Out of the city

So we've made it out of Auckland and are now at our first llama farm, Rangemore Llama Farm (www.llamas.co.nz). It's actually owned by the president of the New Zealand Llama Association -- the one who put us in their newsletter.

We had a good time exploring Auckland (riding buses all over the city, walking the busy streets and eating lots of tasty ethnic food). I even managed to get a long run in. Above is a photo of us outside our hostel, an old house in an upscale part of the city known as Parnell. Below is a photo of Amber and Ediza in a park next to the hostel.

A big part of our exploring the city involved searching for a car to buy. We bought one yesterday at the backpackers car market, which is a place where travelers buy and sell cars and vans. We bought our car -- a 1996 white Toyota sedan -- from a Swiss guy, Mathias, who is flying back home today. He was very friendly and helped me get the hang of this whole driving on the opposite side of the road thing.

When driving, everything is opposite: the steering wheel is on the other side, the lights, the windshield wipers, everything is reverse. Combine that with driving in a hectic city and through these wild roundabouts and I think I did pretty well (even though I kept turning on the wipers instead of my blinkers).

We left Auckland later than planned because we had a mechanic do some work on the car. The drive to the farm was about four hours to the north. Kerikeri (the town) is at the northern end of the Bay of Islands and reminds us of Hawaii and other tropic locales. It is raining a lot here, although it's quite warm.

The farm we're staying at is very green and lush. It's surrounded by a river and there's plenty of outdoor activities nearby. They have about 50 llamas, a dog named Tess, some peacocks and a bunch of other animals, including a funny cockatoo that says things like, "hello darling."

Today is the birthday of Julie, the lady who owns the farm. Happy Birthday, Julie!

New Zealand arrival

We arrived in Auckland yesterday and took a shuttle to our hostel, the Lantana Lodge. After resting we did some exploring of the city and found some yummy food. The best we can tell is that it's 21 hours ahead of the west coast here. Thankfully, we haven't really experienced much jet lag.

Traveling this far with a 16-month-old has been surprisingly not that bad. Sure you have to chase her around the airport and make sure she doesn't knock things off the shelves of the gift shops, but you also get to cut to the front of the long airport lines and everyone (especially old ladies) smile and talk with you.

These photos were taken in our room. Ediza, always full of energy, wasn't climbing up the walls -- she decided to go up the window. Haha.

Fiji fun

We've made it to Fiji and have spent the morning in the airport. It's very hot here and the air is thick. Ediza Rose did great on the airplane. She slept most of the way as we left late Saturday night. It's now Monday morning here. Still haven't quite figured out all the time changes. We'll be boarding soon for another flight to Auckland. For now, we're hanging out and dancing to some local music...

On the road

So we've left Sonora and are now on the road to LA. We're spending the night with Amber's sister and her boyfriend in Pismo Beach. Since arriving we've been to a park that acts as a butterfly sanctuary and we walked on a pier out over the Pacific Ocean. After running some errands tomorrow we plan to drive down the coast and fly out late in the evening. So far, so good.

Getting ready

Ediza was playing in the backyard before we went to the trail today. She and mommy visited a horse at the trailhead before walking the old railroad grade in Tuolumne. For the first time since training for a marathon two years ago, I ran to the bottom and back to the top of the grade (a total of about 12 miles).

We are continuing to gear up for our big trip. In a week we'll be in LA getting ready to board a flight to Fiji.

Yesterday was my last day at work and I've been busy trying to hang out and say good-bye to everyone. I'm not complaining though as that means lots of eating out (everything from Indian to the Miner's Shack). Tonight we're going to Jenn's birthday celebration at The Old Stan.

In addition to packing, Amber prepared for the trip by getting her chakras cleansed last night:)

Snow time

At last, we finally have photos on our blog. Thanks again, Alisha.

These pics were taken on Amber's 25th birthday, Jan. 14. We went up to Leland High Sierra Snow Play, which is like a ski resort but for sledders. I wrote a story about the place a couple years ago. Very cool.

We are gearing up for our big trip. Our passports just arrived with our visas for China. We leave LA Feb. 16 for Auckland, NZ (with a stop in Fiji). We have offers to stay at about a dozen different farms in New Zealand (most are llama related). We leave NZ May 13 for a week in China, and then fly to Athens via Amsterdam. We head back from London to Washington D.C. at the end of June.

By the way, for those of you who have had trouble with trying to post we should have fixed that (also thanks to Alisha).

Happy New Year

Hi everyone -- We hope 2008 is off to a great start. It has been for us. We went to a party on New Year's Eve and the following day I started training for my marathon on the Great Wall of China while Amber pulled Ediza in her wagon. What a beautiful day!