Swoop at 130 kmph!

Next we were cocooned into specially designed hang gliding harnesses to Swoop. Thank goodness Wayne was designated to pull the ripcord, because I certainly couldn't have as we towered 40 meters sky high! What the staff inside called my "good set of lungs" were exercised as we plunged towards the earth at 130kmph!

Blown Away

This morning we learnt to fly with Freefall Xtreme at Agroventures! I just couldn't stop smiling as we flew up to 4 metres high suspended on a wind tunnel of up to 180 kmph!

Seismic Gastro

Recently someone commented that our blog is made up of travel and eating and they seem to be quite right! ... Last night we dined at Seismic Gastro in Rotorua to enjoy our favourite meal together so far! I had Rack Of Wild Venison (pictured above), and Wayne had Rack of Lamb, both absolutely superb!

Geothermal Bathing

After mountain biking we found some natural soda pools in a river past Lake Rotoiti. What a charming spot that we plan on keeping secret squirrel! Then we went for a soak at the Wai ora Mud Baths and Spa which was an absolute treat!

Mountain Biking in the Redwoods

We continued on down to Rotorua for the weekend to celebrate our first year anniversary x What an awesome first mountain bike ride we had together in the Redwoods! Wayne has done a lot of biking before... I'd never imagined myself riding through forest trails, but going to the gym regularly over the past eight months had built up enough strength and confidence for me to follow grade 2 trails for nearly two hours through the forest! I can't wait to try trails in Woodhill Forest next!

Bridal College

Another gorgeous couple - Angelene and Ian - who met while studying at Bible College were wed in Hamilton on ANZAC day. We were honored to be there to witness their vows and help celebrate with them :)

Shredded Pork with Peking Sauce

Mike and Angelica joined us for dinner on Saturday night at our fav local Chinese restaurant on Ponsonby Road - SKY :) Try the Shredded Pork with Peking Sauce wrapped in pancakes! All the regulars recommend it!


Home to watch The Bank Job projected up onto our lounge wall. Based on a true story and definitely recommended!

Photos: Courtesy of Mike :)

Canyon Swing

Even though I was all set to sky dive on Friday morning before it clouded over, for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to even consider doing the Shotover Canyon Swing! But many of the other adrenaline junkies loved it!! They dropped from the world's highest swing 109m above the Shotover River to a pure freefall of 60m into the canyon before the ropes smoothly pendulum them into a giant swing arc of 200m at 150kph!

Jet Boating

The Wilderness Safari then took us on a spectacular 1 1⁄2 hour Jet Boat ride further up the Dart River where we we were awed by more Lord of the Rings backdrops - breathtaking mountains, ancient native forest, plus jet spins!

Mt Aspiring National Park

A few of us joined Dart River Wilderness Safari which initially took us on a 4WD coach via the Mt Aspiring National Park, where we heard stories about the surrounding countryside and stopped to view scenery that served as the backdrop to many international films, including ‘The Lord of the Rings.’ I loved walking for 30 minutes or so through an ancient native beech forest at Paradise imagining hobbits jumping around and about!

Glenorchy

I have longed to go to Glenorchy for years!.. ever since we starting promoted the region as a film location for Lord of the Rings :) The sunset was stunning as we drove around Lake Whakatipu to Kinloch Lodge for a relaxing evening and hot tub.

Heli Biking!

I opted to go heli biking with Fat Tyre Adventures and WOW it was awesome!!! We took an amazing 12 minute flight over the remote Nevis Valley (where you can do the Nevis Highwire Bungy 134m above the rugged Nevis River!) to beyond the Remarkables Range and landed at 1700m on the rocky moonscape-like terrain of Old Woman Range. Our guide Greg did a fantastic job patiently teaching me the correct posture to survive the undulating, fast flowing trails which led to a more technical single track later on taking us over 30 kms altogether to Bannockburn at the bottom! 3 hours cycling up and down, up and down exhausted me - a lot more full on that my former commute cycling past the rice paddies at Kyotanabe to the local station :)

Queenstown - Green and Gold

I headed to Queenstown for a few days last week with a great team from TNZ to discover new hooks and angles to use when promoting the region to international media. We found Queenstown dressed in green and gold - stunning Autumn colours - that left me reminiscing about Kyoto during the same season.

Bible College of New Zealand Graduation

Last night I was awarded my Graduate Diploma in Theology from the Bible College of New Zealand. It was a fantastic night! Wayne, Mum, Dad, Grandma, Christine and Andrew were among my wonderful supporters there to witness my graduation after supporting me through my long hours of study :) Thank you xx We went out for a Japanese meal afterwards to celebrate - something Mum, Dad and I have done when I graduated from Kyoto University. It was quite emotional seeing people "capped" for the first time and thinking how far away from home and my culture I was for so long. I was also teary-eyed thinking of special special friends who were by my side as my studies were recognized in Japan xx Missing you!