Category: Blog

Hazel continued her apprenticeship in country music vocals last weekend at the Buller Country Music Club gathering at the local social club.  She donned a borrowed blue dress and, with the help of a strong band backing her up, delivered another star performance–this time singing the Kris Kristofferson classic “Help Me Make it Through the…… Continue reading Hazel Sings Again

For three weeks in March, the sporty folks of Westport hold a mini-triathlon on Thursday evenings.  The idea is to get people of all ages to participate and enjoy getting outside. Last night was the final evening and two of us participated.  Hazel anchored the 200M open-water swim leg of a three girl dream team.…… Continue reading Triathlon!

Jeremy had his fun hiking the Heaphy Track so Hazel and Dara decided we wanted to have our own adventure.  We drove 3 hours East and North and up a steep gravel road to get to Flora Car Park in the Kahurangi National Park. The views from the carpark, at 912 meters (3,000 feet) were…… Continue reading Hazel Climbs Mt. Arthur

We can’t say we weren’t warned.  Every time we mentioned we were heading to Stewart Island during our two week trip, people would say something to the effect of: I hope you have seasickness medication for the kids! The journey started off with two spews (our new Kiwi way to say vomit or puke) from carsickness.…… Continue reading Our Journey to the Southern Tip (Part 3)

Westport is a long way from Nashville, but that doesn’t stop west coasters from appreciating country music.  This weekend is the annual Buller Gorge Country Music Festival which is taking place just down the road from Westport in Rose’s favorite town, Carter’s Beach.  So, we had to go check it out. One of the unexpected…… Continue reading A Country Star is Born

It’s true, we celebrated Chanukah in Wanaka.  (Just wait till we tell Adam Sandler!).  We were lucky enough to be with Rebecca, Eric, Eli and Tessa back in December for both Chanukah and Christmas. Getting back to where we left off on our previous holiday post, after we left the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers, we…… Continue reading Our Journey to the Southern Tip (Part 2)

The Heaphy Track is one of New Zealand’s 8 “Great Walks” and it’s the closest one to Westport.  So, after much negotiation and planning, my friend Steve and I set out last weekend to tackle the 80 KM track over four days.  While the track is relatively flat, it is the longest of the Great…… Continue reading Hiking the Heaphy Track

[NOTE: We’ve found that unless we break our posts down into digestible pieces, we will never finish writing them.  Thus, this is the first installment chronicling our travels.  With any luck, it won’t the the last one.  Stay tuned!] Over Chanukah, Christmas and New Years, we packed up the car, picked up some CDs and…… Continue reading Our Journey to the Southern Tip (Part 1)

Many things in New Zealand are almost the same, but somehow slightly different from our experiences in the States.  Take, for example, s’mores and marshmallows.  The past time of toasting marshmallows on a campfire is alive and well down under.  However, instead of Hershey’s chocolate and graham crackers, Kiwis put their toasted marshmallows on a…… Continue reading Giant Pink Marshmallows

We stopped to take a look at a recently built marae (Maori meeting grounds) in Arahura (near Hokitika, aka Ho-Ho-Hokitika) last week. The carving at the entrance of a Maori Warrior inspired some poses of our own: