NOTICE: Comment Change

Hello All,

This is just a quick note to say that it recently came to our attention that the comment section of our blog required an account in order to leave comments.  We have changed this setting so that anyone can comment now.  (Now we really do expect comments though.... no more excuses.  Haha!)  Sorry for the inconvenience.

Blessings!!!

The Tasman is Abel to rock your world!

Well, we were on a roll, so we just kept going...

Two blog postes in one night, yeowza! We're on fire!
Once we made it to Nelson, our amazing hosts - Nick and Bonnie - took us on several grande adventures all over Nelson and the surrounding area.  But the majority of these photos are from the Abel Tasman National Park... at times, experiencing God is too beautiful for words or photos to describe so we didn't even try.  Here are a few of the 'ugly' pictures - they don't nearly do it justice!

 Look Mom!... no legs!

(Nick and Bonnie took us to a lovely day at the beach)

 Smiles all 'round!

 Emma + beach = CARTWHEEL TIME!

 Time to even out our tan lines!

 Emily and Nick went hunting for mussels...

Hello dinner!

 Emma and Bonnie just chillin

 Monteiths' Raddler Bier and cards...

leads to an excellent night and laughs all 'round.

 Heading off for the Abel Tasman...

(L-R: Addison the baby, Eva, Bonnie and Isabella)

 Camping, here we come! Keen as a jelly bean!

 The last supper... chicken burger and fries!

(Our last hot meal before we began eating PB&J for every meal)

 Umm...well no wonder it wasn't working!!

Let's just say we had a little trouble figuring the tent out.

 I don't know... looks good to me!

 First hiking excursion after arriving in Bark Bay where we set up camp for our two night stay.

 Tonga Bay

 The little pennisula was our campsite (the closest one)..

it would be completely surrounded by water come high tide.

(there's a 6 meter difference between high and low tide)

 GOOD MORNING!

 Tramping day 2: Sweet suspension bridge!

 PB&J sandwiches... breakfast, lunch and dinner... 3 days running!

 Emma had to piggy-back Sades across some mucky ground to keep her running shoes dry!

 Cleopatra's Pool...

Swimmin' time!

 Attempted chest bump = fail!

 The beautiful view just a hop-skip-and-a-jump away from our tent! (literally!)

 The sea taxi that took us to and from our campsite

(Taikerikeri to Bark Bay)

 Our latest mode of transportation...

 ...it can get a little boring sometimes...

 ....Emma can get a little 'crabby' when people don't pick us up...

Chocolate cupcakes...classic Eva...

Well, there you have it! Everything we've been up to in the past week here in Nelson! Hope you've enjoyed viewing our photos and be prepared for more epic photos as our coming week includes the U2 concert in Auckland and Emma getting her first tattoo...

Hugs and Kisses,

Sades and Emma Jean

PS We still love comments!  Keep them coming :)

Christchurch to Kaikoura

Hello Faithful Fans,

We have returned valiantly from our track in the out back... however, you will have to stay tuned for those photos.  As we have several locations and events to catch up on, this post is just last week - our time in Christchurch and Kaikoura.

We don't really know what else to say.... enjoy!

 In the airport on the way to Christchurch

(Please note the hat... you will be seeing a lot of it)

 Stoked to be here - Thank you, Janne for being an awesome hotess and taking us to the beach!

 The church at the heart of Christchurch.  Go figure.

 Ooo, don't ask!

 Picnic at the beach with the girls...

(L-R: Laura, Zoe, Lai)

 And then... we went to the HORSE RACES!!!

Hats: the bigger the better!

 Emily's sweet hat, once again.

(She bought it for $3 - booya!!!)

 Lots of money, lots of alcohol, lots of cleavage...

Something tells me we don't really fit in here.

 Emma graced Nick, the bar tender, with her $3 hat!

Ouch!

Note to Sadie... it's called sunscreen, you should wear it!

 That night we went to the Finale

(A sweet show with Maori chanting, broadway dancing, trapeeze acts, clowns, etc.)

 Dear Mom,

I finally ran out of the Red Hots you sent with me.

Please send more. 

Love, Emily

 Month: #2

Hostel: #3

Saving Money: priceless

 The beautiful beach of Kaikoura right outside our hostel

 Ah sweet childhood, how we've missed you!

 Kaikoura

 Dear Jesus,

Thank you for creating hamocks...and De Winkel yogurt.

Love, Emma

Tragic... the banana is gone!

More to come later....

Much love!!

XOXOXOXOXO,

Us!

The Outdoor Adventure Begins

Hello All,

We are still alive and well.  We are unfortunately unable to upload pictures at this point in time, so we cannot show you what our last weeks have held.  I'll give a brief overview for the pictures that will be following in a few days (hopefully).

We flew from Wellington to Christchurch and stayed with a lovely couple and lady there.  While in Christchurch we got well aquinted with the bus system, saw the earth quake damage, expereinced a few earth quakes (though Sadie slept through a couple), had a beautiful day at the beach and fondue party with new friends, and attended the NZ Cup horseraces!!

We then hitchhiked our way to Kaikoura and enjoyed the beach and sun before continuing onto Nelson the following day.  We've been staying with a fantastic family here in Nelson, the Kempthornes.  We shopped downtown a bit, spent a day at the beach, played with the kids, and hung out.

Tomorrow we will be hitchhiking and then boating into the Abel Tasman (a spectacular national park on the northwest of the south island).  We will be camping for two nights in Bark Bay and hope to do several day hikes from there.  Thanks to the Kempthornes we will thankfully have a tent over our heads.  Hopefully the nice weather holds.

We promise heaps of pictures once we get back!!

Blessings!
Emily and Sadie

Good-Bye Wellington

Hello All!!

It is our last night in Wellington, and we thought we'd take the opportunity to show you what we've been up to this week, as well as fill you in on our plans for the future...

 We went on a tour of the parliament buildings

(they wouldn't let us take pictures inside, so this is representative of the trip)

But... then the tour was over and they weren't looking so Emily took a picture... I wonder how many rules we broke with this one
(the tour was obviously very interesting)

FREEDOM!!

(The "beehive" is the building in the back - the primary governmental structure of NZ) 

Eleventh commandment?  Since when? 

 The beautiful bay

Wellington Civic Square and the city 

Chilling out, chilling out

(one of our favorite pastimes of late has been reading and soaking up the rays)

Only true Wellingtonians go barefoot down the street 

We took some old bread (dumpster diving bread) to Civic Square to feed the birds...

only in their excitement they ended up throwing it back at us

Kiwi Cops - not at all scary because they don't carry guns 

Dinner at Fidel's with Zac and Jane 

Guy Fawkes Fireworks!! 

The greatest firework show Sadie has ever seen!!  ($160,000 worth!) 

...? 

Pretending to be dead possums...

the fireworks may have excited us just a bit too much... 

 We spend an average of 12 hrs a day in our sleepingbags...

in this case Sadie needed a lift up the stairs.

Tramping the streets in skinny jeans and gum boot... al'right! 

We went to "Made in Dagenham" with Helen...

(apparently we broke "copyright law" with this picture and couldn't take more)

Hogwarts, here we come! 

Emily and her mate are ready to board the train! 

Raaawr!!

(the train station with Jane) 

Monday we went to an "artsy party" at church and made Christmas ornaments 

Stairs to "The Jesus Hill"  where we spend exorbitant amounts of time

"Oh Zac.... Zac Effron...!!!"

(please note that Emily is still in her sleeping bag)

Sadie and Emily don't always have the same taste in men...

(Please note that his arm 'tat' says "I heart my mom")

As for our future plans, tomorrow we are heading to Christchurch on the south island.  We will conveniently be there for the New Zealand Cup this coming weekend, a huge horse racing event.  We already have our tickets, dresses, and hats in hand!!  From there we will be hitch-hiking our way north to the lovely town of Nelson where we will be staying with friends of Larryn (our friends are so good to us!!).  We then plan on hiking the Abel Tasman for a couple days before catching the ferry back to Wellington and bussing back to Auckland for a U2 concert on the 26th!!!  Thanks to Larryn, we have tickets and we're totally stoked!!!  We will visit Les and Linda again and travel part of the Coromandel Peninsula before flying south once more to Christchurch.... yes, there is a lot of traveling here, there, and everywhere in our future.

We've loved our time in Wellington, but we're really looking forward to being on the open road again!

Thanks for all the prayers and support!!  We miss and love you all!!

XOXO,

Em and Sades

PS Great job on commenting last time... keep 'em coming!!!  (We seriously check the blog excitedly everyday to see if we have anymore comments.)