New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii

Casey and I got back Friday night from a 12 day trip to the other side of the world. We left last Monday on a 12 hour flight to New Zealand. We got to Auckland on Wednesday (we crossed the international date line and thus lost a day!). Our first destination was Rotorua. It's home to geothermal hot spots, a Maori village and a neighboring town that was used to film Lord of the Rings (it was Hobbiton). We attended a traditional Hangi dinner where Casey was pulled on stage to do the Haka. (See attached video)



We attended a sheep shearing show where Casey got to feed a baby lamb. We then toured a farm and got to feed alpacas, llamas, sheep, deer, ostriches, etc. We had intended to go to a rugby match but a lot of traffic and rain got in our way. Instead we watched it at a local pub. Early wake-up call the next morning to catch our flight to Sydney! Casey's feelings about Sydney can be summarized by the fact that every 20 minutes he asked if we could move there. I told him he'd have to get one awesome job . . . but I love that city just as much as he does. Highlights of Sydney must be listed because a full detail description would be endlessly boring I'm sure: Opera House (AWESOME!), Bondi Beach, Lights festival, street market, Sydney Tower, architechture galore, walking across the Harbor Bridge, cruise through the harbor, this fantastic chocolate bar that Casey wants to open a franchise here in Utah, Botanical Gardens, St. Mary's Cathedral, and tons more. We tried kangaroo, emu and crocodile pizzas. Turns out that emu's are quite tasty!


















We even got to go to a park called Featherdale where they let the kangaroos and wallabies just wander around. Casey found a new friend when he scratched their necks! Turns out kangaroos like to be scratched just as much as dogs!
That night we flew to Hawaii . . . unfortunately Hawaii was the low point of the tour. It's beautiful and everything but we were so tired. The tour got all discombobulated. However, my college roommate is from Hawaii so we spent a day on North Shore with her snorkeling, swimming and jumping off this gigantic rock. We attended a luau where they did fake tattoos . . . see attached picture. Then we spent Friday coming home. I guess that pretty much explains it all! We're glad to be back home.