Attached are a few pictures of on our trip to the South Island. The trip went well and we are set up in a nice motel in Westport on the NW end of the South Island. We came through the Marlborough wine growing area, probably 60 k of grape vines outside of Blenheim following the Wairau River valley. Kiwi word for the day is POME. This is used to identify people from England or people who identify with England. Example might be, that’s what a POME would say. It stands for Prisoner of Mother England. There is also a bar on [View Full Entry]

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For the past 5 days we have been staying with our friend Ron Head. Ron lives on the kapiti coast just north of Wellington. It has been great to Ron again, he stayed with us in 2005. The Kapiti Coast is named because just off the coast is Kapiti Island. Ron lives right on the beach. Went to a Friendship Force meeting. The Kapiti Coast FF is hosting a group from Hanover, Germany. They really know how to do up their meeting. Lovely supper, wine etc. Tomorrow we will leave for the south island. We sail from Wellington to Picton at [View Full Entry]

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I finally spelled Haast correctly. Could not find it in the guide books because I thought it was Hast. Oh well. It is just a wide spot in the road. The rain came down in sheets last night. We went for a walk to see the Fox Glacier. They said it was 5 min. walk, like hell it was. Maybe a mountain goat to do it in 5 min.s but it took about 45 min.s for Juanita. I do have to say, I admired her determination and it was well worth it when we got there. Juanita crashed and burned about [View Full Entry]

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New Zealand thoughts & observations 1. Language - it takes awhile to pick up on the pronunciation and terms. Some examples: W sounds like da Kiwis tend to raise their voice as they finish talking, often I am trying to figure out what the question is and they are simply saying I’m done talking, your turn. 2. Terms - Kiwis have a lot of terms that are different than US English and for the most part very descriptive. An example is an auto body shop is where the panel beaters work. The shop is called a panel beaters shop. Kiwis always [View Full Entry]

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Day 12-14 Tuesday, Wed & Thursday 2/24-26 We had a beautiful drive down from Taupo to Napier. Taupo is on Lake Taupo which is a big lake that was created from an explosion and which literally blew off the top of a mountain. The drive down to Napier was nice and we actually went 50k without mountains. I think it is about 150K from Taupo to Napier. The Napier/Hastings area is really interesting and beautiful. It is a big Wine producing area. Next time you buy NZ wine and see Hawks Bay on it, it comes from this area. Napier and [View Full Entry]

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Day 8 2/22 Friday Hawera Visited Lloyd and Anita Burke at their farm. Leaned a lot about dairy farming in NZ. It is very different than the US. The cows stay outside all the time and are rotated through different pastures. We went to a race that Burke's daughter was doing with here friend Toni. There is also some pictures of the grandchildren. Right outside our bedroom was Mt. Tarnaki. We stopped at a possum tannery. Juanita bought a beautiful Merino wool wrap. Lloyd bought Anita a possum skin purse. Possums are a real pest in NZ and the tannery are [View Full Entry]

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I am having some trouble with the inter-net connection so I will just load a bunch of pictures from these 3 days. Day 9 2/23 Saturday Hawera Went to the beach and a group of truck drivers were having a wedding. They had a beautiful ’57 Ford. Day 10 2/24 Sunday Hewera Took Lloyd and Anita out to supper and then went to a Friendship Force meeting. They also had a group Aussies at the meeting. Day 11 2/25 Monday Tongariro National Park Drive down to Wanganau on the coast and then north to Tongario National Park. We stopped at a [View Full Entry]

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We picked up a different car that we can drop off in Wellington. Drove down to New Plymouth (About 5 hours). Had a beautiful drive through the mountains. Down here they have one-lane tunnels. The Kiwis blow through these just like they blow through the single lane bridges. Stopped at a Holiday Park and they had some really cool trailers for rent. Had a picnic beside the Tasman sea. [View Full Entry]

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Took our time driving from Whangarei to Auckland. Spent a few more hours in our favorite beach town of Orewa. It is just beautiful and had a bunch of windsurfers. It is amazing how fast they go. [View Full Entry]

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Day 5 2/19 Just hangout and did the laundry. Went to the Beach, diving area and Yacht Club in Tutukaka. This is a big marine sanctuary that includes Poor Knights Islands. They will not let people land on the islands without a special permit. Tomorrow is back to Auckland and then south to Tarnaki (New Plymouth) to visit friends (Lloyd & Anita Burke). [View Full Entry]

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