What a week!  Two big storms provided the bookends for what was a perfect week of sunny weather.  Hurricane Bill passed by when we first arrived and sent some massive surf towards the coast (see the small person standing in front of that wave?).  While the authorities kept everyone out of the water for the first day or so, the storm provided a great opportunity for the aspiring surfers to catch some waves.   We managed to do a much better job catching waves than we did catching fish.  While we weren’t fishing or surfing we filled our time swimming in the incredibly warm water, eating massive amounts of delicious food, playing games on the beach, napping, sipping the occasional beverage, and just enjoying quality time with good friends.

Alas. the week has come to a close (we didn’t win the $333 million lottery so we had to leave) and we’ve returned to the Hipple household to plot out our next moves.  In true beach lover form, we watched a surfing movie the night we got back from the beach house and then returned to the coast the next day to get back in the water.  From here the job and housing search is ramping up and the vacation is almost over.

Perhaps we’ll get a call from the Amazing Race.  Perhaps someone reading this will want to hire two hardworking people who love to travel, take photographs, write and have fun.  We’ve had a lot of practice.  We’re good at it.  Hire us.

This leg of our trip has turned into the Family and Friends Tour and we couldn’t be more thankful.  We had an amazing time with Emily, Dave,  Jamie and the rest of the Random Canyon Growlers who treated us to two shows during our week in Teton country.  Our overnight trip up Table Mountain has to be one of the best hikes we’ve ever done–there’s just no place quite like the Tetons.  We were introuced to a swimming hole complete with rope swing and 30 ft log diving board–except no one was able to make it to the end of the board before falling off.  We don’t have any pictures of that, so you’ll just have to make the trip to Victor to visit Emily and friends to see it for yourself.

After 5 months in New Zealand and 30+ hours of traveling, could there be anything more American than going to the San Diego Fair, eating fried oreos, twinkies, apples and avocados,  seeing a Johnny Cash cover band, and trying to win cheap stuffed animals?  Probably not.  We met up with our friends Ryan and Karin in San Diego and had a great couple of days that also included a Swedish Midsummer’s party and a snorkeling adventure in search of sharks (only saw one).

We then zipped up the coast to San Francisco to meet up with the Hipple family and the start of a two week feeding frenzy.  The past week has been a blur of good times, burritos, hills, donuts, surrey rides, burritos, laughter, trips to the playground with the kids and good music.  After a few days in San Fran with Ethan as our tour guide we all drove north to the Kate Wolf Music Festival where spent a few days listening to good music and surviving the 100+ degree heat.

Now we’re back in San Fran in the midst of Albers Fest with Mom, Dad, Ken, Ellen and little Timmy.  I’ll get into all that we’ve done and how awesome it is to have the cutest nephew in the world later.  As hard as it was to leave New Zealand and the dream life we were living there, coming back to our family and friends was just what we needed.  We had been looking forward to these few weeks for a while, and the time that we’ll have with Joanie’s family when we get to Michigan.  There’s still more to come with a quick trip out to Yosemite and then we’re back on the road heading east again.

More pictures will be coming soon…once I find that camera cord.

We jumped back into things quickly and have been busy labeling beers, planting shrubs, cutting trees, moving rocks, packing cases and pitching in wherever we can.  We’ve actually been here for 10 days already which is almost as hard to believe as the fact that we have less than a week left in New Zealand. Four and a half days to be exact.  It’s a little bit crazy to think about that.  We’ve gotten used to life here in the most peaceful place on earth.  If we could just convince our family and friends to come we wouldn’t need to leave!  That said, we are also feeling incredibly excited about returning home to see everyone and figuring out where our path across the country will take us.  It’s a good thing we extended our stay in NZ because we’ve seen so many amazing things in the past couple of weeks.  There were the kiwi and octopus sightings, the giant kauris, the Three Sisters area, but we just recently had a true NZ experience in sighting our first wild weta.  Take a look at this thing!

We’ve also been able to watch one of the most talented digger drivers we’ve ever seen.  If that doesn’t sound exciting, check out this picture of him getting the digger off the truck sans ramps.

In a few days we’ll be off to Auckland to sell our car and get ready to fly to California.  We’ve got a lot to do to get ready to leave.  We’ve acquired some things along the way that we’d like to bring home and we’ve worn through some things that aren’t worth bringing back.  We need to sort through it all but haven’t found the motivation to actually do it.  If you don’t hear from us in another week or so you probably know where to find us!

Colac Bay is a beautiful gem of a place on the south end of the South Island.  The surfing is great, the moon rises over the ocean, and the locals are incredibly friendly.  Julie, the owner of the restaurant (an an incredibly generous hostess) had asked us to stay through the Easter holiday to help out when things got busy.  We didn;t know what we were in for.  Easter is a HUGE deal here.  The nearby town of Riverton hosts annual horse races over the Easter weekend and things get busy at the Pavilion.

Through our first week at the restaurant we worked on lots of odd jobs–gardening, scrubbing decks, refinishing chairs and tables, and doing lots and lots of dishes in the kitchen.  The big project, however, was the renovations to a small room off the side of the restaurant to transform an old storeroom into a new bar.  This project was the definition of a community effort.  We felt as though we met most of the town as we helped with the renovations and through the restaurant.  The restaurant staff was great, and we ate gourmet lunches and dinner every day.  A huge thanks to our two chefs Dan and Rina for all the good food.  We also owe a huge thanks to Mary, maker of incredible desserts among other things and the most perfect Pavlova in New Zealand.  We got to know Mary’s boys Ricky, Nigel, and Bevin as well through the bar project, and we enjoyed a rauckus evening hanging out with them, playing music, and laughing an awful lot.

It was a big push to get the new bar ready for Easter weekend, but everything fell into place and the Foreshore Bar was packed on the weekend (And check out the vintage surfboard hanging from the ceiling courtesy of Don!).  People know how to have a good time in Colac Bay.  One thing we loved about our nights hanging out with everyone is that there’s lots of singing and music and it doesn’t matter how talented or untalented you are–just sing!  Easter in Colac Bay is really a three or four day party and we just happened to be around for it.  Woohoo!  I spent a good portion of the weekend driving the restaurant “courtesy coach” back and forth to Riverton to bring people to the races, bring people to the bar, drive them home from the bar, etc., while Joanie took a few turns as bartender/waitress when things got really busy.  In all it was an awesome two weeks.  There’s so much more to tell, but we just don’t have the time.

We did get a chance to go to the Riverton Races on Eater Monday, and Julie generously gave us two “sponsor’s tickets” which meant we had free beer and food all day at the races.  We got off to a great start at the track, picking a $50.00 winner on our first bet (We need to thank our Irish friends JP and Sorcha who inspired us to pick Celtic Dreams in that race).  From there it was a mixed bag of winners and losers, but we left with more money in our pockets than we came with.  We’re ready for Belmont when we get to NY!

Speaking of beer festivals. we had an incredible time at the beer and wine festival that we worked this past weekend.  It was held at Okurukuru Winery right on the coast south of New Plymouth.  The winery is set on a series of hills that overlook a beautiful stretch of coastline.  You can see Mt. Taranaki, New Plymouth, and miles upon miles (or kilometers upon kilometers) of beautiful blue ocean.  A number of other wineries and food vendors set up booths at the festival, and there was also a nice variety of delicious food (including one of my new favorites–biltong).  And, of course, we were there selling Mike’s Ale and Lager to the thirsty crowd.

It was the perfect day for a festival–sunny and warm, the live music was good, and folks seemed pretty eager to have a cold one, or two, or three as they danced around.  So, we spent the day pouring beers, drinking beers (what better way to advertise, right?), and watching people who drank beers.  This was big fun!  We saw, among other things, several very sunburned people, an unsunburned but very bare ass of a man whose mates pulled his pants down, and a few people who must have been very tired because they fell asleep lying halfway into the bushes.  What an interesting experience being on the other side of things for a change!  There was also a “fashion” show which consisted of folks from the crowd strutting their stuff on stage–I’m still not sure if this is something they signed up to do, or something their friends signed them up for.  Either way it was entertaining.

As good as all of the beer drinking and pouring was, our highlight of the festival had to be the “extreme” helicopter ride that we took.  For a small fee, we went for a 15-20 minute ride along the coast, over the hills and New Plymouth, and around the festival site.  This was not the average helicopter ride though.  We took off in a flash and went straight up and then turned hard and dove toward the sea.  The pilot did what was probably the closest thing you can do to a flip in a helicopter, and it felt sort of like being on a roller coaster.  Joanie lucked out and got to sit in the front seat next to the pilot.  She had a headset on, which came in handy when the pilot pointed out the naked guy sunbathing, who he then proceeded to buzz past closely.  Once we were back on the ground we went back to the beer booth, but watched many more flights zip overhead.  The festival seemed to be a big success–we sold all the beer we brought with us.  Hopefully we provided some help and didn’t drink all the profits.  We can’t wait to see what the Wellington festival brings!

Ahhh, there’s nothing like beer.  Even better, there’s nothing like good, organic beer.  Picture this:  A small organic brewery set on the west coast of New Zealand above the White Cliffs.  Two beers, ale and lager, masterfully brewed with the finest ingredients–barley, hops, yeast, and rainwater.  That’s right, four ingredients.  Nothing else.  Outside of the brewery is an avocado orchard full of fruits, and when things are quiet, the sound of the waves crashing on the cliffs.  At night, a brilliant starry sky with Orion and the Southern Cross shining bright illuminates the path to a small cottage among the avocados.  Can it get any better than this?

For the past four days we’ve been here at White Cliff Brewery enjoying our first week of WWOOFing.  The brewery was easy to find–it’s just off the main road that takes you down the west coast and a giant beer bottle greets you from the road–there’s no missing it.  We arrived here on Sunday and have spent the last four days working (there must be a better term for this) and having fun.  The brewery is a true family business–Mike, Rene, Ron, Jill, Dylan, and Christie run the brewery and adjacent White Cliffs Estate function center.  Our hosts are an incredibly generous family and it’s a real pleasure to get to share their company, work alongside them, and help out however we can.

Helping out has come in the form of weeding the grounds, transplanting comfrey, cutting firewood, tasting beer, bottling, and our favorite task–labeling!  Ever since we visited Maker’s Mark, Joanie has wanted to try her hand at labeling bottles.  Now she is a real pro at the job and hopefully Smuttynose will take notice!  The brewery just underwent a rebranding and the labels are just one of many improvements that have been made in the past two years.  Check out the brewery website here for a look at the new brand.  You might even want to order a shirt once they update the online shop–and at the same time see my first “modeling” gig.  I think I’ve found my true calling in life–beer shirt model.  There must be someone out there willing to pay me for that!

We work about 4 hours each day and then join everyone for a delicious lunch usually consisting of lots of fresh food–tomatoes, avocados, lettuce, plums, breads, cheeses, an African style beef jerky, etc.  There’s a bunch of chickens on the property here too, so we’ve got our pick of fresh eggs every day.  After lunch we’re usually finished with work, grab a pitcher of beer and are on our own for the rest of the day.

We’ve been taking advantage of that time off to walk along the beach below White Cliffs (only accessible at low tide), head into New Plymouth to see the Festival of Lights and listen to live music, or catch up on skype calls, reading, or finding the next WWOOF farm.  There’s a beer and wine festival on Saturday that we’ll be helping with and the next few days will likely be busy with preperations for the festival.  We’ll be sure to post some pictures–it’s being held at a winery a bit south of here with an absoultely incredible view of the ocean.

Our next stop was Joshua Tree National Park–a place we had been to a few years ago when Joanie was working as a Bald Eagle Observer for Arizona Game and Fish.  It was nice to see a somewhat familiar place and reminisce about the flat tire and flat spare that we got the last time we were here.  Luckily, we didn’t need to deal with that again, and we headed out to parts of the park that we hadn’t seen before.  Most of the campgrounds are neatly tucked behind and among the granite rock formations which provided hours of entertainment.  Scrambling, climbing, and jumping around the rocks is always good fun–especially when you’ve got the place to yourself.  The perfect weather continued, we explored the northwest corner of the park, and then started to realize that the first leg of our trip was almost coming to a close.  We’ve been having so much fun driving across the country, seeing new places and eating incredible food, that we almost forgot that we were going to be flying to New Zealand in a week!  And, best of all, we had another visit with friends to look forward to–along with the sun and surf of San Diego. Ahh, the ocean…at last.

We’ve been staying with our friends Ryan and Karin in San Diego for the past week, and it’s been really nice to be back near the coast with some good friends.  We spent our first full day out here learning how to windsurf in Mission Bay.  Ryan and Karin are incredibly patient and effective teachers and we were quickly standing up and sailing around the bay (with a few falls and dunks along the way!).

The rest of the week has consisted of plenty of good food and leisure sports such as croquet and rock golf, a Ryan Fritzsche original.   We really feel so lucky to have good friends across the country who welcome us into their house and put up with the small piles of stuff that we drag along with us!

It’s not just the Arizona Cardinals who seem to be enjoying a string of good luck here in the Grand Canyon State.  We’ve had some incredibly good fortune as of late, and we’ve got a lot of catching up to do here on the blog.  To skip ahead for a second here, we’ve landed in San Diego and have been enjoying the incredible weather and outdoor fun so much that we’ve been neglecting the posting for a bit.  It’s hard to forget where we left off though–a trip to Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix.

I had read about this place in a book about one man’s search for the perfect pizza (sounds like my kind of journey).  It’s only opens at 5:00 pm and we had a bunch of time to kill, so we figured we’d park nearby and walk around downtown for awhile.  We had no idea what we were in for.  The pizzeria is located on a small sidestreet that is mostly closed to car traffic.  There’s just enough room for a few cars to pull onto Adams Street and turn into the pizzeria parking lot.  And, at 4:00 pm that is exactly what we found out.  There were 4 or 5 cars stopped in the road and the pizzeria lot had a chain draped across the entry.  We sat there in our car for a few moments and thought about driving around the corner, parking the car, and walking around downtown for the next hour while waited for the restaurant to open.  And then, we had our first bit of good luck for the evening.  A fellow in the car next to us rolled down the window and said, “He’ll pull back the chain in a few minutes.  Better not go anywhere.”  Words of wisdom to two inexperienced Pizzeria Bianco customers.

Sure enough, in a few minutes a man walked out of the pizzeria, pulled back the chain blocking the small lot, and we pulled into a space.  In the meantime, people started coming out of the woodwork and gathered out in front of the restaurant.  The place wasn’t opening for another hour.  We didn’t really know what was going on, but this flurry of activity seemed like a good indication that this pizza must be something special.  Mimicking the others, we sat ourselves at one of the tables in front of the pizzeria, soaked up the afternoon sun, and listened to the energetic conversations around us.  We weren’t the only out-of-staters.  And then, good fortune struck again when some folks asked if they could sit down next to us at the table.  Harry and CJ and their daughter Jackie were out to celebrate one last meal at Pizzeria Bianco before Jackie moved to Salt Lake City the next day.  It seemed like we had a lot in common with Jackie’s sister Adrian who had taken a trip around the world years ago, including some time woofing in New Zealand.  We had a wonderful conversation, and Harry and CJ invited us several times to stay the night at their house in Phoenix.  It sounded like a great idea, and it was a real treat to have some new friends so we took them up on the offer.

At this point, it was getting close to 5:00 pm and soon everyone started lining up outside the restaurant.  We found our place in line–it’s all an honor system, peppered by offers to trade one’s spot in line for hundreds of dollars–and got ready to chow down.  We were seated quickly and enjoyed a fantastic meal of tomato, basil, and homemade mozzerella salad, a margerita pizza, and a Wiseguy (smoked mozzerella, fenel sausage, and carmelized onions).  Wow. This was good pizza.  It’s hard to make comparisons over time and thousands of miles, but this was some of the best pizza I’ve had.  After a memorable dinner, we went back to Harry and CJ’s for some good conversation and stories–the perfect way to end a perfect day (We had also eaten ice cream that day at the Sugar Bowl).  Harry and CJ were the most generous hosts we could imagine and we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Phoenix thanks to them.  Thank you Harry and CJ!  Hopefully we can return the favor someday!

Arthur Bryant’s is a legendary barbecue establishment in Kansas City and it lived up to the hype.  The beef sandwich is a load of beef brisket with two token slices of Wonder bread to make it a sandwich.  The sauce was incredible–tangy and not sweet.  The fries were delicious, and the setting was great–simple and all about the food.  Right down the street at 18th and Vine was the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum–two great museums that also helped us move around after the barbecue feast.  By the time we were done in the museums I was ready for another sandwich at Arthur Bryant’s but it wasn’t in the cards.

Yes, I’m sticking out my full stomach–sort of.