New Zealand Day 2: Uretiti Beach to Puriri Bay

We all woke around 8:30 and Brynna had a little more time to play with her friend Sophie. We gave Sophie’s family our tentative itinerary for the week and actually decided to meet up at Waipu Cave nearby. Waipu was another NZ Frenzy guidebook tip—there are a variety of glow-worm caves in NZ but this one is uncommercialized and thus free.

I drove the campervan very carefully along winding roads, following the excellent signage to the cave. Though the roads are often narrow and twisty, the signs are very helpful and we have a big road atlas that came with the campervan. After about half an hour, we pulled up next to a cow pasture with bathrooms and a sign indicating the short walk to the cave. We wandered across the field and caught our first glimpse:

We had specific instructions from the guidebook to go inside and sit next to the big stalagmite for seven minutes until our eyes adjusted. Brynna was initially very excited about this whole thing but freaked out as soon as we started to go inside the cave. We ended up picking her up and carrying her in, hoping that she'd get used to it. And she did. After we waited for a little while, I took a few more steps into the cave and started to see little pinpricks of light on the ceiling...and then more and more and more! 

The cave has glowworms on the ceiling – an entire galaxy’s worth.  These larvae produce small pinpricks of light, more concentrated but less bright than a firefly.  They seem to cluster no closer than 1-2 inches apart.  It truly was a stunning sight – something we haven’t ever experienced before.  Alex did some playing with the camera: the S120 has a nifty Star Mode for tripod-mounted long (15-sec) exposures.  Mounting the camera on the gorillapod worked out nicely and produced some awesome images.  Where people played their lights across the ceiling, he got some stalactites in the images, too. 

Sophie was also very unhappy about the whole thing, but once Brynna calmed down, she was able to help her along. Our families advanced together about at far into the cave you can get (maybe 200 meters) without crawling through a stream. There is a longer loop for very adventurous folks without small children!

Once out of the cave, and after a game of tag in the field, we drove onwards a little ways into Whangarei, where we found a small park and playground next to an iSite (NZ tourist info kiosk) for lunch.  Then we found the lovely Whangarei Falls:

We did our first water exchange before leaving town – an interesting experience in its own right. We have a 90 liter tank so with 3 showers (though not with water continuously running), dishes, cooking, and some laundry we pretty much need to exchange every day. There's a hose for taking on fresh water and another one for dumping the gray water.

Then we continued up the coast a bit to Tutukaka Bay, where there was a short hike to what was called a lighthouse, but was really more like a solar-powered beacon on top of a headland.  This headland is actually a tiny island of sorts, connected by an isthmus to the main island.  

We hit this trail around 4:30 pm, and made our crossing around 5 – about an hour before high tide.  The isthmus actually gets flooded at high tide.  The first bit of the crossing was a broad sandbar that was barely covered by the waves from either side.  

Farther on was some tricky stepping stone action requiring knee-deep wading between the waves.  

A helpful local got in deeper to help us pass B across.  The hike from there to the “lighthouse” was uneventful.  From that height-of-land we could see a good distance along the coast.  Using google maps (yes, plenty of phone service), we determined what all the islands and land features in the distance (mostly south and east) were.  

The return crossing, now at true high tide, was a even higher and the bottom of our shorts got wet from the waves as we passed B across the deepest part.  She was game: another mini adventure for the Moose family.

According to Google Maps, our destination for the night was a bit more than an hour away.  B and Alex hung out in the back for the drive, which actually took almost two and a half increasingly grumpy hours.  Hilary did well with the driving, but there is no escaping that this is a really big vehicle that bumps and sways a lot on the road.  These roads are not exactly highways: these are the steeply graded, twisty turny roads of rural country that has never experienced snow.  At times we cruised at 60 kph, but it seemed every minute we would slow for a 25 kph turn.  We were both reminded of equally tricky driving in St John, but now with a much larger vehicle.  We were all very tired, and as the sky dimmed with no destination yet it got a little punchy.  Poor Alex actually started getting a bit nauseous. Finally, finally we arrived at our DoC campsite at Puriri Beach, had some showers and supper (pasta), and off to bed. We're finding the camper to be very comfortable for sleeping.

New Zealand Day 1: Auckland to Uretiti Beach

After we landed in Auckland, we were whisked into a separate and MUCH shorter line at passport control by a grandfatherly looking gentleman who could clearly sense B’s impending meltdown. Then we gathered our bags and went on to the-people-who-make-sure-you’re-not-bringing-in-food-with-diseases, and eventually we came out into the arrivals hall. Alex went off to get local SIM cards installed into our iPhones (a process that went very smoothly, thank you Telecom NZ) and Brynna entertained the masses by performing a dance around the arrival hall in her fuzzy pink footsie PJs and crocs.

We hit up the little café for hot chocolate (B), chai (me), and coffee (Alex) and then met up with our campervan drop-off guy. He drove us to a big parking lot just outside the airport and showed us around the van. Here she is:

This is Brynna’s favorite part:

There was a bank and supermarket right there so we were able to stock up before hitting the road. The shopping was a frenzy of fresh fruit and vegetable buying, since NZ is towards the end of its summer. We were able to get NZ peaches, plums, pears, blueberries, avocados, corn, and apples as well as Aussie mangos and a pineapple from the Philippines (which is pretty local in this neck of the woods). After stocking up, we headed north out of Auckland, across the harbor bridge. Alex did a marvelous job of driving our behemoth on the left at highway speeds, as well as shifting left-handed. Brynna was exceedingly peeved that she couldn’t travel in her bed up above, but we made her a stack of pillows in the back to lean her head against, and she had a nice nap.

Our first stop was the Mangawhai (manga-fye) Heads Reserve, where there was a hike recommended by one of my guidebooks. And it was splendid indeed!

The first portion was along the beach, and then returning back along the hill/clifftop. We cut the beach portion quite close as the tide was coming in. Here we are headed down to the beach:

“It’s tropical!” Brynna kept saying.

We hopped from cove to cove, investigating all the different surfaces. There was smooth white sand at first, then these small smooth white rocks, as well as other coves with shells, with rougher rocks, with larger rocks, and so on. Quite the variety.

The views out to sea weren’t bad either!

At one point we had to wade around a point. I put B up on my shoulders and shortly thereafter went from ankle-deep to knee-deep, and then after a big wave came in, to waist-deep! With a steadying hand from Alex, we made it just fine.

Then there was this handy place to sit, though we only rested for a minute because the tide kept coming in!

The end of the beach portion of the track was marked by this arch in the rock, already wet due to the tide coming in.

We thought about wading through but the waves looked pretty rough so we opted to bushwhack straight up the hillside instead, and managed to meet up with the staircase coming from the other side of the arch.

Then we headed along the hilltop. Lots of palm trees and beautifully constructed stairs:

More great vistas:

Brynna took this one, looking back towards where we’d parked:

This shows the beach where we had to wade around the point at the far end of the sand:

We found a nice place to rest and watch the ocean:

And eventually headed back down more stairs to the beach we’d started on. B was getting tired at this point (whole walk was 8 or 9 kilometers) so we were counting the stairs to keep her mind off it. We ended up with just over 200 stairs down.

And then back along the beach to the campervan.

Then we headed to the Uretiti beach DoC (Department of Conservation) campground, where we were able to park the van (no power) and have access to clean water and cold showers for 27 New Zealand dollars (about 20 US dollars). Brynna met a friend over the hill, a three year old named Sophie from Montreal, and they played together in the loft for awhile. We were able to figure out how to use the van’s stove to make dinner (rice and bean burritos) and the van’s shower to have warm showers and then finally off to bed.

Travel to New Zealand

We left Concord on Friday evening much later than intended—it takes a long time to close up the house for a month, and Alex had to finish up a lot of things at work. We finally left the house just before 10 PM, dropped Mr. Jasper off with Katie, and headed down to Boston. Aunt Donna had kindly offered that we could stay with her (and Bob and Tom offered to keep our car at their place), so we had about four hours sleep before the taxi picked us up at Donna’s at 4:30 AM.

We arrived at Logan just before 5 AM on Saturday and were surprised to find no one at the Virgin America desk! The staff finally showed up around 5:30 and we were able to check in without difficulty—in fact, we were able to check our bags all the way through to Auckland. Once through security, Brynna worked on her jewel sticker crown craft from Ayanna, which would turn out to occupy her for almost the entire day. What a great gift!

Unfortunately Alex was seated several aisles up on our flight to LA and got stuck in a window seat on the far side of two people who promptly fell asleep—not ideal! Next time we’ll know to double-check the seat assignments right away when we get the boarding passes.

The Virgin America folks definitely win for most entertaining safety video—both hilarious and informative. Brynna was great, only occasionally getting restive and whiny. She mostly did her crown craft and was engaged in some complicated game with the seatbelt for awhile. Three bathroom trips in six hours is not bad for her and we were so close to the bathroom that I was able to send her by herself after the first time.

Once in LA, I called the hotel I’d identified as most likely for a day booking, and we were able to hop the shuttle without difficulty. We wanted to find a restaurant close by to walk (the attached Denny’s didn’t appear to be very veg friendly!) so we headed off for a likely-looking place. We eventually found it inside an office building, but it was closed on the weekend. So we went to the bistro in the nearby Marriott and had a thoroughly mediocre meal of veggie burgers.

I was pretty much toast by then, so as soon as we got back to the hotel we all settled down for a nap. I think I was out in about five seconds and Alex and B also got some sleep. Then there was time for violin practice before we headed off to Marina del Rey (via town car—swank!) for a delicious dinner at the Mendocino Farms sandwich place. Mmmmm. Totally made up for the crappy lunch.

We zipped back to the hotel, jumped the shuttle to the airport, were able to quickly check with the Air NZ folks that the bags did indeed get transferred, and then headed into the remarkably short security line. The best line of the travel day came from Brynna, naturally:

B, to guy checking our passports and boarding passes at security: “We aren’t carrying anything bad!”

(Long pause)

“Well, if we are, I didn’t know anything about it.”

Then we settled in, each had a stroll and a nice Starbuckian treat, and gawked at our ENORMOUS plane. Sadly, it was not one of the Air NZ jets that is painted to lo

ok like Smaug, but it was nifty to see anyway. It took a long time to board, but the flight attendants were very helpful from the start.

Since it was a 9:15 flight (already after midnight on the East Coast), I put B to bed as soon as we leveled off. Air New Zealand has something called cuddle class, where footrests come up to fill the entire area between the seats. They gave us appropriate linens and special lying-down seatbelts.

Here I am setting up the seats for sleep:

And here we are:

Because Alex is flying back earlier, I had to book him separately so we ended up with a cuddle class bench (actually 3 seats) plus the seat across the aisle. This ended up being perfect as Brynna slept almost 8 hours and Alex and I took turns being able to lie down next to her. Alex wasn’t able to get too comfortable, but I did OK (though B woke up for good just as I was getting settled in next to her).

We also had great in-flight entertainment on personal screens. I was able to catch up on new-ish movies Thor: Dark World and Gravity, and Brynna mostly liked watching the map once she woke up. The vegetarian food was very tasty. All in all, we are big fans of Air New Zealand!

Princess Leia

I had mentioned my dislike of the inescapable Disney Juggernaut, and our desire to introduce her to The Canon of nerd fiction. Part of the motivation for that, now six weeks past, was to steer her towards what, in our minds, was an acceptable Halloween costume. To hell with a pretty pink princess fairy fluff - we've done that. No, this year she would be a badass princess: Princess Leia!

In hindsight - heck, even in the moment - the easiest and cheapest way to achieve this would be to purchase a costume. There are ways of doing this. We were this close to ordering one, and actually stood in a Target and were this close to buying one. But we just couldn't bring ourselves to purchasing another mass-produced, cheap labor-made, and never-given-a-second-thought costume. Nope, I decided we'd make one.

Thanks to my dear mother, I'm savvy with a sewing machine. I could perhaps have cobbled something together on my own, but was aided enormously by the efforts of these folks, who are better with sewing than I, and produced step-by-step instructions on how she produced her own Leia costume. (Episode IV only - I'm not dressing my daughter up for Jabba's Palace.) A trip to Jo-Ann and we're off to the races:

I laid out a 1:1 pattern on taped-together pieces of newsprint. Cleared off, our kitchen table provides enough space for the job.

The dress pattern is roughly in the shape of a number 7. This gets applied to a piece of fabric that has been folded once (along what will be the top of the shoulder and arms), then twice (down the vertical centerline). This results in a tunic-like piece of fabric that gets sewn along the underside of the arms and down the sides. This then gets done a second time, and the two sewn one inside the other.

The second cutout was fit into a cutout from the first.

The seams get ironed as we go along.

Fun times down in the basement with the sewing machine.

Partly done after a marathon session one night. Missing are the bottom hems and collar.

Meanwhile, Hilary used half a skein of dark brown yard to create the cinnamon buns

The mostly-finished costume received a trial run about a week before Halloween. So far, so good.

On the night of, Hilary whipped together a blaster from some cardboard tubing and black gaff tape.

Somebody has to save our skins!

The Canon

No, not cannon, and not Canon, but canon: That abstruse name we give to the ill-defined body of cultural milestones that seem important to us through the ages.

The Disney juggernaut is inescapable. Plus, after years of reading books to B, we've gotten really tired of some of the insipid stuff that's out there.

However, B is right on the cusp of being able to tackle some really cool stuff. There's plenty, of course, that she isn't ready for. But as a counterweight to more conventional stories, we have decided to slowly introduce B to some of the works that were so formative in our own younger years: the Nerd Canon.

We started with The Hobbit. Poorly executed movies aside, the book itself stands up just fine as a fun and well-structured story. Page by page, chapter by chapter, B and I worked our way through the large, illustrated, hard-bound copy I leafed through decades ago. It took a few months, and like a good radio serial, required some time reviewing the previous night's events before moving on. Sometimes B could manage a few pages, other nights she'd barely last a paragraph. It wasn't the prose - it's just tough for her to stay away while just listening, even if there are occasional pictures.

Not to be outdone, Hilary got a start on The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. We didn't see it through to the end - the death and resurrection of Aslan seemed a bit much for B right now. Plus, although Hilary and I are learned enough to understand the Christian allegory, neither of us are terribly interested in delving into it with our five-year old.

But that's OK, because now we've moved on the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. What's that? You say it's The Sourcerer's Stone. Codswallop! (B's new favorite word). We can't get much past the second book until B gets much older. By that point we hope she'll be hooked enough to continue reading on her own.

Halloween came and went. B had some vague notion of being a princess (damn you, Disney!). Hilary suggested a much more badass role model: Princess Leia. "Who's that?" asked Brynna. So then we introduced B to the Star Wars movies. We started with Episode IV, which is historically correct and introduces us to Leia. We continued on, following this suggested ordering: IV, V, II, III, VI. There is no Episode I.

We could go on, but here's where it seems appropriate to poll the audience: what do you think should be next?

Repairs

Oh TI-83! You graphing calculator of yore. So expensive, so limited compared to today's options. Yet you still hold a special place in my heart! I actually still use my calculator for stuff almost on a daily basis, though rarely taking advantage of its full capabilities. For simple stuff I usually already have some sort of computer program open that can do it. I could also solve it using Google. For more complicated stuff I'll use Excel or Matlab. And yet...there is something about whipping out that hunky chunky plastic and punching the keys that still satisfies.

So when my TI-83, which I bough entering freshman year of college, starting showing weird artifacts on the screen, a little part of me died. I could not in any way justify spending $80-90 to replace it new. Trolling Craigslist and eBay is a pain in the butt. Could it be repaired? Yes, as it turns out, and the Internet provides.


I found this video in a few minutes. This fellow had similar flaky issues with the screen. He was able to trace it back to flex-cable that bridges between the logic board and the display board. This thin ribbon of metal-on-plastic, adhered on either end with z-conductive tape, had one trace that had become open-circuit. The solution? Bridge it with fine wire:

I covered it over with Kapton tape to keep the wire from rattling around. Put the case back together, pop in the batteries, and we are back in business!

Clean Teeth

Here's B at a recent visit to the dentist. They give them the shades so that the lights don't blast them so much.

Cool Cat.

But of course B has alway been stylin' in sunglasses.

Trip Report: Mount Willard, October 26

Mount Willard is one of the best "bang for the buck" mountains in New Hampshire—pretty easy hike, big view from the top—so it's been on our list to do with Brynna for awhile. In fact, we tried to do it with her in the backpack when she was about six months old (revisit the adorable pictures here) but stopped partway because she got too chilly.

We were in North Conway for a half marathon a couple of weeks ago but went up early so we could spend Saturday hiking. After a fortifying breakfast at the Nereledge Inn (our favorite B&B), we hopped into the car and headed for the AMC Highland Center in Crawford Notch. As we wound our way there, it started to snow and Brynna started to get skeptical. At the trailhead, we talked up the delight of walking in the snow and convinced B to give it a try. Then we bundled up and headed out. 

Here's B with my dad at the trailhead:

A stop at Centennial Pool on the way up. Dad tried to convince B to take a dip, but she wasn't having any of it.

This is B showing Alex her "secret snow land," a little trail offshoot looking into the snow-dusted woods. She was very excited about this and told everyone we encountered on the trail how to find it.

Heading up and up with Dada:

Running with M toward the summit:

Checking out the (mostly cloud-obscured) view from the ledges, while M makes sure she doesn't fall off:

Re-bundled at the summit. This hike was a great opportunity to discuss layering!

We have a picture of Dad and me on Mount Willard from 1999. Here's the cloudier 2013 version:

I think we should have a caption contest for this one:

Primal scream at the summit!

And a regular smile:

One of the problems with big bulky mittens is that you can't pick up trail mix with them on. Good thing Alex is willing to feed her like a little bird.

Once we returned to the Highland Center, we showed B where we'd been.

And then she got to check out the awesome new playground at the Highland Center, complete with swing bridge:

So, another successful experience in the mountains for B. It's so exciting to watch a little hiker emerge!