More Pictures from the Epic

While life here in Wellington is taking off in it's own direction, we recently found new pictures from the Alpine Epic that we still thoroughly enjoy reflecting upon.  Some are our pictures and some taken by a good friend, Derek Morrison, who helped us get through each day of the race by popping up in some random location with his huge camera, documenting the ride in a way that really caught our emotions...(in a good way)!

 

After day 3, cooling down in the local river...that is Zeph and I still looking a bit delirious (and relieved) that we made it through another day...

The Great Mt. Cook in beautiful pre-dawn light. There really is no wonder why or how this mountain helped transform an ordinary bee keeper into the first man who scaled Mt. Everest

This road on Stage 6, day 4, was so long, long, long...however this picture grasps a much different viewpoint

 This was the beginning of Stage 1 or Stage 2...can't really differentiate between the two as they all started bloody fast...

 There were more than a couple gorges we rode down (and back up and out) during the four days. This one had winds of epic proportion blowing down it.

 And another gorge...truly straight out of Lord of the Rings...

 And yet another river crossing...right when our feet started to dry out, we would have to cross yet another river...

 One of our more favorite pictures with the great Mt. Cook in the background...These four riders were the lead riders of the race and I can assure you they spent a significantly shorter amount of time in the saddle each day than us! We would finish our ride to find our friend Kashi (the rear one in the photo riding next to his partner Marcus) already showered and looking fresh as a daisy.

 And then there was the shack...for those of you who have read the book, The Shack...this was an exact description of it...we rode around the corner and it took my breath away as we were directly across from the most peaceful, isolated shack we had ever laid eyes on. To say it was amazing would be an understatement...

That's all for now! Zeph and I just started our third week of working for Wellington Realty, which is a boutique commercial real estate firm here in Thorndon (the nicer part of Wellington for a visual)...We are really lucky to be working with our boss, Peter, who loves what he does and is teaching us all he knows- which is a lot! He has 41 years experience valuing, leasing, and selling commercial real estate here in Wellington, so we couldn't have found a better person to learn from.  We moved into a flat and haven't taken any pictures as it has been a bit of a depressing spot, even for us! It is all gray, which probably hasn't helped, quite cold and very wet.  Not until the very recent past did they begin insulating homes and making windows with more than 1 pane!  It was also giving us a commute to work that was the last thing we wanted...so, we went out and found a new place we get to move into in a little over a week.  It is a new (2 1/2 years old), cozy one bedroom, with a heck of a view, a great deck (for Z's BBQ), conveniently located, with lots of insulation, dual paned windows (YAY)! So, a new appreciation for warmth, dryness, and more sun! YAY! We will definitely be taking some pictures to share...Hope all is well with all of you and know we think of you often and miss you like mad...and send lots of Love your way...All the best...S&Z

Bittersweet

 Reflecting on happy days on our lovely Orbeas during the AlpineEpic

There is no question we have so much to be thankful/grateful for in our lives...We have each other, we have our health, we have amazing family and friends (new friends we are meeting every day), we are on an adventure of a lifetime, we now have a great little flat with a view, and we now have jobs (yay)! Those are all the sweet things in our lives.  The bitter of the bittersweet happened last Friday night (or wee hours of Saturday morning) when our own Queen Sally (our Isuzu Bighorn) was loaded to the rim for the big move into our new flat Saturday morning. She was full of about 2/3rds of our belongings, including our lovely Orbea mountain bikes, huge bags of all our riding clothes, camping equipment, sleeping bags, tents, replacement parts for the bikes that we brought over from the states as they are even more expensive here...only to find it all gone the next morning.  Sally had essentially been mugged.  Her driver's side window broken, where they unlocked her, and took everything out the back.  We try not to recall that feeling of seeing our vehicle empty as it had been packed to the rim.  We have always been as safe as we can with our bikes as they are worth so much to us.  They were covered so no one could see them, and covered again with all the stuff we were moving the next morning.  And, there was Sally, empty.  It had been raining a lot so fingerprints were not an option.  We don't know who or how or why...on our good days we are hopeful and on our bad days we beat ourselves up over what we could have done different.  There was no insurance for the contents as when we went to get content insurance, we needed a home address, which we didn't have because we were traveling. When we tried to get travel insurance, it was only good for a week and only covered up to $1,000 per bike.  While everyone seems to have different explanations as far as what happened, or what will happen, we don't really care...we only want our stuff back and thinking about worse case scenarios surely doesn't make us feel any better or get us any closer to finding it.  Granted, it is just "stuff".  But in this case, it was our stuff which happened to have a lot of sentimental value...from the hand me down bike Zeph had given me to ride, to the bikes we got engaged on, to my favorite green beenie, to Zeph's bike that was part of his payment for working on the Luna team last year.  Through the experience we have met a lot of amazing people and we feel like the entire bike community here is looking out for us to find our bikes.  A couple days ago we received an email from Carl, who insisted us borrow a couple of his (really nice) mountain bikes for the next 6 weeks while he is gone.  So, we focus on those great people, not the morons that took our stuff, and we remain hopeful we will see it all again very, very soon.

 A little more reflection...please bring our ponies back to us or let us find them soon!

On the other front (the "sweet" front), we have both spent the last two weeks interviewing with different real estate firms.  We have been organized and diligent and disciplined, in our questions we ask to learn more about how each organization operates and where each of will fit best.  Funny, after individually interviewing, we have both chosen to work with a small, boutique commercial firm here in Wellington called Wellington Realty (www.wellingtonrealty.co.nz).  The owner is one of the nicest people we have met here, with a great reputation, 41 years of experience that he wants to teach (us), and above all, he loves what he does which makes him very good at it.  So, we are blessed as we will be getting paid to learn, which motivates us greatly to make Wellington Realty its own David and Goliath success story.  And, just like that, we both begin our new "job" Tuesday morning at 9am, which is very exciting indeed.

 Wellington's own Bittersweet Chocolate truffles... 

We continue to explore the great trails (www.tracks.org.nz)here in Wellington and are quickly learning which ones are still in good shape after 4 inches of rain as there is no question we are approaching the middle of winter.  We did move into our new flat, which has great views of the ocean in Lyall Bay, the airport (that is a good view for the two of us), and a lovely golf course.  We are filling it with hand me downs and seconds that we are quite grateful for (we are sitting at a loaner table from Linda and chilly bins/ice chests as I type). We look forward to a home and are working on our dream list of amenities including a gas stove, a garage, a view, a bathtub, good insulation, a garden/backyard, and maybe a security system...


That is the update here in lovely Wellington.  We continue to enjoy ourselves and learning lots about ourselves and each other in the process.  I apologize for not writing sooner but I assure you would not have wanted to read anything I would've written in the past week as our moods were down (this is a mild understatement), and I had writers block.  Hope you are all enjoying the warmer weather in the states, wherever you are and know you are never far from our thoughts.  Much love, Sarah & Zeph.

Dunedin, another ferry ride, and a wee little hedgehog

Long story short, we only lasted a week in Dunedin.  And, in all honesty, if Zeph didn't have some work obligations (a job), we would have left for Welly after Day 1.  In hindsight, our trip to Dunedin was a dark week that brought much needed clarity. We should have known when we didn't want to leave Wellington that we, well, shouldn't have left Wellington.  We came to New Zealand for a change, for opportunity, and for a quality of life more fitting for the two of us and our outdoorsy lifestyles.  And with that, we went to Dunedin for a job.  The logic is that our bank accounts could use some income and which often comes most readily from a job and it was the only offer we had thus far.  Zeph had vowed to never work in the retail industry again and while we were optimistic in understanding this job would be different as it was an outdoor store with what sounded like a good atmosphere...it was still retail at the end of the day.  Needless to say after the first day the look of discouragement from Zeph was overwhelming.  After the last few months of dreaming big and thinking about what we want in our lives, it was if someone had thrown the bird back in the cage and clipped its wings.  He decided to go for a second day and it was more of the same and it was at that point we reminded ourselves why we came to New Zealand in the first place.  Dunedin was nice, but it was cold in a wet, moldy, bone chilling way.  Nothing was ever dry, including the carpet or our clothes or our hair... It was our reality that Dunedin just wasn't us and retail just wasn't Z any more and while we wish we wouldn't have had to drive the 9 hour trip each way (plus 3 hour ferry), we wouldn't have known who we weren't anymore, or who we wanted to become, if we hadn't made that trip.  So, after helping out at the shop for the remaining week, we made the trip back to Wellington- in one day.  We left at 6am and arrived in Welly at 9p at night.  There were many epiphanies along the way and we learned more about ourselves and each other along the way that it made the whole trip worth it.  The further north we traveled away from Dunedin and toward Wellington, the better we felt.  Granted, it warmed up a bit as well and we began to thaw out which felt wonderful.

 Welly looking south and the South Island to the left in the distance...

Lyall Bay in Welly, looking south again...

On the Eastern Walkway behind Seatoun in Welly...

We keep thinking the foliage on the Eastern Walkway would be a perfect place for Kiwis to live...we keep looking (and listening)!

It has now been a little over a week since we have been back in Welly and there is no other way to explain how nice it has been aside from the fact it feels really good.  We came back to Welly with new plans and goals and dreams for ourselves and each other.  We want those opportunities that are a perfect fit for us and are doing everything in our power to have them find us.  We've had many new experiences throughout the week, from exploring the vast Welly library, finding new trails, eating new forms of local seafood, and going to a real estate auction...We are learning new things, meeting new people, and are taking a real estate course to make us more employable as well as to learn more and add another tool to our toolbox- further enabling us ways to contribute to the world in better ways.  While we may not know what the exact outcome looks like yet, we continue to add to the list of "knowns" and continue to figure out what truly makes us happy.  We know we left some of our happy in California because we left our friends and our family and all our amazing supporters who encouraged us to make this journey...and that we reflect often on (as well as staying in touch as much as possible)!

 Zeph took an amazing picture of some wild parsley growing alongside the Eastern Walkway...

Needless to say, we have now added some things back into our lives that is bringing back some much needed normality.  We now have a schedule and are looking for "jobs" and a home.  We hold onto the things that make us feel at home, whether it is each other, a great Mexican meal (made by Sarah as there is little Mex here), good music, the smell of pine trees...and riding our bikes.  

 A calm Wellington evening...

We have continued to find more amazing trails around Wellington.  After our class gets out every afternoon, we hit the trails in Bellmont Reserve, where we ride endless singletrack, undulating up into the pine groves and over the sheep pastures.  Today we were descending back to the car and Zeph came to a screeching halt as a baby hedgehog sat frozen in the middle of the trail.  We sneaked by him as he looked a bit confused but oh, so cute...

Had to include a borrowed picture as we didn't have a camera on us, but they are SO cute!

The Great Pegasus and Beautiful Geraldine...

The drive from Picton, the drop off point on the south island, to Dunedin, which is much of the way down the east coast of the south island, is about 10 hours.  We planned it so that we could eat a late lunch at one of our favorite restaurants (in the whole world).  We realize that is a large statement to make, however the experience at Pegasus Bay Winery delivers- every time.  Granted, we have only been there twice now, yet both times the meals were probably among the best meals we've ever had.  The drive to Pegasus took a little longer than we expected and being they close at 4p, we scooted in the door about quarter till 4p and were hesitant to see their expressions as we were 45 minutes late for our reservation.  Fortunately (this would have rarely happened in the states) they welcomed us as though it was their first hour of business (for the day) rather than the last, which made us feel much better!  Pegusus is a sustainable business model all the way around, from their Biodynamic vineyard to their seasonal menu.  All we can say is they know what they are doing in the most unpretentious, enjoyable way.  

A bit on the dark side, the table at Pegasus consists of a wine barrel top, which is understated, practical, and resourceful!

 Oh, two very happy people!

The grilled calamari salad was at its freshest and fantastic...

Zeph's salmon was perfectly seared with fresh green olives on top and some equally fresh olive oil...

A light "salad" consisting fresh figs (picked from their grounds), on top authentic water buffalo yogurt, with honey, and gorgonzola...good enough to be dessert!

Dessert consisted of an extremely dark molten chocolate cake of sorts, rhubarb, and fresh vanilla bean ice cream...

Now you will understand why this truly is one of our favorite (special treat) spots!  Needless to say we did a better job at not eating too much as this can ruin the entire experience.  And, we continue to be inspired by passionate people like those who run Pegasus.

 They had to let us out of Pegasus...

After our late lunch, or early dinner, we drove a couple more hours closer to Dunedin and stopped at another great spot we had visited once before, Geraldine.  Geraldine is a sweet spot, and in our eyes fully self-sufficient being that she has her own organic yogurt company, cheese factory, chocolate factory, jam factories, organic produce stands and then some!  Geraldine is a combination of brilliantly green rolling farmland, scattered with orchards, and large foothills leading into the Southern Alps.  It is very beautiful scenery!  We were fortunate to visit their farmer's market in the morning before finishing our drive and it was a special treat in itself.  There were about 15-20 vendors, all local and mostly organic, with brilliant creations such as a hazelnut and honey spread (the Kiwi version of Nutella, yet even better).  Pretty neat as well because both hazelnuts and honey are "grown" in New Zealand and with local ingredients like that it is easy to understand the inspiration locals have to create their own amazing creations!  We felt honored to experience this perfect little market and it was a perfect send off to continue our drive south to Dunedin.   

 A great image or shadow of us in our lovely Isuzu Bighorn, named Queen Sally (it was Sally then we adjusted it to Queen Sally after the infamous Queen Sally Diamond Deli in lovely Wellington)...

The Welly Zoo and Another Ferry Ride...

First, our sincere apologies for the delay in adding to our blog.  (Now the excuse) We have had no internet where we are staying in Dunedin, which means $5/hour internet use in the city!  Fortunately, our new friends Kashi and Derek have an office downtown where they have let us "poach" their internet, so we are beginning to catch up!  Well, I am catching up for both of us on this end while Z is catching up our bank account at his new job on the other end...


We were scheduled to leave Wellington for Dunedin on Tuesday however that changed when Graeme's airline was canceled due to the now famous volcano.  We could not leave Wellington without saying "so long" to him and hearing about his adventures in Cambodia, so we rescheduled our ferry trip for Friday morning (take note this is the third ferry trip and with one more we will be open to any donations as the lovely ferry is not cheap and air travel would be less expensive if we didn't have our vehicle and bicycles).  That said, in the bonus days staying in Wellington we got to visit the Welly Zoo, which was awesome.

 A perplexed Meerkat looks like a cross between a badger and a squirrel...

 As Zeph was taking this picture, there was a pair "getting busy" just to the left...use your imagination!

 The giraffes were enjoying lunch and fortunately the walkway was taller than they were so we could get a unique view of their gracefulness! 

 The Senegal tiger gave us a great show of tricks before they got quite a hefty snack, consisting of lots and lots of...meat!

 The Sun Bears were creative in enjoying their coconut snacks as they are able to eat with all fours- can you imagine?

I escaped the zoo!  (so did Z)

  We also got to make Graeme a welcome home meal consisting of local mussels, which was amazing.  

The mussels was from Al Brown's new cookbook- Go Fish and they were heavenly...Fortunately, Zeph has impressive patience when it comes to cleaning mussels!  The tomato sauce had garlic, port, and red wine and the bread was fresh sourdough.  Heaven on a plate!

As well as eating some of the award winning Kohu Road vanilla bean ice cream with some local fig jam on top.  (No pictures of this as it wasn't around long enough for a camera to be involved!) Now, onto that ferry...

A Good Day...and Love the Beast

A beautiful native specimen in the Nga Manu Nature Reserve

We took a drive up to Waikanae, which is about an  hour north of Wellington, on Tuesday to visit the Nga Manu Nature Reserve.  It is a special place for many reasons.  Aside from being a great (natural) display of New Zealand's beautiful flora and fauna, it is where Ivan & Irene's (Zeph's Grandparents) memorial benches sit (can't think of many better ways to be remembered).  There are two benches, each within close proximity of each other.  

 Zeph on Irene's bench and I am sitting on Ivan's bench in the distance...

 Happy nature reservists- not to be confused with Naturists!

Each time we go and sit on the benches we find great joy in the space they provide.  Whether it's reflecting on all we have to be grateful for (lots) or sitting and watching the silly ducks decide how to plot their next attack on us, there is no other way to say than it is just a really nice place to sit.  

 The ducks act quite innocent yet they move quick when on a mission!

 In memory of Irene (Zeph's Grandmother)

In memory of Ivan (Zeph's Grandfather) 

Before our sit, we took a stroll through the reserve's bush walk, where they have native plants and trees labeled with explanations and stories for those of us not familiar with what is native here.  There are several big ponds where ducks and geese practice their take-off and landing strategies while the swans preoccupy themselves with themselves.  

 Sarah thoroughly enjoying the nature walk (and the hat her mum knitted her)!

Zeph is especially happy when camera is in hand!

Zeph is obviously quicker than I am in the camera department!

Yesterday we woke to some good winds here in Wellington.  This time, not only did it sound like the porch furniture was moving across the porch, it might have been blowing an occasional house off its slab!  Needless to say, when it is this windy and we want to go mountain biking, we drive over to what is now our friendly stand-by, the Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park.  This day was one of those days where no matter what you do (or how much coffee you drink- Zeph), you just don't feel awake or altogether, together!  Fortunately, while on vacation, we can just enjoy that space and not have to rush getting out of it.  So we left on our ride up to the peak.  The single track winds, or as Kiwis call it "undulates" up to the top of the peak which is about 1,500 feet above sea level, through beautiful canopies of ferns.  To make matters even more enjoyable, it had just rained the night before so the trail had perfect traction with the rocks being just a bit on the slippery side.  Needless to say, while this ride was just a little over an hour in length, it was perfect.  It was so fun winding our way up the trail, feeling the warm sun on our backs, it almost felt like we were levitating up the mountain.  Pure peaceful bliss.  And, then we started the downhill!  It was one of the best, flowing (flowy is the mountain bike term that we have come to love) single tracks with whoops and berms tossing us all around (in a good way) all the way down off the mountain.  One of those trails you never want to end and one of those feelings you never want to forget.  We got to the bottom, exhilarated and at peace, all at the same time, with very big smiles on our faces.  A good day indeed!

 Perfectly happy!

On a side note, we actually rented a movie the other day that is worthy of watching.  It is a documentary by Eric Bana (the Australian actor most women instantly remember).  It is his story about his passion for cars, or a car in particular, a 1970-ish Ford Falcon  XB, that he has owned for over 20 years, rebuilt 3 times (about to be 4) and raced in the Targa/Tasmania multi day road rally twice now.  The story isn't so much about him, but the relationship with the car through all these years and how it has been the fabric interwoven within his relationships with his best friends and family.  It might not sound like the most exciting of stories, but it is a story well told with some beautiful pictures of Tasmania, that most don't see every day.  So there it is, the shout out to Love the Beast.  (Those of us who have or continue to have relationships with inanimate objects can especially relate- Sarah).  

We are here in Wellington for a few more days before we head across on the InterIslander ferry once again (continuing to involuntarily contribute to the financial success of the ferry being this is our third trip in a little over a month) on Tuesday.  From there we will drive the 900km, 10 hour drive down to Dunedin where we will get to unpack our bags (YAY!) and get into a little bit more normal life, well, enjoying life.  In the meantime we get to check out the Wellington Farmer's Market on Sunday and Cafe Ora, a 100% gluten-free cafe with rave reviews, for a special treat Sunday brunch, as well as Graeme's return from Cambodia!  Much to look forward to! 

 She was not camera shy in the least!

Southern Hemisphere wonders...

 NZ Flax

Alright, we are going to get some things out in the open about New Zealand and the southern hemisphere that we are still getting used to...

1.  There are A LOT of stars and constellations down here that those in the northern hemisphere never get to see and vice a versa...including a recent viewing many saw of the Aurora Australis on the south island...

2.  Christmas time is in the middle of summer.

3.  The moon's waxing and waning sides are opposite the northern hemisphere, so the moon is waxing when lighted on the left side and waning when lighted on the right.

4.  Dudes where shorts and short shorts here and it is normal- it is the influence of Rugby, the manly sport.

5.  There are roundabouts instead of stop signs, promoting fuel efficiency, safety, and general flow of traffic.

6.  People drive on the left side of the road.

7.  The toilets really swirl the opposite direction as the northern hemisphere (and supposedly on the equator, the water goes straight down)!

8.  The sun's strength is a bit stronger down here, not so much because the hole in the atmosphere is closer, but because there are less pollutants in the air, making a thinner filter for the sunshine.

9.  There really is no nuclear power in New Zealand, most the power comes from wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric.

10. (along those same lines) No nuclear powered boats are allowed into New Zealand's harbor (the last one was in the early '80's and we just met the guy who drove his 14' boat into the US navy ship and later fined $100).

11.  There are no capital gains taxes in New Zealand.

12.  There are California Redwoods, Sequoias, and California Poppies in New Zealand.

13.  The second favorite flavor of ice cream among Kiwis is Hokey Pokey- a carmel, crunchy, confection made from Golden Syrup and we assure you, is quite impossible to pass up!

14.  The airplane ride from LAX to Auckland airport is about 12 hours- not bad! (and it's the best airplane food you will ever have if you fly Air New Zealand).

15.  The seasons are opposite on the northern hemisphere, so always about six month's difference in season.

16.  Kiwis are into their coffee!  And, for good reason- most of it is organic, fair trade, and with a roasting date to inform the consumer of how long has passed since it has been roasted.  Brilliant!

17.  Kiwis, while into their coffee, are also very into their tea, probably of English influence.

18.  New Zealand is overcoming its English influence when it comes to food (we'll forgive them), with cafes all over that now focus on fresh, light, seasonal cuisine (less meat pies, etc.)

19.  There really are a lot of sheep (they don't tell you there are equal amounts of rabbits and furry possums)!

20.  Meat is naturally free range here as well as the eggs, making them highly nutritious and, hold onto your horses, good for you!

 The Seatoun Tunnel...leads to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!