The Big Swing

Friends, family, we are in New Zealand! We arrived nearly a week ago, and, as expected, it is paradise. Everything we heard about this country is absolutely true. The people are incredibly friendly, the deeply green hills roll endlessly, and the beautiful beaches stretch for miles. I'll fill you in, but first, our final days in South America.

We ended our five months of travel in South America in Bariloche, Argentina, which is considered to be the northernmost city in Patagonia. It is a lovely inland city known for its numerous outdoor activities thanks to the Andes and many nearby lakes.

The highlight of our short stay was a snowy hike to the summit of Cerro Otto with stunning views of Cathedral Mountain.

(There is a race called "Carrera de Los 4 Refugios" traversing that mountain, and I will be back one day to run it.) Then, we flew back to Buenos Aires for the night and caught a flight the next day to Santiago. It was great to be back in our beloved city. We went to our old neighborhood to see Mati, which made Ginny the happiest. Then things got weird.

We put the kids to sleep at the hotel at 8 pm. Ryan left shortly thereafter to catch a plane to Los Angeles, CA, for work. I woke the kids up at 10 pm for our 12:40 am flight to Auckland. The four of us boarded our plane, ready for a 12 hr 25 min flight that would arrive in New Zealand at 6 am a full day later.

My anxious mind went through every possible bad thing that could happen. There was some pants peeing, some night terrors, and no dairy-free food, but WE MADE IT! We arrived in Auckland, walked in the pouring rain to our rental car, and then I took the deepest breath of my life as my foggy brain tried to conceptualize driving on the left side of the road. There was nothing to do but laugh.

While Ryan worked in Cali, the kids and I fought jet lag and began exploring Auckland. Lucky for us, our new friends we met in Calafate had just finished their stay in Auckland and gave us many tips! The highlight was a hike to Whatipu Beach in Piha, where the kids ran around the black sand beach for hours. Their delicate Seattle skin was not prepared for the New Zealand UV index, so they all got pretty crispy. Swim shirts are now required for the South Pacific.

Soon enough, Ryan was back! He flew through the night and arrived just in time for us to hit the road to Tauranga. Underlying this part of New Zealand are hundreds of kilometers of limestone caves, filled with "glow worms" that cover the cave ceilings and walls with constellations of tiny green dots. (These little "worms" have the greatest PR team ever...they actually are the maggots of fungus gnats that attract prey to their glowing butts and then capture them in hairlike strands of mucus hanging from their bodies.) We of course had to see this for ourselves. None of the pics in the dark turned out, but here's the mucus. You're welcome.

So, the glow worms were gross. But the caves were AWESOME!

The rest of Tauranga was beautiful. Just a sweet town on a long stretch of white-sand beach at the base of Mount Maunganui. The kids took surf lessons on Thanksgiving. Ginny just got pummeled and kept getting right back on. So proud of that kid.

We all enjoyed a couple mellow days on the beach, and then it was time to get moving again. Our next stop was Rotorua, but first we stopped for a hike out to Whataroa Falls. The forests here are so lush and alive, with bright and constant birdsong. It feels like heaven.

In Rotorua we visited Te Puia, a Māori cultural center and geothermal wonderland. The geysers were just amazing, and we all loved laying on the naturally heated rocks.

We also saw our first Haka, which was as incredible as I hoped it would be. Then we hopped over to the Redwood Forest, which was originally planted in the early 1900s to diversify New Zealand's forestry options. Because of similar climates between the north island and coastal California, the Redwoods have thrived here and created over 5600 hectares of forest.

The road trip continued today as we left Rotorua for Huka Falls, where we hopped on a jet boat for a close look. The kids loved the 360s and high-speed river turns...I still feel like I might be sick.

We are spending the night in Taupō, a lakeside city known for Māori carvings in rock faces only accessible by boat. We'll go see those on a sailboat tomorrow! Then off to Tongariro National Park before driving to Wellington for our final days on the north island.

Whew! That was a lot. So, I'll leave you the best photo bomb of our trip. I'm just so proud!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. We miss you!!

All my love,

Madeline