Our first days in New Zealand

---

Hi Folks,



We’ve been in NZ for 5 days and have a few observations to share with you: ‘give way’ means ‘yield’; ‘way out’ means ‘exit; ‘long black’ means an espresso coffee with hot water on the side – the only way to get what we consider a regular black coffee; ‘white tea’ means regular tea frothed with milk; people thank the drivers when exiting the bus; residential mail is delivered via bicycle to mail boxes located at the edges of sidewalks; speed limits are 100 km/hr on narrow, hilly, curvy highways – we would be used to limits of 70 – 80 km/hr in these situations; Auckland ambulances are Mercedes; there are few flower gardens adorning residential homes – mostly green shrubbery; gas is $2.12/litre – yikes!!!



We are currently in Napier – completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1931 and rebuilt in art deco architecture – they celebrate this rebirth annually with a festival based on 1930s – cars, fashion, music, tea parties, vintage aircraft – we were lucky to attend 1.5 days of the Festival.

We have our used bicycles and our campervan, and have survived 3 days of driving on the wrong side of the road; although I think we set a new bench mark for the number of wrong turns and u-turns getting out of Auckland.

---

Photos

Rainbow over the cattle
Route between Taupo and Napier

Tea party
One of many fancy picnics as part of the Napier Art Deco festival

Comments

[colleen hendrick]

Hippie Van
We love your hippie van...also appreciate the many missed turns, driving on the other side etc- very similar experience in Dublin and trying to get out of that city where we set a similar benchmark Love the tea party picture and the landscape pictures!!!

[Kelly M]

tea party apparel
Pauline! Did you remember to pack your fur for the tea party? Sure looks like lots of fun. Enjoy!

[Yolande]

the way of the new....
I bet that your vehicle is really the one in front of the psychedelic colored van, you just use the van as the hotel room!! I think you should introduce the "thank you to bus driver as you exit" as a new norm here!! I think some people here would like the Auckland ambulances!! Keep those blogs coming.... can you also do a wrong turn on a bike??

[Donna]

Hello down there!
Leave it to you Pauline to find that rainbow wherever you are. Love the tea party but I especially love that hippie van. Have you discovered where that third person(i.e. me)is supposed to sleep?

[Ralph Daling]

envious
Hi there I am enjoying your trip from the comfort of my chair. The weather looks glorious. I anticipate more photos and stories when we meet this summer.

[Nancy Wood]

Hi!
Great to hear from you and that you are learning the native lingo. Pictures are wonderful...keep them coming. I love this blog thing...it is fun to follow what you are doing. Long family weekend here ...we went up to the cottage...away from the kids!!!

[Lindsay]

Van
Hey guys! Glad to hear you made it safe and sound. What do you think of your van? I like the design and colours a lot.

[paulineanddicknz]

Van
Yes, we like it a lot! I think it is the cutest we have seen on the road so far!

[Ingrid]

Nice van!
Hey, it's good to hear from you. Glad you are well on your way and already enjoying your long awaited time in New Zealand. Had a great weekend in Apsley - not the same I know, but a close second!

[Geoff Stewart]

Nice Van!!!
Great to see you're off and running. Seems like you got one of the "milder" vans based on the photos I saw :)