Small world

It's a small world after all, and here's why. Meet Nancy and her daughter Serene, the latter of whom was actually born in Sonora almost 30 years ago. They only lived there for a little bit before moving to the Bay Area and eventually settling in Sonoma County.

Nancy has been to the Strawberry Music Festival several times and loves it, as do we. (We already have tickets to the fall festival as an incentive to come back).

Serene moved to New Zealand back in 2003 with her kiwi partner. A year later her mom joined her after being fixed up with Eric, who is Dutch and has lived here for many years. They've been building a cob house addition to the wooden house Eric started building eight years ago.

They plan to marry at the property this coming January.


Inside the cob house, this is where the bathroom will go.


And this will be the kitchen and dining area. Check out that tree in the wall.

Cob houses are an eco-friendly way of building, Eric explained to me. His cob is a mixture of clay, hay and straw that is mixed together and used to build the structure. He also used second-hand materials for things like the roof and windows.


These stairs lead you up to the existing house. On the right you can see their food pantry made out of cob. They also have an outdoor cob oven they make pizzas in.

Hot Water Beach

Today we drove across the Coromandel Peninsula to visit Hot Water Beach. Being the day before Easter (and a sunny, hot one at that) there was only about a million people there. Everyone was really excited to experience the geothermal heat rising from deep beneath the sand below. Amber and Ediza dug some sand to try and warm up their own personal pool.

A good Friday

Today was an eventful day. I went on an early morning run and then returned just in time for Amber to shear the two llamas -- Mr. Bolivio and Levina. After that, Hazel treated us to tea and hot cross buns, which she explained is a Good Friday tradition.

This afternoon we headed up the coast back to Coromandel Town and ate at a funky little cafe where Ediza made some kiwi baby friends. Then we went on a neat train ride (the miniature train wasn't enough) at this retreat where potters come from all over the world to stay at. The hour-long ride had cool pottery sculptures and artwork throughout.


Originally, the railway was a way for the man who owns the place to collect clay and materials for his pottery. Over the years, the Driving Creek Railway has evolved into a nearly three-kilometer trek with three short tunnels, two spirals and five reversing points. It ends at the Eyefull Tower, which gives you a great view of the peninsula.


With a late dinner and some wine, it was definitely a good Friday. By the way, Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays in New Zealand. Not a bad idea, eh?

Mini horse trek

She's ridden the Dalai Llama, a dairy cow named Summer and now Charlie, a white miniature horse with braided hair.


We ventured off into the bush this afternoon for a horse trek -- baby style. It was a little person on a little horse.


We stopped at this river for a break. Pretty, an energetic three-legged dog, took a swim as her owner, Vicky, watched.


I was the photographer, while Amber held on to Ediza (although she really didn't need much help as Ediza was quite the natural). Charlie was lead by a pharmacist from Holland who leads horse treks in New Zealand and Australia for half the year.


What a cool experience!

Blue butterflies

Today we went to The Butterfly Garden, which is a sauna-like greenhouse that holds about 400 butterflies. They're all flying around and some, like the one to the right, even land on you. The ones above are feasting on some grapefruit and bananas.

We've been continuing to do our thing -- Amber clipped llama toenails, I went on a run and Ediza took a bubble bath.

Fun in the sun

Surprise, we went to the beach again today. This time Ediza had a friend with her, Isabella (Trish's goddaughter). Boots the dog was also there, but no llamas:(

We've been seeing some sights, doing some yard work and Amber has been working some with the llamas. The plan is to get them out, to a place like the beach or the bush, before we leave.

Choo Choo

We've been adjusting to our new location this weekend -- visiting the Saturday morning market, taking a drive up the coast, getting kicked out of a meditation center, eating at little cafes and riding on a miniature train along the ocean. This photo with the conductor was taken just before the train blew its whistle and we took off.

We're staying with first-time llama owners, Mark and his partner Trish. They live with Mark's elderly mother, Hazel, in a large house overlooking the town of Thames. Mark's a transpersonal psychotherapist (still not quite sure exactly what that is), while Trish is an organic grower.

In their kitchen they have a chalkboard shaped like a rooster where they write things they want, things ranging from a first aid kit to a chess board to a yurt to a kitchen sink plug. For a long time they had llamas written on it until Hazel bought them a pair for Mark's 50th birthday. They have two adult llamas (a male and a female) and a baby cria who was born at the beginning of the year.