New Years Eve

After Dave caught his rainbow trout, we got on the road heading to Dunedin. We made a few pit stops on the way to sightsee. Our first stop was at a berry farm. We bought 2.2 pounds of fresh organic raspberries for 11 US Dollars. We started devouring them as soon as we got back in the car. Not only did we get an amazing deal, they were absolutely delicious. We think the best we have ever had. Yum Yum! Our next stop was the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony. We did see a one year old chick hiding under the board walk, and some penguins through a looking box. We were quite disappointed that we didn't see more, but we still enjoyed the one little guy. If we would have been

there at dusk, we would have seen tons coming in from the sea. We stopped at the Moeraki Boulders around lunch time, where we ate peanut butter and fresh raspberry sandwiches (after all we have lots to eat before they go bad), and then walked to the boulders. These boulders are perfectly round rocks just lying in the sand on the beach. It is crazy how round they are. It appears some giants were playing bocce ball on the beach and left their game in a hurry. The beach did have a lot of people admiring the boulders, but we managed to get our share of time with the rocks.

We kept going to Dunedin after the boulders to check into our hotel. Then we jumped back in the car to go see the steepest street in the world. Not only did we drive up Baldwin street, we walked up it too. There is a water fountain at the top, which is very necessary. At its steepest the road is at a 35% angle. The road is only 1150 feet long, and rises from 98 feet to 330 feet above sea level. The beginning part is not very steep, but then it gets really steep! Great exercise!
Next on the agenda: New Years. We are excited about 2012 and can't wait to see what the year brings. It will be hard to top 2011. We have three more weeks on our South Island road trip with lots to see and do. This country has so many beautiful places and things to see and experience. We are certainly glad we have plenty of time to do as much as possible. The new year is exciting for us here in New Zealand. We have about 3 more months in this amazing country and I'm sure it will fly by. Dave is hoping to catch several stripped marlin, a couple blue marlin, and a black marlin in the new year. Jill is hoping to catch a stripped marlin and at least one kingfish when we get back to the Bay of Islands. Guess there is not much to wish for when you are as lucky as we are! It's great to live life to the fullest. Happy New Year to everyone!

Kurow Fly Fishing

Thursday we took the TranzAlpine train back to Christchurch, got into our car, and drove about 3 hours southwest to Kurow. There isn't much in Kurow, but there is good fly fishing, which is the reason for our visit. Friday morning we woke up to head out fishing for the day and unfortunately the weather was bad.

The weather didn't stop us; we went anyway. It wasn't raining super hard, but there was a constant thick mist and it was cold. We drove to several spots on the Hakataramea River dressed from head to toe in rain gear. We fished many pools and sections of the river, where we saw lots of big trout. Dave caught 3 teeny tiny rainbow trout, lost one good size rainbow, and broke off another big one. We spent the whole day out, but went home defeated at the end of the day. Saturday we awoke to sunshine and blue skies. We went back to one of the spots we had fished on Friday, to try again. Jill was armed with the GoPro video camera, our small camera, and the Nikon with our biggest lens. If anything happened, there is no way we could miss it. Dave caught a 4 1/2 pound rainbow on a dry mayfly after only ten minutes of fishing. It was a good 10 minute fight that we did get on video. We took some pictures and released the fish. We stayed for about 30 more minutes and then left the spot with the redemption we were seeking.

TranzAlpine

Wednesday we boarded the TranzAlpine train in Christchurch to take the scenic rail across the South Island to the west coast town of Greymouth for an overnight visit. We left our car in Christchurch, where we will take the train back to on Thursday to continue south. The train ride was 4 1/2 hours of wonderful scenery. We crossed the canterbury plains and then went thru the southern alps. We crossed thru Arthur's Pass, a tiny township 2400 feet above sea level. We traveled thru the 5.3 mile long Otira tunnel, completed in 1923, that descends 820 feet. The

mountains were beautiful, however I'm sure in the winter with the snow it is breathtaking. Once we arrived in Greymouth, we walked around the small town for a couple hours, then rented a car for the day to do some exploring. We drove a bit north to Punakaiki, home of the pancake rocks. The pancake rocks are an area of eroded limestone on the oceans edge, that over time has made the rocks appear to be stacks of pancakes. They are actually pretty interesting to look at and were a popular spot. There are tons of stacks of pancakes, some even forming blowholes in the Tasman Sea. Unfortunately the tide wasn't high enough while we were there to force water thru the blowholes, but it was still a super cool spot. After the pancakes we went on a short hike along the Poraran River, then drove back to Greymouth.

Akaroa on Horse Back

We drove an hour and a half from Christchurch on Dec 26th to the town of Akaroa in Canterbury New Zealand for the day. While it was a beautiful coastal mountain drive, the extra curvy road was brutal to Jill. We went to Akaroa Horse Treks for a 3 hour horse ride. Once we arrived we were paired up with a horse and briefed on instructions and safety. They use "Natural Horsemanship" for riding, which is using the horses own language for communication. There is no bit in the horses mouth and commands are done a bit differently. The other two riders were experienced like us, so along with our two guides we hit the trails. We rode up to the top of the nearby mountain to a spectacular view of Akaroa Harbor. We rode by a couple small ponds with ducks and thru sheep pastures. Since we were with experienced riders, we were able to pick up the pace several times, trotting and cantering on the mountain side. We had a really good time on our horses Libby and Krissy.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve we drove from Hamner Springs to the coastal city of Christchurch. There were a couple of earthquakes the night before and two Christmas Eve morning, so Jill called to make sure it was still okay to come. A couple of abandoned buildings that had been damaged in the Feb earthquake did collapse, but there was no other major damage.

On our drive we did stop for about 2 hours to fish the Waiau River, but had no luck. Once we arrived in Christchurch we settled in and went for a walk in the huge park across the street from our hotel. On Christmas morning we woke up at 4:00am for our Hot Air Ballooning with Up Up and Away. They picked us up at 4:30 with basket in tow. After

driving around for almost 2 hours we finally found a suitable place to fly. Most of the usual spots where to cloudy. The cloud cover has to be at least 500 feet above to legally operate. SAFETY FIRST! We almost didn't get to fly at all. So once we were in the right place, the work began. We all had to lend a hand to first get the basket off the trailer, and then to spread the envelope (balloon) out.

Once we had it all laid out, they began filling it with air using two large fans. When it was filled to capacity, our pilot turned on the heat! All 20 of us, the balloon holds 24, jumped in and we were ready to fly. We floated over the canterbury plains for a little over an hour. It was so peaceful and quiet. The thrusters were a bit loud, but they only came

on a little at a time to give us height when needed. When it was time to land, our pilot had to find a suitable paddock, but they were all crops. There is no steering a balloon, so we ended up landing in a dried up river bed between farms. It was quite exciting to land in the basket. It was a bit bumpy, and we just about tipped over a couple of times when we were settling onto the ground. Once we were on the ground, we had to pack everything away, which was a lot of work. The van and trailer that had been following us around while we were in the air, drove down to meet us. We had to collapse the envelope and then get it back into its bag. It took at least an hour to complete that. Once the 1 ton basket was back on the trailer, we had a champagne toast! What a great experience!

Jill's Birthday

Thursday night we were in Kaikoura, which is known for crayfish (aka lobster) and whale watching. We had dinner out to sample the famous crayfish, which was delicious, but ridiculously overpriced. Friday Dec 23rd we went to the airport to go to Wings over Whales. We took a small

4-seater plane with only the two of us and the pilot to search for sperm whales, the 3rd largest of the whales. The first whale we spotted only stayed on the surface for about a minute before he started his decent to the depths. We got a really spectacular view of his tail rising out of the water as he went down. We flew around for about 15 more minutes, and finally found another whale who had just come up. We circled around him for about ten minutes. There was a boat in the vicinity also, so we really got a good idea of the size of the nearly 67 foot mammal. It was so amazing to see such a massive animal from above. After whale watching we drove from the east coast, inland to Hamner Springs, which is a small town centered on a natural hot spring. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the thermal pools and at the spa. Friday night we went to a nice dinner to end a wonderful birthday for Jill.

We made it to the South Island

When we left the Trout Beck Fishing Lodge on Wednesday we drove 4 hours south to Wellington to catch the ferry. It was a really pretty drive through mountains and a large desert area. We crossed the Cook Straight from Wellington to Picton a bit later than planned. Our ferry was suppose to leave at 8:00, but wound up leaving an hour later, so we didn't get into Picton until after midnight. It was a long day, especially for Dave, since he had gone fishing at 5:30am. We stayed in a hotel right by the ferry terminal which was convenient. On Thursday morning we drove south on the east coast through Blenheim to Kaikoura along a beautiful coastal road. There were loads of vineyards with row after row of grapes. We stopped off at Ohau Lookout Point to see the New Zealand Fur Seal colony. There were so many seals playing in the water and on the rocks. There were lots of babies too, as this is the time of year for pups to be born. We really enjoyed watching them.

Trout Beck Fishing Lodge

Monday we left Taupo and drove about 45 minutes south to the south side of Lake Taupo to Trout Beck Fishing Lodge near Turangi. Once we were checked in, Dave headed straight to the Tauranga-Taupo River that ran right in front of our hotel to fly fish. It was really awesome being able to walk a few feet to the river bank. After a couple hours of fishing we drove into Turangi to go white water rafting. We rafted the Tongariro River for about 2 hours. About half way down the river we stopped at a bank and jumped off a cliff into the icy water. Dave did a perfect backflip over the edge. We had such a good time, even though the water was freezing. At the end

of the trip we went back to base where we had hot dogs and beer and watched a slide show of everyone's photos. After rafting we headed back to the lodge, and Dave headed straight for the river where he remained until dark. Tuesday we went on a guided fishing trip with Jason, the owner of the lodge (not to be confused with our friend Jason in the Bay of Islands). Our first spot was just up the river a bit through lots of thick bush. Dave landed 3 rainbow trout in the first twenty minutes. It was a great way to start a day of fishing. Even though he did catch a few 3 pounders in the river, we headed to a new spot to go for some double digit trout. Lake Otamangakau is known to have huge trout so we gave it a try.

We tried and tried, but Dave only hooked one that got away quite quickly and Jill ended the day with zero. While it was a bummer not catching anything in the lake, the scenery was amazing. Fish or no fish, it is just awesome to be in such a spectacular place. After driving back to the lodge, Jill hit the bed for a nap and Dave went out to the river with Jason for more fishing. Dave did catch a few, but nothing very big. On Wednesday morning Jason and Dave drove back to the lake to try some more. While they did get several bites, they didn't land anything. After lunch we packed up and headed out.

Orakei Korako

Sunday brought more rain, but we headed out anyway. We drove about 30 minutes to another geothermal area. This one called Orakei Korako, meaning "The Place of Adorning", has remained almost completely unchanged for thousands of years. After checking in, we took a short ferry ride across a river to the park. We walked along the walkways and saw hot springs, geysers, mud pools, silica terraces, and even a cave. It is so crazy that a place like this exists just around the corner from farms, basically in the middle of no-where. We really enjoyed the views and took our time admiring everything. We were a bit bummed about the rain, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.

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Rain Rain Go Away

Saturday brought more rain, so we had to come up with some indoor activities for the day. We went to Honey Hive, where we saw a couple of different hives and also got to taste tons of honey. Jill's favorite product was Bee-nut butter, yep you guessed it... peanut butter made with manuka honey. Dave's favorite was the good ol' raw honeycomb. They had a huge selection of different products from flavored honey to honey wine. They even had several different flavors of honey ice cream. We also went to the Taupo museum to look at art and

artifacts. They had some pretty cool historical fly fishing gear from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. There was also a lot of info on the Maori culture here in Taupo. The different types of volcanic rock was interesting to see and feel. It's amazing how light pumice rock is. We saw the garden of well-being and the rose garden, which was really pretty but really wet. We also went and met Ian for a drink (the guide we fished with the last time we were in Taupo).

Friday's Activities in Taupo

Thankfully Friday morning when we woke up it wasn't raining, like it has been since we started this road trip 5 days ago. We decided we better make the most of it. First we headed to Huka Prawn Park, where we went last time we came to Taupo, to catch some shrimp. This time in addition to fishing for shrimp we also took a tour of the facility. In the tour we got to see some really huge prawns and some little bitty baby prawns. We stayed at the park almost 7 hours. After the prawn park we went to Craters of The

Moon, which is a geothermal park. There are several very large craters and tons of small cracks. All of these have steam pouring out of them which is from pressure beneath the surface. There were also a couple of mud pools which were bubbling up. After Craters of The Moon, we went to Huka Falls. These falls are not very tall, but are very powerful creating a super strong undertow at the base. Several small falls in the river lead up to the last plunge of 35 feet. The color is amazing in the river. The rain started to come down again, so we didn't spend to much time at the falls. We have two more days in Taupo before we head to our last North Island destination on this road trip, so hopefully we will have some decent weather. We are both very anxious to get to the South Island on the 21st.

Kiwi's, Trout, & Blown Glass

Thursday we left Mount Maunganui and drove southwest to Taupo. Along the way we stopped at Rainbow Springs, which is a wildlife park designed around natural springs. The main hit of the park is the kiwi nursery, which is in place to help keep the rapidly declining kiwi numbers up. This is the largest kiwi hatching facility in New Zealand. We took a tour through the hatchery where we saw incubating eggs and a new born 2 day old chick. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures through that part, so we cannot share the sights with you. We will tell you though, it was pretty cool and the chick was adorable. Basically they take the eggs from the nest when they are first laid and bring them to the hatchery. Once hatched, they raise the chicks until about 6 months, then take them into the wild. There are lots of details and specifications that go into the process to ensure a high success rate. The little chick we saw was so cute! Also in the park were tons of great trout ponds and loads of birds. If we could only fish for trout at that spot we would be conquering the fly fishing challenge. We had a great time at the park even though we were getting drizzled on the whole time.

After Rainbow Springs, we got back on the road to Taupo. We made one more stop at Lava Glass. This is a studio set up by a glassmaker, Lynden Over, as a working studio. We were able to watch as the artist made incredible blown glass pieces. There is a 1940F furnace that holds 120 liters of molten clear glass, which is dipped into to start the art. Once the first part is started, more colors are added and slowly melted and shaped into art. It was awesome to watch and gave you the feeling to get out and be creative. It was an amazing process that takes extreme concentration and patience.

Mount Maunganui

Tuesday we drove to Mount Maunganui on the east coast of the North Island. It is a beach community with lots of shopping, restaurants, and water. Unfortunately the weather is not the best, so we wont be hitting the beach, but we have found some other things to keep us busy. Mount Maunganui (known locally as Mauao) is a 760 foot tall dormant volcanic cone at the tip of the Mount Manganui township penninsula. The town is located with several bays around it. One of New Zealand's largest ports is located in this area. On Tuesday we went to an indoor rock climbing facility. It was a bit hard, but

we had fun. We were a team, so while one was climbing the other was belaying. On Wednesday morning we hiked to the summit of the mount and then hiked around the entire base. It was a great 90 minute workout. The views were fantastic over the Pacific ocean and the town. Walking around the base, we did see some cleanup efforts of the oil that has entered the ocean from the Rena. The Rena is a cargo vessel that ran aground on Astrolabe Reef off the coast of Tauranga on October 5, 2011 spilling tons of oil and containers into the ocean. It

has been a long drawn out cleanup process of the ship and it's waste. We are shocked that after 2 1/2 months, the mess is still not under control. At this time, the ship is still out on the reef slowly being beaten up from the sea and weather. Crews are still working to remove the remaining containers from the vessel. Hopefully this tragic situation will be over soon. Thankfully there are many people getting involved to help in clean-up efforts.

Waitomo Caves

Monday Dec 12, 2012 we left the Bay of Islands around 7:00 AM to head south, just a bit past Auckland. We checked into our hotel and then headed to CaveWorld at Waitomo Caves. We went along with a guide and one other guest on a black water tubing trip. Once checked in, we went to a dressing area where we received our gear. We wore a super thick wet suit that fit like overalls, along with a zip up wet suit jacket, booties, boots, and a lighted helmet. We boarded a van and drove about 2 miles to the cave. We picked tubes and entered the cave. We walked a bit through the caves as our guide explained the overhead glowworms and cave structure. There is an insect that lives in the caves that glows bright blue. When you look up into the dark cave roof, it looks like a million stars as the little glowworms shine bright. Then we hit the chilly water in our tubes. We floated along as our guide continued to share facts and point out interesting aspects of the cave system. There was a small waterfall that we jumped off and a slide at the end of the stream. It was a really nice tour with just four of us. The guide was quite fun and knowledgable. We had a great time, but were happy for hot showers afterward.

Christmas Parade

This week, we have been preparing for our upcoming road trip to the south island. Getting some of the last plans in place has gotten us very excited! Since we will be on the road for Christmas, we are celebrating early. We have had our Christmas tree up since Thanksgiving day and we finished our shopping today. We plan to open gifts Monday morning before we leave and just have stockings on Christmas morning. This evening we headed down to Paihia for the annual Christmas Parade, which was super short but cute. There were only about ten entrants, but we did get a few pieces of candy, so it was enough for us. It's a warm Christmas here like Key West, but unlike most other parts of the U.S.

Thanks Warren

On Dec 2 we went out on our neighbor Warren's boat with him and his 2 friends from Napa Valley. We were hoping to catch a few fish, but we didn't have much luck with that. So we turned our trip into a tiki tour. Warren drove us all around the bay and narrated what we were seeing while keeping the wine flowing. We stopped at Urupukapuka Island, which has a restaurant and bar (just simple sandwiches and snacks), where we had lunch and drinks. It was a gorgeous spot to visit. The view was amazing. We just pulled the boat right up to a dock, tied up, and enjoyed. They do have simple accommodations there, and I imagine it is a very peaceful place to spend the weekend. It was a great day!