We interrupt this broadcast to...

Yesterday I sent my kiddies (funny that I still call them that even though they are well into college now :) this verse to encourage them as they finish up school before Thanksgiving~

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever."
Psalm 107:1

Regardless of whether life is good, bad, ugly, hurtful, joyous or wonderful, we can still give thanks because we have a God whose love has withstood the test of time, conquered death, changed lives and is still doing so today, regardless of the situation at hand. Trust in God's providence today and remember to give thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Aim

NZ Honeymoon: Paihia

Three and a half hours later, we arrived in Paihia, our "home" for the next couple of days. We were booked to stay at the Waterfront Inn & Suites and we were hopeful that the place would be a notch up from our Auckland hotel. Thankfully, it was!

Our place was humongous. It turned out that after Blane got us upgraded (he's still got it! haha) we were given a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment with a full kitchen, laundry room and three floors! It was nuts and wayyy too big for just the two of us!

 But the absolute best part of the place was the view. Right outside our first floor balcony was this~

Hello there ocean! :)

 We loved these sliding doors that opened completely for a nice inside/outside flow and easy access to the view too! We sat out on this deck the first night just watching the sun go down. So wonderful :)

After settling in, we went wandering around the town of Paihia. It was nice for a seaside city-there were restaurants, lots of places where you could book something to do on the water...like taking a ferry across the way to an island with restaurants and stuff, going scuba diving way offshore, and all the water sports you can think of. Here was the view just outside our place.

 We walked over to the "Swiss Chalet Restaurant" for dinner (as recommended by our trusty guidebook!) and it was good. We sampled the seafood because we were right on the beach after all :) and Blane tried the region's specialty-fish and chips.

It was a wonderful way to end our day of travel. Blane couldn't sleep that night though, because he was excited for what was to come tomorrow. Next up: Kauri Cliffs!

Get ready for golf people ;)

Aim

NZ Honeymoon: On the Road to the Bay of Islands

Early on in our honeymoon planning, Blane knew that he wanted to play at this world-renowned golf course in New Zealand. So we tried to plan around him playing there, but it ended up being just too out of the way, so we scrapped it. Fortunately, that golf course has a sister course, Kauri Cliffs (more to come on this later ;) that is just three hours north of Auckland in the Bay of Islands. So we planned on a few days up there instead.

The Bay of Islands is known to be one of the most beautiful areas in New Zealand. It is also famous because it hold historical significance for the country as well. The aboriginal people, the Maori, first signed a treaty up here that I'll have to look up :D but it's important, and they have a museum about it and everything.

Blane and I were excited to get out of the city and to start seeing more of the country! So we shuttle-bused it back to the airport (about a 45 minute ride) so that we could pick up our rental car. We strategically decided on pick-up/drop-off from the airport because we would be flying out of here once we got back to head to the South island and it just made thing easier in the long run if we did it this way :). Plus I got a major steal on a rental car ($25/day New Zealand! :D) so it definitely was worth it!

On the Super Shuttle to the airport.

Blane with his "totally native to the country" breakfast. Hah

Our rental car! Whoo-hooo!

Driving on the right side...weird!!!

Waiting to turn right. Double weird!!!

 The view outside our window was spectacular as we drove the three and a half our drive up to the Bay of Islands.

 It rained on and off that day, but it was fine because we were snug inside our rental car!

My trusty GPS+maps that helped us find our way. We didn't get lost once! Score! Haha

This was a cute little town called Kerikeri that we stopped in just before reaching our destination. We had to have our obligatory mocha latte of the day! It was nice and quiet and we enjoyed our coffees while looking out over this lake. 

Next up, we arrive in Paihia and check out our next hotel-the Waterfront Suites. We crossed our fingers that it'd be a goody!

Bugger good,
Aim

NZ Honeymoon: Waiheke Island

Next up on our Auckland day trip itinerary was nearby Waiheke Island. 

Waiheke Island is just a short ferry ride away from the dock in Auckland, and we had heard many great things about its wineries especially. So we purchased ferry tickets and decided to brave my potential sea-sick self to check it out.

 Waiting to board the ferry!

 Our guide map for the day...it's a pretty large island!

 Bye bye Auckland City!

 That's the Auckland Hilton on the left. We had heard that they had nice accommodations. I mean, it was right on the water so score one for location right?

 Our first sights of Waiheke~the ferry makes two stops, with Waiheke being the second stop. We didn't have time to go to the other island, but apparently there is a chocolate factory there that is a "must visit."

 We didn't have a car while on the island, and it was rainy that day. We made the best of it with our little red umbrella but because of the weather we were only able to visit two wineries as well as the town center. When I think back on it, we had a pretty fun day, only made more momentous by the rain and the memory of us running through it!

 The beach we touched upon docking, my husband on our walk to the winery and below, the vineyards of Cable Bay. They have a gorgeous view!

For those of you who know Blane, you know that he loves animals. We encountered many during our trip, but sheep were the ones we saw the most of. Here he is attempting to "summons" the little lambs. I have a hilarious video of him trying to get close enough to touch them if you ever are interested ;).

 Our lunch at Cable Bay~this restaurant was recommended to us by one of Blane's old co-workers who is from New Zealand. While good, we didn't think it was quite great and we wished that we had eaten up the road at Mudbrick instead. Oh well, maybe next time!

 My salmon with olives and roasted peppers (the mashed-potato looking stuff underneath was actually something else that was more creamy in consistency. It was kind of bland and I'm not exactly sure what it was). Below is Blane's seared scallops with prosciutto and peas. Again, it was okay, just not incredible. The lemon-infused house-made olive oil on the other hand was to-die-for!

 After Cable Bay, we made our way up the road to Mudbrick. Thankfully there was a lull in the rain for most of this trek up the hill!

 Entering Mudbrick...see our red umbrella? :)

 Mudbrick was the complete opposite of Cable Bay. It was English in style with vines growing all over the buildings and beautifully architectured gardens whereas Cable Bay was more modern and "clean" in its look. We thought Mudbrick was much more beautiful!

 We then trekked into town but it was raining and it was just too windy and wet to really enjoy it. So we high-tailed it back to the ferry to catch the next boat back to Auckland. Here we are sitting inside the ferry on our way back, tired and wet, but happy!

 Can you see Auckland outside the rainy window? :)

 Here's one for our first rainy day in New Zealand! I think we made the best of it, don't you?

Next up: we leave Auckland and head north!

Right-side driving, here we come :D

Aim

NZ Honeymoon: Ponsonby Road

Ponsonby Road is the name of a street in Auckland that is renowned for its shopping and many eating establishments. Blane and I spent an entire morning/afternoon there just walking, window-shopping and eating. It was a beautiful area and we had a great time. It was also our first adventure on Auckland's bus system, since we didn't yet have our first rental car. It was pretty easy to navigate with my nifty bus map! 

We started the day by taking a 40 minute walk to this cafe that I'd read about: Richmond Street Cafe. We had breakfast there and it was pretty good!

 Our ever-present lattes. Mmmmm :)

 I had the omelet with caramelized onions, cheese and "rocket," their word for mixed greens.

 Blane opted for his usual-scrambled eggs and sourdough toast. But he surprised me by adding their "avocado mash" because our server recommended it. Yayy! It was really good too.

After breakfast it we walked around the neighborhood and then back to Ponsonby Road for some shopping!

 A cute little neighborhood grocery store with sandwiches and lattes for "takeaway" (to go) too!

 I absolutely loved all the character in the houses we passed along our walk. This one in particular was really cute. I hope to one day have trees like these lining our walk. And that porch! Some yummy house deliciousness don't ya think?

These are just a few pics of things that I found interesting from our window shopping. The Pantone-themed mugs reminded me of my sister, poi dancers reminded me of Rianna, and I thought it was cool how proud the Kiwis were of their country too :).

A peak inside a cute shop, some delightfully green calla lillies (the only way I like 'em! haha), the hubby shopping in the outfit he chose to wear that day (I didn't realize it at the time, but my Mom saw the pic of him and said, "What is he wearing?!? Haha) and an upside-down Mini Cooper. Nothing strange here at all! There was lots to keep our eyes and feet busy on this one stretch of street.

A quick shout out to my beloved peony-yes, they had them in New Zealand and it was springtime there so they were beautiful!

We wrapped up our day on Ponsonby with a late lunch at a little cafe. It was simple food prepared very cleanly and it was just the thing to cap off a wonderful afternoon.

Here we are on our public bus ride back to the city! Phew, we made it ;)

No worries!

Aim