2 Islands & A Wedding

Josh & Anouska's Wedding Pictures

2009-01-24T19:07:00.001-06:00

All of Josh & Anouska's Wedding Pictures

2009-01-24T17:58:00.001-06:00

Josh & Anouska's Wedding

Josh & Anouska's Wedding 1

This is a link to a web album containing all of the pictures I took for Josh & Anouska's Wedding.

Enjoy!

Time To Go Home

2009-01-20T13:54:00.002-06:00

So we have no pictures today. We went snorkeling yesterday so those pictures are on a film camera. We will get those up when we get home. We leave Tahiti at 11:30 local time tonight. When we get home will we post more pictures from the trip. If there is something you want to see more of just leave us a comment or send us an email.

Put the Lime in the Coconut

2009-01-19T12:37:00.001-06:00

This post goes out to Ethan Carrel. He said it was a must to drink a drink out of a coconut. Well we can now check that one off of our list. Enjoying the coconut drink at the Tiki Bar at our hotel. You can also see a picture of our bungalow on the bottom. The other picture in the group is the two bays that surround Papeete. Papeete is the capital city and one of the largest in the island chains. We are headed downtown right now to do a little shopping.

Trip around Tahiti

2009-01-19T00:18:00.002-06:00

Click to Enlarge

So today we took a tour around the island. Stopping at all sorts of points of interest. We also learned some history of the island including Captain Cook and the history of the Bounty. These are a few pictures of blooming flowers around the island. Also stopped at a local waterfall. If you look closely you can actually see us at the bottom. Tomorrow we are headed to town. Going to tour the pearl museum and markets downtown. Hoping Greg will let me come home with a famous Black Pearl.

Beautiful Water and Sunsets

2009-01-18T16:08:00.002-06:00

Click on picture to enlarge

So I couldn't imagine water that could be any more colorful. I only hope that the pictures do it justice. Just can't even describe the color. Greg and I had a chance to sleep in this morning and that felt great. This is a picture of Greg and I off our front porch facing the ocean. We absolutely love our room.

Saturday - Take 2

2009-01-18T15:58:00.002-06:00

So yes Greg and I had the luxury to enjoy 2 Saturdays in one week. The first one was spent at Josh's Wedding and the second one in Tahiti enjoying a Polynesian Show at our hotel. We had a really enjoyable night. Greg got called out to dance on stage...to funny! We both posed with some of the dancers. You can also see a picture I caught of the fire thrower. Anyways the water is warm, blue as can be and we are totally enjoying ourselves. Relaxing in the sun! This afternoon we are taking a tour around the island. Tomorrow we hope to head into town to shop some of their local markets and then spend the afternoon snorkeling at the Lagoon near the island of Moorea.

More Reception Photos

2009-01-18T03:02:00.002-06:00

Click on picture to make it larger

These are some more pictures from the reception - the cake table, American "candy" bar, the head table, and tossing the bouquet

Reception - Hammerheads

2009-01-18T02:56:00.004-06:00

Click to Make Photo Larger

This is a few pictures from the reception at Hammerheads. Family and friends that we enjoying the evening celebrating with the new Mr & Mrs Josh Wheatley!

Pictures at the Point

2009-01-18T02:40:00.002-06:00

Click Picture to make Larger.

This were taken at the point just around the corner from the reception at Hammerheads. If you look closely in the group shots of them walking you can see the Auckland Skyline. Perfect location for pictures - absolutely beautiful.

Pictures in Downtown Auckland

2009-01-18T02:35:00.001-06:00

This was the first stop for Josh & Anouska to take some pictures. They really turned out well. Can't wait to show you more!

Family Photos

2009-01-18T02:25:00.001-06:00

These are a few pictures taken after the ceremony right outside the church. If you click on the picture you will be able to few it much larger. Once we get home to faster internet we will post more photos.

Wedding Ceremony

2009-01-17T22:55:00.001-06:00

The Guy's Before The Wedding

2009-01-17T22:26:00.002-06:00

Hello Evevryone!!! Stacey and I have made are way from New Zealand to Tahiti. So the internet connection is slow, so the pictures will be smaller. Just click on them and you should be able to see them larger. Enjoy!!!

The Night Before

2009-01-16T14:52:00.001-06:00

Dinner

2009-01-16T14:25:00.003-06:00

Wedding Time

2009-01-16T14:16:00.003-06:00

Today is a busy day. So not much writing under the pics. These will be the last we post in New Zealand, we will try to get the wedding pics up in Tahiti!

Group Dinner Out

2009-01-15T05:33:00.006-06:00

Katie & Brian

Brooke & Kyle

Anouska & Her Mom (Susie)

We had a great evening out to dinner. Perfect weather for dinning outside. This was Brooke & Kyle's first night in Auckland. They just flew in from Sydney. Tomorrow starts all of the wedding festivities. The rehearsal starts at 10:30am and then all of the tuxes will have to be picked up. Greg scheduled a pedicure for me tomorrow afternoon. Come to find out all of the groomsmen are have a spa afternoon as well. That ought to be really funny!! Never, ever thought I would see Greg come anywhere near a spa. Then tomorrow evening we will be having a rehearsal dinner at one of Anouska's Aunts Home in Auckland.

Well I better hit the hay. It's almost 1am here. We have to get up early in the morning to return the rental car.

Tane Mahute - Big Tree in the Woods

2009-01-15T05:16:00.002-06:00

So after leaving the Bay of Islands area, we decided to head back down the West Coast of New Zealand. We drove up the East coast this morning and thought we would really get good bang for our buck by checking out what the West coast had to offer. So we heard about some huge tress and the rain forest and thought that sounded interesting.

So this is Greg and I in front of the "big tree" or Tane Mahute. This tree is ~42 feet in diameter. It is enormous and the picture doesn't even do it justice. The drive was beautiful. The rain forrest is literally right next to the road. We all decided that my forarms from driving will have to be sore tomorrow. We haven't been on a curvery section of road. I can't even describe how curvy one road could be. It was a long day on the road, but worth every minute!

Bruce in front of the "big tree"

Bay of Islands - Hole in Rock

2009-01-15T05:03:00.000-06:00

So this morning we decided to get up early and head up to the Bay of Island. Took us about 3 hours to get up there from Auckland. Pretty drive on the way up. We have now learned that there are no straight roads in New Zealand. Decided to take a speed boat ride to the Hole in the Rock.

This is a picture of Bruce (Josh - the groom's dad), Greg and I. This picture was taken right before they drove the boat through the hole. It was really impressive. There were 6 foot swells while we were out there today. It definitely took some good boat driving to get us through. The water in the Bay of Islands is so brillant. Very hard to describe and I am sure the pictures don't do it justice.

This is a picture from the back of the boat called the Excitor before we drove through the hole. You can see how rough the water is. We were really lucky that we actually were able to drive through it. Sometimes the seas get so rough that water actually hits the top of the hole. It was a very fun, very fast boat ride. This area of New Zealand is absolutely stunning!

Wai - O -Tapu

2009-01-15T04:32:00.002-06:00

So this morning we thought we would check out the Lady Knox geyser just outside Rotorua. Greg and I were discussing how cool geyser are because they naturally blow and who unpredictable they can be, etc. So the Lady Knox geyser goes off everyday at 10:15am, pretty predictable, huh. Well comes to find out they actually make the geyser blow by adding a surfactant. They are stilling really intriguing, but now Greg thinks that every geyser is operated by some small man still in the bush. Guess we will have to check out Yellowstone and see some real geysers.

This is a picture of me in front of a hot pool beautiful colors.

Greg and I on our hike around the park. There was all sorts of neat things to see like sulfer caves, bubbling mud pots, and geysers.

Polynesian Spa - Rotorua

2009-01-13T03:49:00.002-06:00

Enjoying a mineral spa in Rotorua. Thought we should slow down a little and relax. Had a view of the Rotorua Lake which is a sulfur lake from all the geothermal activity in the area.

Our own personal stone spa.

View from our spa. You can see in the distance the steam rising off the lake.

Spending the night in Rotorua. We plan to go see some of the geothermal activity in the morning. Hoping to see a geyser erupt tomorrow morning around 10am.

Huka Falls Video

2009-01-13T03:29:00.003-06:00

This is a video from our jet boat ride. The ride was unbelievable. I can't even describe how close we would come to hitting things. We were also treated to several "bat turns" or a 360' spin in the boat. Greg took some tips from the driver and can't wait to get home and start practicing in our boat.

Taupo - Huka Falls

2009-01-13T03:22:00.002-06:00

Thought we needed another adrenaline rush today so we stopped in Taupo to take a jet boat ride. But this is no ordinary jet boat ride.

This is a picture of the boat we rode on. Greg is already getting ideas....scary!

This is Huka Falls. It was pretty impressive and the water couldn't have been a more brilliant blue.

Glow Worms - I don't think so

2009-01-13T03:02:00.002-06:00

This is a picture of Stacey "testing out her tube". There are several waterfalls inside of the cave. We had to learn the proper way to place the tube on your "bum" and jump off backwards. I knew the water would be cold, but it was a little surprising how cold it actually was. Thank goodness for the wet suit.

This is the exit of the cave.

Not a very good picture, but this is Greg and I floating out of the cave together. This was a truly unique experience.

So these little specks are the glow worms. Well they actually aren't glow worms at all - false advertising. We found out that they are actually maggots. These maggots live in the cave and drop spider-web-like strings to catch their food. They have no way to excrete their waste (aka poop) so they actually burn it off and thus the glow. It was really cool (literally) to float through a pitch dark cave and see these glowing all around.

Waitomo - Glow Worm Cave

2009-01-13T02:55:00.003-06:00

Adventurous or just plan stupid...we are still trying to decide. Thought black water rafting would be an interesting experience. Black water rafting is tubing through a cave in the dark. I know sounds crazy, but this is one of those things you have to do when in New Zealand.

Getting all geared up. Just a little humiliating, but you get over that pretty quickly.

Head to toe Neoprene.

Hitting the Road

2009-01-13T02:46:00.002-06:00

So today we thought we would hit the road and see a little more of the island. Photo of Stacey driving on the correct (left) side of the road. Didn't take to long to adjust. Hardest thing to remember was not to turn on the windshield wipers when trying to signal for a turn. Yes, even that is on the opposite side.

Headed to Waitomo and the glow worm caves!

Dinner at the Nausbaum's

2009-01-12T03:59:00.001-06:00

Everyone outside enjoying appetizers at Anouska's parents home. They invited us all over for a nice evening and home cooked dinner.

It was so beautiful in their backyard. Nothing like we would have at home. It was like a small botanical garden. All sorts of flowering plant life.

Susie, Anoushka's mom, fixed a fabulous meal. She cooked lasagna, chicken, potatoes, and salad. It really hit the spot. We just enjoyed the evening visiting and sharing stories about Anouska and Josh.

We plan to head to Waitomo and Rotoura tomorrow. We will actually end up spending the evenig in Rotoura tomorrow evening. Want to see the glow worm caves, go black water tubing, and see the mud baths. Should be two busy days of seeing some of the best of New Zealand. We will be renting a car tomorrow, so lets hope we can remember to stay of the correct side of the road. Well big day ahead of us tomorrow. Better head to bed, its 12:15pm here and hope to be up around 7am. So far we have adjust to the time with out any problems.

Touring the Island

2009-01-12T03:49:00.002-06:00

So we got a little adventurous and thought we would rent some scooters to tour the island. The tricky part came in on remember what side of the road to drive on.....the LEFT side. We didn't have any trouble and was really enjoyable.

Greg on a scooter....

We were finally able to get our feet in the ocean. Felt pretty nice. The tide was out when we made it to the beach and we found some really unusual sea shells. They are the same sort of shapes we would find at home, but they are very uniquely colored.

Mud Brick Winery

2009-01-12T03:34:00.002-06:00

So we arrived to Waihihi, then proceeded to hike to the top of the island. Definitely worked up a sweat. Then we realized we had walked to far and hopped into a cab for our lunch at the Mud Brick Winery.

You can not image a more picturesque location. It had wonderful views back toward the Auckland harbor as well as beautiful vineyards all around. It was very aromatic. We sat down for a wonderful lunch. Greg and I had some delicious lamb with a great bottle of Mud Brick Riesling.

Group shot at the winery after lunch. What a great experience!

Ferry Boat Ride to Waihihi

2009-01-12T03:21:00.003-06:00

So we were able to get a great nights sleep and woke up about 7:30am this morning. Ate a nice breakfast on our balcony over looking the harbor. We meet up with everyone to take a ferry boat ride to a smaller island. It took us about 45 minutes to reach Waihihi. We couldn't ask for nicer weather - sunny and warm with no humidity. This is a picture of Greg on the ferry boat.

This is part of the group that came from the United States for Josh's Wedding. They were all "sunning" themselves. That was before we learned that the sun is extra harsh in New Zealand. Come to find out the hole that is in the ozone layer sits right over top the country. They warned us to wear or sunscreen.

A picture as we were leaving the Auckland harbor. You can see the Auckland Sky tower in the middle.

Auckland New Zealand 1st Night

2009-01-11T12:21:00.002-06:00

Sky Tower in Auckland
Annuska's Dad and Grandmother. We all went out for a few drinks to meet Annuska's family.
Just sitting around a bar in the harbor. The guys most of you don't know is Tom, he works with Josh over here.
Annuska with her brother Ben
Thought we would all pose together.

Planes, Planes, More Planes

2009-01-11T12:05:00.002-06:00

We met up with the Groom Parents in La. Have the same flights into New Zealand with them.Outside the airport in Tahiti. The airport in really big. The planes have to do u-turns on the end of the runaway to get you to the terminal.Yes no jet bridge. It is old school in Tahiti. And HOT!!!Bruce and Marica getting to see Josh and Annuska at the airport in Auckland.Greg and Stacey on real ground. No more planes. Well at least til Sunday.

Papeete Here We Come

2009-01-10T00:00:00.002-06:00

Well we were finally able to check in at Air Tahiti Nui. There was quite the line. We then made our way through security for the second time. Nothing like the first time in Evansville. Glad we had a long lay-over. Made things less stressful. Found a place to plug in the laptop and managed to do a little emailing, facebooking, and most importantly blogging. Just heard from the groom's parents they made it to LA and are working their way to the International terminal. We will both be on the same flight to Papeete and then on to NZ.

LAX

2009-01-09T20:42:00.002-06:00

So we made it into LAX right before dark. Got a lovely shot of the domestic terminal and the moon. Had to make the hike from the domestic terminal to the International one. Nice evening out and felt great to have our feet on the ground.

We are currently sitting and eating dinner waiting before we can check in at Air Tahiti Nui. Our plane is supposed to leave sometime around 11:55pm LA time. Needless to say we should be tired before we get on this flight. Hoping to catch a few Zzzz's on this plane ride.

Memphis TN

2009-01-09T20:37:00.004-06:00

Well this is plane #2. If you are keeping track it is definitely much bigger than the first. This one actually has a jet bridge. Had a shorter lay over. Had enough time to eat a little lunch, hit the bathrooms and re-board on our way to LA.

We did have a "Star" sighting. Priscilla Presley was on our plane to LAX. I was really hoping to get to sit next to her, but that wasn't a option.

EVV to Memphis

2009-01-09T20:31:00.002-06:00

Well we made it through the busy security line. What line you ask? There wasn't one!

Boarding the plane to Memphis. It is a really long, stressful 35 minute flight. We had our pick of seats and decided we would actually sit next to each other.

Beginning of our very long day. We still look excited, awake, and happy...we'll see how things go.

Our Big EVV Airport

2009-01-09T10:14:00.004-06:00

Checking in at our "Huge" Regional airport. Yes we were the only people in line to check in. We checked 3 bags all the way to Auckland NZ. We had to have our bags inspected before they would check our bags onto the plane. Guess we checked out ok...Surprising. They definitely don't know us very well.
This is our first of 4 planes on this leg of the trip. I think you will see our planes progressively get larger. We have about a 1 hour flight into Memphis.

Waiting at the airport. You will probably see a lot of pictures of us in these clothes as we will be wearing for the next 2 days. We should arrive to NZ ~ 1pm on Sunday afternoon in NZ, which would be Saturday ~6pm back home.

Bags Packed and Ready to Go!

2009-01-09T08:30:00.003-06:00

As the song says - "Our bags are packed and we are ready to go". Spent most of last night and this morning finishing all the packing. Grandma Wolsing spent the night out our house to familiarize herself with Devin's routine. Seems like everyone is prepared for the next couple of weeks.

Thought we would take a quick family photo, before Greg took Devin to daycare. He thought I would get to emotional. We will have to wait and see, but so far so good.

Lists, Lists, & More Lists

2009-01-04T20:47:00.004-06:00

I never knew that one person could make so many lists for one trip. I have lists of things left to-d0, things yet to purchase, things to pack in the carry on, clothes to pack, Devin's things, and the list goes on. See another list I have created. Anyways we have attempted to start packing, all that means is that we have dug the suitcases out of the closet. So as of right now we have several lists and a pile of suitcases. We will get it all together sometime before Friday.

7 Days and Counting

2009-01-02T21:34:00.003-06:00

Welcome to our latest blog! Thought this would be a great way to share our adventure with our family and friends. We plan on keeping you up-to-date on our vacation half way around the world. Check back often and see our trip to New Zealand & Tahiti.