DOOM'ed

BOOM! And just like that, it's already been 1 month. I feel like I left MN yesterday, but here I am four weeks later, driving around like a pro (well sort of - more on that later) and fully convinced paying $1.90 for a litre of gas is a good deal (roughly $7.19 per gallon for you all back in the USA). :)

Before I get into my exciting adventure last weekend, here's a glimpse into my daily schedule with the family I'm working for and a quick tour of where I'm living in New Zealand!

This is my basic schedule I follow - of course it depends on the day but here's the general layout! 

SCHEDULE:

6:30 - Wake up
7:00 - Unload/Load Dishwasher, make Emily's school lunch, have morning tea
7:20 - Get the girls up if they aren't already
7:30 - Breakfast
7:45 - Girls brush teeth/Get ready for school
8:00 - Do the girls' hair, put sunscreen on them
8:15 - If walking to school, leave now
8:30 - Drop Emily off at school (if not walking)
8:45 - 11:45 - Free time with Ava (feed ducks, playground, beach, swimming pool, arts and crafts, music group, library, etc.)
12:00 - Eat lunch
12:20 - Drop Ava off at Kindy
12:30 - 2:30 - FREE TIME
2:40 - Go to school to pick up Emily at 3:00
3:00 - 4:20 - Homework with Emily, afternoon tea (Tues. - Dance Class)
4:30 - Pick up Ava at Kindy
4:45 - 5:30 - Snack for Ava, free time with the girls
5:30 - OFF! :)

And there you go! That's pretty much how I spend my week with the family and then the weekends I have to myself. The parents cook dinner each night, unless I babysit. If that's the case, then I am in charge of feeding the girls (that's when I usually make mini pizzas with vegetables mixed in with the sauce...shhhh!) On nights I babysit, I also make sure the girls take a bath, brush their hair and teeth, and are in bed around 8 PM. 

Now, onto more exciting things. CITY TOUR TIME!! When I first thought about how I was going to show you all Browns Bay, I was ready to go out and about and take a few pics of the key places I visit weekly - and sometimes daily. Then, I remembered the lovely Google Maps. So, for everybody's convenience, below are various links to the main places in Browns Bay that are important to me.

While these worked for me, sorry if they don't for you! Make sure you use the satellite feature so you can see everything! I also recommend exploring more on your own if you want to see more than the few places I included. Enjoy!

If you want a general overview of Browns Bay, check this out! Browns Bay

This is the entrance to the street where I live! Bayside Drive

Road leading up to where I'm living.

I have a rewards card here! I never even had a rewards card back home... Petrol

Naturally I found a thrift store in Browns Bay! Salvation Army

I also have a rewards card to this grocery store...it's one of the main grocery stores in New Zealand! Countdown

Not the best view, but Ava and I go here every Tuesday for Rhyme Time! Library

NZ version of dollar stores - however prices range from $1 - $20 (or more - depends on what you're buying!) Dollar Stores

Say hello to my bank! Kiwi Bank

The only place I have gotten gelato - but there is another place close by! Gingersnap

Cheap and delicious fish & chips - a definite go-to place! Beach Road Takeaways

Not the greatest view, but this is the "Duck Playground" where Ava and I feed the ducks once in awhile! There's also a nice playground she can play on after we're done feeding the ducks...and I found a geocache here too! Duck Playground

Here is Long Bay Playground. Not only is it an awesome playground, but it's also right by the beach...BONUS! Long Bay Playground/Beach

This is where I bring Ava to Kindy - this is an old view of the place however as it does not have the name of her kindy (Lollipops) on the building. Ava's Kindy

Here's one view of Emily's elementary school. It's a unique school as it is open - like a college campus. Also, each classroom's entrance/exit is outdoors - crazy! Emily's School

This is also at Emily's school. We use this crosswalk daily (unless we have to use the drop-off area if we are running late). There are always two students and a teacher who are in charge of putting out STOP signs so we can cross. Whenever they put the signs out, they each look, say "Clear," and then one of the students says, "Cross now," before we can walk across. Crosswalk

If the weather is nice and sunny, I usually park my car here and walk down to the beach during my time off in the afternoon. I also bring the girls here to swim or go to the playground that is nearby! Beach

While this isn't in Browns Bay, it's an important location as it's the mall. The movie theater and K-mart are located here! :) Westfield Albany Mall

If it's raining, I bring Ava here before Kindy so we can swim. It's a very nice place and only costs $1 for kids! Albany Pool

On Tuesdays, I bring Emily to her dance class...which is here! Neverland Dance Studio

Tour over! :)


While I am not going to give you a tour of the whole house, here's a few pictures of my room (I took these during my first week here so things have changed a little).

My closet is on the left. Next to my bed, there's a night stand with a lamp and clock on it.

I'm totally getting spoiled by having a TV in my room...

My room is located on a landing halfway up to the second floor. So, you climb a small flight of stairs, see the door to my room, and then climb one more small flight of stairs. Everyone else's rooms (and my bathroom) are located upstairs. Even though I can rearrange the room any way I want, I decided to leave it how the other au pair had it situated. Who knows...maybe I'll mix it up during the year! :)


Remember the beginning of this post where I said I'd explain my driving skills later? Good! Just checking. :)


So what's happened these past couple of weeks? Good thing I take a ton of pictures, otherwise I'd forget and wouldn't have anything to write about...:) My days with the girls were pretty standard and the weather was also New Zealand standard. A.K.A. sunny, overcast, and rainy (all in the same day, most days!).

Mondays: I have been able to Skype with my parents since my break is around the 5:45 PM time for them. We have a lot of fun chit-chatting - and last Monday (February 26th), I was able to Skype with my brothers and SIL too! :) The time always flies by when we chat and too soon I find myself leaving to go pick up Emily from school.

Sometimes, if it's not raining, I like to go walk down to the beach after dinner and just have some time to myself. One of those times, I finally tried L&P (the drink my host mom bought me). Consensus? Not as delicious as the chocolate milk, but a refreshing drink nonetheless. It basically tastes like ginger ale mixed with lemonade. Either way, I enjoyed it while walking along the beach!

I also had some interesting sightings during my beach walk...

A stingray! Sadly dead...

A beautiful sunset...naturally had to take a picture.

Wednesday, the 21st, I babysat. The weather was pretty fickle that day. Ava and I went to the beach and then 10 minutes later, it started to rain! We got back to the house and it was sunny...crazy! At least we were able to make some chalk art outside before it rained again!

Since the girls refuse to eat vegetables, I try to find ways to sneak it into their meals when I babysit. The easiest way I've found is to smush a vegetable and mix it in with the pizza sauce. See? You can't even tell! I've had 100% success and plan on NEVER telling them! :) I'm open to other ideas if you have them!

Ava and I fed the ducks one day...we had three bread bags worth of crusts to feed them! Afterwards, we played on the playground until, of course, it rained. However, we went inside a play house to wait it out and thankfully it stopped. When we left to go back to the house for lunch, it started raining again...so it was good timing! :)

Waiting the rain out with good 'ol Snapchat filters!

I just find this to be an interesting feature at a playground...

One night, I found a stranger in my bed...courtesy of Ava! :)

In other news, I have now eaten my 4th and 5th gelato cones. The flavors I've tried include: chocolate, cookies and cream, peanut butter/chocolate chip, coffee, and mint. My least favorite, oddly enough, has been the coffee flavored one. The best? Classic chocolate because it's a dark chocolate...yum! :) I also had Domino's pizza again, but this time I tried pepperoni. It definitely tasted different than back home...not my favorite I decided!

Coffee gelato.

Mint gelato.

Sometimes I walk to pick up Emily from school instead of driving...especially when it's sunny outside! That way, I avoid having to try and find a parking spot because it's pretty hectic at the end of the day. Here's a path we sometimes take on our way home from school. Emily likes to call it the shortcut way. :)

You can't tell, but this is a nice decline (or incline). Walking up it to go to the school is a wee bit tiring! :) 

We cross the road here and walk up a short distance to our turn onto Bayside Drive.

Here's a few more miscellaneous snapshots from the past couple of weeks!

This girl cracks me up with her outfit choices... :)

So that's a cockroach. I couldn't kill it.

Of course I had to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday with the girls! Emily was adventurous and tried it, but Ava refused. :)

This past Saturday and Sunday (March 3-4), Browns Bay had a "Flicks & Fun" event where there were vendors and food trucks by the beach, along with live music and evening outdoor movies. I went both days and enjoyed it all!

I had Thai food while enjoying the beautiful music!

I also enjoyed a banana/nutella crêpe. :)

Moana at the beach = perfect setting.

I saw a rainbow over Rangitoto - a fun little thing to brighten the day!

Fish & Chips from the restaurant I listed above in the links! So much food for $5! :)

Sunday, I decided to go to the French Bakery in Browns Bay. I had a croissant and  mochaccino. While delicious, the croissants in France are better! :)

I went geocaching again...with success! I touched a few spider webs, but survived. Whew! :)

Ok, now onto what everyone is waiting to hear about...my EPIC adventure last weekend!

I am part of an au pair WhatsApp group for those of us in the Auckland area. The people in this group often message everyone with plans they have and ask if anyone wants to join. Well, one day, an au pair posted that her and a friend were going to go to Taupo and hike the Tongariro Crossing in the coming weekend. I decided to be a little outgoing, and messaged her back asking if she still had room. She did and by the end of the week, the group of 3 turned into a group of 5! :) Turns out I ended up being the only American au pair on the trip (the rest were from Germany) and the oldest!

I took my first Uber that weekend and stayed in my first hostel! We left Saturday morning in a rented a car and took turns driving during the trip because it was about a 4ish hour drive to where we wanted to go. Our first stop was Huka Falls . The water was such a pretty blue! Huka Falls is an 11 meter high waterfall that has about 220,000 litres of water flowing over the falls every minute. This amount of water can fill an Olympic sized swimming pool in 11 seconds!! There were some walking trails, but we just took pictures at a few different points and then continued on to Taupo.

Taupo. What can I say? The lake is INCREDIBLE. It's the largest lake in New Zealand...so pretty impressive. :) The sun was shining, it was a good day! I grabbed a Subway sandwich to eat by the lake. It actually tasted like Subway back home, but what I truly loved was the pickles. I haven't had any since I left MN! We took pictures by the #LOVETAUPO sign and then walked by the lake for a little bit before booking a boat tour for later that day. While we waited for the tour, we chilled in the shade. I took a short nap...and a duck pecked at my finger. Just an average afternoon! The boat tour was pretty uneventful...but we got to see the beautiful lake and Maori Rock Carvings while eating pizza, chocolate, and a drink of our choice (of course I chose wine!) It was nice to just relax and see another part of New Zealand. After the tour, we drove to our hostel for the night. The sunset was so pretty, we had to stop for pictures. Once we got to the hostel, we checked in and then two of the girls and I made our dinner in the kitchen because we were STILL hungry! :) The owner of the hostel was very nice and we ended up having our own room. He also helped us save $15 on our shuttle to the Crossing the next day by suggesting an alternative pick-up point. Thanks hostel owner! Everyone at the hostel was super friendly - what a fun, unique environment! I had to kill a couple of spiders by my bed (whew!), or I knew I wouldn't sleep. I ended up getting the top bunk on a very wiggly bed, but I didn't fall off!

Our trusty car! :)

Top bunk was mine. :)

Check out the movie collection at this place!

The next morning, we got up at 6:30 A.M. in order to make it to our new pick-up location (which was at the end of the hike) on time. Because we parked our car at the end of the hike, we only needed a shuttle to the beginning, which is why we saved $15. I started off my morning with oatmeal and a banana...only the best breakfast ever! :D We got to our pick-up location and parked our car alongside the road. There were already many cars there before us! We were told we had to walk 1 km to the car park because that's where the shuttles picked up everyone. Turns out, our specific shuttle was planning on picking us up right by the road. So, we ended up walking an extra kilometer that we didn't have to. Our shuttle did drive up to the car park to get us thankfully! The ride to the beginning of the hike was dusty. Literally. The air in the bus was not the best to breathe - I tried to breathe through my shirt for part of the ride at least! Eventually we did get to the beginning and out into fresh air. The driver gave us a map of the hike and told us some tips before leaving. We were ready to go! I took a picture of the time we started, the steps I had already taken, and a group picture right at the 0 km marker. The weather was perfect...sunny, but with clouds to offer some protection. NO RAIN! :) The Tongariro Crossing is considered to be one of New Zealand's best day walks - so I was pretty excited to be doing it so soon!

Our dusty shuttle.

The group of 5!

The beginning of the hike was pretty easy (starting at 1,120 m) - a good warm up for what was to come. :) Everywhere we looked, it was beautiful. There were people of all ages and from all over - I heard at least 5 different languages during the entire hike! One of the first amazing sights we saw was...MT. DOOM (Mount Ngauruhoe). For you Lord of the Rings fans, cue the mini freaking out session! I'm pretty sure I took more pictures of that than any other sight on the hike. :) The path was always marked, but sometimes it was just through the rocks and dirt and other times there was a wooden walkway for us to follow. Our first main stop was at the Soda Springs. Three of us went all the way up to the springs in order to fill our water bottles with the cold water. It tasted great! :) The path up to the springs wasn't exactly marked the best, so we forged our own way (and followed others ahead of us!). After a quick power snack, we were off to the next section of the hike - the first steep incline. 

To the right, you can see our walkway.

Soda Springs

UFDA is all I can say about the climb. And I definitely regretted being out of shape for it...however we all survived after a few rest breaks (and picture-taking breaks of course!) Partway up, there was a bench of sorts that consisted of a netting covering the rocks. We stopped for literally less than 2 minutes (so our muscles wouldn't get cold) and then we were off again! What's pretty cool about the hike in general is that it's through a lot of volcanic terrain. So while there were plants and such, a lot of the time it was mostly rock - especially at the top! We got to the end of the first main incline and had a picture opportunity of Mt. Doom. A couple of ladies from the UK took our picture and we took theirs. 

The panoramic view I took during one of my rest breaks. 

Mt. Doom - if you haven't already figured it out. :)

After our picture break, we continued ascending before hitting a plateau. It was a nice, flat, and easy walk for a few minutes - a welcome break from the intense climbing!

Our relaxing walk before yet another climb. See the mountain to the left? Yeah we had to climb that next.

Not the best form, but how often can one do a handstand in front of Mt. Doom? :)

Where we stopped for lunch. If you look to the right, you can see a path. That's where we came from!

What none of us were expecting was the intense wind once we got to this elevation! We stopped for lunch, as you can see from the picture above, and sat in front of some rocks for shelter. A wind jacket is a MUST if you do this hike. After our break, we continued on up. There was a path...sort of. We tended to just climb where we thought it'd be best. Another MUST HAVE for this hike is shoes with a good grip (hiking boots preferably, but my Asics held up!). At one point during our climb to the top, we had to hold onto a chain because there was a nice drop-off to our left. :) Also, with the wind, you kind of wanted to hold on anyways! While the climb was exhausting, I thought it wasn't as bad as our first ascent because the wind was distracting. :) FINALLY we reached the highest point of the hike! Here we saw the Red Crater and the Emerald Lakes in the distance. At this point, we were at 1,886 m. The wind was strong, as expected, and we had to wait for the clouds to pass in order to take our pictures of the crater and lakes.

The hike to the top - after we got past the loose rock and chain area!

Sign at the highest point of the hike.

Hopefully this video works...just listen to the wind!

Couldn't stop looking at these! The Emerald Lakes.

The Red Crater

One of my favorite pics from the hike.

The next part of the hike was the descent...yay! However, the descent was intense. Lots of loose rock - so you had to take it slow. I kind of didn't, but it turned out ok for me! :) This was one of the parts of the hike where you REALLY appreciated having good footwear. Once we got to the bottom (by the Emerald Lakes), we stopped to empty the rocks from our shoes. We were also welcomed by the lovely smell of sulfur (I was reminded of Yellowstone!). 

If you look at the very top, you'll see people standing. That's where we came from...check out the descent!

I was curious about the view on the other side of one of the lakes, so I hiked over to see. One of the girls captured a picture for me! :)

It was easy to get caught up in the scenery, but we also didn't want to finish too late because we still had a 4 hour drive back to Auckland! We continued on past the lakes and towards the last "rest" area of the hike (a.k.a. the last set of toilets and a hut). Thankfully, the path was more casual as we were more or less descending. That's not to say we didn't have to climb anymore, because we did. :) My favorite thing about this hike was the views. I never didn't like what I saw - everything was beautiful! We stopped at the hut area, along with many other people, and had a snack. Check out the view!

If you look closely, you can see a meandering path. That's our hiking trail!

The last two-ish hours of the hike consisted of downhill walking - so I knew I'd be feeling it in my knees the next day. Even though the main highlights of the hike were behind us, I still enjoyed the descent because like I said earlier, everything was beautiful. 

Our trail alongside the mountain.

Towards the end, the path led us through the woods and by a stream. Finally, we got to the end! After finishing a 19.4 km (12 mile) hike, you definitely feel a sense of accomplishment. Especially when it's the Tongariro Crossing! We took a "We Did It!" picture, stretched our muscles, and then walked another kilometer back to our car! Because, you know, we hadn't walked enough yet. LOL

We definitely could have finished sooner had we not stopped so often for pictures! :)

We survived!

Once we got to the car, we took turns driving back to Auckland. One of the girls had other plans, so we dropped her off in Taupo. Unfortunately, since it's summer here, road construction is pretty common. This led to a little delay near Auckland, but all in all it went well. We had music playing - I got to listen to some of their favorite German tunes! :) The night ended with us dropping the car off, three of us sharing an Uber, and me getting to bed around 12:45. The day was incredible, exhausting, and unforgettable. And as a bonus, I made new friends. Nothing like a killer hike to bring strangers together! :) Check out my overall stats for the day!

Even though I only had about 6 hours of sleep, most of it was deep! The benefit of the "great outdoors!"

When I woke up the next day, I was pretty much sore all over but it went away over the next couple of days. I did end up having a bruised pinky toenail...so we shall see if I lose the nail or not! :) Well there you go...a summary of my past couple of weeks and just a few (*cough, cough) pictures for you to enjoy!

Check this out if you want more info on the hike! :) Tongariro Crossing

Here's the latest NZ thing that's different from the USA. Say hello to Swisspers!

Also, check out how they spell tires...tyres!

I feel like I'm forgetting something...oh yes. My story about my driving skills. ;) Well people. It happened. I, Krista Kugler, got a parking ticket. I've gone my entire driving career without ANY ticket, but the NZ police deemed it necessary to give me a $60 parking ticket (plus a $53 towing fee). Here's the deal. I had to bring Emily to dance class and it was raining. There was no parking spot available in the parking lot because apparently NZ likes to limit its parking (this gets frustrating at times). I saw a spot by the curb where a couple other cars had parked and thought PERFECT! We got to dance on time and during the next hour the rain stopped as well. When class was over, the girls and I walked out to where I had parked the car and lo and behold...it was GONE. Seriously. First thought? The car got stolen. Second thought? Not appropriate to write here...;) Thankfully a guy came down and explained where it had gotten towed to so we had to walk about 600 m to a street where we found the car...with a ticket under the wiper. Yay. Apparently I missed the sign saying there was no parking between 4PM-6PM. Whoops! That's pretty much my story. I wasn't too happy about it all, but what do ya do? 

Where we had to walk to get to the car!

Ok folks - that's all for now! I'll be posting an album on Facebook with more pictures from Taupo and the Tongariro Crossing - there were too many to post on the blog! 

Ciao!