The Obermiller Chronicles

In New Zealand we traveled around in a camper van and we started up at the top of the north island and went down. While traveling down the island we took a tour of the Hobbiton set where parts of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings were filmed. We even got to go into a hobbit hole and take some pictures. Another thing we did in New Zealand was go through glowworm caves. These caves were pitch black with glowing blue glowworms on the ceiling, creating a spectacular scene. Another place we we went on the north island was Wellington, New Zealand (they named it after me not the other way around), and I got a cool picture by a sign that said my name. We also went to Weta Workshops in Wellington. Weta Workshops is the studio where they did the effects for the Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit. While at the studio we also got some cool pictures like this one with the trolls!

After that, we drove our campervan onto a ferry and headed down to the south island. On the south island we drove to (and camped at) a lot of places with good views. One place in particular that stood out was Peters Pool. Peters Pool is a beautiful reflecting pond with a mountain in the background, which allows for some absolutely stunning pictures. Then we went to a Queenstown and we went on a Shotover Jet where they take you onto a high speed boat through a canyon and you hyrdroplane across the water and they'll spin the boat around, all while inches from the canyon wall. After that we saw a giant sequoia towering and majestic (it also kind of looked like an ent from Lord of The Rings). With that we had to return to our campervan and take a flight back to Australia.

In Sydney there were lots of sights to see! We walked to the Sydney Opera House and went inside, then on my birthday we were going to climb up the Sydney Harbor Bridge but I wasn't feeling the best. So we ended up walking around instead and getting a cool picture that had both the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The next day we braved a rainy climb up the bridge and we made it to the top and it was one of my coolest birthdays ever.

Our musical airtime was dominated by Josiah Queen, with "My Promised Land" and "The Prodigal" coming out on top, followed by "Altars Over Stages" and "I am Barabbas". Making a surprise comeback from 2013 was "I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran, as our kids watched the Hobbit for the first time in 2024.

When we were in Australia, one of the cool things we did was that we went to the great barrier reef. We were going to go to the great barrier reef on a floating pontoon where we could snorkel and take tours. But first, we had to get to the pontoon. To get to the pontoon we had to take a long boat ride. The waves were very choppy which made the boat ride very bumpy and mom got sick on the way there. After what seemed like forever we finally got to the pontoon. Once at the pontoon we rushed into the changing rooms to get our gear on.

After we got our gear on we slowly went into the water because it was winter and the water was cold. We snorkeled around for a few hours, taking in the beautiful sight of the vibrant coral and fish. After snorkeling for a while, we had lunch on the pontoon. Then we went to the upper deck of the pontoon to hear a presentation from a marine biologist. Then we took a ride around the reef on a glass bottom boat and then went in a semi-submersible. After that we went snorkeling again and got some photos. Finally it was time to go back to the boat and head home. Luckily, on the way back the waves were a lot calmer. All in all, seeing the Great Barrier Reef was an unforgettable once in a lifetime experience.

We flew from Cairns to Bali. Bali is an interesting place because they do not have safe water meaning you have to buy water and you can't wash your tooth brush with the sink water it is not filtered! And we made up a thing called Bali belly and this happens when you eat something you are not supposed to like fruit because they wash the fruit with the BAD water and so that gets you sick. Anyway when we landed in Bali and when we got to the area where we get our car there were a bunch of signs with people's names on them so my dad found his name we got in our car and were headed to our first place in Bali when I looked outside the window in the car you know what I saw? DOGS, STRAY dogs! Anyway we got there and I was amazed the living room was OUTSIDE. But thank goodness the bedrooms were inside and there was a pool and it was cool but no hot tub.

Since we are all Packers fans we've always been waiting for an opportunity to go to a Packers game and this year we got the chance to go (thanks Nana and Papa!). The Packers were playing the Jaguars, right here in Jacksonville. During that time our grandparents came and we all went to the Packers game together. Everyone was so excited to go to the game but first, we had to get some cool clothes to wear at the game. So we went to a sports store and purchased some Packers t-shirts and hats. Now, looking very cool we went to the game. Then we went to Everbank stadium, took some pictures outside and went into the stadium. Once in the stadium we went to our seats and waited for the game to begin. Eventually the game started.

The game was tight and riveting with the teams trading touchdowns, throwing interceptions, and kicking field goals. The Jaguars started to pull ahead and we were at the edge of our seats hoping for the Packers to score (Papa would also have probably gotten angry if the Packers lost). Then the Packers got a really good run and were right at the end zone. The clock had less then a minute left so the Packers took a knee a couple of times, then with 1 second left we stopped the clock and kicked a field goal for the win. After the game we had to get back to the hotel. On the walk back to where Papa spotted a lady on a golf cart trying to make money of the tourists walking to their hotels. He yelled out to her and just like that we were riding on a golf cart. The golf cart was traveling at breakneck speeds on the road and on the sidewalk. The rearview mirror of the golf cart even broke off! After that exhilarating ride we arrived at the hotel and had dinner there.

When our grandparents hosted a family reunion during Christmas in Phoenix, for Christmas day we had a hibachi guy come over to the house. We did the hibachi out in the patio. The guy doing the hibachi for us was named Han Sola (yes his parents named him that because of Star Wars). We started off with a game where we caught food in our mouths and then sprayed sake (orange juice for the kids) into each other's mouths if we caught it. Then it was time for the food. To start, Han cooked some rice and gave us salad. Then he started on the meat. First up were scallops which tasted very good, and then chicken, and then steak. Finally it was time for the fire show. He started by spinning around some chains with torches on the end, then he put some oil or something in his mouth and breathed fire like a dragon. Then he called up my dad to spin the torches. My dad nailed the first two patterns but then on the third one the torches got tangled and he singed his shirt (if he had set himself on fire he would jump in the pool so don't worry). To sum it up, we had an amazing, and slightly scary time doing hibachi.

We had fun playing games and hanging out with our cousins, aunts, uncles and Nana and Papa. The boys even destroyed the girls at an escape room! After Phoenix we drove to Las Vegas and had a great time seeing our Great Aunt Judy and Great Uncle Denis!

When we were in Japan the exchange rate was about 150 yen to an American dollar. One of my favorite parts about Japan was the hundred yen stores, our favorite one, recommended by Mrs. Maggie was called Daiso. They are like the better dollar store because it is less than an American dollar and have much better quality items. I got a new hat, toe socks (socks where there is fabric between your big toes) and origami paper. I got all of this money by finding it on the ground, Japan is supposed to be really clean but I think all of the tourists were not as tidy (I even found two 500 yen coins). The first city we visited in Japan was Osaka and at a park they had a really cool slide that had a bunch of little rollers that were very fun to slide on. This was near the Osaka Castle which we walked all the way to the top of and then back down. We loved the sushi and learned to use chopsticks throughout the trip. We liked the lemon tea (also recommended by the Messers) and drank a lot of that. We went to an aquarium and saw whale sharks, some of the largest species of penguins, dolphins and other fish. This is cool because in the beginning of the trip we saw the smallest type of penguins, little penguins, in Melbourne, Australia.

We took a day trip to Nara, the ancient capital of Japan and visited a lot of temples. In Nara there was a park filled with deer and they just like wandered around that area of the city. But people were selling deer biscuits and you would take them, then bow to the deer and they would bow back to you, after that you would give them a piece of deer biscuit. We enjoyed doing this and even saw some younger deer. While there we also encountered a mister which had deer lounging underneath to keep cool. We also got to take a nice walk through a garden, which was relaxing. Before we went home we saw more temples, a huge bell, more deer and ate octopus balls. Next we took the train back to Osaka and got to see some fireworks. In our remaining time in Osaka we visited some shrines ate yummy food and me and Adaira found a capsule by some capsule machines. We also got to visit a Pokemon center. After that we took a train with these cool Japanese gardens to Kyoto.

In Kyoto we went to another Pokemon center visited yet more temples and went to a sushi conveyor belt. This was a very fun experience, they had little tablets that you could order from except unfortunately when you do this a person delivers it to you. They also had ginger tea to drink. There was one temple that had tatami mats and we had to take off our shoes, the tatami mats were fun to slide on. At another place we walked through hundreds of tori. In Kyoto while the grown-ups slept in a normal bed the big kids got to sleep tatami mats, they even gave us pajamas (not to keep though). I also found this neck cooler thing that stays cool for a really long time. We also saw a lot of these minka or traditional Japanese buildings. We enjoyed a walk through a bamboo forest, saw some shrines, dipped our feet in a river and finally left Kyoto.

To get to our next city, Hiroshima, we took a bullet train, this was awesome and we had so much space. The row of three seats on each side could swing around to face the row behind it and we got to Hiroshima so fast. We did eat Mcdonald's on the bullet train, which is so much better in Japan than America. In Hiroshima we went to a museum which was inside the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. It was all about destruction of the nuclear bomb and how it should never be used again. It was very sad and scary. We also hiked on Miyajima island, and saw the torii gate at low tide and then again at high tide surrounded by water.

After Hiroshima we flew to Tokyo. We saw the Shibuya scramble, which wasn't all that busy. We climbed mini-mount Fuji, which were rocks they took from the real mountain. We enjoyed watching red bean paste desserts being made, but when we proceeded to try one, they were not very good. We got to "drive" a self-driving monorail in the front car, and saw the giant Gundam robot. We also went to the One Piece store, which was cool because we were watching the series in Japan. Most of our food was from convenience stores, also called konbini, and we loved the triangular rice balls called onigiri.