Ben and Brendan in NZ

Here's a general photo dump from the start of 2025. It includes a visit from our good friends from Colorado! We went with them to the South Island.

Ben's parents visited us at the end of December. We spend a week in Auckland and then traveled to the South Island (around Queenstown/Wanaka) for a week. It was a busy trip with lots to do; we really packed the schedule! But it was wonderful to see them and we saw amazing things. 

Here's a small collection of photos from the end of 2024...which in New Zealand, is spring! The semester finished up, we had a few concerts around the North Island, and we prepared for summer break.

Hello friends! It's been a while. Life has been good in Aotearoa. We've both mainly been busy with work and music, but we've found time to travel around a bit and have some fun.

Our friend Laura visited us from MA! She came with her dad, and it was lovely. We spent time in Auckland and later met up in Wellington.

We finally found a longer-term place to live! We moved from the North Shore of Auckland to an apartment in Newmarket. It was unfurnished so we had to buy furniture...but now we have a guest room! All friends and family are encouraged to visit and stay with us. Seriously. Do it.

And soon after, we sang in the first major concert of the choir that we joined. It was actally really good...we ended up liking the piece better than we expected, to be honest!

Just some random photos from the end of Summer :)

After three months in Auckland, we finally got a car! It was about time for us to be able to explore the world outside of public transport. Here are some photos relating to our car, and a few other random ones from April 2024

Ben took a weeklong trip to Australia during the mid-semester teaching break. The trip was mainly to visit Monash University in Melbourne. He went to compare their teaching to what we do at the University of Auckland. He also met physics education colleagues and gave a couple of presentations. 

After Melbourne, Ben extended the trip for a couple of days to visit a friend in Sydney. Sydney is a beautiful city!

Brendan decied to stay in New Zealand on account of all the snakes and spiders that he imagines live in Australia. He is really enjoying the snake-free oasis of New Zealand.

The day before Lynnae and David headed back to the US, we drove to the western shore for a day at the beach/town of Piha. It was only an hour drive to get to that other side of the North Island. The waves tend to be bigger on the west side; Piha is a popular surf spot. Brendan even seemed open to going back there to car camp at some point...you heard it here first!

Also, the drive itself was a big deal because it was the first time Ben drove in New Zealand...and it went well! Thanks to David and Lynnae for the moral support :) It made us more serious about finding a used car to buy at some point soon.

The day after our sea kayak adventure, Brendan stayed at home to nap and recover while Ben, Lynnae, and David took a ferry to another island near Auckland. Waiheke Island is a relatively large island that's about a 40 minute ferry ride from the city harbor. We only sampled what there is to do there, checking out a beach, a cliff walk, and a wine tasting. Hopefully we'll be back again to visit more beaches, cute towns, and wineries!

Brendan's sister Lynnae and her husband David visited us for two weeks! They were traveling in Hawaii and Australia already, so they were able to extend their trip when they heard that were going to move to NZ.

The four of us went on a guided sea kayak trip to Rangitoto Island...the same island that Ben visited a while ago. But this time we kayaked there in the late afternoon, hiked up to the peak for sunset, and then kayaked back in the dark! The voyage over was windy and a bit rough, but the rest of the experience was incredible.

A random collection of photos taken around Auckland, mostly in the Central Business District (abbreviated CBD) of Auckland. Including photos from the Pride March at the end of February!

(We'll add more photos in the future as we do more things in the city!) 

In early February, Ben had the day off work for a national holiday in Aotearoa New Zealand: Waitangi Day. The day commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, which was an agreement between Māori leaders and the British Crown. It's often called the national day, as some people (certainly not all) recognize Te Tiriti as the founding document of the nation. There were ceremonies, other cultural events, and political goings-on happening in the town of Waitangi (north of Auckland), including a hui (Māori gathering/meeting) and a hīkoi (protest march) against the direction of the newly-elected national government. 

Ben spent the day on Rangitoto, and island in the gulf that Auckland surrounds. Rangitoto is a young volcanic island; it emerged from the sea 600 years ago. There are no shops on the island, just hiking trails. Ben spent the day trekking along the coast of the island and up to the summit. Brendan stayed home, which was probably for the best...it was a pretty hot day, and you have to stay on the island until the time you booked your ferry ride home. But Ben had a great time!

We're starting a trend of visiting beaches on the weekend. There are many accessible by bus from where we live. It's relaxing to go to swim in the ocean and relax on the shore.

Ben got COVID the week after Brendan :( Symptoms were mild but it was annoying to have to say home that week. Thankfully he recovered in time for a three-day weekend on Auckland Anniversary Day! There were events in the city throughout the weekend, including the world's biggest one-day regatta.

After we left the hotel we moved to a semi-temporary apartment in an Auckland suburb called Birkenhead, on the North Shore. It's a really quaint area, with lovely neighborhoods, pretty parks, and paths to the water. 

The rental is a single room in a building with a shared kitchen space. It feels a bit like a college dorm. It's great for us until Brendan finds a job and knows where he'll be working. There are busses and a ferry Ben can take to the University of Auckland. And, one of the best perks...our room overlooks the back of a cat cafe, so there's endless entertainment watching the cats play on the back deck!

(We'll be updating this album with more photos in the coming weeks, so check here in the future to see more.)

Over the two weeks that we stayed at a hotel in central Auckland, Ben settled into a semi-regular running route through the Auckland Domain. The Domain is a large and wonderous park in the city. These photos show the sites along that route. Check out the image captions for more info!

For our second week in Auckland, Brendan tested positive for COVID so we both quarantined ourselves in our hotel room for 5 days. Luckly his symtoms are mild, and Ben continues to test negative (so far). But being stuck in our hotel room is no fun. Brendan played a lot of Nintendo Switch, and Ben observed the sunset from our balcony. At least it was a quiet week at work!

Devonport is a suburb of Auckland at the southern part of the North Shore. We checked it out on our first free weekend after arriving. We took a ferry to get there. Devonport was very cute! 

We survived the flight across the Pacific, got through customs and immigration, and made it to our hotel...and then we took a nap. Over the next few days we started exploring Auckland! 

Before leaving the US, we spent a week with Jordan, JQ, and Ben's family in Los Angeles.