Christmas 2013 in New Zealand...with a stopover in Taipei

Felix and I had a 15 hour layover in Taipei (between our 2 twelve hour flights). Here is part of the Longshan Temple, tucked in between towering, modern buildings. 

 It poured down rain the whole time we were in Taipei. Felix crashed on his mountain bike and brook his foot a few weeks before he left, so he was on crutches with a cast for the whole trip. But before we left, I made him a cast cover...

I sewed the cover out of an old running jacket. (It's upside down here for some reason).

The cast cover really caught on in Taipei.

 We spent 2 1/2 weeks on the North Island of New Zealand, camping on the beaches. This is Tawharanui Regional Park. Most of the beaches were just like this: beautiful and empty. 

We visited my friends Jock and Karen Whitley, who I lived with 10 years ago when I did my student teaching in Waiuku. This is Jock at the beach near his house - Whangarei Heads. 

Whangarei Heads.

Karen also broke her foot just before Christmas! Karen and Felix were crutch buddies. 

Karen has an incredible garden, which spills down the hill behind their house and ends in their own mystical patch of bush.

Fish and chips over the water in Mangonui

Our trusty little camper van and the great empty beach which was our home for the night in Tauranga Bay.

Matai Bay, with a great little DOC campground tucked back in the hills. Only a few dachs dotted the landscape, like this little guy at sunset. 

Arai-te-Uru Reserve, near Omapere, New Zealand. This is an inlet from the sea. We're standing on a pretty high cliff and across the channel is a massive sand dune. 

Tane Mahuta - "Lord of the Forest". The larges known Kauri tree, 51 meters high, is 1,500-2,500 years old. I'm standing at the base as a reference. Waipoua Forest. 

Wide endless beach, packed sand, totally empty...the locals were big on driving down the beach to go fishing. Baylys Beach. 

Baylys Beach, where we stayed the night. 

Baylys Beach.

Lots of little Portuguese Man 'o Wars dotted the sand.

Hot times in Kerosene Creek, a natural hot springs near Lake Taupo.

Huka Falls and the mighty Waikato River. I'm standing in the far left corner with my arm up, as a reference. This was close to Ried's Park, where we camped by the side of the river for free. 

Wellington on Christmas Day - what a great city! 

We missed Chelsea and Dave at Cafe Racer, so we went them big hugs through space! 

Christmas Day camp on Foxton Beach. Driving on the beach was so popular, there were posted speed limits.

We camped on the beach in Opunake, one of the great surf breaks around Mt. Taranaki. 

We woke up to sunshine in Opunake and started driving up the volcano. Here's the road to the ranger station - the impenetrable forest crowding the edge of the road seemed more a wall than trees and ferns. 

The forest around Dawson Falls, Mt. Taranaki. Incredibly lush - clumps of moss hanging off every available branch. 

near Dawson Falls, Mt. Taranaki. 

Crutchie checks out the pools near Dawson Falls - pretty good hike for a guy on only one leg! 

Swing bridge!

100m down to the river below the swing bridge...

Waingongoro Hut, Mt. Taranaki - cool little place sleeps 16 people, first come, first served. 

Breakfast at Manu Bay, Raglan! 

 The coast of Raglan.

The coast of Raglan.

The coast of Raglan. 

 The West Coast Beach along the Awhitu Peninsula - one of my first and most vivid memories of New Zealand, 10 years ago. This was a few km from Waiuku, where I did my student teaching. 

Going back to Taipei for another 15 hour layover on the way home was a bit of a culture shock. 

Taipei 101 - 2nd largest building in the world - woah!

Taipei Botanical Gardens. 

Dad and Diane visit Germany!

Diane and Dad came to visit us for a couple of weeks. We had a good Octoberfest part at Richie and Bonnies, they spent the week biking and exploring around Germany, and then we went to Corsica for a week. 

Here's Diane, visiting the Saturday farmer's market a block from my house. Lots of good veggies for a big salad.

Octoberfest in the Winn's backyard! This is the dirndl that I made. 

Dad, drinking beer from a glass boot!

The luscious Lea

Charlie and Ryan in matching Lederhosen.

We biked to Fuchstanz for Flammkuchen

The view of the Feldberg from Altkoenig.

Don't you just love fall in the Taunus?

October Break in Corsica with Dad, Diane, and Felix

Dad and Diane came to visit us in October and together we explored Corsica for a week. None of us had ever been there, but Richie and Bonnie told us it's their favorite spot in Europe, so we went to check it out. We flew into Bastia where we spent the first night, rented a car, and drove counterclockwise around the island, spending almost all of our time along the west coast. Corsica is an incredible place, October is a great time to go, with few tourists, low prices, and great weather. 

Diane at Plage d'Ostriconi on our first full day. Beautiful clean sand, great mountains in the background, and we pretty much had it to ourselves. 

With Dad at Plage d'Ostriconi

We went for a little hike north of Plage d'Ostriconi

Great vine-entangled pathways around Pliage d'Ostriconi

We stayed our second and third nights in Calvi, a little town with a very long, sandy beach. We met up with Lea, Ryan, and baby Stella, who were also exploring Corsica by car, and Richie and Bonnie, who were biking with their tandem. We all stayed at the great little Calvi Hotel, right on the beach, and shared some nice meals together. 

Breakfast with Ryan, Lea, and Stella at a cute little bulongerie overlooking the harbor. Delicous quiches!

Walking back to Calvi Hotel along the beach after breakfast.

Ryan, Stella, and Felix

Great Pain au chocolat for breakfast with the gang, sitting on the sidewalk watching the people go by. Stella's got the biker look already - nice job, Bonnie!

Diane and Felix on the road to Porto

The road between Calvi and Porto

Just south of Calvi is a long, narrow peninsula sticking out into the sea. We hiked along it's rocky spine to the lighthouse just off Diane's left shoulder. 

A great day for a hike!

Calvi in the background and a secret little beach on our walk home. 

From Calvi, we drove south to Porto, which is a tiny little town nestled in a valley. We stayed at the port in a room above the cafe in the far left building of this picture. Great red rock surrounding the city with towering mountains behind.

From Porto, we drove inland and up the mountain to Evisa. The vegetation changed dramatically and surprisingly. The vegetation by the sea is very mediteranean, or similar to southern Portugal, with lots of dry shrubs, some eucalyptus, and some oak. Up in the mountains, the forest canopy is much taller, with huge pine trees and more broad leaf trees, and a lot of black granite. The forest really reminded me of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Great piney smells. 

Breakfast overlooking a valley on the way up to Evisa.

We went for a hike near Paisolu d'Aitone, up to a very rustic rifugio called Abri Forestier Bocca u Salta. We crossed a great river along the way. 

Diane crossing the river on the way to the rifugio.

Great Northern-Michigan-ish rock for climbing.

Lots of inquisitive, colorful lizards 

Abri Forestier Bocca u Salta. We didn't know much about this refugio, but suspected that it was fully staffed and served obligatory 3-course meals like other refugios in France. This one turned out, instead, to be a good alternative to a tent on the long hike up to Capu a Cuccula, one of the tallest peaks in Corsica.  

The upper floor of Abri Forestier Bocca u Salta

Great pine trees.

Diane, Felix, and Dad.

near Abri Forestier Bocca u Salta.

Lots of pigs and cows just roam free around Corsica. 

Next, we headed south towards Bonifacio. Along the drive, we stopped at Sartene, parked on the sid eof the road just northwest of Figari and hiked about 2.5km down a rough dirt road through beautiful scrub to a quiet little beach with white sand - Cap de Roccapina. We went for a swim, hiked up the spine to the north, and visited an old Genoese tower.

Overlooking Cap de Roccapina from the Genoese tower.

When the Genoese ruled Corsica in the 16th century, they built 90 towers like this one around the edge of Corsica. They were lookout towers, and allowed the people to defend themselves against attacks coming from the sea - word could spread across the entire island within 2 hours of spotting attaching ships. 

Felix and Dad explore the Genoese tower, Torra di Roccaina. 

Overlooking an empty and lovely beach on the other side of the tower. 

Diane explores the great rock structures by the tower.

We hiked down to the beach and had ourselves a glorious afternoon swim and snorkel. Might have been my favorite beach! No public road to access this, we ended up hiking out along a private road and had to climb around the gate to get out!

We stayed at a great little bungalow, "Casarina village", at Plage de Maora, just north of Bonifacio, a short walk to the beach. 

We spent the day exploring Bonifacio, an ancient port town built on the cliffs, leaning precariously over the edge. 

Bonifacio

Great stone work in Bonifacio. 

Boules in Bonifacio.

Thanks, Dad, Diane, and Felix! I had such a wonderful time with you!