Week 1 - Day 2 - Raglan Coast

We woke to pouring rain. It was four in the morning, but with the time change our bodies were quite mixed up. I went back to bed.

Alan navigated the seriously narrow gravel coastal road south of Raglan. We spent the day driving down the coast past Whale Bay on Wainui Road, which was a very narrow gravel road.

Alan has certainly become a local with his driving. The speed limit is 100 km on narrow windy roads.

Luckily for the curves it is posted to slow down to 35. The back seat passenger has found it was a bit challenging taking photos out the windows. It was often too narrow to pull over often.

The scenery was beautiful with sharp hills, orange soil outcrops, limestone cliffs and the most amazing flora and limited fauna.

We have seen very interesting black and white birds, like the crow, but not like the Calgary Magpies. Also, we have seen hawks, rabbits, wild turkeys and many pheasants.

I thought there would be sheep everywhere here in New Zealand. For the last two days we have hardly seen any sheep. Oh, I did see one sheep on the front porch of a house and Alan saw sheep on a golf course. We stopped to chat with the golfers and they explained that it makes money for the club and saves money on green's upkeep - cutting grass and fertilzer.

There seems to be more cattle here in New Zealand. Their milking parlours for the dairy herds are outdoors!

At lunch we had Lamb and Mint potato chips...eat

your heart out Andrew!

We finished the day at Bridal Veil Falls. These falls were 150 feet in height. The area is almost pre-historic when you see the plants. The tall Fern Trees are unbelieveable.

Week 1 - Day 1 - New Zealand

The adventure has begun.

Peter arrived at our house at 11:30 we left just after 12 for the airport. Our flight was on time and we arrived in San Francisco at about 6:45. We quickly found our way to the International departure gate. Air New Zealand was wonderful. Even though it was a 14 hour flight it felt much shorter as it was a night flight and most passengers slept.

I was worried about customs as I had brought gluten free foods. The customs or bio-security was not concerned with the food, they were more concerned with the tent Alan brought. It had to be sent off to be tested for infectious hazards. Other than this small obstacle, we quickly had our rental car, a Ford Focus, and were on our way.

Downtown Raglan

Our first week will be in the west coast town of Raglan. This is a surfing and sand restort on the Tasman Sea.

We used the GPS, thanks to Ian, successfully found the holiday home. It is a lovely three bedroom house overlooking the Tasman Sea.

Getting there, Alan had no trouble adapting to the high rates of speed on the tiny, very windy roads.

The back seat passenger (me) found it a bit daunting. The hills or small mountains are quite beautiful and we took the scenic route to this lovely town.

We explored the town and picked up supplies at the local grocery store.

There are many interesting vegetables. We purchased New Zealand Yams to have roasted with onions and parsnips to go along with our steak.

Lisa & Peter's Wedding

Our daughter Lisa married Peter Reiger on the 21st of August. What a beautiful wedding. Welcome to the family Peter!