New Zealand – A glimpse of HEAVEN!

We left for Perth on December 16th, 2011 and headed to Sydney Australia. We spent the weekend in Sydney before boarding the Radiance of the Seas on December 18th. The weekend in Sydney was a vacation within itself. We stayed at our favorite hotel in the city and it was magical with all of the Christmas lights and Christmas festivities going on. By Saturday the other families had arrived and we enjoyed dinner at Pendilinos, our favorite restaurant in Sydney. They have THE BEST ravioli’s I have ever had in my LIFE! Afterwards we went to “Carols in the Park”. I have never seen anything quite like it…THOUSANDS of people sitting on blankets, sharing a picnic (the Australian Way) and singing Christmas carols. BEAUTIFUL! IT was so packed that we could not even find a place to sit so we walked through the park and through all of the people and then we left. The next morning was the most expensive trip to church we have ever taken. It cost us $500 round trip to get to HILLSONG Church! The worship was AMAZING. After years of hearing about this church we were glad to finally experience it.
Reid was starting to feel not so well and was not being himself. Our sweet kids rarely get sick but when they do, it is on VACATION! Seriously I could probably count on one hand how many times each of them have thrown up (well, except Kennedy who use to throw up at dinner when she had to eat a green beans or peas) due to stomach virus or really being sick. Instead, our kids vomit on vacation when their stomachs start adjusting to vacation food!!! We started thinking back and I think there has only been one trip that no one has vomited since we moved to Australia! So, on the ride home from church in the “MAXI TAXI” we stopped to get lunch. Reid had not eaten much at all that day and I started thinking maybe he just needed to eat. So I did what any good mother would do…I FORCED him to eat. He took maybe two bites and then started the motion that signaled “I’m about to spew!” So I grabbed the large bag that the food came in, held it up to his mouth, he puked…I tied it off and placed it on the ground…and we all went on eating not missing a beat. I’m pretty sure we even continued on with our conversations during the whole thing. Boy have I matured as a parent. This might have sent me over years ago! Clint was in the front and I wasn’t sure he even knew what had happened. He later said it was payback from our trip to the Great Barrier Reef when I was oblivious to the fact that he was cleaning up Reid’s vomit since Luke and I were sitting at the front of the plane! Anyway, afterwards Reid says, “I told you I didn’t want to eat!”
Now it was time to board the cruise ship for 16 days of RELAXATION! We were at sea the first several days. We ate, slept, worked out, hung out, read and just CHILLED! Luke turned 7 on the 21st and our family tradition of “icecream for breakfast” was no problem!!!! Ice cream at any time of day for 16 days was NO PROBLEM! On the morning of his birthday the cruise ship went through “The Sounds”…Milford, Dusky and ?? We did not get off the boat through “the sounds” but enjoyed the best view of them aboard the ship. The captain was also able to get REALLY close to the beautiful waterfall you will see in the pictures. AMAZING! I am thinking he might not be as willing to do that now in light of the Italian cruise ship incident.

On December 22nd we got off the boat for the first time. FIRST STOP: DUNEDIN! We rented a 12 passenger van and were formally introduced to the Nissan “HOMY”, an experience within itself! Dunedin was spectacular but my favorite part was hiking to TUNNEL BEACH! When we got to the spectacular beach I couldn’t help but stand in awe of God’s creation. The pictures don’t even do it justice. It was the perfect setting for a “10 buck dare”. Clint loves to hand them out and so he dared the boys to strip down to their undies and get in the water with Grant (the Posell’s 17 year old son). The water was FRRRREEEEEEZING but they will do almost anything for 10 bucks! The hike back to the car was…shall I say…A WORKOUT! A much needed one after 3 full days on the ship! Afterwards we went into the town of DUNEDIN and drove down the Guiness Book of World Records “Steepest Street in the world”…in the HOMY!!!!! As we were driving back through town back towards the port I spotted a STARBUCKS! Before we moved from the States I hardly ever had starbucks…I don’t even drink coffee…but there is something about being on the other side of the world and seeing and experiencing something familiar. So, we started a collection of STARBUCK mugs…you know the ones that have the name of the city on them. We have collected ?? mugs in the last 3 years. Anyway, Clint dared Grant to walk down the street in his boxers (since he was wet from the dip in the ocean at Tunnel Beach) all the way to STARBUCKS, purchase the mug and walk back. Grant did it, we got our mug and Clint forked over $10 bucks! Everyone wins! SWEET!


AKOROA
We were suppose to swim with the “hector” dolphins but due to the temperature of the water we decided to cancel. Instead, we took a bus to Christchurch. We “punted” down the Avon River. I had never heard the word “punted” except in football terms but basically it is a romantic, scenic river ride. Well, minus the romantic part for us. The guys kayaked and Nancy and I “punted” with all the kids. Afterwards we took a LONG walk to a place recommended for lunch but when we got there it was closed down due to the earthquake earlier in the year. There was so much devastation that we saw…I guess that is why the cruise ship changed the itinerary to stop in AKOROA instead. We just thought how can you go to NZ and not go to Christchurch. Well, we got on the bus to head back to AKOROA and all of a sudden the bus started rocking. At first I thought the driver had done something to cause the shaking but I quickly realized that we were experiencing an earthquake. It was really scary since earlier we were looking at all the crumbled buildings and just burdened for the people that lost everything that day in February. The weirdest thing was looking at a fountain beside the bus and seeing the water and signage shake violently. Plus the fear on the faces of the people on the streets was just heart-breaking. There were several earthquakes that day one with the magnitude of 6.0 and two over 5. The earthquake in February that killed over 180 people and caused great destruction was 6.3! Always an adventure. Thankfully we were able to get out of Christchurch with minimal delays and were back on the boat safe and sound.

WELLINGTON on Christmas Eve
Well, this day did not turn out the way I planned. One thing we really enjoy doing as a family is biking. I researched trails and found a place called Makara Peak. Everything on the website indicated that there were trails for beginners and up to advanced. I found a company that offered guided or self-guided tours and made the initial contact. Check. Emailed ages and heights of kids. Check. Sent deposit. Check. Confirmed two weeks prior and a week prior. Check. We got off the boat and took the shuttle in town and conveniently the bike tour company was waiting for us. Perfect. This is going well. He drove us to a great point for taking pictures and then we were off to the trails. He suggested that we stop at the kid park first just to get everyone accustomed to the bikes. And it went downhill from there. The bikes for the boys were WAY too big. There was another bike company not far so the guide left to go get smaller bikes. While he was gone Mackenzie and Clint decided to try out some of the trails. When Clint came back he said there was no way…Mackenzie couldn’t even make it up the first hill in the “kid” park. The guide came back with smaller bikes and they were still too big. Great idea but time to go to plan B. Oh…but I didn’t have a plan B. BUMMER! Note to self. Always have a plan B!!! We went back into the city and went to a museum. Not necessarily a Smith family thing to do but nevertheless, we made the most of it. I got to thinking that Clint does most of the planning when it comes to our vacations. Never really realized the pressure of that until I took on planning what we would do at each port. I really felt terrible about what happened but bottom line is we prayed about each aspect of our trip and God allowed the mess-up to happen. So enough said! After the museum we went to eat at a place called Logan Brown. It was one of the best restaurants in Wellington. During my research I found out that Wellington was a city known for its’ fine cuisine. It was a very nice lunch and while the kids even got a “back of the house” tour, what they really wanted was BURGER KING, which was right across the street. An actual Burger King!!
Christmas Eve on the boat was really magical. After dinner we had carols in the atrium. Everyone was dressed in Christmas colors and standing around the center of the boat on each level of the ship. The band was playing and everyone was JOLLY!!!!! Really JOLLY! Afterwards we went to a church service and sang more hymns and listened to a message by a priest. I couldn’t help but smile ear to ear as I worshipped with my friends and our kids worshipped with theirs. What an experience!
CHRISTMAS DAY –
We took our small Aggie Christmas tree and set it up in the kids’ cabin. So Christmas morning there were a few gifts under the tree for the kids. All of the kids got San Churros gift cards and a master-chef class (we have become a masterchef watching family) and the girls got Taylor Swift tickets and the boys got LEGOS! Then we heard on the loud speaker that Santa had been spotted on the ship’s radar. So we rushed up to the main deck to see what was going on. Due to the fact that the reindeer would not be able to safely land aboard the ship, the captain sent a boat out to pick up Santa. When he arrived on board the kids lined up to take pictures with him and he even handed out gifts to all the kids. The day was so relaxing since we were “AT SEA” and the weather was AMAZING! Our entire group wore the t-shirts we had made as our Christmas gifts to all of our sweet friends. That afternoon we had a gift exchange among family. Our theme was for each person in the group to bring a pound of something. Did not make it easy for the Smith family having to fit 6 extra pounds into our luggage but it made for some fun gifts. We exchanged the gifts “white elephant” style so there was fun in stealing gifts from one another. That night was formal dress night and it was so fun to be so dressed up for Christmas dinner. I could not even tell you what I had as a main but the DESSERT was GINGERBREAD soufflé and it was AMAZING!
NAPIER, December 26th
Napier was a very cute art deco town. We took a beautiful drive to Taupo. We went to Huka Falls and then took the ride of our lives in a jetboat. What a thrill that was…a very wet one…but a total blast. After that we went to “Crater of the Moon”, a geothermal walk. We saw bubbling mud and steam coming from the ground. Really cool. Before rushing back to Napier to catch the bus to the port we made time for a quick stop at Lake Taupo to take some photos! BEAUTIFUL! Wish we had more time to explore Lake Taupo!
One of my favorite moments of the entire trip was on this night. The ship had a Mexican restaurant and it became the American hangout. It was funny to us that it was never crowded…until we got there! I guess this side of the world isn’t as fond of Mexican food as we are! Anyway, Mackenzie had gone to the icecream machine and had come back. Well, we had been talking about “coning” for months…about how funny it would be to actually drive thru McDonalds and really do it. So Clint “coned” Mackenzie. You will have to see the picture because that is the best part of the entire story. The look on her face is PRICELESS! Well, Mackenzie wasn’t going to go down without a fight so she “coned” her daddy…right smack dab on the middle of his head! Again, the pictures that I was able to get that captured the moment are ones that I will cherish FOREVER!!!! Just in case you don’t know what “coning” I asked professor google and this is what “he” said:
the act of buying a ice cream cone through a drive-through and grabbing it by the ice cream itself not the cone. (generally known as the new planking)
VOLCANIC WHITE ISLAND, December 27th
We were at sea all day on the 27th but cruised around Volcanic White Island. We loved having a mixture of days at Sea and days in port. The cruise was the perfect balance of a vacation and a trip. Vacation to us is relaxation…a nice resort, great pool for the kids, a comfy lounge chair by the pool and a really good book! A trip is for sightseeing, discovering and experiencing new things. Days at sea consisted of sleeping in, eating, lounging by the pool, eating, playing family dodgeball courtesy of our very own activities coordinator – Clint Smith, eating, rockclimbing with the kids, eating, pilates, eating, planking contests, eating, watching movies poolside (GREASE), eating, trips to the arcade (how dangerous it is for the kids to have a “Royal Caribbean Credit card”…all they had to do was SWIPE it!...bill for the arcade at the end of the trip - $500!!!!) Reid became the master of the “bling king machine” and won many beautiful pieces of jewelry for the ladies. I got the most coveted piece of jewelry, which was a beautiful diamond ring. Reid also won a watch and said he was going to sell it on e-bay for $500 or take out one of the bigger diamonds in the watch and upgrade my ring. Sweet Reid!
DECEMBER 28th, Tauranga
The day of non-stop adventure!!!! We rented another HOMY and drove to the town of Rotorua, which is known to be the “adventure capital” of the North Island. We started the day off by going to Te Puia, which was a New Zealand cultural experience. Two of the young boys in our group got on stage and learned the Haka, which is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. For the rest of the trip, the men enjoyed sticking out their tongues like the Maori people. Afterwards, we did the Skyline LUGE. We have done a luge in the past (in Singapore) but this one was FAST!!! Afterwards, we went to…drumroll please…WENDYS! Everyone was so excited. I think it is the first time we have seen a WENDYS on this side of the world. We loaded back up and headed to the SKYDIVING simulation. It was so cool to see everyone do that. Since I am an experienced REAL skydiver I thought it would be a waste to spend the money on me doing it. I had so much fun seeing everyone’s face deform due to the strong force of wind that was holding them up. It was HILARIOUS! It took quite a bit of time for everyone to do this and before we know it we were pushing it to get back to Tauranga. But with Clint behind the wheel in the HOMY we made it back with about 10 minutes to spare until we took a wrong turn and then used the GPS and it took us to the wrong port. We were officially late for the boat. However, with 14 passengers missing we were hopeful they were not going to leave us. We had to call the rental car company and tell them they would have to pick up the car at the port where the cruise ship was. We left the keys in the car and ran for our lives. Fortunately, there were two other people from the cruise still missing when we got on board so we were not the last ones. However, we found out later through Rob and Sharon that the captain announced that there were 16 passengers still missing and that he saw us running. He encouraged everyone to go out on the balcony and welcome us back. I was running so hard I wasn’t paying attention to anything but getting all of us on board. Clint, being the trouble maker that he can be, said tomorrow we would be the last people on board just because! He felt beaten by the other 2 people. The intensity of those moments just added to the already high adrenaline rushes we had the entire day!
AUCKLAND – December 29th
More adrenaline rush activities planned for our day in Auckland. The skytower jump is Auckland’s most popular attraction and the jumpers in our family were Clint and Mackenzie. I warned Clint that it was possible that we may have just spent a lot of money for a jump Mackenzie may or may not do. I just wasn’t convinced she could do it but boy, did she prove me wrong!!!! She is definitely one of the more cautious members of the Smith family so I was sooo proud of her going outside of her comfort zone. The jump was 690 feet! The rest of the kids were a bit put out that they were not old enough to do it so we took on the bungee swing after the skyjump. Problem was they were too small to do it! BUMMER! So, I did it instead. WOW…thank goodness I had not eaten a whole lot. We really weren’t up for walking around the city of Auckland so we went back and rented a movie. It was just that kind of day.
BAY OF ISLANDS – December 30th
Today we had to take the tender into the port. Kayaking was the activity of choice but it looked like it was going to rain. Thankfully the trip out in the kayak was dry but coming back it POURED!!!! We were so fortunate that this was our first rain storm so we couldn’t be upset. It rains A LOT in New Zealand and we had been blessed with INCREDIBLE weather up until this point. I even bought this very cute raincoat from Boden specifically for the trip. I wore it a couple of times just to say that I did but thankfully I really did not need it. It rains enough in Perth during the winter so I am sure to look CUTE when it does. We had “seeing the glow-worms” on the agenda at three different ports but after the kayaking experience everyone was all done….except for me! I still WANTED TO SEE THE GLOW WORMS!!! My sweet husband tried his best to make the glow worms happen but it just wasn’t meant to be. This was our last port of the trip. Hard to believe the trip was almost over.
That night was the spectacular “midnight dessert buffet”. The kids had been waiting and waiting for this one and it was worth the wait. They were AMAZED!!!!
December 31, 2011
Every year there is this weird underlying pressure to have really cool plans for New Year’s Eve. I really can’t think of too many really EXCITING ones over the years. I recall one year when we were newly married that we got a few friends together and stayed at one of the hotels I worked at for $25! Gotta love the employee discount. I think we even ate at the restaurant for free and then went to a comedy club. Another year I remember was in 2002. Our neighbors Jenny and Rich had a party next door. It was so nice because we were able to put the kids to bed and take the baby monitors next door. I have this great picture of Clint with two baby monitors attached to his belt buckle. We spent a few NYE with the Pharrs over the years and last year we were in Perth and my friend Sharon came with her family. Sharon is a friend from college…we were Chi Omegas together and on the board at the same time. Her family is currently living in Singapore. AMAZING that we would be spending ANOTHER NYE together aboard the cruise. That night was formal dress and it was fun to see everyone in the family looking snazzy oztalexander@gmail.com! The girl’s dresses were gorgeous and Kennedy even did her hair!!!! The boys wore a coat and tie and they thought they were HOT STUFF (and they were)! Reid really enjoyed what he called his “TUXEDO” jacket. He even wore it throughout the cruise with shorts! Took me back to the days of Miami Vice. I would tell you how HOT my man looked but I am sure to get a few eye rolls and gagging motions so I won’t. We had an amazing dinner in the restaurant. We really loved our waiters and they took great care of us. The found out we all liked Indian food so many nights they would bring out curry in addition to our meal.
January 1st – 3rd
The remainder of the trip we were at Sea and then in Sydney for a night. It was one of these days that I became the wife of the sexiest man alive. Clint had been throwing out dares the entire trip but then he got a dare of his own. He had to enter the “Sexiest Man Alive” contest. This contest required him to pretend to protect his lady from a ferocious snake, he had to do a dance and then answer a silly question. He had the biggest cheering section and it did not hurt that he was wearing his A&M shirt…there are aggies EVERYWHERE!!!! He had one other advantage…I was a judge! But I have to admit, it was a close running. I was smitten by the older man that sat on my lap in hopes to get my vote!!! He was sooo precious! During these last few days the girls gave us a shock when they signed up for karaoke! There is NO way I would EVER sing in front of ANYONE!!!! Mackenzie and Jillian did a duet and Kennedy did a solo. The problem for Kennedy was that she has the “clean” version of the song she chose on her IPOD and that version was NOT what they had available. UGH! You can try to protect their little ears and their mouths in this case but sometimes you just can’t.

The last night we had BIG PLANS...we were going to dance the night away...but we were all in "END OF VACATION FUNK". So we all turned in early...the morning came too quickly...and our dream vacation was OVER! BUT we left with a whole lot of memories with amazing, fun, wild, adventurous, funny, crazy, wonderful, Godly friends. A BLESSING INDEED!