Kim and Don Bodemann arrived bright and early on April 19th. After trading in our car once more for a “people mover”, as vans are called here, we headed out to pick them up at the bus stop in Waihi. We were expecting them to be really tired after the long trip but they were surprisingly well rested and ready to go. It seems that after boarding their plane in LA, Don’s medical services were required to aid a woman who had been hit in the head with a bag from overhead (those things DO shift during flight) and he had [View Full Entry]

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After our weekend of racing cars, we decided to take a little break and visit McClaren Falls for a picnic. The Falls have been pretty dry lately because of the lack of rain, but the surrounding countryside is still beautiful. While trying to find the perfect spot to picnic, we happened along a rope swing by the river. The slope was just enough to swing you out over the water and bring you slamming back into the dirt. I tried it once, hurt myself, tried it again and really hurt myself. Ben, however, won the prize for the highest fling. Autumn [View Full Entry]

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By invitation from our friends Alison and Phil we attended a Sprint Car Rally fundraising event for Pukehina School, just outside of Te Puke. Officially the event is called the Old Coach Road Seal Bent Sprint and it was sponsored by the Tauranga Mount Motor Sport Club. Phil has been racing rally cars for 20 plus years. Currently he drives a hopped up Mitsubishi Gallant. This was not a too serious race for Phil as he just wanted to test some modifications recently performed on his car. He asked if Sarah and I would like to take a ride in the [View Full Entry]

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Good Friday brought the arrival of my parents and my sister, Brenda, to New Zealand. They arrived very early and took the Kiwi Shuttle from Auckland to Tauranga, arriving tired but happy at our house. As usual, we gave them the quick tour and headed over to the Mount for some beach and hiking. Not wanting to completely tire them out, we elected to take the trail around the base of the mount instead of climbing to the top. This trail gives you a great view of the water that surrounds 80% of the mountain and provides a good brisk hike. [View Full Entry]

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In February, Sarah and I managed to go out on a few dates. One was a hike in Karangahake Gorge between the Kaimai and Coromandel Mountain ranges. It is not too strenuous and most of the hike is along the Waitawheta River. Part of the trail leads through some old gold mining shafts. We swam at a nice pool with an interesting water fall that partially originates from a tunnel. (Sarah - This water was so cold, I did not think I could jump in. However, once in, your body becomes somewhat numb and after swimming around for awhile, it feels [View Full Entry]

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Many may wonder what happened to the Robbins since their South Island adventure. Well, we have been fitting in a lot of routine stuff in the months of January through March. The South Island Trip ended mid January. Since that time, summer came into full swing, and when not working or schooling we have tried to enjoy the local outdoor life. For me, that occurred mostly on the week ends. Because there is no free lunch, I had to pay for my NZ raising. I have covered 15 call days in a short period of time and managed to squeeze in [View Full Entry]

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Kaikoura Township was our last stop on our South Island tour. The name Kai…”food” and Koura…”crayfish” would tempt anyone to check this peninsula out. Having left Christchurch early and made the trip in record time (just under 3 hours!) we were ready to sample some of its namesake right away. Our first stop was an old pub/hotel called “The Pier”. It was a cozy spot to land since the day had turned out rather drizzly and cool with so much cloud cover that you could not see any of the mountain ranges that were directly in front of you. The li [View Full Entry]

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The route to Christchurch from Dunedin took us up Hwy. 1 which runs parallel to the east coast. I assumed that we would enjoy views of the coast the entire way up but that was not the case. Most of the scenery was of rolling hills and farm land with very few glimpses of the sea. (Mark - The scenery was beautiful, but all of our WOW Receptors in our Brains were saturated from the previous weeks tour of the west coast.) As I related earlier, we had missed out on breakfast at the train station because the café was closed [View Full Entry]

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The trip to Dunedin on the east coast was a long one. It is so funny how the AA travel times differ from our time. It told me we would be traveling 285 kilometers and it would take 4.5 hours. It may have been 285 km but we took a wee bit longer to get there, aye. We left early and stopped in Arrowtown just outside of Queenstown for some breakfast. This was the place Bill Gates and family chose to spend the Christmas holidays. It is very quaint town with most of the original buildings from the mid-1800’s. We ate [View Full Entry]

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Our goal was to leave Te Anau early for our long drive to Queenstown. Easier said than done. First we had to stop off at the Sand Fly Café for some ‘breakie’ and let the kids get a little internet fix. Then we had to make a few more pictures of the scenery. The drive to Queenstown was just like all the rest - spectacular! All along the way were deep caverns with rivers running through and the occasional bridge where tourists can defy death on a bungee or canyon swing. The Roaring Meg is on the Kawarau River and is [View Full Entry]

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