Beginning of New Zealand

So far I have been in New Zealand for only 3 days and I am loving it!  We got here on monday and had a nice chill day hanging around Mara's aunts house. She lives about an hour outside the center of Auckland. She has been so nice to take us in for the whole week and feeding us! We settled in and had a nice home cooked dinner which was delicious. On monday morning we packed up the car and headed north to her aunt's parents' house. It was a beautiful 2 hour scenic drive through the North Island of New Zealand. There were rolling hills, breathtaking views and heaps of sheep and cows! The whole island is decorated for the Rugby World Cup. I love all of the banners that decorate the roads. We finally made it to the house and it was stunning. It was a house that you would see in a magazine. It had amazing views from the kitchen, a million rooms and bathrooms, and even a spa. It was paradise! That day we went to the Whangarei Falls which were really pretty then went to a little secluded beach where i of course collected seashells! We went back to the house, had a spa then had another amazing dinner!

This morning we went over to the aquatic center because it is Mara's cousin's favorite. After a little while at the pools we went to the waterfront and had a delicious lunch! We took a walk and saw some great sculptures! On our walk back we went to this crazy park and if you know me then you know my obsession with swings... After the park it was a nice ride back to Mara's aunts house where we have been just hanging around and getting ourselves prepared for bungy jumping tomorrow!! I am scared but i know it will be an experience of a lifetime! wish me luck!

hello New Zealand!

driving through the north island

so many cows!

newborn lambs!

such a pretty beach!

for you dad!

love seashells!

view from the house we stayed in up north

really cool clock near the water

coolest playground

swings!!

these flags are everywhere! love it!

driving back from the north

Canberra and Hunter Valley

I am currentally in New Zealand updating my blog! I figured before i got into detail about New Zealand I would update on my last few days in Australia before I got here!
On thursday I went to the capital Canberra. We first went to the Floriade(spelling?)  which was this beautiful flower festival! After a stop there we headed over to the National Museum of Australia! Since two girls decided to get on the bus late we had our visit cut short at the museum but it was still a great place to explore and learn about Australian history! After the museum we went to the Parliment House and got our own tour. It is a beautiful building and parliment was actually in session when we were there. After the Parliment House we drove past the embassys. The US has the biggest one in Canberra. We then went to the War Memorial which was probably one of my favorite stops of the day. There was just so much to see and videos to watch. I learned alot about Australians in different wars. The we loaded up the bus and had the longest ride home ever.

at the flower festival

an artist was painting these along the water

this was made out of oranges

so many gnomes!

outside the national museum

Parliment House

war memorial

On Friday we went to Hunter Valley. This is where wine is produced in Australia. It was a nice relaxing day visiting wine factories and trying lots of different types of wine.

watching them make fudge

yum

found my favorite poptarts from back home

vineyard

where they made wine

wine tasting