We made it to New Plymouth, New Zealand with all 5 pieces of luggage, and our sense of humor and health in good shape.

Kai was the best travel partner ever! Air New Zealand flew us on their brand new Dreamliner aircraft and the service was deluxe even in our economy class. The transpacific flight was about 14 hours long.

We were overjoyed to see Des of course!!

He is giving us tours of New Plymouth and the surrounding areas. He’s introduced us to several of his new, super nice Kiwi friends so we feel at home already.

Here are a few photos of our hotel apartment and the town…

Today has been gorgeous in Del Mar. The surf produced small breakers made for boogie boarding. The ocean is crystal clear and calm, perfect for spotting baby leopard sharks darting in and out of the shallows. The warm waters of summer time are thought to improve the incubation of embryos and speed up gestation. Luckily these sharks are docile and dine on crabs and shrimp, not arms and legs!

The evenings have been cool and overcast. This will definitely be missed once we return to south Texas. 

By Kai:

The bike ride today was the best in a long time. We started the ride on Dust Devil Trail, rode down a long road through the weeds, and onto a long windy uphill road. At first it seemed like yet another painful ride in the sun. After we stopped at a circular median in an extremely nice neighborhood, my mood took a turn for the better.

Cruising down a windy downhill singletrack, it made me feel a lot better about my confidence levels. Dodging the cacti and dry weeds felt like a video game, particularly a mix of Quake and Need for Speed.

We rode, rode, and rode some more; although it was not painful, mostly uphill. We trudged through sand, gravel, and many more biotic and abiotic factors as we made our way upwards until we finally reached our rest spot.

We debated stopping or taking a quick loop. We decided on the latter.

The loop was 80% downhill, which was a relief. However on the way back it was mostly uphill. I trudged my way up a gravelly hillside, knowing that snacks were ahead.

We stopped for a much needed snack break and shared cookies, snap peas, C*ke, P*werade, water, and a Cl*f Bar.

The way back was a lot quicker than I thought it would be. When I saw the gigantic hill I realized I wasn’t out of the woods yet. A mix of Post Malone (musical artist) and sugar helped me through the climb.

At the top we stopped for a pic, then made our way back to the car.

 

 

By Kai

Today was a fruitful day full of natural beauty and excitement. We started the day with a small snack from Starbucks at the beginning, then drove straight down to La Jolla Shores for a snorkeling experience. Been here several times and expect to see a handful of leopard sharks.

After a thirty or so minutes of seeing one stingray, a barrage of kayakers, and a limp fish swaying with the sea’s intentions, we were ready to head to our next spot. We came to the conclusion of trying once more for the sharks; we swam fifteen meters right of where we were. At first it seemed like more of the same. Then I saw one black shadow, and suddenly I couldn’t safely stand up without landing on a leopard shark. They are about three feet long, sleek, and shy.

We stayed on the spot for about forty-five minutes swimming on top of these speedy sharks. I worked up the nerve to grab one on the tail. When I did it quickly darted away, startled. The spot itself was amazing, and even more awesome to have the sharks there with us. 

After we swam in La Jolla Shores we ate some stellar mediterranean food from a spot that used to hold Porky Land. I can personally say the salmon and rice is phenomenal. We ran out of time to go to the cove, however it was better that we went home and digested and napped. 

We finished the day with a workout under Torrey Pines HS football field and a killer meal from Urban Plates. Ready for Trampoline Park Tomorrow!