We are in Tauranga

Hurray! I got my camera back. There was a note attached to it that said that a couple with an accent left it there the night before. If you ask me , they have the funny accent. Anyway, we got up to the same wind and rain as the night before and the forecast didn't look good for most of the country. So we decided to get out of Wellington and head north. After about 15 minutes of driving the rain stopped and from then on we had a mix of sun and cloud and warm temperatures. Lucky us. We had heard that Taupa was a good place so that is where we decided to spend the night. We got a great motel right across from Lake Taupa and right around the corner from a neat British style pub (just to make Ian feel at home). And I swear to god that while I was in reception registering the skies opened up and in no time at all the streets were flooding. I asked the lady at the desk if the weather had been changeable that day, she said "Oh no! it's been so hot this is a relief" I wanted to jump over the desk and throttle her. At least the pub was close enough that we only got moderately wet. Too bad because it really was a beautiful spot.

Got up this morning again to rain so decided to move on again. We arrived at Wai-O-Tapu where all the thermal pools and boiling mud pools,etc. are at about 1:00. We no sooner got inside where they sell the tickets and downpour again so we decided against spending all that money to wander around in the rain. Carried on to Rotorua and had a nice Japanese lunch. By the time we finished lunch the sun was out and it was hot and steamy so back we went to Waimangu Volcanic Valley and saw some thermal pools and boiling mud pools for free. By this time of the day it was not possible to take the expensive tours. Again, lucky us.

On the road again to Tauranga. We have a motel right across from the water again AND it's not raining! Had a nice prawn, scallop and chip dinner. We just watched the forecast for tomorrow and it looks like it will improve start to improve. Monday and Tuesday look brilliant--- we leave on Wednesday. Hopefully we'll get one more beach day.

We have decided to stay here for two days and do some side trips. We aren't far from the Bay of Plenty so that should be interesting.

The Santa Claus parade is on Saturday so maybe we'll take that in. We're starting to look forward to coming home. 

Ola` (just getting ready for Mexico)

Linda and Ian

P.S. I don't believe it ---It's raining again!!!! #*@#**

Greetings from Windy Wellington1

Nothing lasts forever does it? We spent our last night on the south island in Picton, which is another little gem. It's a tiny little place nestled on the shores of the Tasman Sea and surrounded by mountains. The day we arrived had been hot and sunny but by the time we got settled into our motel and went to find dinner ( in a little Irish pub) it had started to rain. We went for a walk to Shelley beach after dinner to do a little beach combing. They have this long bridge that goes over the marina from the town to the beach that the locals call the coat hanger. I got some great pictures of Ian on it. As everyone knows, Ian doesn't do bridges. We also stopped by the local R.S.A. club for a drink and had a good chat with a few of the locals. They are all so welcoming. They just come over to find out who you are and where you are from. It was the first time anyone knew right off the bat that we were Canadians.

So, it poured rain all night and blew a gale. too bad we left the windows down on the car. The plan was to do more beach combing in the morning. There is beautiful Paua (abalone) shell everywhere for sale but I want to find my own on the beach. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. The ferry didn't leave until 2:00 p.m. so we had quite a bit of time to kill. We were very disappointed in the ferry crossing also as we had hoped to get good pictures of the scenery but you couldn't even see a horizon. The crossing took 4 hours instead of 3 1/2 I guess due to the roughness of the waters. While on the ferry I discovered that I had lost one of my gold hoop earrings. I informed them on the boat and I retraced my steps but it could have fallen out anywhere.

When we arrived in Wellington (now we know why they call it Windy) the weather was of course terrible. Ian said it made Orkney look like Palm Springs. (A bit of an exaggeration) We went the Fireman's club for a pizza dinner and then back to our motel for an early night. When we got back to our room I found that I had left my camera in the club.  I sent an e-mail right away and we will go there right away when they open Hopefully it's still there. We were the last people to leave so it should be. What a day!

Today we are going to head north looking for better weather, although it doesn't look very good anywhere. Hopefully we'll see Rotarua in the next day or so.

Chow for now.

We may not come home!!!

O.K. This is paradise. After driving through Blenheim, which was lovely, but it was miles upon miles of vineyards. Not that I have anything against vineyards, but we decided to stay in Nelson. Lucky us! I don't know where to start. There are mountains behind us, ocean two minutes away, great shops and pubs, beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures. The population is small and they are very friendly. In some ways it reminds us of parts of B.C. Someone said to us today that they have friends that go to B.C. every winter and that B.C. is like New Zealand on steroids and I think that is a good analogy. We are just really getting into this holiday (poor us) and we have to leave the day after tomorrow. Today we went to a little beach called Kaiteriteri. About the only thing to do there is swim, take cruises and kayak. So we decided to rent kayaks. We had a fabulous time. Saw our very first penguins in the wild. They are the smallest variety of penguins. (Blue penguins) Anyway, we don't want to leave. We thought that we would never come back but now we are trying to think of ways to get back in a more affordable way. House exchange maybe. So we would never do Australia again but would come straight to the south island of New Zealand.

This place has the highest concentration of artisans and craftsmen in New Zealand. After our kayak and swim we stopped at a gallery run by a Maori man who comes from a long line of jade carvers. Had a good chat with him. He has a friend that comes to Nelson every winter. Also, the guy that rented us the kayaks has friends ( also Ian and Linda) that come to Fernie every winter. They ski all day and drive taxi at night. Some life!

Anyway, I can't think of anyone who wouldn't love New Zealand, but I keep thinking of my brother Craig and how much he would enjoy this place. You too Judy. Wonderful jewellry!

So tomorrow we are off to Picton to catch the ferry the following day for Wellington on the north island. Boo Hoo, I don't want to leave but hopefully we will find some hidden treasures there as well. We hope to meet up with Brenda and Basil's friends Ingrid and Tom in Wellington and get some good tips from them. Rotarua is a must see but other than that we are just going to explore.

Hope everyone at home is well. Look forward to seeing you all. ( well, maybe a little)

P.S. Have you ever seen bikinis and Christmas trees in the same window display?

Love to all

Linda and Ian

Kaikoura

Arrived in a seaside village called Kaikoura at about 4:30 this afternoon. It was beautiful and sunny for about 15 minutes. Then the clouds moved in and a bit of rain. The lady at the motel said it had been 27 earlier in the day. What a surprise!. Anyway, this is one of those places that would look beautiful in any kind of weather. Right across the street from us is the most beautiful, turquoise ocean you could imagine. Kaikoura is popular for whale and dolphin watching. The beaches are quite rocky so I don't imagine they swim a lot here, but I know that there is some surfing and diving. They also have a pool right beside the beach. Quite a nice lifestyle.

 We have done a lot of driving the last two days. We left Gore Tuesday morning and drove pretty much all day. We spent the night in a little place called Omarama, which is well known for it's gliders. Apparently the thermals there are great. The scenery as well was spectacular. Beautiful mountains with lots of wildflowers,( more lupens and wild broom than I have ever seen in my life) and then huge open ranges with sheep or deer. New Zealand is a beautiful country that really does remind us of B.C. but without the traffic and people.

Tomorrow we are heading for Blenheim, which is wine country on the northeast coast of the south island. We will then decide whether to stay in Blenheim, Nelson or Picton. Picton is where we catch the ferry to go to the north island on the 26th and we are really looking forward to staying in one place for maybe three days or so. Also, I wouldn't mind a little poking around in the shops time.

So, G'day til later.

Linda

We're in Gore

Well, we think everyone is wrong. The drive south from Christchurch to Dunedin and then west to Gore was stunning. For starters, the weather started out cool and cloudy but the further south we travelled the better it got. After about the first hour the sun was shining and it just got warmer and warmer. By the time we got to Dunedin and Gore it was 26 degrees. We had heard how flat the terrain was but it is much more scenic and rolling than Australia. There are sheep and cattle ranches the whole way down. We followed the ocean for much of the way and mountains were almost always visible in the distance. We stopped for a picnic lunch at a beach in a small place called Hampden. There is hardly any traffic on the roads down here and what there is is very courteous. Truck drivers pull over to let you pass and everything. It's like going back in time. We found a great little motel in Gore that is just a short walk to a lovely pub (are there any other kind?). Went for the worst Thai dinner we have ever had. So hot it almost choked me to death. It was even to hot for Ian. The lady gave us free ice cream to cool us down. Anyway, Ian said I get to choose the restaurant next time. It won't be Thai I can tell you!

So, off to Matauri, Queenstown and parts further north tomorrow. No definite plans.
Talk soon.
G'day Mates

Akaroa

Today we took a trip over to Akaroa which is about an hour and a half from Christchurch. Unfortunately it was a fairly cloudy, cool day (14 degrees). But the scenery was lovely. Rolling hills, lots of sheep and cattle farms. The last 10kms.  into Akaroa was a really twisty, winding road but the view on the descent into the village made it worth it. We had a great lunch in a restaurant that was an old converted house. We sat outside on the verandah under cover to eat because by that time it had started to rain. It was a gentle rain and it had warmed up to about 18 degrees. Also, the gardens were beautiful. We were surrounded by trees and every colour of rose that you could think of. It was like an English country garden except that there were also some tropicals. The village is right on the ocean and is full of neat shops and eateries. A tourist trap of course. It's going to take Ian a while to get over paying $1.69 for a garlic bulb.

So we bought groceries to make a stir-fry for dinner tonight. Getting tired of restaurant food. We plan on making an early night of it as we would like to be on the road by 8:00 tomorrow morning. The plan is to head straight down to Gore ( I know --nobody has heard of it) which is almost at the bottom of the south island. Everyone has advised us to skip it because there is nothing there, but, it is the place that my mother's relatives emmigrated to and Ian wants to see it. We'll find out if everyone is right. Then on to Queenstown  and then work our way back up to Picton to take the ferry over to Wellington on the 26th. Time is going quickly-- hard to believe we only have just over two weeks left.

So, Cheers until next time!

Back in New Zealand

We arrived in New Zealand at 11:15 and got to our hotel at about 12:30 am.  We mistakenly thought that there was a meal included in the flight as there was one on the flight from New Zealand to Australia. WRONGO! So we shared a sandwich at the Rower's club at 12:30, had a drink at the airport and boarded the flight at 6:20---landed in New Zealand at 11:15---arrived at our motel at 12:30. So, we had 6 cookies( that I had saved from various motels--Ian thought I was nuts!) and a cup of tea before bed. Picked up our car in the morning, found our motel (a real gem--great people and a great facility) and went to tour Christchurch. What a disaster! We didn't realize the devastation from the earthquake.
Went to our local which turned out to be fabulous. Did laundry while Ian Veg'd at Bailies Pub. Met a young man from Glasgow who has come to work in the reconstruction of Christchurch. A REAL TREAT. He recognised Ian's shirt as being a Scotland football one and we struck up a good conversation. Invited him to Canada and offered Vince and Ruth's place as a good place to stay. We have decided that we will spend the day tomorrow going to Akaroa which was the advice of our Japanese host. We would have loved to see Christchurch in more detail but it no longer exists. Looking forward to tomorrow and days beyond. We feel much more comfortable in New Zealand and things are good. Laundry done, wine well drunk and our rental car has so many dings that we have no fear of driving.

PS -  If we had to give the trip a title so far we would call it "the weather was good yesterday". Every time we arrive in a place they tell us just how good it was "yesterday". (for instance yesterday it was 27 degrees here in Christchurch and today it is 16 and windy. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

G'day Mates
Talk soon