is great. We've been staying with a family doing some landscaping and child care in exchange for room and board. So far, we've managed to avoid death and destruction while running, walking, and driving around the island, even though all the people who live here insist on driving on the wrong side of the road.

Mauna Kea

We were missing the change of seasons back home so we grabbed all the fleece we could find and headed up the volcano. It's the highest point (13,796ft!) for thousands and thousands of miles. Absolutely amazing to go from steamy jungle to barren, windswept, snow and ice in a short drive. And the star gazing is stunning! The big island has only long-wavelength (yellow-red) streetlights to cut down on light pollution. So there's no background light, just clear cold air and extreme darkness. We had a lot of fun with the cold wind blasting our faces and the altitude making us short of breath, and got a great astronomy lesson from a UH-Hilo grad student at the visitor center.

By the way, we changed the settings on the blog so that now you can post a comment without having to sign up for anything. So comment away!

Kona

Hooweee. Last week we went for five days to the western side of the Island, called the Kona Coast. It is amazing to drive over the hump between the two huge volcanoes and leave behind the rainy windward side to arrive on the sunny leeward side. Only about 60 miles separate the two coasts, but the climate and ecology are totally different.

Kona coast has white sand and black sand beaches in abundance, where the windward side has mostly rocky coasts. Kona has gentle swelling surf, while the windward side has pounding, crashing surf. Kona side is dry, desert, looking a lot like the Western US, while the windward side is all jungle.

We had a lot of fun camping on the beaches, visiting the resorts, and snorkeling in the crystal clear, warm blue water amongst myriad different fish. It was awesome--we're both completely tan and relaxed.
Up slope (mauka) of the coast is the best coffee growing climate in the world. Numerous coffee plantations grow coffee that is orders of magnitude better than any other coffee I've ever had. It's almost like it's not even the same drink. To add any cream or sugar to it is close to blasphemy. We got completely wired one afternoon touring and sampling (Debbie drank coffee and got all hopped up--wicked fun!)

Near the southern end of the Kona Coast is the Place of Refuge (Pu'uhonua O Honaunau). This idyllic spot on the ocean is where the royal families of ancient Hawaii made their homes, and where islanders in trouble with the law could escape to receive a reprieve (if they could make it). Very cool spot with lots of ancient Hawaiin buildings and carvings.