Aotearoa Weather. Jan 8, 2018

Marinedream

We’ve already figured out that the weather here is a mix of rain, wind and warm sunshine. New Zealand is also known as Aotearoa. The Maori translation is “Land of the Long White Cloud” and historically referred to the North Island. At our locale, the clouds form daily over Mt Egmont. However, last week storms barreled across the Tasman Sea and hit the area with a force of nature! Tides were up over their peak of 11 feet and waves were huge ( by our standards). I didn’t get great photos of the storm due to the high winds and rain but it was spectacular to see. Des took video from the swim center.

This cool facility is a short walk from our hotel apartment. Outdoors is a 50 meter pool and high dive and inside is pure theme park! We all ran, slipped and flopped along the huge log like floating obstacle course. Kai was the only champion of course. I couldn’t believe Kiwis let people do this at a public pool! Huge guys and kids ran full steam and most flew off into the pool. Ever see the show “Wipeout”?!

The Rain didn’t stop us from a short bike ride along the walkway and a run up the long black sand hill at Back Beach next to Paritutu Rock.

The sun felt great when it appeared again- Perfect weather for biking and seeing the other end of town. Later Des and I happened upon a cricket match .

There’s always something cool to see and eat in town!

Of note , the short videos on the post won’t play on the email , you need to click the title to watch it on the main site- I’m still working on the video player so this is a test run.

Cheers!

5 thoughts on “Aotearoa Weather. Jan 8, 2018”

  1. I LOVE traveling vicariously with you all! I can almost feel the sea breezes and hear the waves.

    THANK YOU for sharing your Great bird pose, Kai – Persuasive.

    Keep up the posts!

    Love,

    Glee/Gigi >

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  2. I am in awe of that swimming pool – it looks as big as Deep Eddy with 1/50th of the people.  If I could have swum in that pool growing up, I would have been in the Olympics!  Even more amazing to me is how much Kai looks like a young teenage Bess!  You are living in a beautiful area ~ is all of New Zealand that gorgeous?  How about the cost of living?  Is it similar to the US?  Inquiring minds want to know.  My last observation is that the breakfast you were all eating looks FABULOUS!!!!!

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    1. Hi Elizabeth,
      Yes I believe it is this beautiful on both the North and South islands! The south is more mountainous and jaw dropping.

      On the downside, it is more expensive in many ways. Food in general is very pricey! Sandwiches are $12 min., sodas $5, etc. Kai found a Subway and Des likes the Starbucks, but other than that meals out are local, fancy dishes. It’s interesting because all the beef, fish, dairy and vegetables/ fruits are locally grown. New Zealand is a small country but self sustaining for food. They don’t have the fast food mentality!

      Clothes, shoes, furniture is very pricey. But New Plymouth is a relatively small town with limited retail. So if you move here it’s worth it to ship your home possessions with you!
      – jen

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  3. Were envious! After Carol saw the photo of the stuffed shark, her comment was, “so you REALLY want to venture into the water with that guy swimming just beneath you”? No thanks! Loved the post! Dad

    On Sun, Jan 7, 2018 at 3:04 PM, New Zealand Life wrote:

    > Jen’s Marinedream posted: “We’ve already figured out that the weather here > is a mix of rain, wind and warm sunshine. New Zealand is also known as > Aotearoa. The Maori translation is “Land of the Long White Cloud” and > historically referred to the North Island. At our locale, the cl” >

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