Who Me?

7 04 2025

Oh there you are.

 
As I drank a fancy Moscow mule, eating artisanal pizza and munching on a ‘jar’cuterie,  on an open air patio in Hawaii at 9pm, I had a flash of recognition to my former self.  My ‘pre-kid, pre-school lunch and bus schedules, pick ups and monthly spelling tests, pre-paw patrol and suction cup plate’ self. 


I don’t know if it was the 3 days I had been on my own or the incredible experience of swimming in the ocean with manta rays at night, but in that moment I found a piece of myself that I forgot about.  A part of me that experienced life through my own eyes instead of through the eyes of my kids, or my husband, or my company.  The last 3 days I have been able to do what I wanted, and not what needed to be done. 

And what I wanted to do surprised me.  I went into this trip thinking that I would be sleeping in, journaling, reading magazines, sitting poolside, napping and playing my ukelele (a newfound passion).  And yes, I did spent time poolside and playing my ukelele, but I found myself rushing through magazines (so I didn’t have to pack them home) and journaling at the airport while I waited for my ride home!

Fresh (quiet and leisurely) breakfast

It turns out that what I really wanted to do was go snorkeling with sea turtles, experience the magic of nighttime snorkeling with manta rays, and catch as many waves as I could on a boogie board. It was extremely empowering to do all of these things by myself, without the comforting presence of my husband or the distracting (and delightful) presence of my children.  To challenge myself physically and experience that adrenaline rush. 

Can’t get enough of watching sea turtles
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The most amazing experience
‘Lana del Ray’ ♥️
Post-boogie board selfie

It’s been a month since that trip and I am still feeling the effects of that solo trip.  I can still tap into that adrenaline rush.  And I can still tangibly feel that moment when I recognized and welcomed my old self back. 

I’ve missed you. 


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Categories : Big Island, Hawaii

The Scenic Route

13 03 2024

I took the train down to Seattle today. I spent most of the trip looking out the window and I thought about how many snapshots of people’s lives I witnessed.

I saw a mom outside playing in the yard with 3 kids and a dog and it made me excited for the spring weather coming to play with my kids outside. I saw what looked like a park ranger or some sort of official, walking on a wooded trail and I thought how he must be feeling walking through the woods with a view of the water – content with how enjoyable his morning was going. I saw a couple standing on the shore ofa tiny beach and a person standing on a ridge looking down at the water, and as the train rushed past them, I wondered how they got to those places and whether or not they were close enough to feel the push of air as the train passed by. We passed a field that was filled with so many white birds! And as the train passed they all took flight like a stadium crowd doing the “wave”.

I saw goats, sheep, alpacas, horses, fancy ducks, harbor seals, great blue herons in flight and perched on rocks, and just so much that I wouldn’t have seen any other way. It reminded me of the times I took the train from Toronto to Windsor and Seattle to Portland years ago and it makes me think about how different life has become since then. I enjoyed the train ride, the views, the solitude and would journal or tuck myself in for a nap. Now, when I take the train I am overcome with the overwhelming need to share this experience with my kids and it makes me smile to think about how much they would enjoy all of the things that I saw today, how many conversations these sights would inspire from Brooklyn and Lucy – which horse they would pick as their favorite, and how excited Cameron would be to stand on the seat, hands and face pressed against the window, eyes wide, taking in all the new sights.

And now I’m trying to figure out if I’m brave enough to take all 3 kids on a train ride down to Seattle by myself…..am I crazy???


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Categories : Seattle, Washington

Selfish? Or Not Selfish?

15 11 2023

Today I was a little bit selfish. I actually thought to myself, ‘I wonder if this is selfish?’

We spent the morning at the ‘not so secret’ Secret Beach and with the help of the full face snorkel mask, I spent a really long time exploring all that there was to see underwater.

At first I didn’t see anything except cloudy water and murky rocks, but as my eyes adjusted, everything came alive. I saw these really cool rainbow fish, a couple of puffer fish (which I haven’t seen before), this creepy slithering white and brown snake like thing, lots of those yellow, black and white fish (Gill from Finding Nemo), this really long silvery fish that had a long bill and just kind of hovered above the sand, and so many other spotted, striped, yellow, blue, silver, and white fish. And then I got kind of startled because there was this big something swimming in front of me. You guessed it, a SEA TURTLE!

So at this point, after we discovered Secret Beach last year, we have visited many times and I’ve seen sea turtles almost every time we’ve come here. It is a regular occurrence now to see the shimmering dark circles from the shore, see the cute little heads break the surface for air, and to wade through the shallows with all of the other fascinated beachgoers as we marvel at the sea turtle sightings and the fact that ‘We ARE SWIMMING WITH SEA TURTLES!!!’

And as amazing as these experiences have been, it definitely takes a lot of effort to get photos or video of these sea turtles without someone’s legs in the shot. It gets a little crowded.

So today, as I was admiring all of the fish, and giving my ‘non-swimming’ self a little pat on the back for snorkeling pretty comfortably, I saw this sea turtle swimming in front of me.

And. I. Told. No. One.

I just watched this sea turtle as it swam around, snacking on the algae on the rocks, swimming up to the surface for a breath, and then diving back down. It was amazing. I would pop my head up and see if there was anyone else around, and there really wasn’t anyone that close. I told myself, that I would really have to do a lot to draw anyone’s attention to the fact that there was a sea turtle with me. And so, I just enjoyed this experience to myself. And at one point I had TWO sea turtles swimming with me.

I’ve been waiting to come across sea turtles resting on the beach, and I thought that was the sea turtle experience that has been alluding me. But I didn’t even realize that the most special experience is to be able to observe a sea turtle in its natural habitat, to watch and wait, and be patient, and not feel like you’re chasing it with half a dozen other people.

Today was such an unexpected special experience.

So was I selfish to keep this experience all to myself? Maybe. But I don’t care.

I did tell someone that there was a sea turtle in the water…..eventually.


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Categories : Hawaii, Oahu

The Secret’s Out

24 01 2023

As the story of my constant need to find sea turtles while in Hawaii continues, I will admit that I have only dragged the family up to the North Shore twice. And once, I let everyone stay in the car. BUT the first time, we actually did see sea turtles swimming in the water. And as I tried to get a photo of some turtle heads popping up in the water, I asked Nathan if what I saw down the beach was a turtle….to which he responded, ‘no – that’s a rock‘. So I continued to take photos of swirling water with murky shadows, hoping that I would luck out on some rapid fire shots. Then the girls came over to me, and I tried to point out the turtles swimming in the water to them, and Lucy very nonchalantly informed me, ‘mommy – there’s a turtle right there’ and pointed to the ‘rock’ that I had asked Nathan about!!!???

So, it FINALLY happened! We/I saw a sea turtle on the beach – more on the rocks eating algae, and more his butt than his face BUT finally FINALLY after 4 years!

The next day we made a point to get out early and check out the “Secret Beach” that is down the street from our hotel. Over the weekend, we spoke with our new favorite local photographer Shane Myers, who was like, ‘you don’t know about Secret Beach?? You don’t have to go all the way up to the North Shore to see sea turtles and monk seals!’. I don’t know if he’s supposed to tell everyone about it, BUT, he is my new favorite person, and has elevated my sea turtle expectations and goals.

We’ve gone to the Secret Beach 4 times and have seen sea turtles THREE out of the four times we’ve been there! Even if there weren’t sea turtles we would have been happy since it is absolutely gorgeous. Still a protected lagoon although it gets some fun waves in there and you can see some really cool reef fish in shallow water. But on our first trip there, I was just telling the girls what types of fish I saw in the water when I looked down and there was a sea turtle swimming right beside me!! Brooklyn told me after that it was so close that she could have touched it with her foot! Exhilarating does not even describe the high of this experience. And then, once the sea turtle took a lap around the lagoon and headed out, we saw something else popping its head out of the water. It took us a minute to figure it out, but then we realized that what we were seeing was one of Hawaii’s endangered monk seals checking out the lagoon. WHAT???!!! We made sure to give the monk seal a wide berth as those little girl limbs waving in the water may have looked a little tempting. But seriously, WHAT?? 5 minutes from our hotel we are swimming with sea turtles and monk seals?

It felt like our trip had reached its peak 4 days in, so it completely surprised us when we visited a few days later with the hopes that we would see a sea turtle, to then end up having SIX sea turtles chilling with us in the lagoon for hours. They were having a late breakfast and as much as I tried to give them space, they surrounded me. A little unnerving, but oh so cool! I tried to back up to give one space, and then ended up with one right behind me. Apparently they gather around pregnant people (surprise! 6 months pregnant when we were there).

So on this 4th trip to Hawaii with the girls (yes I realize how spoiled they/we are), this is officially THE trip to beat. This is our official Sea Turtle Trip! Yes, I am extremely happy and oh so satisfied, BUT I will say that I am still holding out for the experience of coming across sea turtles resting on the sandy beach, so Sea Turtle Chronicles NOT COMPLETE!


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Categories : Hawaii, Oahu

Turtle Tales

26 12 2021

Super late post…but better late than never right?

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It wouldn’t be a trip to Hawaii if I didn’t drag my family to the North Shore to look for Sea Turtles. 

This time, they were on to me though – I had to bribe them with the possibility of finding seashell treasures (for Brooklyn), the probably of fresh fruit from the fruits stands (for Lucy) and a convenient stop to the North Shore Macadamia Nut Company Farm Stand for treats for us and souvenirs to take home with us (for Nathan). 

And then I had to find clever ways to convince them to go back up there, two more times! 

But, patience pays off, and we did indeed find Sea Turtles! 

We lucked out by seeing one lone sea turtle at Hale’iwa Ali’I Beach Park – and that find felt amazing – as we watched surfers tackle the waves, and this little turtle peek its head out of the water. 

Our other sitings may have included the sketchy side of the road parking, waking the girls up from their car nap, and scampering across a busy road….BUT, there were so many people on the beach!  The whole scene just SCREAMED ‘there are sea turtles here!!!!’.  I feel like we just missed seeing them on the beach, but when we watched the water, I swear there were like 20 sea turtles swimming around.  For some reason, they didn’t hear my coaxing, ‘come on sea turtle, come on back to shore – don’t you want to take a little nap in the sun?’  This also led to the question, where do sea turtles sleep at night?  Turns out the answer is that they mostly sleep on the surface of the water in a ‘floating’ state.

I honestly could have stayed out on that beach all day watching the turtles and seeing if they were going to come back to the beach.  But the two little 4 year olds (and if I’m honest, Nathan too), had about a 20 minute time limit before they were telling me, ‘I know mommy!  I saw them already!  You already showed them to me’.  To which I wanted to say, ‘but don’t you want to keep watching to see what they’re going to do, to see if they come to the beach, to see if my dream of seeing sea turtles on the beach is about to come true????’.  The answer to this question, without me even saying it aloud, was a unanimous NO. 

And so, we saw Sea Turtles swimming in the water in Hawaii.  And with the help of a zoom lens and the magnifying tool in our editing software, we could really see them after the fact. 

But, I do warn my family, don’t be surprised if you all get dragged up to the North Shore again on some other trip, because these Sea Turtles Tales are not over!!


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Categories : Hawaii

ummm…should we or shouldn’t we?

10 11 2019

Today we had a lot of magical moments that took place after I thought we had one of those epic fail moments on vacation when you realized you probably made a bad vacation decision…

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Waimea Falls Park

This morning would make the 3rd time I have convinced Nathan and the girls that we should go to Laniakai Beach to look for sea turtles.  We went twice last year, and this year I was convinced that things would be different, and that I wasn’t just dragging along 2 toddlers across a busy street, onto sand that was hard to get a steady footing on, to be almost hit by oncoming crashing waves.  Today…we would see SEA TURTLES!  This mantra carried us through all morning, it got us in the car by 8AM, and it got us back in the car after breakfast.

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But alas, NO sea turtles…again.  The lifeguards actually apologized and said that usually they are out….but not today.

Last year, we carried two scared and crying girls back to the car, but this time the girls wanted to take their shoes off so they could have their toes in the sand (their words, not mine).

And so we ended up enjoying our time at the beach, despite not seeing sea turtles, and got the sweetest photos.

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We had decided that today was going to be the day that we packed in a road trip type day and drive the North Shore and then down the windward side of the island, seeing key landmarks like the Crouching Lion and Chinaman’s Hat rock formations, the Banzai Pipeline, enjoy the grounds at Turtle Bay Resort.  Well, the girls fell asleep, so we skipped Turtle Bay, breezed past the Banzai Pipeline after I took a quick look, and the rock formations…well, they’re really just rock formations.

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We contemplated stopping at Kualoa Ranch for lunch, but after parking looked busy decided to move on…..but I hadn’t given much thought as to what would be after that.  It was either fast food…or Honey’s…..

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We found ourselves driving down this intensely green jungle-like road on our way to ‘Honey’s Restaurant’, supposedly a restaurant on the Koolau Golf course.   We drove through a gate that said First Methodist Church, and I thought I saw another sign about a golf course, but I didn’t know if it was a gate, or another road….(turns out it was a gate with a bunch of chickens, roosters and cats hanging out at it, which is also weird).

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Finally we can upon a building amidst these towering green cliffs, and it was the weirdest feeling….like, is this right?  Did we/I make the right decision?  There are no people around, are we sure we’re in the right place?  We walked into this quiet and empty building, walked down the stairs (still no people), into what appeared to be a restaurant, and saw a sign to seat ourselves.  Finally we saw some people (two tables).  So, yes – we were indeed at a restaurant, but what were we getting ourselves into.

Turns out we stumbled upon this perfect, quiet, empty, amazing setting to have lunch.  The girls fed fish at a koi pond, walked over this picturesque bridge and were these two little spots of red and blue amidst a sea of green.  It was so surprising and unexpected.  But it was enough for us to stay awhile, get out the big camera and go a little crazy with the pictures.

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Loving the random memories and photo ops that we are finding here…


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Categories : Hawaii, Oahu

Just the Two (four…) of Us

22 03 2017

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I got a lot of questioning looks when I told people that for our, so-called, ‘Babymoon’, we were going to take a road trip from Seattle to Yellowstone National Park, Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons.  They said, ‘Really? A Road trip??  Why not Hawaii?  Or what about Europe?? You should do something now without the babies (yes babies…twins!) that you wouldn’t do when they arrive.’

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Well you know what….I can see going to Europe with the babies (at least this is what I thought before we had them), and I can definitely see us going to Hawaii with the girls.  But what I can’t see us doing with two children in tow is a Road Trip – ‘Nathan & Traci Style’.  That means 12 – 16 hour days in the car, tracking herds of bison on the backroads, taking photo upon photo upon photo of scenery and at least seriously considering to get up in the early wee hours of the morning so that we could catch photos of the colours of the sunrise streaking across the sky, or waiting out at the edge of a river to see if the cinnamon mama bear and her cubs would be stopping by for a drink.

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In a way this road trip was a farewell to our life as off the beaten path travelers who take every opportunity to pack in as much as we possibly can, experience everything we can experience and travel without any thought as to the necessary feeding/potty breaks that will inevitably rule our lives for the next….ever.

Plus, we had to have one last trip in our Subaru XV.  We had to say goodbye in true style and get as much dirt and as many bugs as we possibly could on this car, before we gave it a good wash and turned it over to a new home.  Because, when we had to put down the backseats just to get the stroller in the back, we realized that we would not be able to keep our beloved Subaru if the seats had to be set up for two car seats…which we kind of need…

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And so, we embarked on our road trip.  We racked up over 2000 miles in a 5 day period.

It was an incredible trip.

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A trip that gave Nathan and I a chance to ‘hang out’, tell stories, share experiences and cherish a little bit of time together, real time together, before it was not just the two of us anymore.  Because you have to admit, when you’re going on a road trip you have to be pretty selective on who you choose to travel with because it could be the most amazing and intimate bonding experience, or it could be just a little too much time together and you end up needing to have separate quarters for a while after the trip.

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To be honest, I may have pushed the boundaries a little bit, as I didn’t see any other pregnant people sitting along the rim waiting for Ol’ Faithful to put on its show…

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or strolling along the steam of the hot springs at the Grand Prismatic Spring…

 

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…or hanging out the sunroof, as far as I could before my belly got in the way, to take photos of bison and longhorns.

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So glad that we made the choice to do this trip.  Can’t wait til the girls get old enough to be able to enjoy the sights and scenery instead of wonder why we are at yet another scenic overlook taking photos.  And even though we couldn’t do everything we would have done, had I not been 6 months pregnant (I did offer to get out of the car so Nathan could do a little off-roading on terrain that was a little too aggressive for me) I love all of the photos we were able to capture of our adventures on the road.

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Categories : Wyoming

What’s a Detour or Two?

31 12 2016

With 40 hours left in New Zealand and over 230 miles left to drive to catch our flight home, somehow it just made sense that we should add an extra 7o miles to our trip and a couple of unexpected detours.  Because….when are we going to be back in New Zealand, on this type of a road trip…besides we can sleep on the plane, right?

So we were on the road early, still feeling the high from our glacier hike and feeling relaxed from our soak at the glacier hot pools the day before.

The forecast said rain, but we seemed to have gotten on the road before the clouds rolled in, and although they chased us and eventually caught up to us, we had a great (although long) drive for our last full day in New Zealand, zipping along the West Coast of the South Island, and winding through the Southern Alps as we headed to Christchurch.

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Views from the Road

I can’t remember who told us to make a side trip to Hokitika Gorge – but it was one of those places that is so far off the beaten path as you drive towards it, you start to question whether or not you are still going in the right direction….did you go too far….did you make the right turn….should you turn back…and then you find the parking lot, and realize that a lot of people have made the same pilgrimage that you have, only somehow you found yourself driving on an empty road for the last hour…

Hokitika Gorge is also one of those places that you can’t believe it actually looks like that, and when you look at your photos afterwards, you can’t quite believe that you were there, and the water was truly that colour.

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Hokitika Gorge

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It also made me wish that this wasn’t a drive through type stop for us because the water looked soooo inviting, but alas, the road trip must go on!

We stopped in at Hokitika for lunch, and also to take the obligatory tourist photo of their driftwood sign at the beach.

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The day was half over….but we still had one more photo detour and 230 miles of driving before we could rest our heads (and feet) for the night.

Because you can’t leave the South Island in New Zealand without seeing the Pancake Rocks…right?  Right? Well, that’s the idea I had in my head, so on we went to see the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks.

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Limestone formations that look surprisingly like huge stacks of pancakes.  Weird.  But also a nice place to take a stroll and stretch our legs, grab a flat white and check it off the list before we started the last leg of our journey for the day and for our trip.

Only another 4ish hours (more like 6) to go and the width of the South Island to go before we could check into our last hotel, pack up for the last time, and enjoy our last true flat white.

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We drove through the Southern Alps and had an opportunity to enjoy the views with just the perfect lighting as the sun started to set behind us.

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We found a cute little honey stand which had a sign that made me laugh.  Seriously the cheapest honey that we came across.  I think the souvenir shops were selling them for $20 – $30+ per small jar.

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As we wound through the Alps, the rain finally caught up with us and the clouds turned the sky dark well before its time, and as grey clouds turned into black night, we found ourselves rolling into Christchurch.

We knew that Christchurch was known for its English heritage but also that it had experienced some devastating earthquakes in the last 5-6 years that had destroyed a lot of its historical stone buildings and had effected much of its landscape.

Knowing that Christchurch had earthquake damage was way different than seeing it with our own eyes.

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We spent our last morning in New Zealand wandering the streets of Christchurch, taking in both the sights of earthquake wreckage and public art installations and murals that created a landscape of contrast.

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And so with a last glimpse at destruction and art, we headed to the airport to complete our 10 day road trip in New Zealand.  Still buzzing from the adrenaline rush of our sea kayaking tour, black water rafting, bungy jumping, glacier trekking adventures and feeling amazed at the beauty of the natural landscape, we settled in for our very very long flight home.

But New Zealand had one more surprise in store for us.  Air New Zealand gave out Hokey Pokey ice cream as their dessert!!  What?  Ice cream on the plane.  Kind of in love.

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Until next time New Zealand. Stay beautiful.


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A Day of Firsts

23 12 2016

Last big adventure planned for our New Zealand trip.  Ice trekking on the Franz Josef Glacier.

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First time in a Helicopter (for me)

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First time wearing crampons

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First time hiking on a glacier

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First time being told to stop so that the team can fill in a hole in the ground due to a constantly shifting glacier – and feeling completely safe moving forward on our ice trek

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Lots of firsts on this day.  But definitely not the first time New Zealand amazed us on this trip.

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Categories : New Zealand

NZ – West Coast Style

10 06 2016

We left the sunshine in Queenstown to start our 4.5 hour trek on NZ’s West Coast towards Franz Josef Glacier.

We wound our way up through the surrounding mountains to take in the views up top.

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Before we came across this unusual sight on the flat lands at Cardrona…an opportunity to support the New Zealand Breast Cancer Association.  It definitely added a pop of colour to the landscape.

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We took a break in Wanaka.  Unfortunately it was pretty grey and overcast, because otherwise it would have been a beautiful stop on this town perched on the coast of Lake Wanaka.  But it did give us a chance to indulge in a Flat White stop.  These baristas are artists!

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As we drove along the water we could see the clouds rolling in, starting to steal our pockets of sunshine.  It was definitely still beautiful but we knew that our road trip was in for some rain.

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We drove through misty farmland, and just when I was telling Nathan that I was disappointed that we hadn’t seen more sheep, and that it seemed like cows were the most prevalent herd (and not sheep like people had said), we came across my NZ wish.

A Sheep Herd Road Block!

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I was half in and half out of the car, snapping photos like crazy.  I loved it and it was exactly what I had hoped for when we decided to go to New Zealand.

The excitement of this moment kept me on a high for the next few hours of our trip.

Finally we eased out of the dense green landscape and found ourselves driving along the coast.

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And we came across Bruce Bay – a top rated NZ Beach.  It could have been the day, but we weren’t quite sure how it was top rated, especially when we were attacked by sand fleas and biting flies and found ourselves dousing each other with bug spray and kind of suffocating ourselves in the car.

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But perhaps, it was the unique stones that could be found on this beach and lasting momentos that everyone left behind.

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The rocks looked like drift wood!

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7 – 8 hours after we began our road trip along the coast we finally rolled into our destination.  Franz Josef Glacier.

It was overcast with passing rain clouds and we crossed our fingers that we would be able to take our helicopter ride and ice trek tour up to the glacier the next day.

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