You've read the blog, waded through way too many pictures...now see the videos

Also available (grab some coffee and snacks): little videos of our trip - feeding eels, Sirocco Kakapo, penguins, Kaka & Kea Parrots......click here to go to my channel at YouTube

Last of the pictures added

I undid all the individual links to the albums, so there is now just one link to the whole trip.  I added the last 4 NZ albums (an added bonus: our Napa Halloween).  It's a huge batch of pictures to slog through, but it's something to occupy your time in the middle of the night.
The highlight was our 6 day/5 night trip to Dusky Sound on the Breaksea Girl, I highly recommend the trip-good people.  Lance shares his passion for ridding the area of pests & predators and restoring Fiorland's flora and fauna.
I also updated the map so you can follow our route.
Go to New Zealand!  Now!

Saturday October, 24-Queenstown

Returned Friday afternoon from amazing 6 day journey to Dusky Sound on 64 foot boat Breaksea Girl (including two 3 hour gut wrenching sea passages-but totally worth it). Penguins, dolphins, albatross, seals, waterfalls, podocarps, NZ orchid-I took almost 1,000 pictures (95% of which will be deleted). 3 crew and 9 passengers-an entertaining bunch. Never again will I bemoan of the perils of ferry passages or muddy tracks (trails)-we pulled on our gumboots and trudged through mud, over stumps and tree roots to witness NZ conservation and ecology-see the damage done by the (introduced) stoats, possums & deer; Captain Cook encampments and remote island home of Richard Henry, the fellow who helped find and save the Kakapo. Also saw where the first beer was brewed in New Zealand by Cook and his crew. Truly magical and remote-we encountered only 2 other vessels in Dusky Sound and very few in Doubtful Sound.

Very limited internet so no photos until I get home (Monday!!!)

Stewart Island Photos

Just uploaded Stewart Island photos-sorry about the huge glut of photos but we're in-between 2 five day adventures. Interior of our cottage should be of interest to Andersons. Drove to Milfird Sound today into the rain: eerie. Had some fun with the Kea, mountain parrot another cheeky fellow.

Stewart Island Oct 10-15

Drive to Invercargill:The area between Clyde/Cromwell to Gore (Clutha River Valley?) was a maisma of fruit trees, patches of vegetable crops, fruit stands (mostly closed except for the occasional stand selling cold storage apples). I put it on the list of places to explore next time.

Invercargill to Stewart Island

Everywhere we stopped we traded tales of the ferry ride to Stewart Island across Foveaux Strait; we deduced that the likelihood of a rough ride was almost guaranteed (at least on the trip over, the trip back is generally a bit smoother) and the percentage of seasickness among the passengers ranged from 50-99% and swells up to 10 feet. Luckily it’s a quick hop from Bluff/Invercargill, only an hour, but it seems to take forever. We opted for the plane flight this time since we had the ferry experience in March 08 (seasickness=60%, swells=8 feet). And the plane takes just 20 minutes!

I have to say the plane option in exciting in its own way. The young fellow that checked us in (and was skeptical that our luggage would fit in the luggage/freight compartment), also called our flight, took the boarding passes, sardined us into the plane and then climbed into the cockpit and flew us to Stewart Island. He looked very much like our son-in-law Arthur. The plane had less room than a mini-van, so we were knee to head with our fellow 9 passengers (one passenger sat next to the pilot). The weather during our stay was generally wet (showers/rain) and two days it was quite windy prompting gale warnings in the forecast. I was somewhat comforted to see the Stewart Island Air planes soldiered on and braved all weathers.

That’s what makes Stewart Island so unique: everyone has to make a special effort to get here to explore wild the southern edge of civilization. The provisions in the store depend on what happens to make it over on the supply boat. The Kiwi birds here (Stewart Island Kiwi) are also seen in the daytime (so they say).

Oban, the one town on Stewart Island, reminds me of Inverness in West Marin. A one-store town, 3 or 4 restaurants, funky hotel/pub/restaurant overlooking Halfmoon Bay and other accommodations scattered about the hilly town. Our cottage is very much like a mini version of the Anderson Inverness cottage with a few exceptions: it is heated by a coal/wood burning stove (also used to heat the water, although when the stove is not in use the water is electrically heated),water is from a catchment system-totally dependent of rainfall (true for the whole island) and there are few roads. There are a surprising number of cars about considering that getting out of third gear would be something to celebrate. Only 20 km (13 miles) of paved roads.

A vast majority of the island is a National National Park: Rakiura National Park , famously known for the challenging multi-day hikes offered. Our 7 hour hike yesterday was rewarding in it’s beauty & isolation (we saw only 3 other people slogging along), we sighted a green New Zealand parakeet and stumbled upon a seal sleeping in some bush near Kaipipi Bay. About half-way though our hike I noticed the asterisk next to the description of our hike in my DOC “Day Walks” pamphlet, the asterisk designated the possibility of a particularly muddy hike. And it was. It seems most hikers just trudged (or mucked) straight thorough the muddy patches. Once again our trekking poles were mighty handy.

Kakapo Encounter: Ever since our last visit to Stewart Island I’ve been intrigued by the Kakapo: a very large endangered, flightless parrot. A few weeks each year one is brought to Ulva island bird sanctuary for the public to view. The rest of the Kakapo population lives on Codfish island, off Stewart Island (public not allowed). They take extra care that the new chicks imprint on Kakapo but Sirocco imprinted on humans (he likes to hump legs and heads). Very friendly and intelligent. So we boarded our boat at about 7:30 pm for a 30 ride out to Ulva Island-fortunately it was rather calm. Our group was smallish, only about 12 people, and we hiked about 20 minutes on paths and then through the bush to the secret Kakapo enclosure (he’s behind plexiglass). We had about 45 mintues with him and Karen, his cheerful handler who filled us in on all things Kakapo. An extra bonus: little blue penguin by the dock on our return trip.

October 9th ?

What day is this? Last heard from leaving Golden Bay... on Monday, October 5 and it was probably raining.

Another mad dash ‘over the hill’ back to Picton to catch the train to Christchurch. Just as we were leaving Takaka at about 8:17 a.m. we spied a hitchhiker on the side of the road in full bagpiper regalia: bagpipe, kilt, jacket, knee socks, long hair. First hitchhiker we’ve seen this trip, but we were in some kind of frenzy to reach Picton and not certain of road conditions (there was frost on the ground and fresh snow on the mountain peaks) and how long the drive would take in Kathi & Bill time, so we didn’t stop. We keep looking for him. We took the scenic route that skirted Queen Charlotte Sound: very, very windy (like a snake) but great views of the sound. Arrived with about 1/2 hour to spare.

We could see fresh snow on the mountain tops in Golden Bay and all the way to Kaikoura on our train trip. The train runs parallel to the shore for a long stretch, the rocks were dotted with seals.

Christchurch was a shock to the senses, big city traffic and busyness. The next morning we managed to navigate out of that maze (got turned around in the same spot as our last attempt to flee the city). Like so many cities it takes forever to leave, the little towns runtogether into one long block of stores, dairys (7-11 mini-marts), petrol stations and stop lights and round abouts. Back to the land of braided rivers, sheep, deer (raised for food), cattle, tiny towns with toilets. Stopped in Geraldine in search of real bread (no luck) but an older gentleman was sitting in a chair on the sidewalk playing an accordion for general ambiance.

Lake Tekapo: when the sun in shining the lake is an otherworldy blue due to suspended stone flour (sediment) in the water. I tried to capture the color in my photos on the 1.5 sunny days were had (out of 3).The night sky is exceptionally clear (when there are no clouds or storms), it is so unusual that there is a movement afoot to have the sky above Lake Takapo declared a national park. The town takes pains to limit their ambient light for the Mt. John Observatory which is just minutes from town. Our accommodation was on a slight hill overlooking the town and lake, even with evening neighborhood lights were were awed by the sky, I just wanted to lie down on the cold, cold ground and stare up into the eye of the universe.

We explored Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park, down around and up the highway a bit. We only had time for a short hike to Kea Point, trudging in fresh air, sun, snowy peaks ahead and bonus of hearing mini- avalanches and small chunks of the glacier breaking away. A few times we were lucky enough to see the event. We met a jolly fellow from London, Luke, who is traveling around the world and whipping out a chicken hat at every photo op.

Woke up this morning to SNOW, big flakes floating down and melting on the ground, I was a little concerned because we had a long, long drive ahead of us, through a pass or two. We did see freshly dusted mountains and well covered peaks but aside from occasional downpours we had a pleasant drive to Invercargill. Tomorrow off the Stewart Island for 5 days and an encounter with the majestic Kakapo.

Thursday 10/1 Monday 10/5

Nelson to Golden Bay

The drive between Nelson and our lodging (Adrift in Golden Bay- near Tukaka) winds behind Able Tasman National Park and what the locals call “over the hill”. Cows, sheep, more orchards, forests, little communities, we felt like we were in a desolate area but it gets quite crowded in the summer due to amazing beaches along Golden Bay and tramping (hiking & backpacking) in the many parks.

Our first night, anxious to try the beer at the local pub, we happened to stumble into the Mussel Inn on Quiz Night. During the summer, holiday-makers take over the pub so the locals stay away, tonight not many tourists in sight. Locals of all ages filled the pub, we almost felt like intruders but were soon incorporated into the team at our table. There was a fire place at one end of the room and tables of various sizes so folks can eat and drink with their mates (or strangers). The game lasted through our meal and a few beers beyond and consisted of many local questions (What is the latitude of Collingwood?) to more general (Who was the second man to step onto the moon?)-our team did pretty well, 3rd or 4th place out of perhaps 12 and we actually helped with a few correct answers.

Walking from our car to our fine little cottage we heard eerie scheeches in the bush. Having just heard the sound of Kiwis at an exhibit at Tongariro National Park, Bill plunged into the dark on a Kiwi hunt. I didn’t think Kiwis were in the area but just that morning read about blue penguins on the accommodation property. The mystery was solved the next morning when Gordon, our host, took us out beyond their garden to the penguin nesting boxes that he’s built and carefully lifted the lid. Inside was a little blue penguin sitting on her/his chick (they take turns going out to sea to feed). The penguin seemed unconcerned about us having a look and we could almost see the chick. Gordon was pleased at how plump they both were. he said last year was a bad year and the parents left the chicks early. He placed the nesting boxes near a stream that runs down to the ocean so the penguins could swim up to the nesting boxes; walking all that way (200 yards?) was hard work for the little birds.

It turned into a another cold, showery day so we visited “The Dead Possum” a cafe and possum skin store. It seems possum skins make good lampshades and that seems about it; their fur incorporated into yarn for sweaters and socks. We found a trailhead across from the cafe (lots of wild meat on the menu) and hoped to return on a dry day for a hike.

t turned into a another cold, showery day so we visited “The Dead Possum” a cafe and possum skin store. It seems possum skins make good lampshades and that seems about it; their fur incorporated into yarn for sweaters and socks. We found a trailhead across from the cafe (lots of wild meat on the menu) and hoped to return on a dry day for a hike.

Tame Eels!

The next day started off bright (as they say) but soon deteriorated into showers but still a fine day to visit the tame eels. Before feeding the eels we were given little sacks of animal feed and set out into a barnyardy area to feed llamas, bunnies, cows, sheep, pigs, ducks, chickens, emu? Ostrichs? Rheas? Cape Bering Goose, etc. After that sad affair I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as eel feeding goes: in a tank? a trough? could we pet them? We were given 2 slender sticks and 2 little containers of tiny chunks of meat.

It turned very cold and overcast. On the north island snow stranded 700 motorists on the highway between Napier and Taupo (highway we drove a few weeks ago) and we saw new snow on the higher hills around Golden Bay.

Thursday, 10/1

Visited the World of Wearable Art and Classic Car Museum on our way out of Nelson. You can eyeball past entries and winning outfits (‘costume’ does not really do justice to the artworks). There were a few choice examples of the Bizarre Bra contest and the glow-in-the-dark winners. Unfortunately photography is not allowed. We enjoyed some coffee - ok here is where I explain New Zealand ‘coffee’ which is actually espresso. If you’d like a simple cup of coffee-good luck! A cup of coffee is called filter or plunger coffee and is readily available at any Starbucks, which we refuse to patronize. Otherwise the choices are: short black, long black, flat white, mochachino (or some variation on mocha). All different ways to down your espresso (one shot; one shot with hot water; with milk; and chocolate). Sometimes Americano which is like the long black but somehow different-more water?).

Bill is learning to appreciate the long/short black and I'm a flat white kinda gal. Rainy with bandwidth problems, have masses of pictures to upload, but maybe when we get to Christchurch (the big city)?

Wednesday 9/30

Ferry to Picton

Ahhh the south island, less hustle and bustle, less traffic (although what traffic there is is usually right on your tail). Once again dazzled by greens, apple orchids on the verge of full blossom, tree ferns, manuka & kanuna trees and rainbows.

Mad evening dash to Nelson after an annoying rental car snafu (by the way, New Zealanders are quite helpful and cheery to visitors in distress). I managed to navigate our way back to The House of Ales where we had a fine mussel dinner in 2006, the only problem was their stock of local ales was woefully depleted this visit.

Monday & Tuesday 9/28 & 9/28

Wellington:

Good ol’ Wellington: rainy, bustling and the best street art in NZ (stenciling and other stuff). The graffiti murals and stenciling remind me of Kansas City around the Art Institute. This was our fourth visit and we’re still stumbling upon hidden nooks and crannies, doorways and alleys. I'll upload street art photos as soon as I get more bandwidth........

WOW (World of Wearable Art) Show: Vegas meets Fiber Arts. Show opened with 2 Catherine Schoen characters (Napa Library folk know who I mean) then showcased World of Wearable Art competition finalists and winners: bizarre feast for the eyes. For more see worldofwearableart.com - Kat & Kris must see! Some past winning outfits are displayed though out Welllington, I tried to get a few pictures but not much luck due to glass and lighting challenges.

Sunday 9/27

Daylight savings time began last night much to everyones confusion.

Todays journey: Whakapapa Village (Torgariro National Park) through Ohakune (Carrot capital) and Taihape (gumboot capital) to Palmerston North.

Four things about Palmerston North

1. “If you ever want to kill yourself, but lack the courage, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick.” - John Cleese

2. There is a rubbish dump in Palmerston North named after John Cleese. (Info for 1 & 2 from Lonely Planet).

3. Two wind-farms near the edge of town.

4. Manawatu Gorge.

Bandwidth is really limited at the moment so I can't post any new pictures.

Saturday 9/26

On the trail by 10:30 (early for us) up to Taranaki Falls and beyond. Due to a very wet winter (and recent rainfall) trails are wet and sloshy & sloggy and generally a mess . Bill is gallantly carrying the backpack so I can travel without any added weight (darn problematic knees). We appreciate our trekking poles mightily while navigating mud, rocks, tussocks, soggy alpine ground and washed out trails. At noon Mt. Ruapehu, Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe are swathed in lingering clouds, but by late afternoon their white peaks poking out of the clouds. The souls of the mountain are depleted due to frenzied photographers.

Friday, 9/25

First off I purchased a new hat for my collection but it is also a very practical hat: oiled-cloth lined with fleece, and the fleece can be pulled down to become ear warmers so it also makes quite a fashion statement. Did an pleasant afternoon hike in the showery weather along a stream and decided to continue hiking up the trail we had hiked in 2006, returned about 7 pm Decided to spend an extra day hoping for clearing skies and views of the mountains. Eggs & toast for dinner (not much selection at the motor park store). Stopped at the Skotel (only other alternative for the area) and reserved a room for the next evening. (Worst motel room yet).

Thursday, 9/24 Turangi to Tongariro National Park

Stopped at the Torgariro National Trout Centre on our way to Tongariro National Park (spur of the moment decision). The place to be for everything Trout: lifecycle, food, spawning, enemies, friends, casting techniques, flies (fishing flies), hatchery, stripping pens (where females are milked for their eggs), rearing ponds, children catching trout, Bill feeding trout. All in the pouring rain (except the videos and displays). A renovation was underway, the workmen undeterred by the rain continued working in shorts and woolen jacket-shirts. Shorts on men seems to be the norm all over NZ, no matter how blustery or rainy and if shoes are not absolutely necessary: flip-flops or bare feet.

Arrived Tongariro National Park and Bayview Chateau Tongarario, a hotel in the grand National Park style. We chose the Fergusson Motel Units “the economic option for people looking for casual accommodation” (read: funky ), located behind the Grand Dame Hotel. The room was about 50 degrees, so we fired up the gas heater, did some laundry (we had our own washer & dryer), and played poker most of the afternoon. Cloud cover is blocking the awesome views

Wednesday 9/23: Turangi

Long walk along the Tongariro River Walkway in showery weather, from Major Jones Bridge to Red Hut Bridge and return (pedestrian suspension bridges). A few anglers wading in the pools patiently casting for the elusive trout. Catching a trout really doesn’t seem to be the point, just moseying along the riverbank from pool to pool: rainy, wind-no matter. a solitary activity. Becoming one with the river, noseying into the eddies, wandering the lush banks, - a satisfying day. Standing in freezing water tying flies to cast.

The headline news: Obama chatting with the NZ prime minister John Key, not once but twice (!), at the UN General Assembly. Look for John Key on the Letterman Show.

Look! Pictures!

Here they are (on the right).

Bay of Poverty, Hawkes Bay, Lake Taupo and beyond

Sept 23 Turangi

Raining, 8 degrees (about 47 Fahrenheit)

OK, I’ve downloaded Picassa. It’s beta for Macs so there is a learning curve and quirkiness to deal with. I’m re-captioning all the pictures so hang in there, I’ll post them when in the next few days (if wireless networks can handle the upload-really slow and problematic by our US standards but fine for email).

Day before yesterday was the first day of spring here, sunny but much cooler than our first few days. The roads are lined with trees just beginning to leaf-out adding a light, airy and magical quality to our drives.

Sept 19 Gisborne (Poverty Bay): Cap’t Cook extravaganza! First place the good Captain and his men set foot in New Zealand, Nick’s Head: white cliffs named for Young Nick who was the first crew member to sight land. Had a stroll around and a chat with 2 local car buffs after admiring their classic Mercedes.

Sept 20 Napier (Hawkes Bay) Napier is known for it’s Art Deco buildings. The town was destroyed by an 7.8 earthquake in 1931. Today the architecture is somewhat marred by commercial signs & empty businesses but a pleasant stroll, an award winning loo and sweeping views of the bay. Hawkes Bay ares is known for wines and the drive to Taupo passed by in a haze of forests, orchards, shorelines, sheep, cows, rivers, streams, not many petrol stations, and fairly light traffic. Arrived at Lake Taupo late in the afternoon on the 21st. Lake is huge and deep,the islands and peninsulas shrouded in the clouds and mists of early evening gave it a mystical feel.

Turangi : so far our favorite place. The little town is situated at southern end of Lake Taupo: Trout Fishing Capitol of the World. Rainbow trout were imported from California (a bit of a controversy as to exactly where in California) and the brown trout came from Europe. You can’t purchase trout to eat in a store or restaurant, you must catch them (restaurants very willing cook your catch). We stumbled upon Creel Lodge and a cozy self-contained unit with our own grove of Redwood trees which we immediately booked for 2 nights. After stocking up at the local market we had an early evening walk along the Tongariro River. Bill is not in touch with his manly hunting/fishing instincts so trout was not on our dinner menu. It’s fly fishing only on this stretch of the river with lots of fishermen rules & etiquette to follow. A few lone fisherman were wading out in the pools casting and reeling, we did not see any sign of fish. Our first home cooked meal: poached lemonfish (? apparently a large fish judging from the fillet size), baked kumara (a sweet potato, Maori staple), NZ asparagus, salad, NZ beer. This morning our host came by wearing a Sausalito Yacht Club hat-it turns out he’s quiet a sailor. He’s likes to pull our legs but he calls it “having a piss”. I’ll have to remember to use that one when I get home.

What the US could learn from NZ

1. Roundabouts: once you get the hang of them they are easy to use and if you miss your turn or are still getting oriented, you can go round again (and again and again). Great for U-turns.
2. All motels have little refrigerators, electric kettles, coffee plungers (french press), tea & coffee and milk (generally your choice of full fat, trim or skim) . Microwaves & cooking hobs (stovetop or hot plate) for preparing meals are usually available as well.
3. Public toilets are everywhere, well marked and can be downright spiffy. I should add that some are just marginally above pit toilet quality (but they flush and are well stocked with toilet paper), others (“super loo”) might charge 20 cents and may offer showers for an additional charge. And then there are the automated toilets which we haven’t tried this trip (yet).
4. Electrical outlets with individual on/off switches (on the faceplace next to each outlet)
5. Motels with key fobs that turn off all electricity to room when removed from slot (just inside door).
6. Mattress warmers: although the control unit is usually shoved under the mattress so there is some hide and seekiness and plugs needs to be plugged in and the outlet turned on.

Our Drive around the East Cape (North Island): Whakatane to Opotiki to Waikawa B & B (near Kereu River) around the cape to Gisboborne. Note: very confusing to see the sun set from the west side of the East Cape).

Weather continued fine though Saturday morning, t-shirt weather. Stopped to explore Opotiki, a town I would consider Old New Zealand: a dilapidated but colorful downtown, many Maori live in the area thus a Maori carving in the main downtown roundabout. One of the best ways to get to know a new environment is to forget an essential item or become fixated on something you suddenly must have: in our case it was the frozen jell units for our thermal food bag. This lead to a discussion with a fellow in the sporting good store about whitebait (catching, eating and just what are whitebait?). They are little fishes mixed with lots of eggs, like a fish omelet with mini-fish. The fish get lost in the eggs. Also tried mussel fritters, which beat the whitebait hands down. The ‘chips’ were good old-fashioned English chunky style.

I decided that because we are in no hurry and our souls are still lingering over Hawaii or Vanuatu that we shouldn’t drive the whole East Cape in one day so booked a B&B on a whim. Accommodations, food, and (a surprise to us) fuel are in short supply on the drive-many places shut down for the winter or maybe just the economy? Our B&B was a delightful retreat. Russ & Shirley own narrow lot that runs from the ‘highway’ down to the sea which they’ve filled with sheep, fruit trees, poppies, a frangipani tree (on the verge of blooming), forget-me-knots, tropical shrubs & trees, a fish pond, streams and an eclectic array of rooms & a ‘bach’ (a small holiday house). Tui’s & bellbirds flitted and swooped about entertaining us with their unusual calls. Russ & Shirley were the best kind of B & B hosts-willing to chat and full of local information but left us alone to explore. The highlight (beside the Tui’s & bellbirds) was watching a pod of Orcas swimming up the coast this morning, Shirley said that they’d never seen them swim that close to their property but alas they didn’t linger in the little bay. Up the coast a bit is a bay with rocks that the Orca like to use as backscratchers. I believe the Orca brough our souls back to us, we’re much more ourselves today.

Late in the day we came upon 2 plots of redwood trees growing along the road, each about 5 acres. Bill, using his lumberjack skills, estimated the age of the bigger trees to be about 50 years old.

Day 1 & 2, still recovering

Note: I will attach pictures when I can, the wireless scheme here is based on bytes and not time - actually I’m not sure what that really means. I will also try to link to GoogleMaps.

Day one: arrivng in Tauranga, napping and walking. Welcome to the land of dual- flush toilets (a flush ‘lite’ for liquids and a power flush for larger objects) so simple and civilized.

Highlights: tree sized Rhododendrons interspersed with cactus and succulents in parks and home gardens. A dead saguaro cactus in a park, was meant to ba prized and unusual specimen apparently was not acclimated to NZ . Other gnarly cacti surviving nicely, carved with initials to immortalize love an/or tourism. Palms, giant nasturtiums trailing hillsides, rosemary, azaleas, camellias, anise, monarch (?) butterfly, bulbs abloom. It’s such a treat arrive in a land of green hillsides and colorful blossom confetti on the sidewalks. Found our first Kauari tree, hope to see more.

First meal was fish & chips made with amazing fresh fish. We could have had a choice of many things and chips (mussels, oysters, etc). Or mutton-bird.

Time travel: It is a strange sensation to suddenly arrive halfway around the world without really experiencing the journey, deprived of many sensations of change or travails of a long journey (other than the nuisance of air travel and sleep deprivation). Voila! A body magically inhabits a land thousands of miles away, where winter is just ending and they drive on the left.

Day 2: My spirit has not found my body yet, it’s wandering around high above the pacific ocean, I hope. Still dazed but we slept well. Luckily our obstructed-view hotel room (read: patio facing a wall with some visible sky) was quiet and light-proofed-perfect for sleeping without the distraction of a bay vista. Tauranga is a port city with bays and estuaries and a complicated relationship to Mt. Maunganui (so it seems with a fuzzy brain); it is easy to become disoriented. With 3 cups of coffee to snap our brain synapses into some kind of order we picked up our rental car and navigated our way south. Bill drove like he was born left-handed. Currently ensconced in a cinderblock motel on the outskirts of Whakatane listening for bellbirds and drinking NZ wine. Good to know that one is limited to 50 mussels and 15 paua (like abelone) if one is fishing. There is an active volcanic island (White Island) that is available for a exploration with the one company that has a permit to escort visitors, they also provide you with a hard hat and gas mask. But we will press on to the East Cape.

The weather is gloriously warm (high 60’s) and sunny with fluffy clouds. Not bad for late winter, except for the rain on our way to dinner just now. Stars are back out, guiding us back home.

Coming soon: Live from New Zealand

Will we meet a real kiwi bird this time?

Rejoining the blog-o-sphere

OK, I'm coming up for air to share the fun with relatives and friends in a non-Facebook venue. Now I don't feel so exposed 'cause I'm too shy and self-conscious to post anything other than photos on Facebook, it's like talking in front of class only worse. I'll try and coax Molly and Debbie into this little world too. What am I reading? Eating? Dreaming? Had a fine walk with Chris and Becky this afternoon exploring the "new & improved" Napa. I like to pretend I'm from another country and view the Napa Valley with outsider eyes. OK, I have to admit this is not a place that would beckon me if I didn't have relatives in the area. Too much contrived tourist based economy (eat this! buy me!) and not enough open space/water to explore. We seem to stumble on all the hidden trails and back alleys wherever we go, not to mention local breweries. I'll have to finish this on my other computer (with all the jpeg files) to add pictures of the wanderings.
No cats left, just the giant feeder goldfish in the backyard pond and our resident towhees, blue jays and whatever critters are eating the tomatoes. (mammals).