Kia ora, meri kirihimete

It took a little over 5 years, but I finally visited La Otra Hermana in New Zealand. The youngest neffy is now 5, and I've only ever met him over Skype; they're expecting a fifth baby, and I don't want to make a habit of having nieces or nephews I've never actually hugged.

Mt Ruapehu, Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Over the Kiwi Christmas holidays, the fam made sure I tried the NZ foods -- the traditional and apparently controversial pavlova, Anzac biscuits, fluffies, oka, paua fritters, Tim Tams, and assorted lollies.  The kids all love feijoas, which I've never had and wanted desperately to try, but they were out of season. Feijoa-flavored candies had to suffice.

Mt Ngauruhoe aka Mt Doom from LOTR,
Tongariro

85% of my trip was for seeing the family; I had grand plans for hiking the rest of my time. I had to be a bit flexible, because all the Great Walk huts were booked for all the multi-day hikes I wanted to do. But I managed to head north to the do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing (SO BEAUTIFUL) and west to do a small portion of the Te Araroa trail.

Emerald Pools, Tongariro 

Kapiti Island from portion of the
Te Araroa trail

Marlborough wine country,
South Island - I biked 36 km!!!

I spent New Year's Eve in Wellington! My third NYE outside Seattle, my second outside the States, my first in the southern hemisphere. The national museum of NZ also sated my Great War obsession, with an incredibly detailed and moving exhibit on Gallipoli.

I had planned on hiking around the northwest part of the South Island, but rental car agencies had a 7-day minimum. I didn't want to spend too much time away from the kiddos, so I hopped on a bus, then rented a bike and cycled around Marlborough, New Zealand's most famous wine region. It was a good backup plan, got me on a bike for the longest period of time since fracturing my elbow falling off one 20 years ago, and made me embrace the relaxed Kiwi way of life. Plus, the wine tastings were amazing.

I also managed to get some serious quality time with the two neffies and two nieces. They've grown so much since I last saw them in person! Of course I knew that from talking to them on Skype, but still. I spent time with each of them individually:

Ropes course!
Slightly scary but fun!

• 9-year-old nephew and I went to a ropes course, where he proceeded to go fearlessly across every obstacle. I definitely had to get out of my comfort zone to keep up with him and make sure he was OK; as long as I didn't look down, I was fine.  He wanted to do each one first, except for one zipline where you hang by your arms 50 feet above ground. I had to gulp down my own nervousness and prove to him that it was fun! And doable! And not deadly! When he finally did it, he had such an adrenaline rush that he immediately exclaimed "That was amazing! Let's do the whole course! We can do it, Auntie! We can do anything!" I guess you can, if you conquer your fears.
  
• 5-year-old neffy and I took a 45-minute train ride -- his first time ever on a train! He was very excited. He got to order and pay for our tickets, and once on board he kept wanting to switch our seats every few minutes.
  
• The 7- and 8-year-old nieces both wanted to do our nails, get frozen yogurt, and go shopping at the mall, and they wanted to do it together. I probably could have handled them one at a time, but two small girls could run very quickly down the mall hallways, talk at the same time to distract me, and gang up on me to convince me to buy them new nail polish colors, a toy, and a hot beverage. It was exhausting, but fun. 

I really did not want to leave -- both because there's so much more to explore of New Zealand, and because it broke my heart to leave the kids.

Already planning my next trip, hopefully in 2-3 years!