Saturday, November 30, 2013

A weekend in Yogyakarta...

I had no idea what or where we were doing this past weekend but knew it would be fun. And it was a blast! We went to Yogyakarta for a weekend visit. Mary, Brian, and I traveled to this small town in Indonesia to visit Hindi temples and visit a volcano. We had a blast! The temples were beautiful - especially at sunrise. We got up at 4am to see the sun rise over the mountains - amazing. Then we enjoyed a day visiting more temples and my favorite - volanco safari. We rode in a jeep and traveled through a volcano! Crazy. And it had just erupted a couple days prior. Here are some pictures from the fun weekend.
More places to see in Asia and so little time! 

Volcano safari! 

Indonesian dancers
Temple at sunrise 
Beautiful 
Mary, Brian, and I 
Traveling in the jeep through the volanco 
Volcano
Rice patty at lunch
Had to wear a hard hat cause the earthquake damage

Beautiful 
Temple
Hotel pool
Of course enjoying UNO and beer! 

Monday, November 4, 2013

A weekend in New Zealand...

New Zealand is a favorite of mine - just beautiful! Mary and I decided to go for a long weekend to run the Auckland Marathon. But really it was just an excuse to visit the North Island of NZ. A friend of Bridget's, Tammy, let us stay her apartment in downtown Auckland - such a great place and location - so nice of her. We were able to see some sights before the race including visiting Wiheke island for a wonderful wine tour and the caves for a fun tubing trip. We took black tubes through the caves - really awesome! Then we enjoyed the beautiful waterfront city of Auckland with some shopping and food. Here are some pictures from the trip. Just love New Zealand and hope I get a chance to go back before moving back to America...

My famous jump shot

Mary and I having lunch on arrival 
The city from the ferry
On the ferry to the wine country
Beautiful Auckland skyline
The island 
Wine tour
Tasting some wonderful NZ wine
Mary and I enjoying the wine
Another winery

Just beautiful view from the top of the vineyard
Mary and I in the vines
The final winery
Wait one more...
John Deere sighting on the road...
Getting ready for the race
Beautiful start line as the sun came up... Perfect running weather
Here we go!
Finish line

Auckland waterfront
Post race beer on the Waterfront