"Yes we wear dresses, and yes we dance"

I bet you are wondering what the heck the name of my post comes from. There are lots of Rugby World Cup commercials on the tv right now. My favorite has a segment with 2 really tall guys in kilts, that would be the "yes we wear dresses" part. Then the next segment shows The All Blacks doing the Haka, the "and yes we dance" part. I love that commercial!!

Fortunately for us we were able to get tickets to the bronze final for the Rugby World Cup here in New Zealand. The game was this last Friday night in Auckland. It also happened to be the day before Scott's birthday so, for his birthday present we went to the game. The game was Wales vs Australia. We went and cheered for Wales because they really deserved to win. The game was awesome! The whole atmosphere was so cool!! We started out leaving Catherine in Huntly with the Rutenes around 5:30 p.m. We decided to take the train to the game because they were free. So we made it to the train around 6:30 p.m. The train left at 6:40 and it was around a 30 minute ride to the park. Scott had been hoping to walk the fan trail to the game, which was about a 50 minute walk. Unfortunately we got the stop to start the walk with about 50 minutes until kick-off so, we decided we wouldn't walk. It was still so cool. We saw so many people there. We saw a guy dressed up as "Where's Waldo" and some as Nelson Mandella. There were so many different costumes. There was also a Maori dance going on right outside the park. Scott was really sad we didn't walk the trail because of what we saw right outside the park. Oh well though. It was still awesome. So now our holiday officially starts!!
This was actually taken from our seats.

The Maori dance
Scrum

Us at the stadium

Us on the bus

“"Honey, you’re on the wrong side of the road again.”

There isn’t much to do around Gisborne but, there is Rere Falls and the Eastwoodhill Arboretum. One day Scott came back from work about an hour after he left and said John had given him the day off. We were hoping the sun would come back out. Scott had gotten the day off because the sun decided to come out for the first time in weeks but, by the time he got back to the apartment it was cloudy again. So we decided to chance the weather and try to do some sightseeing. So we left for Rere falls. It was about a 45 minute drive and by the time we got there I was incredibly car sick! Really the problem I have with New Zealand roads is, they are terribly twisty. The speed limit is 100 km (about 62 mph), but normally you can’t get up to that speed because the road curves too much. I decided the best thing for motion sickness is a waterfall. So, I left Scott to get Catherine out and I ran down to the falls. It was gorgeous. You can also get right up close to the waterfall. I guess sometimes you can even get right up behind the waterfall. Scott even has pictures of him standing behind the water of the falls. Unfortunately, the water was hitting right against the wall. So we decided not to try a fight with the falls. Anyway, it was gorgeous. We had a nice little picnic by the falls. Also, no one was around. There was absolutely no one around. We had the whole place to ourselves. When we decided to leave the falls I had had enough of the twisty roads and decided it was time to learn to drive in New Zealand. I did a pretty good job! I had a little bit of trouble with some one lane bridges. Mostly I would go across the bridge and automatically move to the right side of the road. Scott kept reminding me to get back over to my side of the road. Luckily we didn’t see many cars. So we drove on to a rock slide. It is on the same river as Rere falls just a little ways down the river. Basically it is just a decline in the river that has just the right amount of slope to be a slide. Apparently you take a mat and slide down this gentle slope in the water. It was a little intimidating to me, mostly because I’m a chicken, but Tran Burt told me that once you see all the kids going down it you realize it’s not that bad. Luckily, for me, it was too cold to get in the water, even though the sun did come out and it was moderately warm. I did stick Catherine’s feet in the water and, needless to say, she was NOT happy with me. After looking at the rock slide for a few minutes we decided to go to Eastwoodhill Arboretum. Everyone in Gisborne has been telling us to go see it so, we decided, “why not!?” We get there and talk to the lady at the office and she tells us what walk should take us about an hour and we set off. It was gorgeous! Absolutely beautiful!! It was basically a forest. One thing I noticed as well, there are so many different colors of trees. They have white, pink, purple, red (I love all the red blossoms on the trees), dark red, green (of course), yellow, and orange. I think I even saw a blue tree once, it might have been purple but, it was pretty close to blue. I just love all the different colors here!! We made it about half-way when Catherine decided the ride was too bumpy in the stroller, and told us (very loudly) to get her out. It was also at this point we realize she has thrown her pacifier out of the stroller, which also happened to be the only one I brought. Also it was my favorite of her pacifiers. So, Scott heads back down the trail while Catherine and I wait on a bench we found. Scott comes back empty handed… so now we have a little girl who will not sit in her stroller and no binky to put in her mouth. She also happened to want her Mommy, who can’t hike and hold her so, she gets to scream in Daddy’s arms. It was still a great walk. At the end of the walk there was a fountain. Catherine didn’t like it but, I sure had fun! It was a large marble ball that sits on water. So I was playing around, rolling the ball and running my hands through the water. It was quite refreshing after our long walk. Unfortunately, we exhausted everything there is to do around Gisborne in one day. Looks like we are going to have to try harder to find things to do while we are still in Gisborne.

Hunting Again

So, Scott decided he needed to go hunting again, this time for deer and wild boar. So on a Saturday we went out to the Eketone’s house and Scott went with Karain and a friend of Karains. I stayed at the house with Susan and the kids. It wasn’t an extremely exciting day for me but, Scott had fun. He shot some kind of duck and they also shot some goats. They didn’t see any deer or boars. I think it would have been pretty cool if they had come home with a wild boar.

Lamb's tails and opossum hunting!

Our last week or so has been really eventful. I'll start with Scott's opossum hunting. Scott was invited to go hunting with his friend Karain Eketone. So to go opossum hunting you have to go at night because they are nocturnal. So we went over for dinner. When we get there Karain and his 4 kids are out in one of their paddocks with a fire. So we go in and I sit with Susan his wife. Scott goes out to see what Karain is up to. Little did we know, Karain planned a "suprise" for us... Somehow Karian got a hold of a bag of docked lamb's tails. yay... :( So I am just sitting inside with Susan talking. Pretty soon Scott comes in and says, "Are you hungry?" So he tells me that my dinner is waiting for me outside on the fire. At this point I'm pretty sure someone is trying to trick me into something. So I walk outside with Scott to find out that Karain has told him that all there was for dinner is lamb's tails. At this point I'm thinking I would rather starve. So we walk out there and they ask me if I want one. When Karain looks at my face he can tell I don't want one. So Scott says, "Just try one." So I do. It was awful, slimy, cold, and fatty. But, I can honestly say I tried it. So we go in and they start making dinner. WHEW!! So after dinner Karain takes his son and Scott opossum hunting. Basically it is their form of bunny bashing. They just take a light (cause you have to hunt them in the dark) and shoot them for fun. Of course they didn't even see any opossum. They did come back with 3 peacocks, 1 peahen, and 1 turkey. Although Scott said they shot more than they brought back.

Picture time

This was at the end of our walk. Catherine didn't care for it but, I sure had fun. It felt so good after our long walk.

Cool tree under another cool tree.

This is the pond they were on. So cool!

These are the coolest! These little flower things cover ponds around here. Sometimes they completely cover the water so they are all you see.

This is a pond on our walk at Eastwoodhill.

This is at Eastwoodhill arboratum. We believe it is a silver fern. Which is the national plant of New Zealand.

Yes, this is a lemon, and yes, it is as big as Scott's head.

Catherine in a swing by the falls

Daddy and Catherine in the tree

Daddy in the tree.

Daddy and Catherine by the falls.

My baby and me at the falls.

This is Rere Falls near Gisborne, New Zealand.

They went hunting again, this time for deer and boar (which they didn't see any of) Scott shot this bird. We aren't really sure what it is.

Catherine and I went for a walk around the shops in town. When we got tired we went down to one of the rivers in town and sat in a gazebo for a while.

Getting ready to watch the rugby game. We just had to get an "All Blacks" shirt for her.

My "All Blacks" baby!!

These are the 3 peacocks, 1 peahen, and 1 turkey they came home with.

This is Karain and the turkey he shot

Scott with the peacock he shot, while possum hunting.

Scott eating his lamb's tail. Gross?? I think so!!

My baby can stand!! She just pulled herself up and stood there for a while.

Our first Sunday here. Not sure if you can see it but, she also has her two front bottom teeth

I can honestly say I tried lamb's tails. It was weird!!

Wainui beach right across from our house.

Its a little blurry but, our first walk on the beach with Daddy.

This is at the Eketone's house. Catherine loves it there.

Us in our sweaters cause it is COLD!!

Catherine at the beach. She loves it!

This is Catherine on the plane, eating pretzels

This is the view out our front door

So I'm not very good with the pictures on here so they are in reverse order. We are having so much fun here. It is finally starting to warm up! I'm so excited. Our house is always cold but, it is a basement so, I guess that is normal.