Our last week in Auckland held a special adventure - John and Evelyn took us sailing on their boat, the Tropic Bird, from Thursday until Sunday. Our sea legs weren't in fine form so it was fortunate that there was hardly enough wind to raise the sails on our journey. The waves were small and rolling, the sun was shining, and we sailed out to visit the islands of Tiri Tiri, Rangitoto, and Motutapu. Kirby got to row the dingy ashore for hikes we took on the islands. Tiri Tiri island is a bird sanctuary where we were able to watch [View Full Entry]

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We officially made it to the most Northern part of New Zealand when we reached the lighthouse at Cape Reinga. This is the point where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean and the waves form a cross pattern upon the beach. Here would be a storm-watcher's delight as waves can reach over 8 meters in height. Heading South was bittersweet as it meant we were on the last legs of our journey. We traveled down the West side of the Northland from Cape Reinga to Kaitaia, down to Rangiora where we caught a ferry to Rowene, and further to Omapere [View Full Entry]

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A morning of sunshine made cleaning Tui up a pleasant event. With this being Tui's last adventure, it was time to take inventory and see what we had swept under the carpet. High in the North at Paihia, it was time to take to the waters. We took a beautiful kayak through the pristine waters of the Bay of Islands. It would take a bit of training for us to make any speed records so we enjoyed some time away from the land at a nice relaxing pace. We paddled out to nearby Tore Tore island to explore and hike. Later [View Full Entry]

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Just in time to be behind again, we are catching up on our blog! With about two weeks remaining until we depart New Zealand, we embarked on a journey North of Auckland to the farthest North tip. Our travels took us through one of the larger Northern cities of Whangarei, where you can see some photos of below. We stopped at "the most photographed waterfalls in New Zealand" just minutes from town and had a picnic lunch before continuing north to Whale's Bay and Matapouri Beach. Here we stopped for a sunny break and met some locals, a five year-old boy [View Full Entry]

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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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