Freeze Frame: June 2010

First stop: Oregon Coast with Cort and Tammy's family. We really enjoyed the beautiful scenery and our time with their sweet kids.

After the Oregon Coast, we made a stop and visited my Dad in Carson City. It was a nice half way point on our way to LA and good to have a little visit and a chocolate malt.

This is the view from our WWOOFING host's, James and Victoria, home. The gardens in the foreground were a part of their property and quite lovely. To the left is where we did our work digging plots for a veggie garden.

Here, Spencer and James are distributing compost on a partially dug up plot.

Don't be deceived, I wasn't the only one wielding a shovel.

We took a day off and drove up to the Coromandel from Katikati, where we stayed with James and Victoria. We had clear skies that day and enjoyed hiking and kayaking to Cathedral Cove. Our kayaking guide told us stories about the Maori people who first settled in that area. Turns out, if an area of land resembled a leader's body part from any angle, they could claim it for their people.

This picture below is of a gathering of people at Hot Water Beach. Hot water fills up pits we dug out of the sand at low tide. AMAZING!

After our time in Katikati, we took a hike on Mount Maunganui and then took our car down to Rotorua. There we explored an old Maori village and got welcomed into their tribe in their meetinghouse with a bus load of school children.

Next, we explored the Waitomo Caves where we abseiled, tubed, crawled through small spaces, and admired the ceiling full of "glow worms".

We topped off our stay in New Zealand checking out the Hamilton area. We went to the temple, and to the West coast with all its black rocks and the Hamilton Gardens. They were fantastic and free. Double fantastic. Our stay with the Mason family was a treat. Good good women, like family.