Misty Mountains

Howdy, Tom here.  When it is cloudy in Taupo, the clouds often block our view of the three great mountains at the south end of the lake.  It has been cloudy a lot lately and so we haven't had a clear view in a few weeks.  Today, finally, we could see to the end of the lake, though the cloud cover was still there, only higher.  I celebrated by taking some photos of the mountains.

These two are from the morning.  The white peaks on the left are Ruapehu, the cone in the middle is Ngauruhoe (aka Mount Doom), and the broad shoulder going off to the right is Tongariro.  Note the white puff coming up out of the mountain on the right in the second photo.  That's actually venting from the volcano and not a cloud.

Here are some sunset shots.

All of these photos were taken today, all from our kitchen window.

As a farewell bonus, see below for a shot over our neighbor's roof.  Happy 11-12-13!

O Christmas Tree

Tom, the boys, and I have never ventured out into snow covered hills to chop down our very own Christmas tree, even though it's always seemed like the epitome of wholesome family holiday activities. This year, when my colleague Anna suggested we do just that, I sort of jumped at the opportunity.

Ok, so it wasn't an opportunity to do just that, exactly. This tree she had selected for us was growing on the side of the highway at the edge of Lake Taupo. Our plan was to head out, following their "ute" (i.e. utility vehicle) with various implements of tree destruction and head back with the tree in the back of the truck.

Adventures ensue.

Here we are, following their truck on the highway, where the speed limit is 100 km/hr. See all those trees just growing along the edge?

Here's our tree, in its natural habitat, right next to the water. It's a pinus radiatus, and Anna assures me this species is generally considered a weed.

It's a really big weed! See little Steve in there next to it?

Here's Anna, bringing Steve the machete he needs to bushwhack his way to the tree.

Almost done!

The boys, Anna, and I did our best to help out, while sitting there on the side of a major highway. Here's Jasper, trying to look casual with a flower growing out of his scalp.

Yes, eventually the tree was successfully felled.

It was still ginormous.

This is the view of us trying to get back on the highway, having just picked the tree up off the road onto which it had fallen. We have secured it in a more solid fashion this time, which is to say that we did secure it at all. See how it's waving at us from underneath the tarp?

After trimming about 8 feet off the base, it is now an appropriate size for our house.

Here are the happy and successful participants in this year's Christmas tree challenge. Many thanks to Anna and Steve!!!  This was the most fun our family has ever had procuring a tree!

Six months and counting...

I can't believe it's been six months since we left the US. In many ways it feels like it's flown by and I am afraid that when we leave New Zealand I will feel like there was so much more I wanted to do here. It's been a great six months and I still feel like we are in the midst of our experiment which will tell us, in the end, what the essence of being a family is, and the fundamental things we need to feel comfortable and at home. It will teach us about how we adapt and give us some idea about the things we might do but hadn't yet tried. So many good ideas, and great goals-- and yet during the day to day of just living in a place, it doesn't feel like we are doing anything that high minded. I am hoping that reflecting periodically like this will help me to learn and remember all that I hope to from this experience.

At this point, not quite halfway through, I have noticed that I've lost a little of the frenzied sense that we have to pack in New Zealand Adventure after Adventure. I think that before we had arrived here, I had pictured this year as a year of constant sightseeing and tourism. I've never done a whole year travelling -- backpacking through Europe, for example. After spending some time with backpackers here, I'm not sure I would have ever made a great backpacker. A year strikes me as a very long time to not be part of a community, and not be contributing to society in some way. To travel for so long without any real goal - I think I'm not made for that sort of thing. So it's great to discover at this point in my life that I should never regret not having backpacked through Europe.

So we are settling down in a few ways. I've really loved getting to know our town and the town in which I work. I've loved getting to know my coworkers and the families we meet through the school and in town. I've learned that there are virtues to spending some weekend time just reading by the window and playing computer games. The kids seem to need this down time as all the running around exploring gets tiring for them. They are much less likely to think that this particular rock formation is awesome or the way the road winds into that valley is amazing. I am suspicious that this down time is something that I need as well, and it's good to learn that. Running around, whether it's from tourist sight to tourist sight, or from overbooked obligation to overbooked obligation, needs to stop sometimes. It's maybe taken six months to learn that (evidenced by our previous blog entries.)

Which is not to say that we've been sitting around doing nothing. Last week we went back to the Coromandel Peninsula with John and Sara and did some of the things I had really wanted to do, but missed during our last visit, including seeing Cathedral Cove and the Hot Water Beach. I think the difference I'm describing might just be that I've started to feel like less of a tourist and more like a denizen. That's pretty cool.

Anyway, at this almost-midway point, I think it's safe to say we've had an amazing first half and at the same time we are looking forward to fully enjoying the second half and coming home. I think this trip may have turned me into a firm believer in the value of a sabbatical year. Maybe we will start planning our next trip soon.....