Days 6-8 - Coromandel + Hobbiton

And we're back! Believe it or not, there are still places in the world without WiFi and we were at one of them. But no worries, we'll catch you back up now.

Day 6 - Coromandel
We got up (somewhat) early and drove from Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula (Hahei beach, to be specific). We stayed at a little chalet about a 10-minute walk from the beach. Once we arrived and got settled in a bit, we took off on a hike to see Cathedral Cove and some other vistas along the coast. The hike was a nice ~3hr adventure up and down the bluffs along the coast, providing some fantastic views at (pretty much) every turn. Rather than bore you with text, I'll let the pics do the talking (below)

Day 7 - Hot Water Beach
We actually got up early (5:30am) this morning to see the sunrise over the beach. Only problem was this giant rock sticking out and blocking the horizon. But, the water was calm, the breeze was nice, and we made the best of it. After heading back (and some of us getting a cat nap), we went to a place called Hot Water Beach. There is a natural hot spring under the beach and the scalding hot water seeps up through the sand. So, people bring shovels and dig holes in the sand to form makeshift hot tubs that fill with the hot water. Only problem is that it is way too hot to just sit in, so you have to try to have some of the ocean (quite cold) mix in to cool it down. Oh, and there are like hundreds of people with the same idea, so it's pretty much mayhem trying to find the "best" spot to set up camp. We were successful and enjoyed a bit of time in our "hot tub" before the tide came in and knocked the walls down. We moved away from the masses to actually enjoy the beach and water. There was a nice swell coming in, so body surfing the waves was pretty fun. And then we rented a surfboard and rode on top of the waves, which was a blast (as expected). Apparently the GoPro does a better job for Bridget than me, but no surprise there... She got some nice shots of us riding the waves. After a nice session in the water, we packed up and grabbed dinner at "Serial Griller: Killer Burgers"; a food-truck type joint near the beach. The burgers were to die for... (#dadjoke)

Day 8 - Hobbiton
After yesterday's sunrise not being ideal (but still pretty spectacular), Bridget and I got up early again and hiked out onto that rock in the way to see the sunrise again. Unfortunately, it was cloudy (go figure, right?). But it's really hard to not enjoy sitting atop a bluff overlooking the water, so we were cool with it. After heading back and packing up (cat naps were saved for the car drive), we drove to Matamata; the home to the Hobbiton set from Lord of the Rings movies. It was pretty cool to be there and imagine being in the movie, but as could be expected, the set was just for looks on the outside. None of the hobbit holes had insides. All of that filming was done in a studio. Anyway, we finished up with a buffet lunch (not sure if it was authentic Hobbit food or not, but it was delicious) and then continued on the road to Rotorua, our next destination. This place has WiFi, so here I've sat since we arrived to get this post finished up.

The Sugar Shack (our AirBnB without WiFi)

Cathedral Cove (and namesake rock)

View from the hiking trail

Sunrise try #1

Did I mention the beach was a madhouse with people digging?

Catching a wave

Serial Griller

Sunrise Day 2 (panorama - click on it to expand)

Sunrise Day 2 (different view)

Hobbit Hole

Us in the only hobbit hole you can go into (and only a little bit at that)

Days 4+5 - New Zealand

Day 4 - Trip to NZ
Today was an early morning start in Melbourne and drive to drop off the rental car. Final tally on blinker/wiper mixup was 8 (sigh). Better luck next! Anyway, despite how close Australia and New Zealand sound, it is apparently more than a 3 hour flight. And for us, it was an uneventful 3 hours, just how we like it. Customs in NZ is pretty strict on anything that could come and introduce any foreign biological materials. So, no fresh fruit, animal products, seeds, etc. etc. And for us, that meant that the apple and pear Bridget was hoping to bring in for a snack had to be tossed (at least we declared it and told the customs agent - if the scanner caught it we would have had to pay a $400 fine!). Once we cleared all of that, we were picked up by some friends of ours and then settled into our AirBnB for the night.

Day 5 - Goat Island
After taking it easy in the morning, we drove out to Goat Island for some snorkeling and beach time. Despite the name, I don't think there are any goats on Goat Island, but there are some nice rocky areas and kelp forests to explore! I got to put my new GoPro to use, although apparently it doesn't actually turn you into a professional photographer...bummer. I did my best though (see below). The water was on the cooler side of things (~70F), but definitely doable for a couple of hours in the water, especially with wetsuits. We've done some snorkeling with more fish around, but it was still pretty cool.

Great way to start an early morning!

Apparently this is a crumpet (and you're supposed to put jam on it)

Goat Island

Everyone at the beach!

Bridget and our friend's little girl

Ready to get in!

This big guy was following me

How many fish can you spot? (hint - there are more than zero)

View along and beyond the beach

Sunset over Auckland

Days 2+3 - Great Ocean Road and Back to Melbourne

Day 2 - Great Ocean Road Pt 2
Our 2nd day driving along the Great Ocean Road was filled with more stop-offs to see the sights (pictures below), as well a a random koala sighting that necessitated a quick pull-off to take more pictures. Some of the pulloffs required some hiking to the coast, so we got to stretch our legs a bit. We saw lots of the rock formations that dot the coastline. These big hunks of rock used to be a part of the coastline but as the waves and water eroded the weaker rock along the cliffs, these survived. So here they stand (for now). Kinda interesting (in a nerdy kind of way...). When we got back, we got some fish and chips and calamari at the local fisherman's co-op (see pic below). That just about wore us out so we called it a night.


Day 3 - Back to Melbourne
We started today off by heading down to the beach for a quick breakfast and then surfing! I spent a couple of hours in the water (the waves rode me more than I rode the waves, but it's all good) while Bridget explored the pop-up artisan market and enjoyed the beach. Then we headed back toward Melbourne (pronounced "mel-bin" not "mel-burn", FYI). Our timing for heading back to Melbourne was impeccable - the traffic in the other direction was horrible (it also emulates that part of Hwy 1 as well...). And that's where the story stops for now - we're chilling in a library (air conditioning is a must today - temp is 94-degrees) before heading to dinner.

...just in case you forgot... (these are all over the place down here)

Another Koala sighting (Bridget was really excited)

This hasn't gotten old yet!

A cool formation called "The Grotto"

The Ridgeback

The 12 Apostles, one of the most iconic views along the drive

Jungle Boardwalk

Apparently only dance parties are allowed...

Fish 'n Chips (+ calamari)

Lunch with a view (and Bridget acting like she didn't sneak a bite...)

Day 1 - Great Ocean Road Part 1

We made it! The flight was pretty long, but 4 episodes of Stranger Things Season 2 and much-needed sleep made short work of the 15 hours. I feel like I've gotten pretty good at sleeping for about 15 minutes until one of my body parts falls asleep, adjusting to re-establish blood flow, then falling asleep for another 15 minutes until another part falls asleep, then adjusting, etc. etc. Anyway, the food and service were great. I (Jeremy) think I tried all of the coffee-related drinks on the menu by the time we landed - and they were all pretty good.

After we landed and got our rental car, we set out for the Great Ocean Road, which a scenic drive along the south-eastern part of the country. It's pretty reminscient of Highway 1 on the California coast (other than the whole drive on the left side of the road thing). Bridget got some great views while I tried to compensate for being on the wrong side of the road (and the wrong side of the car) while keeping up with traffic going 80 - 100 kilometers/hr (not miles/hr, mind you). But it wasn't too bad. For anyone else who's experienced this reverse car thing, my tally for the wipers/blinkers mixup is at 4 so far. Anyhoo... the coast is magnificent. Sandy beaches interrupted by steep bluffs beaten by the relentless surf. The road is dotted with pulloffs for tourists (like us) to enjoy yet another of the innumerable scenic views. The weather was overcast when we started driving, but once the sun came out, the water turned that picture-perfect turquoise color.

In case you were curious, the high temperature for today and tomorrow is 70 degrees before heating up to 90-degrees on Wednesday. Looks like that may be a beach/surf morning before heading back to Melbourne! Oh, and another bonus (that I had apparently forgotten) for the southern hemisphere (aside from it not being winter) is that the days are super long! Sunrise around 6am and sunset at almost 9pm! Not quite as long as the days are in Alaska during the summer (we were there a few summers ago) since we aren't that close to the antarctic circle but still pretty nice!

Tomorrow we'll be heading further west on the Great Ocean Road, so there'll some more spectacular pictures coming !

Started the flight with some sparkling wine!

It wouldn't be a blog post without food! Breakfast on the plane

Melbourne sign outside the airport

Waves rolling in

Someone is a risk-taker...

Another view of the water

I spy a Koala!

The blog is back!

Welcome back to The Adventures of Jeremy and Bridget (Part 2)! If you haven't followed us before, we started our blog in the summer of 2011 before moving to California. We've kept it going on and off since then (and had to create a "part 2" due to space limitations), but will be resuming blogging for this trip since it will be likely be worth reading (not that our other trips weren't, but you know). If you have some time to burn and want to catch up from the beginning, here's that link (link - just skip back to the beginning). Oh, and comments are welcome! Positive, inquisitive, or snarky...up to you. :)

Anyway, we took off this morning from SFO around 10am to start the journey. Wonder how much luggage it takes to travel for a month? Us too! We'll see if our two carry-ons and two backpacks are enough (see below)! Also, note for next time - don't have Bridget cut my hair 15 minutes before we're supposed to leave; we'll be late (sorry A&V). But we made it to LAX for our layover (Santa rides Virgin America, BTW) and are currently waiting for our flight to Melbourne, Australia tonight. In case you were curious, 7 hours is quite a bit of time to sit at an airport for a layover and wait. But since this is LA, and not Beijing, we didn't leave the airport to hike the Hollywood sign or anything. Binge watching TV shows passes quite a bit of time, it turns out. Well, there isn't much more worth writing about so we'll sign off for now and see you on the flip side (of the equator, that is)! #dadjoke

Proof!

Will this be enough?