We had a great time along the coast. We came across many rainbows, took a round of golf in Tauranga, and slept beside a kiwi orchard! We even gathered some fallen kiwis off the ground for a snack. We stumbled across "Beach Hop 2008" when we pulled into a town to 'skip to the loo'. There were cars lining every street and we knew something was up so made our way toward the crowds. It was a big celebration of the 50's and 60's with a large car show, sock hop dance competition, numerous vendors, and four live stages. There were [View Full Entry]

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Well, it is time to catch you up to date on our travels! We have been having a lot of fun and covering much ground but getting to writing and finding internet less. Our last blog brought us to the North Island, and this one covers April 23 to 28th up the East Coast from Wellington. Our first stop along the way was a quick one to take a picture of the Tui brewery, Tui was happy to see a flag bearing his name! We passed some wind farms along our way to historic Taumatashakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukopokaiwhenuakitanatahu, the longest place name in the [View Full Entry]

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After Whakatane, we went back to Rotorua to give it another go. Rotorua was the first place we stayed after leaving Auckland back in December and we were amazed by the change in colour that the rest stop had gone through. Rotorua is a town of adventure, and this time, we took the opportunities! One of our first adventures was taking the gondola up to overlook the city, and speeding down the three luge tracks. There was a scenic (easy) track one had to pass first before taking on the intermediate and advanced tracks. Kirby bailed hard on a fast corner [View Full Entry]

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Making our way across the Cook Strait, Wellington welcomed us with a nice beach at Titahi Bay to stay at and surfers to watch. The 'windy' city, as it is known, did not let us down, but winded us with warmer air than the South. Wellington is an older city with beautiful buildings climbing up its many hillsides. The beach paths were always full of active kiwis with their dogs, kids, bikes, skateboards or friends. There are many museums, art galleries, film archives showcasing Wellington's art community and filming hub. We enjoyed a day at the Te Papa Museum learning some [View Full Entry]

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With fall rolling in with its fine colors we knew our time here was beginning to count down. It was time to leave Christchurch and head North "for the winter", but not before one last Christchurch attraction - Kart World! We hopped into the fastest indoor racing cars in the country (or so they say) and took to the track. This windy track was easy for Kirby after driving the New Zealand roads but easier to be speedy when you know what is around the corner. After our fifteen minutes of fame we learned that this track was also enjoyed by [View Full Entry]

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Throughly enjoying Christchurch, we decided to get some fresh mountain air and headed out. Although to our prairie eyes mountains are everywhere, locally they are merely hills and the mountains are . . the really big hills. On the map Kirby spotted an "x" named Mt. Armstrong, so with no particular place to go . . . we went toward Arthur's Pass to see if we could take a peek at the peak. Upon entering the pass, we came across fog and decided to spend the night in a rest stop taking pictures and listening to "Solid Rock", a classic rock [View Full Entry]

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Enjoying Christchurch ever so much, we stayed around for another week. In the large downtown park we flocked to, we ended up meeting Bomun, who just moved from Seattle to New Zealand in December. He had locked his keys in his van and we ended up talking and waiting with him until AA arrived. We continued our conversation late into the evening, learned all about permaculture (giving back to the land more than you take as an oversimplified definition), and watched a documentary called A Crude Awakening with him that evening in his van. We aren't sure if Bomun had named [View Full Entry]

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Christchurch is a beautiful city of about 300,000 with large cathedrals and stone buildings. A large downtown park with botanic gardens, sports fields, and a golf course became our hub and parking spot. Kirby took a round on the golf course while Christina checked out the Art Gallery. Parking there was an adventure for a few reasons. First of all, the sky was falling. It was hazardous to walk or drive through the park with all of the falling nuts from the huge trees above. Secondly, it was free downtown parking and therefore a hot commodity on weekends, so getting boxed [View Full Entry]

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While sleeping just outside Kaikoura we discovered that the secluded riverbed we picked for our slumber was also picked as a gravel site by some big trucks. When the first truck came, we rolled over. Then three others came and we decided to move to a rest stop off the highway and hit the proverbial 'snooze bar'. When we pulled into the rest stop, Christina saw a dirt road that veered off into the bush toward the beach. Curiosity can kill cats, and also ruin a morning snooze! The road continued on a ways and then suddenly the roadway became sandy, [View Full Entry]

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Blenheim currently has the title for the sunniest city in New Zealand. We enjoyed its warm days in its beautiful parks and taking to the golf greens. Fall colors and cool nights are starting to make their appearance just in time for Easter too. An interesting Easter tradition here involves a hunt, but not for colored eggs or chocolate, actually, a hunt for live rabbits! We thankfully had heard of this prior to waking up on Good Friday to the sounds of shot guns both near and in the distance. We had parked just outside Blenheim across from the land designated [View Full Entry]

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