Adventures in Kiwi-land

[superchef]

New Zeland has to be the most beautiful country I have ever been to. It was so hard to get on that plane and come home. The highlight of the trip was meeting Ian (Flying Kiwi) and his family. It was bliss to be on a boat in the bay surround by nothing but water and the islands of NZ. Dinner was quite good too!

I did the Skyjump. The first second before you step off, is a bit of EEKK!! but then the ground rush is awesome. They let you do it a second time for free so I did it twice. I have a photo from that as they drop you about 1o metres down, have you grin up at the camera and then send you on your merry way. I'll post it next week when I can scan it in.

There are no words to adequately describe standing on the beach at
Waikehe Island watching the waves crash up on the sand in front of you and against the cliffs. I also walked around the island a bit and saw some of the vineyards which were shades of green and red and gold as it is late fall there. This certainly will not be my last trip to NZ as there is so much more of the country I want to see.

Anyway, as long as the pictures come out, they'll be posted tomorrow as words simply cannot describe the stunning beauty of the country.

cheffie

[Weruj1]

so you didnt have a good time then ?> :p

[StayBack500FT]

I'm glad you had a good trip...can't wait for the photos!

[superchef]

well, strike two. If I can ever figure out how to get these to post, you'll see them. :(

[Tooanfrom]

Cheffie--please, please do not rave on about our country.

We have managed to keep it all a big secret--only 4 million of us live here (and only 60 million sheep)--easy to to find a good looking one,ay Fellas?

Seriously, glad you enjoyed your trip down under.

Oh yes another bonus about NZ-unlike Awestruckingfailure we do not have all manner of poisonous creatures all waiting in the bush to kill you--only Auckland drivers are allowed to do that.

PS You could have at least waved from Waiheke Island-we look at it every day from our kitchen window!

[superchef]

Waikeke Island

[superchef]

I wish we could have connected before I left tooandfrom so we could have met up. However, this will not be my last trip to NZ. It may take me a year to save up $$$ again but I'll be back.

Don't remind me that you have that awesome view everyday. You are SOOOOO lucky. I did get a chance to see the NZ Fire Brigade too. I came back to the hotel one night to find several engines in front of my hotel and another arrived shortly after that along with the salvage unit. I found out later that a sprinkler had gone off in someone's room.

well, the picture posting is not working. I'll have to try and figure out why.
:(

[superchef]

Waiheke Island

[superchef]

The tall tower in background is the SkyTower that I jumped off of (attached to a wire of course). This picture was taken from the marina.

[superchef]

one of the vineyards on the island

[superchef]

as you can see, photography is NOT my calling (that and I just had one of those one time use cameras).

[superchef]

the tide was out and the sand was covered in seashells. The picture does not do the view justice. It was incredible.

[superchef]

Devonport is a 12 minute ferry ride across from Auckland. I was sitting on the beach with Devonport behind me.

[stillPSFB]

Originally posted by Tooanfrom
We have managed to keep it all a big secret--only 4 million of us live here (and only 60 million sheep)--easy to to find a good looking one,ay Fellas?
Now all you have to do is teach the sheep to play cricket and you might give the Aussies a decent match:D

Oh yes another bonus about NZ-unlike Awestruckingfailure we do not have all manner of poisonous creatures all waiting in the bush to kill you--only Auckland drivers are allowed to do that.
Those poisonous creatures are very important in Australia - they are how we stop all the illegal immigrants from reaching the cities:) We don't need a Coast Guard or Border Patrol etc - the crocs, snakes, spiders, box jellyfish and all the other nasties take care of 'em for us - nice and clean, no need for paperwork, holding cells, court cases, etc. Only the strongest survive, and when they finally reach a city they are usually begging to be re-exported because they are so mentally wrecked after battling through a few thousand miles of jungle.

[Tooanfrom]

Bump and triple Bump

Could someone please go thru (very slowly, and as if you were explaining to a child) how to put an attachment onto a reply.


Yes ,I am 65 yrs old-yes I was given a bollocking at school for using a "Biro" instead of "Pen and ink"

Yes I was using B.A sets before they became S.C.B.A--namely Proto

Please spare my blushes and PM me--if you are 15 and know it all-please impart your knowledge!

Reason? I can show Superchef a few pictures of the area in NZ that she never got round to seeing--I have umpty frew picture saved in documents. I can easily send them on "Normal" E mail no probs.

As soon as I try to send them via "Firehouse"--zero-nada-zilch

[superchef]

Australia is on my list of places to visit too although with all those critters roaming about, I may need some protection when I get there. :D I miss NZ already.

Tooanfrom-

It is easy to put attachments on. When you are in the reply window under it you will see several options. Click on the "browse" button next to where it says attach file. That will let you browse your computer for the location of the file so you can post it. Once you find the file you want, you can press submit reply and it should post. The only problem is usually the size of the picture. I had to reduce mine down to post them. I am saving the really hot ones for the crusty site though. :D

PSFB- Sheep playing cricket?

How many pints did you have last night? :D

[stillPSFB]

Originally posted by superchef
Australia is on my list of places to visit too although with all those critters roaming about, I may need some protection when I get there. :D
Oh I'm sure Pumper41 and myself could provide a suitable protection service:)

PSFB- Sheep playing cricket?

How many pints did you have last night? :D
I lost count - and it wasn't until this morning that I remembered that I was drinking full strength Aussie beer again, instead of the watered down U.S. beers that I was drinking at FDIC. Man my head hurts.

[PattyV]

I will never get the hang of american beer.

If you come to the Gold Coast, well i wont protect you, its survival of the fittest:p

Anyone willing to give the Aussies a go at a real cricket game? You dont even have to be wholly human!:D

[stillPSFB]

Originally posted by PattyV
I will never get the hang of american beer.
Patty,

American beer is perfect for FDIC - you can drink in the bar until 2:00am, then get up at 5:30am and go and do another days live fire training (although a few of my American Brothers looked a little worse for wear most mornings:) ). I can't wait to see what effect Australian beer has on them when they visit:D :D :D

[PattyV]

Its always a good time when you get them on it.
I have lots of American friends that live in Malaysia, i always show them the real stuff to drink

[manofire2]

Hey Cheffie, did you take in a rugby game while in NZ, if not you'll have to go back.

How come your not in any of the pictures?

[superchef]

manofire
That would be cuz I was taking the pictures. :D And no I did not see any rugby games while I was there. Not enough time. The "back back to NZ" account is already being started so I can go back next year. Then I also have to factor in Australia. I think my vacations are pretty well mapped out for the next few years. Although I think I better just buy a camera phone or a digital camera. I suck at picture taking.

manofire- I will post the picture of me dangling over Auckland tomorrow when I can get to a scanner to scan the pictures in.

:)

[FlyingKiwi]

Go on then, post the one with the fish. :D

[superchef]

aw Ian, my hair is all frizzy from the humidity and my face is sunburned. I'll scare them if I post it. :eek:

how about if I just post the fish? :D

[FlyingKiwi]

That will do.

Give the fish his 15 seconds of fame. :p

[superchef]

He had that right before Mrs. Kiwi put him in the fying pan. Ok. When I get home, I'll post him in all his fame. :D

[superchef]

I give up on the picture posting. Nothing works anymore. I still have some more pictures to post of the trip. If I ever get it to work again, I'll be back. I think I am just going to get on a plane and go back to New Zealand.

[superchef]

this is another picture of a local beach in NZ. As you can see he is a much better photographer than me.

[superchef]

ok Ian. he gets his wee bit of fame. I could not edit out the frizzy headed redhead as the computer kept changing the file to a bitmap. I hate computers sometimes.

:rolleyes:

[StayBack500FT]

So what kind of wine goes with a fish like that?:)

[superchef]

If I remember correctly, we had a very nice chardonnay and a whiskey chaser. Ian did the hard part of cleaning and filleting the fish. Mrs. Kiwi cooked it and we all ate it. I should have some better pictures this weekend. I still have a few pictures left on the other roll. I need to find a tiller or two in SF to use up the roll so I can get them developed. :D