the piano
Before we head off for the weekend, I’m bringing you another favorite film of mine: The Piano. This epically beautiful film by Jane Campion is both visually stunning and heart wrenching. It’s the story of Ada McGrath, a woman who has willed herself not to speak, who travels to New Zealand with her daughter for an arranged marriage.
The film takes place in the 1850s New Zealand, showing the raw beginnings of colonization on the island. It contrasts the strict, formal European culture with the untamed wilderness of the island. This contrast is embodied by the beach on which Ada and her daughter arrive. (more…)
New Zealand
Every time I start to write something about our honeymoon I get stuck on what to say. I get stuck on what photos to share.* So I’m just going to jump in, somewhere in the middle, and see where it takes us.
Did I mention we went to New Zealand? I’m not sure anymore what made us choose to go to New Zealand other than the fact that it sounded crazy and wonderful so we just went for it.
You know, it’s hard to plan a vacation and a wedding at the same time. I’m not sure if you knew this, so I thought I’d mention it. So we didn’t plan entirely too much (despite the fact that I’m a compulsive planner). Then as we were preparing to depart, the terrible earthquake hit Christchurch. It wasn’t until we arrived in New Zealand that we became aware of the extent of damage to the city. Our trip became even less planned than it was before.
Luckily, we brought our tent and sleeping bags with us so we could camp just about anywhere. One night we ended up with the most amazing spot, right next to the beach.
On this particular evening, it started to rain not long after we set up our tent. We snuggled up with some ginger ales, books and games and just enjoyed the night in our little orange pod. It was wonderful.
Along with camping, comes camp meals. I became obsessed with hummus and avocado sandwiches. As we were on the road for most of the trip, we ate quite a few of these.
One morning we woke up to these little birds squawking outside out tent. We kindly shared some of our breakfast with them, although they were not too fond of the avocado.
So here’s a start, there is much more, including volcanoes, magic mushrooms, sulfur lakes, fancy hotels and a lot of Lord of the Rings awesomeness. Stay tuned!
*at some point on this trip I developed some sort of photo fatigue and took hardly any photos, even though I wanted to. Luckily Shawn took a great deal and is kind enough to share.