The Nettings Do NZ - Week 18

This week was our first full week with Poppa in NZ!  As we were already in the south part of the southern island we decided to spend the week exploring!  We woke up Monday morning in Queenstown to SNOW!  I had told my dad not to bother packing any warm wintery gear….why would he…we are approaching summer!  The snow was actually sticking and none of us were prepared.  Good thing it only lasted half a day!  We checked out downtown Queenstown a bit more and grabbed lunch at a pub.  Then we made our way to Kinloch which is a little over an hour northwest of Queenstown and on Lake Wakatipu.  The plan was to head to Kinloch Lodge, a remote little lodge that is close to The Routeburn Track (one of the great walks in NZ), so Caleb could have a little adventure after driving us around all weekend and supporting us on the run!   We didn’t have the greatest weather, the snow had turned to rain, and part of the hike was closed because of all of the snow they got so Caleb didn’t make it quite as far as he wanted.  Poppa, Kensley and I hung around the lodge, went for walks and runs and had coffee at the cafe .  We had our own rooms but the lounge and washrooms were shared so it wasn’t the worst situation but it wasn’t the greatest either :P.   Well actually, Poppa shared his room with a nest of very noisy birds for two nights!   Although cut a bit short, Caleb really enjoyed his hike!  He says it was beautiful, busier than expected with a lot of people and limited by visibility and snow.  He thinks he only got glimpses of the views that make it beautiful.  

From Kinloch, we made our way back to Queenstown and ate at the famous Fergburger – it was DEFINITELY worth the line up!  Then we continued our drive to Wanaka, which was a beautiful mountainous drive a little under 1.5 hours northeast of Queenstown.  I loved Wanaka!  It is a quaint, cutesy town located on Lake Wanaka and is surrounded by mountains.  I could’ve hung out here all week and Poppa agrees!  Caleb found Queenstown busy and touristy and compared it to Whistler in Canada, whereas, Wanaka is like the Squamish.  The plan was for Caleb to do another day hike, but again, the weather didn’t cooperate.  Caleb doesn’t care about the rain but what’s the point of hiking up a mountain when you can’t see any of the views.  So we all hung out, got in a run, checked out the town, ate good food, drank some beer and Caleb did some kayaking!  It was pretty perfect.  Luckily, the day we were leaving the weather cleared up so Caleb took 3 hours in the morning to really motor up Roy Peak before driving us 5 hours home!  It was a pretty wide open trail that got him up to 1500m.   He was really happy he did this as he saw some beautiful views but again, it was a bit crowded.  He even witnessed a proposal…seems a bit lame compared to Mount Royal :P.

While it was really fun to explore, I think we all looked forward to returning home!  We had a pretty relaxing weekend.  Poppa and I got out for a run so I could show him some routes and Poppa explored a bit on his own.  Caleb did some kayaking and surfing.    Also, Caleb and I got out for a few beers, spontaneously, which was really nice!   We visited the pub that is a stones throw from our place and typically responsible for loud music keeping us up at night. 

Kensley was a trooper all week.  Poppa says, “she’s unbelievable!”  He’s not biased at all.    She was waking more (like 3x) per night while we are away but I can’t really complain because she traveled so well, otherwise. Her second bottom tooth has completely cut through now.   Poppa calls her snow white because whenever we are outside the birds are around her and she talks to them.  He also loves walking with her in her stroller because she screams with joy most of the time, so no bell is required for warning that we are coming.   She is so happy and continues to love food!  She has starting pointing and loves to point at her daddy and scream happily!  She is able to point out a bird in her books and she still loves to initiate and play peek-a-boo.   She is working towards crawling as she is getting on her hands and knees.  Caleb, Poppa and I have a bet going about when she is actually going to put it all together!  She also really loves to stand, with help of course.  She is a REALLY big hit with Asian tourists; they seriously surround her and ask if they can take her picture.   She loves having her Poppa around.    

“We are all in close quarters.”  “We’re not in close quarters.”  A little inside joke for Poppa, Caleb and I.  

A huge shout out to Jacqui who basically planned our road trip for us :)

Oh and Nikki and Nicole booked a trip to visit us in March for 5 days and Kensley's Auntie Autumn and Granny and Grandpa booked their trip for later in March as well!

<3

 

Kensley loved watching the snow

Drive from Queenstown to Kinloch

Stop in Glenorchy on the way to Kinloch

Lake Harris on Routeburn Trek

View from Routeburn

A little hot tubbing at Kinloch Lodge

Drive from Kinloch back to Queenstown

Drive from Queenstown to Wanaka

The Queen of Wanaka - Thank you Mary for the amazing crown!

The Nettings at Lake Wanaka

Poppa and Kenz playing in the grass in Wanaka

Showing off his kayaking skills!

Roy Peak hike

Roy Peak Views

Heck YA!

The Nettings Do NZ - Week 17

Our big news of the week is that Poppa has arrived!!!  Preceding this, we did very little because Kensley had a full body rash that I’m pretty sure was a viral-something (maybe a much milder form of what I had the previous week) and I didn’t want to expose any of our friend’s kids to it.  Prior to the rash appearing, we did get to see Jacqui, Hugh and Walt for coffee which was a nice addition our week!

We picked Poppa up at the airport on Thursday afternoon.  Kensley seemed to immediately recognize him, giving him big smiles like she does on facetime, which of course, made Poppa cry.  He even brought her little stuffed animal kitten “Cuddles” with him because he always shows her the kitten on Facetime.  We got home in time for Kenz to go down for an afternoon nap and then we took Poppa out for our afternoon routine of lattes at the Boatshed and a walk in the Botanic Gardens.  Poppa was pretty zonked after his long travels so he went to bed pretty early to try to catch up on some sleep.

On Friday morning, Poppa and I got up early to do a quick run before we packed up the car to head to Queenstown!  This was a 6 hour drive that ended up taking about 8 hours with rest stops and extra stops to check out the beautiful views along the way.  Kensley, again, was a little star in the car.  She was a bit fussy for the last 45 mins but she LOVED having Poppa in the back seat with her…we will have to rethink our seating plan for our road trips in the future because of this, I think.  Mary met us in Queenstown and stayed the weekend with us at a beautiful Airbnb we rented.  Seriously, we didn’t want to leave because it was so nice.  I kept saying that if it was my place, I would never be renting it out to strangers!  

Saturday morning was an early one for us all because it was race day in Queenstown!  Poppa was doing the 10k and I was doing the half-marathon. Mary dropped Poppa off at his start and Caleb and Kensley dropped me off at my start; we both ended downtown Queenstown where Caleb, Kensley and Mary were cheering us on.  Poppa got a PB at 1:05 which I thought was pretty darn great for just having traveled for 30ish hours.   Poppa says he "ran happy!".  No PBs for me, but definitely one of my most proud moments, completing this half marathon.  My initial goal was 1:45, which I reset to 1:50 and then I ended up coming in at 1:52. I felt pretty steady throughout the run and finished feeling great so I really can’t complain.  Interestingly, Kensley was up 4 times that night (which rarely happens but second bottom tooth is coming through) so I was feeling pretty discouraged (and angry – why is this always the case!?) that morning.  Training for this run, while recovering from pregnancy and delivery, breastfeeding a baby, and moving across the world, was no joke. It meant early morning runs before Caleb went to work, no matter how little sleep I got.  It also meant pushing through some aches and pains (and leaks) that still exist since having Kensley.  While my body might not have been 100% ready for this, it is what I felt needed to stay happy and positive and be the best version of myself for Kensley, Caleb and I. The route was absolutely stunning, the weather was amazing and having Kensley and Caleb run along side me for 200ish metres at the end was unbelievable! To top it all off, the morning went really smoothly for Kensley and Caleb in his opinion.  Is it bad that I only thought about them once on the run and my thought was “is it bad that I’m not thinking about Caleb and Kensley?” but then I got really excited and felt like crying when I thought about seeing them at the finish line so I think it evens out.  Following the race, we did a quick walk around downtown Queenstown and had a bite to eat on a patio.  Then we made our way back to our place to relax and celebrate with some Thai food, bubbly, wine and beer that night!  I picked up a bottle of pinot noir called “Roaring Meg” ($35ish) from central otago to celebrate the run; and Caleb, Mary and I all agreed that this was one of our faves!  Mary brought the bubbly which was a super fun treat to celebrate with! 

On Sunday morning, Caleb met up with his buddy Benj, in Queenstown for a run up a trail leading to the top of the gondola lookout.  Caleb met Benj on his kayaking course and he was in Queenstown because his wife was running the race as well.  Then Caleb carted Poppa, Mary, Kensley and I around for some Central Otago wine tasting (wineries: Amisfield, Wet Jacket, Chard Farm) and a visit to cute Arrowtown for lunch!   We had a relaxing Sunday evening because we were all pretty zonked and our roadtrip was to continue on Monday.  

Kensley’s highlights of the week are definitely playing with Poppa, having a bath in the big tub at the Airbnb, and that her second tooth (bottom left) has just cut through her gum!

Poppa's girl!

Loves her broccoli

Waiting to pick up Poppa!

Excited to see Poppa!

All smiles!

Books are so good with Poppa reads them!

Hanging in the park with Poppa!

Lake Pukaki 

Lake Pukaki 

10k and 21k done

My peeps!

Kensley monitoring the wine pouring

Wine tasting!

This little gem!

The gals!

Daddy's girl

Mommy's girl too

The Nettings Do NZ - Week 16

This week started off on a high note with Caleb having Monday off after his time away in Perth!  We had really nice little family day, going out for a walk, brunch and some yummy gelato.  On Wednesday we had Mary over for dinner and to watch the Bachelorette Australia, Caleb’s guilty little pleasure!  Wednesday night was a rough one for Kensley, she was up 3 times, which was also rough on me!  And then we realized, SURPRISE! Kensley had her first little cute tooth (front bottom right).   I was feeling super off on Thursday, attributing it to waking with Kensley and Caleb attributing it to the extra glass of wine I had with Mary (that did NOT go over well with me).  Turns out I was starting some weird virus which resulted in 3 days of a fever in the 40’s and feeling like I was hit by a bus.  I would lie on the floor or in our bed and Kensley would play around me with her toys or various things I put in the bed from our room because I didn’t feel I could make it downstairs to get her toys; she was such a good girl!  I’ve never been so thankful for Advil and Tylenol (well the NZ equivalents).   Caleb has Friday afternoons off for research, so thankfully, he was able to be home to help with Kensley.

Caleb let me stay in bed Saturday morning and he got Kensley sorted.   He then scooted out to a new kayaking club he joined where he will be able to access their kayaks and practice his new skills.   So perhaps he won’t have to buy a kayak! He still hasn’t heard about a place in The Coast to Coast Race but we are hopeful!   While he was gone, Kensley and I were startled by an intermittent chaos in the walls and I suspected some was coming from a closet in Kensley’s room as well!  I fought back by hitting the walls and the closet door with a package of diapers.  I swear, small animals love to taunt me.  And I was right!  Turns out, some starlings (little brown birds) nested in our walls and one somehow got into the hot water closet which is in Kensley’s room.  We’ve literally opened that door once when we moved in to see what was in there and never again – well I guess Saturday was the second time!  While Caleb dealt with the bird, I was running around downstairs with Kensley yelling “let me get the baby out of the house!”, as if it was a monster that was going to attack us.  Anyways, he DIDN’T wait for us to leave/hide/protect ourselves, but thankfully, Mr. Birdy flew straight out the window!  The chaos in the walls continued into the evening and I had Caleb convinced that they were pecking one of our pot lights out.  Bless him, he was up there with duct tape to secure the light so the birds couldn’t get out (as I was imagining)!  Well, turns out, that light was just installed on a bit of an angle, which I hadn’t noticed before.  It sounds like they’ve left now and hopefully for good!  By Saturday afternoon, I remained afebrile and was feeling much better, so Caleb, Kensley and I, walked to the local mall for fresh air and to pick up some things for our upcoming road trip with Poppa!

On Sunday, we had booked Sarah (pre fever) to watch Kensley so we could go on a 35k morning ride in the Port Hills.  The Port Hills are the remnants of an old volcano to the south of Christchurch and they offer great views of the city and the coastline.  I was feeling better and have missed multiple runs the past two weeks due to my cold and then this fever, so, I thought why the heck not get some exercise and fresh air!    We were quite the sight on the ride with the hardcore cyclists; Caleb on his mountain bike and me on his road bike that had cages on the pedals.  In fast, at one point on the ride, my bike seat fell off (like a bolt snapped)!  Talk about glamorous.  We were literally in the middle of nowhere, on a closed road due to previous earthquake damage, and 20k from home.  So Caleb’s plan was to reattach my seat with parts from his seat and he was going to ride back without a seat (seriously, what would I do without him!) but my superman, was able to figure it all out so we both had a seat to ride back on!  We got home (a bit late) to a happy Kensley and had to hurry out to lunch.  John was the fellow ahead of Caleb and his wife’s (Larissa) family lives in Christchurch.  Caleb saw John in Perth and he offered for Caleb to borrow his surfboard so we were heading to his in-laws to pick it up and they invited us for lunch.   Larissa’s parents are Joanne and Peter and her younger brother, Jack, was also there.  We had a great lunch and visit with them!  This week will be exciting with Poppa arriving!

Checking out her new koala from Australia!

Pancakes to celebrate that daddy is home!

A little stroll through the garden

Her shirt and smile say it all!

Matchy match!

She was so proud that she wiggled herself under here!

If you look close you can see Kensley's first tooth poking out

Morning fun for daddy and mommy!

Fixing up the broken seats!