Today we just sort of relaxed and recharged. There is not too many pictures because I forgot the camera battery charger in Wellington. Fortunately a camera shop was able to recharge it. We were also able to get the wash done and take a nice nap in the afternoon. We went out to one of the Bungy jumping area. No way is this guy going to try it. It looks like fun on TV but in reality, it is a bit much. Tomorrow it is off to Te Anau and then the drive up to the Milford Sound. We are going down to Kingston and take a short train trip on the Kingston Flyer. It is a steam train built around 1915. Kiwi word for the is Loo. This is the bathroom. ... read more

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 8 PM and was awake at 7 AM. Last night, in the rain we gassed up the car and then asked about a grocery store. They sent us 5 K down the road. It stopped ... read more

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 the Kapiti Coast called the Flaming POME. ... read more

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 use the term scheme for plan. They have saving schemes, retirement schemes and business schemes. A section is basically what we call a building lot. There are enough of these that are just sort of ... read more

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 stunning beautiful beach (Petea). There was only one guy and his dog there. ... read more