Checking out the view of the Kerikeri bay of islands. We saw a pod of dolphins from our vantage.
Hanging out on our host's boat
Chasing sheep to get to caves
Incredibly these caves were free if you could find them.
Emily by a very large stalagmite
A glow worm next to its silken strands
Glow worms lighting up the ceiling
Glow worms with the cave ceiling partially lit up
Silk strands next to dripping stalactites
It was very humid in the cave and felt just like the book Journey to the Center of the Earth
"Star" Gazing
Our last day in NZ we spent camping near the cave in high winds and heavy rains without a chance of washing off the mud from spelunking. That morning we shoved our wet tent and muddy shoes in our bags and boarded a plane for the Kingdom of Tonga.
An awesome beach resort we visited on our second night to see some traditional Tongan dancing and feast
the band
the bar
redundant mustache
Some random festival where all of the school children dress up in uniforms and march
the king was supposed to be there, but I guess we missed him.
the two hour ferry we took to the island of 'Eua
Preying Mantis
Preying Mantis
Preying Mantis and friend
Giant Spider!
"Smoking waterfall" goes straight down 70m
weeeee!
Big Banyan Tree
Tongan Gas Station
Big leaf? or tiny Sam?
Another giant banyan tree but with a cave below it.
giant vine
feed me
Bad hair day
Monarch Caterpillar on milk weed
blue tailed skink
green hillside
Fanta and crackers
Fox Bat
Rat Cave on the side of a cliff
Extreme Hammocking
The bathroom...at night!
Kava circle (kava is the traditional drink of the Polynesian islands that is made from the root of the kava plant and has very mild tranquilizing effects). A Kava circle is only composed of men except for one woman to serve the kava, but there is some taboo about having relatives of the woman as part of the kava circle.
Kava bowl
The circles go late into the night and all of the men will play music and sing.
Filtering the kava into a bucket
You can see the profusion of caves even from this vantage
One of the few beaches on any of the islands
Climbing with puppies
and backpacks
Petrified coral
Goin' Coco Loco
Juggling...poorly
big cave
Bon Fire on the beach
Moon rise
Tree Climbing Crabs
Coconut eating crabs
Dog Vs Crab
Sea Snake or Moray Eel
Hermit Crab
A group of dancers from Colorado College who we happened to run into on a beach on Tongatapu
Here is some perspective
Fox Bats
Armando biking
kayaking to a very small island
Hard Core Peace Corps volunteers
Sam with our CS/PC friend Ashley
This is why there are very few beaches on Tonga, the coastline is covered with terraced reef pools
the white areas in the foreground are blow holes under the reef
It got a little dangerous to keep taking pictures
Each pool was about 3.5 ft deep
snail!
walking along the small island, pangamotu
Dead puffer next to a live star fish
there were hundreds of starfish imprints where the star fish had burrowed under the sand
very cool colored crap in a mangrove swamp
Brittle starfish
rope swing that doesn't go in the water
A wreck that has become an artificial reef. We went snorkeling around it, and it was totally creepy.
Our last day in Auckland at the base of the sky tower
People always think it is a lot bigger than it is
Katherine and Taylor in San Fran
Carloooooo
Katie!
After 2 1/2 months traveling around New Zealand and the Kingdom of Tonga with Matt, Devin, Emily, Sam, and the many other people we met on the way we were sad to leave them, but happy to come back to the states and see all of the friends we had left behind. We have spent the last 4 days in San Francisco hanging out with the sisters, and a bevvy of CC grads, although we will be leaving tomorrow morning for Portland, where once again we will start the tshirt business back up. Once we get back to Portland Sam and I will be joining Chris, Ian and Gabe to look for a house for at least the next 6 months, so hopefully we will see you there!
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