Destination: LIVE

Adventuring every step of the way...

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Renovation occurring: blog is being reborn. Stay tuned for changes please.

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I saw you at Chili's in Roseville last night (:

Ah, yes I was meeting up with a friend there. Hello fellow Californian. =)

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I am pretty sure I saw you driving back from Wakarusa :)

I'm sure you did. Thanks for getting in touch! How was your Waka? Who did you see?

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Saw you driving today! Did you enjoy waka? U was kind of disappointed

We did enjoy Wakarusa. It was our first year (being from California, it's quite a drive) so we went expecting everything and anything, and that's exactly what we got. The storms were definitely hard and yes, a bit depressing, but we stayed the entire weekend into Monday morning. The mud was as fun as it was difficult, and the storms terrified me (Jaimee) because as stated, being from California, we don't get thunderstorms like that. However, it was definitely worth it. BUMMED THAT WE MISSED SHPONGLE THOUGH. But so many other amazing artists definitely made it a weekend to remember. 

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Hello,,,,are you going to update this on ur newest adventures? Inquiring minds would like to know!

Yes! We've been on the road consistently for the last six weeks on our U.S. road trip and time spent on the internet has been very seldom, but we will be home in the coming days and that is when I will start updating with pictures and information from this current trip. Thanks for the interest!- Jaimee 

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These two pictures were taken on the beach we spent our last night in New Zealand at.

Luckily enough it didn't rain that evening and we were able to walk down to the beach. It reminded me a lot of California, and made me even more excited to head home. 

There is one of each of us.

New Zealand was absolutely beautiful in so many ways. We did not have enough time to see as much as we would have liked, and certainly not enough time to make it down to the south island. We plan to return with more time to see more of what we could not see during this trip. I'm jealous kiwis get to call this lovely country home. 

- Jaimee

Taken on April 23rd, 2013, in Northland, New Zealand.

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These are images from our time in Northland.

The first through fifth images are of Hokianga harbor. I think it was my favorite viewpoint of all of New Zealand that we came across. As soon as we came around the corner on the road, I told Troy he needed to pull over so we could get out and take pictures. It was the first time we had seen that much sun (it rained most of the time we were in New Zealand) and it was so beautiful. The sixth image is of some falls that we came across but unforunately I can't remember the name or location of them. I just remember that it was on the way to Bay of Islands, which can be seen in the seventh image. Bay of Islands was really nice but too touristy for our taste, although it was the end of tourist season. The last three images are of the beach that we spent our last night in New Zealand on. It reminded me a lot of California. 

- Jaimee

Taken on April 23rd, in Northland, New Zealand.

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The images in this set are of the two largest existing kauri trees.

The second largest is Te Matua Naghere, which is seen in the second, fourth and fifth images. To know the details about Te Matua Naghere, click here.

The largest kauri tree that still exists is Tane Mahuta, which is seen in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth images. A sign nearby the tree said that over thirty different species of plants live in the canopy of Tane Mahuta. I was so amazed to learn that, and again, so happy to know that plants can coexist like that. To know the details about Tane Mahuta, click here.

The trees were absolutely breathtaking. They were much different than the California redwoods, but they are definitely close in size when it comes to girth. Seeing these trees was what I really wanted to do in New Zealand, and I'm really glad we could make it happen.

- Jaimee

Taken on April 23rd, 2013, in Waipoua forest, in Northland, New Zealand.

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This clip is of the "four sisters", four kauri trees that grew really close together. You are able to walk around them on a platform.

- Jaimee

Taken on April 23rd, 2013, in Waipoua forest, in Northland, New Zealand.

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Here is a clip of our stroll through the Trounson kauri forest. I wanted you viewers to be able to see what the forest looked like.

- Jaimee

Taken on April 22nd, 2013, in Trounson kauri forest, in Northland, New Zealand.

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These are some pictures from our time spent in Northland.

In Northland, there is a particular kind of tree, called a kauri tree, that can only be found in that area of New Zealand. They are the biggest trees in New Zealand by volume (not height). We found them to be quite amazing, not only because of size, but also because other plant life lives in the canopies of these types of trees. Sometimes, as seen in the fourth image of the set, the plant life will grow on the trunks of the trees as well. This blew my mind and I thought it was so amazing how the plants could coexist with each other in such a way.

To learn more about the kauri trees, click here.

- Jaimee

Taken on April 22nd, 2013, in Northland, New Zealand.

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These are the last of the images from Hobbiton.

The first four images are views as you leave Hobbiton. The sky was perfect at that moment and it made for amazing pictures. I'm glad we forked out the money to do this. It was worth it to see an actual movie set on a farm in New Zealand, and Troy was really stoked we got to go.

The last two images are actually not in Hobbiton. The second to last one was taken as we left the valley where Matamata was and were climbing a pass to head up to Northland. It was a stunning view of the valley just as a storm was rolling in, so I took the best picture of it I could, though it doesn't do it justice.

The last image is of some falls we passed while driving towards Northland. The name of them is McLaren Falls. They were probably the most impressive ones we saw, although I'm quite sure there are more impressive falls then these in New Zealand.

- Jaimee

Taken on April 21st, 2013, at Hobbiton, in Matamata, and in Waikato, New Zealand.

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The pictures in this set are from the last leg of the tour.

At the end of the tour you get to go into the Green Dragon (the pub in the shire) and you are able to have a free drink. They make a cider from the apples they grow at Hobbiton and they also have an ale you can try. That was definitely an added bonus. It was really nice being inside a real building there. 

- Jaimee

Taken on April 21st, 2013, at Hobbiton, in Matamata, New Zealand.

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Here are some more images from our visit to Hobbiton.

In the fifth image you see a tree. This is the tree on top of Bilbo's house. This is a fake tree. The actual tree that was close to the location of the hobbit hole was not the right kind of tree. It was pine instead of oak. Therefore, Peter Jackson had all the pine needles removed from the tree and fake oak leaves sewn on by college students. Two weeks into this, they realized that the pine needles they already removed had grown back. The students quit. Peter Jackson then decided to find an oak tree, which he did, bought, and used as a model for the fake one he created and used. 

There are two images, one of each of us in front of Bilbo's house. The last image are just props, but I found them adorable, so I had to snap a picture of the clothes hanging.

- Jaimee

Taken on April 21st, 2013, at Hobbiton, in Matamata, New Zealand.

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These images are from Hobbiton, but known to most people as "the Shire" from Lord of the Rings. 

Going here was the one thing Troy really wanted to do so we paid the $75 dollars it cost to get in (expensive right?) but it was worth it. It was really nice to have a guided tour though a move set; the guide told us some awesome stories about different parts of Hobbiton and you can actually go into the Green Dragon (pictured later). The pictures here are of us in front of different hobbit holes and pictures of the hobbit holes themselves.

- Jaimee

Taken on April 21st, 2013, at Hobbiton, in Matamata, New Zealand.

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The images from this set are from our time spent in New Zealand.

The first two are of some random pigs we saw on the side of the road. I thought the little ones were quite cute and also that it was interesting that none of them were the same color. The next two images are just of the rolling hillsides of the north part of the north island. They were stunning. Following those images are pictures of a random lake that we drove by and stopped to take pictures in front of and also a rock that happened to be surrounded by a whole bunch of trees. We didn't stop for the rock and trees so I had to take a snapshot from the car. 

The last three images were taken in two different locations. The third to last image is of Lake Taupo, the largest lake on the north island. The last two images are of Mount Ruapehu which is famous for being Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings. The day we visited Mount Ruapehu happened to be cloudy, so the last image was the best shot I could get of the mountain. 

- Jaimee

Taken on April 19th and 20th, 2013, in Waikato, Taupo, and Ruapehu, on the north island of New Zealand.

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The images from this set are the last of the images we have from our time in Australia.

When we were thinking about going home, we were looking at our options, and luckily enough were able to score a cruise from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand along with a flight home to San Francisco for cheaper than it would cost to fly out of Melbourne. I was excited since it was my first cruise, and both of us were way excited to go to New Zealand. 

All of the images in this set are from the cruise ship. It was really awesome leaving from the far end of the harbor and going under the harbor bridge and past the opera house.

We really enjoyed our time in Australia and both of us could see ourselves returning again someday. Thanks Australia for all the amazing memories. 

- Jaimee

Taken on April 15th, in Sydney, Australia.