Spring Break 2020 COVID-19 trip

After planning a Spring Break vacation down under since November, a time when all the family was rarely available, and all the stars seemed to be aligning, this COVID-19 virus reared its head, causing lots of last-minute decision-making and hand-wringing.  At the time of our departure, there were 3 confirmed cases of Corona virus in Austin, all travel related, and 5 confirmed cases in New Zealand, also all travel-related.  We made the decision to go ahead and go and take every precaution we could to not bring the virus with us to P&K.  We all got funny looks in the airport, especially in Austin, with all our face masks.  The travel went well, but one is extremely aware of every cough anywhere in one’s vicinity.  One in particular was a couple on the flight from LA to Auckland behind Hannah, Esther, and Sarah, who were coughing the whole flight.  Mark tattled on them at immigration, but nothing came of it, because New Zealand was tracking all arrivals and placing everyone in a 2 week quarantine if you were within 2 seats of anyone testing positive. We never heard anything requiring us to quarantine, so they must have had something else causing them to cough.

During the middle of our flight down, the New Zealand government announced that anyone on an overseas flight arriving after midnight on Sunday would have to self quarantine for 14 days.  We arrived at 8:30 that morning.  If this rule had been in place before we left, we would not have gone.

Rangitoto Island

This last Saturday, Mark, Greg, the girls, and I took a ferry over to Rangitoto Island and hiked to the summit. Rangitoto is an iconic dormant volcano in the Waitamata Harbour (Auckland's harbor). It is 5 1/2 kilometers wide and 850 ft high. It erupted about 600 to 700 years ago. It is now a reserve. It rained on us most of the way up, but cleared once we got to the top. We saw some beautiful panoramas of the harbor and the city. Kohimarama is seen in the distance of the picture with our backs turned. On the way over on the ferry, we had a little show from a naked guy who had climbed to the top of a beacon. Disgusting!

Mama and Sarah

An account of our time Down Under would not be complete without a mention of the bond between Mama and Sarah. The two of them have been inseparable. It has been a great fit because both Mama and Sarah love to have company more than anyone I know. Sarah follows Mama around everywhere. Mama always asks, "Where is my shadow?" They read stories, play games and go for an almost daily walk with Pa to St. Heliers to get the mail. Getting the mail inevitably turns into climbing 1000 trees, playing at the playground for hours, and having lunch and a coffee/fluffy. A fluffy is a sophisticated little drink for a 4-year-old. It is warm milk frothed up like a cappuccino with chocolate drizzled on top. It is usually accompanied by a little marshmellow. Sarah knows all the best places in Auckland to get a fluffy. Everyone in St. Heliers knows her and teases her. Mama and Pa love having her with them, and I think there will be a big hole in everyone's heart when they are oceans away from each other.

70.3 and Still Alive

For those of you that don't know, I have been spending my spare time training for a half Ironman. The race was this Saturday. I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that I was almost last. The good news is that I had my personal best time ever on the swim and the bike. My time was 7:13:32. This is about an hour faster than I expected to finish, so I'm really pleased. My swim was 45:35 for 1.2 miles. My bike was 4:07:32 for 56 miles. My run was 2:20:25 for 13.1 miles. On the race website is a video of the race http://www.endurancesport.co.nz/aucklandhalf/ . I feature in it at about 4:09. Notice how slowly I am going. You can also see the full results from the race on the website. The weather was fantastic and the course was incredibly beautiful. It was a great experience, but I have no intention of ever doing it again.

Bay of Islands and Waipoua Forest

After leaving Teal Bay, we went further north to the Bay of Islands. This is a beautiful area of New Zealand and a popular tourist area. It is best seen by yacht, but we were not that fortunate. It is also the site of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. This is a treaty signed by England and most of the Maori chiefs at the time. It addressed issues such as protection and the sale of land. Many Maori today look back on it and feel like they got ripped off. When you sell a property for a couple of guns, some flour, two horses, and a shirt, you can see why they got the short end of the stick. The other side is the treaty set them up to have a part in the new country. It is certainly better than other natives fared. Race relations have always been very good here, but in recent years, some discontent and tensions have started to creep in.

We left the Bay of Islands and headed back to Auckland down the West side of the country. We passed some massive sand dunes in Opononi, then we traveled through the Waipoua Forest. This is a beautiful forest full of big old Kauri trees. The biggest one is called Tane Mahuta and supposedly 2000 years old.

Teal Bay

We spent the weekend at a quiet batch on a lovely sheltered bay called Teal Bay. We had a wonderful and relaxing time. The kids played on the beach for hours, we played cricket all afternoon, and we learned how to play petanque from our batch neighbors. We also took a walk to see a nesting area for the endangered Brown Teal duck. There are less than 1000 remaining. We counted about 40.

Mangawhai and Waipu Cove

This last weekend we took our last trip out of Auckland. We drove north to a friend's batch in Teal Bay. On the way there we stopped at a couple of surf beaches. The first is Mangawhai Heads. The next is Waipu Cove. It has a neat little estuary with trees hanging all over it. We have pictures of the kids playing here four years ago. These are beaches near Whangarei, where Mark's dad grew up.