Maracuya = Passion Fruit

So Natalie found some jugo de maracuya, which comes in first on our things to blog about list. Second is the fact that the symbols on the keyboards dont correspond to what shows on the screen, so until we figure it out you will be seeing limited apostrophes, parentheses, and colons. Third, is the fact that Iron Maiden played the national stadium in Lima and people were waiting in line for 5-6 hours all well equipped with their Iron Maiden or Dio shirts. We seriously considered going but given that we had left our Iron Maiden shirts at the hostal, we figured we'd wait until next time.

The photos above are from Lima. The first is our lovely little hostel. The second is from the Plaza de Armas. The third is of the changing of the guard at the presidential residence. Quite a silly little picture if you ask us. We just had to post it. Anyway...we are in Huaraz now, after an 8 hour bus ride, and are trying to acclimatize to 9000 ft or so. Pardon the short post and check back soon for more exciting scenery.

Robert Burns, Penguins, Airplane Sunsets: What do these things have in common?

They are all sights we've been to lazy to post about until now. But "wait," you say. Robert Burns, in New Zealand? Yes, Dunedin has a strong Scottish heritage, and the name Dunedin actually comes from the Scottish Gaelic words for Edinburgh, Dun Eideann. Dunedin is home to the University of Otago, and it is quite the nice little college city. We found some surprisingly good museums, and a spectacular (i.e. cheap) fish market. Also of note, our room was nicer than most hotel rooms we've stayed in, but the Hostel was named Hogwarts. I didn't want to disclose that fact, but we'll let it attest the candor of our blogging.
But "wait," you persist. Penguins? Yes, New Zealand is home to several species of penguins. The photo above was taken at a sanctuary/rescue center north of Dunedin. The penguins were molting during March and are particularly sensitive to the elements and vulnerable to predation during this period. There were several dozen birds being taken care of in the rescue center, but we were able to snap a photo of this little fella out in the open. I can verify that Natalie was slightly whelmed by her sighting of wild penguins.
So concluded our New Zealand vacation. It is impossible to describe the welcome we received and the helpfulness of people we met, both Kiwi and fellow travelers. Similarly, the photos betray the grandeur of the natural scenery. A nearly perfect trip was had by both of us, despite the less than luxury sleeping conditions, a few burnt tuna melts, and a good soaking or two. As if the sights from ground had not convinced us to return to New Zealand, we were left with one final sunset from 30,000 feet.
As I write this it is 1:30 am (my excuse for unfixed typos or nonsensical sentences), and our journey to South America begins in less than three hours. Hopefully, we will post as (ir)regularly as we did during the first half of our adventure. We are scheduled to arrive in Lima at 4:30 on Wednesday morning, and depart from La Paz on the 11th of May. Stay tuned to see what actually transpires. Thanks for reading, and don't be afraid to post!

Gee, New Zealand is Pretty

The Milford Sound is the one thing everyone is told that they have to see when going to New Zealand. So, we decided that it was the one thing (well technically second besides Tongariro Crossing) that we were going to definitely see. I think we would both agree that it was worth it. I don't even know if words can describe what it was like. Imagine landing in Neverland and seeing tons of waterfalls falling from the cliffs of these crazy green land masses. They say that it is best to see Milford Sound during the rain because the ground cannot absorb the water and therefore it releases the waters in the form of hundreds of waterfalls. Anyways...the picture may give you a glimpse of what it was like. The last picture is there because of personal request for more pictures of the two of us and I think it had the lowest resolution of the pics of both of us. Anyway, the internet timer is running out. Miss you and hopefully we'll post again before we vacation in SF for a week.

Pancakes and Glassy-ers

Hey there patient blog readers. We're finally at a place and have the trifecta going: free time, a decent internet connection at a reasonable price, and a slight interest in blogging. There are so many things to post I'm not sure where to start. I suppose I'll start with the West Coast of the South Island, including the Pancake Rocks and Fox Glacier (that's pronounced glassy-er for those of you not on our guided bus rides) and then let Natalie take over.
The first image is of the Pancake Rocks. They are layered rocks created from the shells of sea creatures. The rocks built up at the bottom of the sea floor when the ocean level was much higher. Erosion over time has made them the shape they are now. Want to know why they are in such odd layers? Nobody knows, so we can't help you.
The second image is Fox Glacier. It is a glacier. It is big and icy. That's all I have on that one. We did a nice 2-hour hike to get some good (or maybe not so good, you can decide) views of the glacier and the valley. It was pretty impressive, sort of like everything else we've seen since we've been here.

Lani, Shiloh, and Aarla's Farm

It turns out that being ditched by our wwoofing host was a blessing in disguise. We decided to stay with a friend of a friend of someone we volunteer with (at the Alemany Farm) at their home in Ngatimoti (outside of Motueka). Good luck finding it on Google Earth. The first picture is of the general setting of the property and the second is of their house, which they built themselves.
The property is about 60 hectares (roughly 120 acres I think?) in all, but they don't use all of it. Some is native forest restoration. They grow probably 99% of their food, everything from apples to zucchini. Probably the most impressive was the fact that they had enough rye and other grains to bake bread almost every day (even challah for Shabbat!). They grow around 25 varieties of apples, along with plenty of other fruits. The first day we were there they were pressing the fruits for juice. On the second day Natalie helped pasteurize and bottle the juice which they will drink throughout the year. They use a composting toilet, have a water wheel and solar paneling for electricity (which they use very little of), and make their own baskets and candles from things on their property.
We felt very blessed to have been taken in for three nights with no expectation of having to work or help out in any way, even though we did contribute a few hours of field hoeing. It was an impressive example of how to live your life with very little impact on the environment, and was exactly what (Dave) was looking for in a New Zealand farm experience. There is so much to tell we can't begin to write it all here, so feel free to ask us all about it when you talk to us. For now it's back to the tourist track, so we'll post more mountains, rivers, oceans, and maybe even something from our wine-beach-sunset photo set soon!

Farewell Spit

Hello! This post will be brief because we're doing one more tomorrow morning! Super brief actually. These pictures are from our last day in Takaka. We hitched up to the Farewell Spit (pictured first) which is known as a sanctuary for lots of migrating birds. Black swans were an example of one of these bird species. We then proceeded to hike along the hillside of the coast to Cape Farewell where we saw a cove of seals (pictured second). It was (again) a beautiful hike with tons of wonderful views. The hike ended at beach with the craziest sand dunes we've ever seen. We then got a ride back to Takaka from the only Mexican we've ever met in New Zealand and looked exactly like Fez from That 70's Show. He had actually lived in Castro Valley for a couple months and had family in San Jose. We were his first hitchhikers ever. Luckily, at that point, we were not attacked by sand flies....which I can't say is true anymore.