It's been over two years and we still talk about New Zealand!

The boys, Napoleon and Wilbur are all grown up - they now have their very own Facebook page!!

We miss New Zealand!

Well, we've been back home in San Francisco for almost a week now, but a big part of each of us wishes we were still in New Zealand. Re-entry is always a bitch, but I think we're close to being fully immersed into real life again!

On our final day in Auckland, Jen took a few minutes to write one last blog entry before we headed off to a long lunch with Louis:
We ended up going back to the same place where we had our very first lunch in Auckland: Soul. Our last lunch was just as good as our first, and we enjoyed taking in some final views of Viaduct Harbor:
Then it was off to the airport where we shared more wine with Louis before saying our final goodbyes and then doing a bit of duty free shopping:

Next up for 2009; France, Scotland and Africa.... stay tuned.

Goodbye New Zealand!

So, after 3 weeks exploring this beautiful country, all the while in the company of tons of sheep and lots of wine, our holiday has almost come to an end....in a matter of hours we board the plane back to San Francisco, and by tomorrow afternoon we will be reunited with Napoleon and Wilbur!!
We were sad to leave Queenstown yesterday - it was definitely one of our favorite places of all - and so we bid farewell to the south island over one last delicious lunch in super cute Arrowtown, which was just 14 km outside of Queenstown.



After lunch at great little restaurant called Saffron, we hopped on a flight back up to Auckland, which is where our journey began almost 3 weeks ago. We were greeted at the airport by cousin Louis, and ventured out to enjoy our last night in New Zealand. The three of us enjoyed yet another long dinner together, and as we write this blog now we are off to our last lunch together before our final goodbye to Louis and New Zealand. It has been an amazing trip filled with even more wine and sheep than we could have imagined!

Baaaahhhhhhh

Faster, Higher ... better!

Our first full day in Queenstown brought quite a bit of cheap (sorta) thrills. With a pre-lunch ride up the Shotover River Canyon in a jet boat, it was off to a great start.
Helmet: check. Life jacket: check. Sweaty palms: check. HANG ON!
The ride was ridiculously fast (85mph in 10" of water) with stunts that allowed the boat to graze the protruding rocky sides of the river within inches.
Note that there is no way these boats would ever be allowed to run commercially (or not) in the US as they do here in NZ!

After the jet boat ride we headed to Chard Farm Winery for probably some of the best Pinot Noir and winery experience we've had so far (or maybe the fact that we survived the morning's activities made us appreciate life a little more!). After a tasting and purchasing a case of wine to be shipped back home, we headed back down the narrow trail only to see on the left a little bridge from which NZ's famous bungee activities were in course:click to enlarge

Next stop, the Gibbston Valley Winery for lunch and peek at the neighboring 'cheesery' .. yum!
Fat and happy, we headed back to Queenstown for a ride up the amazingly fast Skyline Gondola - up 1,500 feet at a 37 degree incline! There were gorgeous views all the way up of Lake Wanaka and The Remarkables mountains as the backdrop. Truly unbelievable. Once at the top we strapped on helmets and took in a couple of luge rides - so much fun! The luge track goes right around the edge of the mountain, and those little things get going pretty fast - after 2 rides we were tempted to do a 3rd, but decided to head back down the mountain for dinner...


The final ride down was just as spectacular.

The day ended with an amazing dinner at the Bathhouse Restaurant, lake-side with a sunset.click to enlarge

Dunedin to Queenstown

We left Dunedin for Queenstown, our last stop before heading back to Auckland, under beautiful blue skies. Before leaving we stopped by the Otago Farmers market, which was right behind an impressive train station (photo), to see an amazing array of fresh NZ produce.Click to enlarge

On our drive, we were lucky to finally see some real NZ style sheep herding - notice the dogs (black specs) on this professional grade footage:

Getting closer to Queenstown, the variety of lush plains and mountain peaks covered with low clouds was just beautiful. It was hard to keep your eyes on the road.
Right before arriving in Queenstown, we decided to stop at Carrick Vineyards for our first taste of the Central Otago wines. The winery was pleasant with great wines and lush surrounding gardens surrounded by the majestic mountains. WOW!
Arriving in Queenstown made us realize that we had left the best for the last. Breathtaking town on Lake Wanaka, surrounded by mountains... AND, as yet another bonus, we got to see our first real live kiwi bird right on the side of the lake. They're so much bigger than we thought!! (photo)

The journey:

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Flight of the Albatross

We're now certain that there are no penguins in New Zealand -- we looked everywhere, and this is the only sighting so far:


So to make up for it, we opted to stop by Taiaroa Head, on the tip of the Otago Peninsula, to see the only colony of any albatross species found in the southern hemisphere, the Royal Albatross. With a 10' wingspan, these guys, albeit a bit maladroit, demonstrated how capable they are flying in bad weather.

Here's getting ready to face the bad weather...

A Royal Albatross in-flight -- these guys are large and simply amazing to watch... the photo unfortunately doesn't do their size justice...

... so here's a dummy chart:


Bonus video (actual footage we filmed on location!!!!!!!!):

Finally on the south island

We bid farewell to Wellington, which was a beautiful city - it reminded us a lot of San Francisco and Marin County, and we would have been perfectly happy to have stayed for another night....but we were anxious to hit the south island. So after a short and slightly scary 20 minute flight across Cook Strait at a mere 2,000 feet, our little Cessna landed in the picturesque harbor town of Picton. We set out to visit a couple of wineries - our first of the Marlborough region, which is known for excellent Sauvignon Blancs - before settling into our cute little motel room with the amazing harbor view.

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The following day we headed further south to Kaikoura, hitting a few more Marlborough wineries along the way. It was a gorgeous drive all the way down, with desolate beaches on one side and snow capped mountains on the other. After checking into the Hapuku Lodge, we settled in for a game of Scrabble, some wine and cheese, and took in the breathtaking views (and the sounds of talkative sheep!) that surrounded us. We loved this lodge, and we really wish that we could have stayed for another night.


As we were leaving the following day we started talking to Stanley, the managing partner of the lodge, and found out that he was from San Francisco....and that we have a mutual friend in common...and that Stanley and Alex used to live in the same building in SF - it's such a small world!!



From Kaikoura we continued south to Christchurch, stopping along the way for lunch at the Pegasus Bay Winery, located in the Waipara wine region. Stanley from Hapuku Lodge recommended this place to us, and we are so glad he did! The winery grounds were gorgeous, with rolling hills, lakes and tons of lavender....and, of course, plenty of wine!


Once in Christchurch, we settled into our hotel and started our own little New Year's Eve celebration...a full day earlier than if we were still in the U.S....just one of many reasons why it's great to be ringing in the new year in the southern hemisphere!

North Island Wine trail

Napier to Wellington was quite a nice drive, with lots of sheep and more cows. Rolling green and gold hills and beautiful single lane roads... which just make you want to go a little faster...

and resulted in our first NZ speeding ticket- please note who was driving! The best part of this experience was that Officer Tim Crum ended up helping us navigate our way to local wineries, and he actually gave us his map and business card, asking us to mail the map back to him before we leave the country. This willingness to help is something we've experienced throughout our travels, and it seems to be a trademark of the Kiwis - these people are sooooo nice!! (it's going to be hard to get used to home after this!)

Before making it to Wellington, we stopped in Masterton and Martinborough for some wine tasting at the Gladstone and Vynfields wineries. The Pinot Noir from the latter was excellent!


Our last night on the North island was at a small Hotel called the Ohtel. Owned and managed by an architect who collected impeccable mid-century furniture, all arranged in a very modern space.
Tomorrow, we're crossing to the Southern island, in a Cessna, from the windiest city on earth... "windy welly". argh.


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Waitomo glowworm caves ... and the rabbit

We arrived in Waitomo on the eve of the 26th. We stayed at the Waitomo Caves Hotel, better described in our book as: "if the hotel from the Shining and the Bates Motel had a bastard son, it would be this grand old place. It's creepy even in the daylight...".
They weren't kidding.

The next day, we were off to the Waitomo caves to check out these magnificent glowworms...or as the locals call them: "maggots with glowing bums."
So we embarked on our adventure 200 feet underground equipped with wetsuit, miner's helmet and inner tubes - a good look for both of us, as you an see here:


The Team:



Leaving the cave, we ran across the shearing shed -- you wouldn't think that in a country with 40+ million sheep we would being seeing Angora rabbits, imported from Germany, shorn daily at the only rabbit Shearing Shed in New Zealand. But we did.

Before and during... we didn't stay 'til the end (but i did buy an angora sweater!)


We continued our journey to Napier, which is the beginning of the NZ wine trail. Tomorrow looks to be promising!

Sand Dune Surfing -- the missing video

Jen and Louis racing down one of Te Paki's giant sand dunes (From December 23rd)

Christmas in the sun on Waiheke Island

An hour ferry boat ride away from Auckland is an island where we spent Christmas eve and day. The island is called Waiheke.


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Stayed at a beachfront apartment, with living room windows opening onto Onetangi Bay. Christmas day consisted of a long walk on the beach, a drive around to discover the island, a game of scrabble by the water and quite an amazing dinner at Mudbrick Winery, on top of a hill with Auckland as the backdrop in the distance.



Christmas Game of Scrabble in the sun

View from the pad

Driving around the island -- small roads piercing through the lush land

Dinner at Mudbrick Winery

Sand Dune Surfing...

A couple photos from the sand dune surfing experience -- and a video. Notice the form!


Cousin Louis showing us how it's done



A little smack to help with the fear of heights!


After the 'ride'

3 days in the Northland

We just got back from an amazing 3 day ride to Cape Reinga, the northern tip of the Northern Island. Two days of sunshine, one rainy final day, all on 2 motorcycles. We started our trek from Auckland where we rented the bikes and rode up to our first day destination, Paihia, where we based our camp for the 2 nights. On the way, we had to make an impromptu stop in Mangawhai Heads to wait for a replacement motorcycle for Louis. Yes, one the of BMW's had a 'little' oil issue, and so we decided to play it safe. Not a problem, the new bike arrived in two and a half hours, which was barely enough for a lunch in Mangawhai where we experienced really, really slow service (and unbelievably expensive food!). But it all worked out, and we were soon back on the road. About and hour and a half and 8000 sheep later, we arrived in Paihia where we were now ready to set up camp, find some food and wine! Not much in Paihia, a small vacation town, other than beautiful views out on the bay called the Bay of Islands. Our view from the hotel was quite amazing as you can see from the photo (I tried to get Jen to move out of the way but she was insisting on starting her modeling career right there and then!).



The next morning, we set out for Cape Reinga. What an amazing ride surrounded by beautiful lush greens, sheep, rolling hills, cows, bits of the coastal sea, more sheep and overall amazing windy roads. Our first pit stop was at a old car and tractor "museum" which drew our attention as we blew by it. So we checked it out, and this is where Jen got to pet her first New Zealand sheep and pony!
We then made a final gas-up stop in Awanui, the last place for gas before we engaged into the 90 KM up to the Cape. We also grabbed lunch at the Big River cafe, in Awanui, and were pleasantly surprised by the fast and good food. The river however was a disappointment... t'was a bit dry.
Our next stop up the island was in Te Paki, where we surfed giant sand dunes! It was awesome, and definitely an experience. The dunes were huge and lengthy to climb, but quite a thrill to slide down. Leaving Te Paki, we encountered our first heard of sheep, kept in line by a few good working dogs. Amazing to see these little guys put some order amongst hundreds of sheep!


Click to enlarge

From there, and after a good 10 kilometers of butt clenching off road riding, we made it to the tip of the island, ooh, ah, it's, well the tip of the island.
Back at the hotel that night, we all faded away to some good NZ Pinot noir, only to wake up to rain! It was yet another experience, albeit a good one, riding back from Paihia to Auckland in the rain. But we made it and that night, we treated ourselves to yet our best meal, which was this whole time under our noses, at the Westin's very own Q restaurant.

'night.
J, A, L


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Second day - Piha and Angel Falls

Our first excusion was to Piha to go see a volcanic beach. On the way we made a pit stop and 'tramped' (or hiked) a few kilometers down to a waterfall called Angel Fall. Beautiful day and a good way to get us acquainted with not only NZ's amazing nature, but also with driving on the left side of the road!

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We Made It!

We're finally here! The 13 hour flight was great, and we actually slept for hours. Oh, and the boys decided to come along for the ride, as you can see: