New Zealand?? Really??

The ferry ride was windy and rainy so we didn't venture outside much, but rather sat in a reclining seat much like you'd find on a Greyhound bus. When we finally arrived at the Picton terminal, we grabbed our rental car and realized there was no iPod outlet. That may not seem like a big deal but with 30 or so hours of driving ahead of us and little and horrible radio choices, we made our way back to the counter and were able to convince the lovely ladies there to help us find a car with MP3 access. Luckily they did! I told the woman "You saved our marriage!"

We made our way on a scenic drive to Kaikoura and found our B&B. It was a sheep farm. How lovely! How picturesque! How CUTE! LAMBS! The horrors of sheep farming confronted me immediately. As we arrived, the owner was just beginning his sheep shearing show. I thought, "How cool!" Well, not so much. From the crazy way he held the sheep as though it was nothing more than a large sack of flour, to the blood dripping from it in a few spots when he was done, that was enough. But then he went into the details of what they do with the sheep when they've outlived their usefulness and, lucky us, that they were coming to get 90% of the flock the next morning to take them to market. Yummo! Give me some lamb. Can you kill one right here and gut it please?? I was so excited at the thought of being woken at 6 AM to hundreds of baaaing lambs being loaded into a truck.

They were nice enough people, and I suppose you can't get attached when it's your way of life, but even the way he loaded an old, lame dog on the back of his golf cart to ride up the top of the hill to bring all the outgoing sheep to market made me sad.

The highlight of Kaikoura was the night sky. It was as amazing as anything you could ever imagine. We took it in then went to bed. The next day was quite a long drive to Tekapo. We thought we were going to be able to take a night trip up to the top of a large hill to look through telescopes and take photos but the weather didn't cooperate. We did get to The Church of the Good Shepherd, which they closed as we walked up.

So, onto Wanaka. Cute little beachy town. All touristy though, and in search for food there were shiny commercial restaurants. While walking down the wrong street we found this white house (hence the name "The White House") that looked as though it belonged in Greece. Chris was quite surprised that I would want to eat there, but they had a black cat outside and the owner, Pete, chatted us up as we were admiring his garden.It was just so different than anything else we'd seen. That was the best night we had. And the best food by far, even though all we had was bruschetta (it was fresh, tasty & amazing). We sidled up to the bar and took a seat. A young girl named Christie worked the place, and was so sweet. Later her boyfriend Tye came in (who played air guitar everytime we said the word "Seattle"), and one of her close friends, Tanya, who's traveled the world, lived in LA for 4 years, but wanted to go back home. We became fast friends. Her favorite musician was Elliott Smith. Of course we had tons to talk about. She's always wanted to go to Portland. We even had us a hug when she left. Great night and so glad we met these great people. Except I drank too much and had to walk up this huge hill in the dark to get back to the B&B. Chris nearly had to drag me but he picked up a rock to carry in his pocket in case there was any trouble.

From Wanaka, on to Queenstown - and Chris's bungy jump. I thought I was going to cry. He's going to upload photos to his Facebook. It was crazy watching person after person jump. Not for me. I was so proud of him for doing it but I was glad to leave. Queenstown was a cute town full of lots of young, adventurous people. We met a gal from Bellingham who moved there with her husband. She's homesick.

We had our best weather and the perfect day for the Milford Sound flight and cruise. They hadn't been able to fly all week (or the next day), so we lucked out. It was incredible - a little scary flying in that tiny place - but something you'd never see from the ground.

From Queenstown on to Dunedin, which was a quaint Scottish-influenced town. We drove miles on a twisty turny road to the albatross colony which they closed just as we walked up. Of course. From the map it looked like there was a straighter route back to town. I was quite wrong. It took us up really high on the hill and was twice as twisty. Straight down. No guardrails. Great views, but quite a bit of anxiety for the 30 minutes or so it took us to get back.

Now we're in Oamaru and we're going to try to see ourselves some penguins tonight - they are only viewable when they come in from the ocean at dusk, after a day of feeding. There are blue and yellow-eyed so we're attempting to see both. Will probably see neither Tomorrow to Christchurch for our last night.

There is an interesting contrast between the two islands - a different vibe and feeling for sure. It is a beautiful place, with the most amazing scenery and friendly people, but the food is really bad. Phil Huston told me that but he was here several years ago so I thought "Surely things have changed." No, Phil, they haven't. And it's so expensive. I also was quite excited for the wine but they have nothing on Willamette, where a bottle is half as much and 5 times as good. But all in all, amazing. We had a great time! Sad to leave but happy to be almost on our way home.

It seems like the entire journey thus far has been nothing but a rush to get to the South Island, and I suppose that's a shame. It didn't help that we lost almost two days because I was sick. Hopefully we can now slow it down a little and really start to enjoy the trip because it's going to be over so quickly.

We got up fairly early (especially for me) and got on the road. The drive to Wellington (New Zealand's capital) was much more enjoyable for Chris - not twists and turns for three plus hours. The drive went by rather quickly, driving through picturesque towns, getting progressively more "beachy." Plimmerton, just a bit north of Wellington, took my breath away. I think I'd move there in an instant. Wellington itself has a much better vibe than Auckland, and I instantly felt more comfortable here.

Our hotel is brand new and extremely modern. The room looks like it's never been entered before. It even has a long balcony that is about 5 feet from the building next door. You can see right in the windows of the apartment across the way. Gene would like that

Venturing out and walking several blocks, we decided to have lunch at a brewerey down on the waterfront. The sun was out, and away from the wind, it was quite enjoyable, but it was extremely windy. After lunch, we went to Te Papa, the museum of New Zealand. It was quite interesting because it covered so much. It's huge - 6 stories. It closed before we were able to get through it. The last exhibition we found was about The Scots - the largest immigrant population in NZ. Didn't see the end though. But maybe we'll hear more about that in Dunedin.

We have an early night tonight because we've got to be up at the crack of dawn to return the rental car and catch the ferry for Picton!

It took awhile because I (Alison) got sick Vegas-style. But we've moved on. Auckland was fine but not much different than any other city. Same crappy radio as the US with hideous morning DJs. McDonalds, Burger King, KFC on every corner. Whangerei was nothing special either BTW. So after two nights we were happy to leave, even though the hotel was really beautiful. Maybe I just didn't give it enough of a chance because we weren't able to venture out and see other areas, like Ponsonby, the second night. But the drive from Auckland to Taupo was nice (other than feeling like I was going to throw up). Chris is doing really well and not getting too upset. I know it's difficult concentrating so much but so far no worries!

When you hear there are a lot of sheep here you don't realize there are A LOT of sheep here. They are actually everywhere. And cows, too. Even in larger towns people have them in their yards.

We stayed at a really cool place Sunday night. Rex & Donna Farrell have a home, Bellbird Ridge Alpaca Farm, they use as a B&B. They have 10 gorgeous acres way out in the country with 4 alpaca and a small flock of sheep, along with a 6-month old labradoodle named Jack. An old sheep, Dolly, lives with the alpacas. When you shake a food bucket they all come running, and Dolly knocks the alpacas out of the way to get the food. She even climbs up the fence to get your attention. There area is a lot like Seattle with many of the same plants - like rhodies - and similar weather.

We drove from Taupo to the Waitomo Glowworm caves - really cool to see all the little larva that make the roof of the cave look like an amazing night sky. Then down to Wanganui. It's a very quaint old town with really cool architecture. Our hotel is on the river and the folks who own it are so nice. Well, just about everyone we met has been so nice. It's an old hotel that they've updated a bit. It mostly caters to backpackers but we have the only room with its own bath.

Tomorrow on to Wellington for our last night on the North Island!

Also, the newscasters are so much funnier here. Great senses of humor, not to mention, more racy!

We left Seattle at 12:40 PM Wednesday, November 11th. We flew Virgin Atlantic to LAX and it was incredible. The lighting, the in-flight entertainment (all the music!), the seat space, the technology. The two and half hour flight seemed like it was 30 minutes. Then we sat In LAX for 6 hours. But we saw Juliet from Lost and Don Cheedle behind us in the security line. This is the second time we've seen Don Cheedle - we saw him at our hotel in Vegas when we got married.

As we were boarding, around 8:45 - boarding first with business class - I picked up some face powder on the jetway from the duty free store to help curb the in-flight oiliness I'd acquire during flight (thanks Heather). We walked upstairs to the upper deck on the 747 and to our seats - the row right behind business class! Very posh. As I was pulling the face powder out of the bag, a staple stuck under my fingernail and I started bleeding like a stuck pig, but the flight attendants helped me out. We finally sat down and were served a glass of champagne. Just lovely.

There were 5 rows of first class in front of us, with the fully reclining seatbeds. Chris was checking out the folks in first class and was joking when he said "Phil's in first class." So, I took a look and it was Phil Keoghan from Amazing Race! I said "OMG, OMG, OMG get the laptop out so I can blog about it!" Chris didn't even believe it was true. He didn't know Phil was from New Zealand. It was funny because I really couldn't see anyone else in first class except for Phil. And I kept an eye on him.

Soon after we took off we were served an appetizer of vodka and honey cured salmon, a coriander poached prawn, sesame wasabi seared tuna and seaweed potato salad. Small bites but all good. They brough around different breads several times, and they had tiny, little bottles of olive oil that were so adorable. Then we both had the short rib with a yummy white sweet potato puree and a salad of roasted mushrooms, garlic and swiss chard. There was a small shortcake with whipped cream and a couple of pieces of cheese with apricots, grapes and crackers. Certainly the best plane food I've ever had. And they kept the fine New Zealand pinot noir flowing.
By the time we finished dinner it was after 11, so we watched a movie [(500) Days of Summer, which was waaayyy too long and repetitious) and stayed up far too late. It was well after 1 AM when I took my Ambien. They gave us fuzzy socks, a very comfortable eye shade and ear plugs which actually made sleeping on the plane bearable. And the seat reclined a lot further than your standard coach seat, so we did get 6 or so hours of sleep before they started the breakfast service.

Breakfast was really good. I had Cinnamon apple and papaya crepes with cream fraiche, and Chris had mini tart with scrambled eggs and chorizo. I tasted it and that was pretty decent as well. The flight, for 12 hours and 50 minutes, didn't seem bad at all. Just the effing wait in LA. Brutal. It wouldn't be bad if the airport wasn't such a shithole.

We got to the hotel (which is really beautiful, by the way) around 8:30 AM and they let us check in. That was just the best thing that could've happened. We were able to shower and kind of get our heads into the Auckland time zone. We went for a walk to check out the surrounding area about 11, stopping at a little sandwich shop for some meat pies, which were highly recommended by a guy I work with. Not bad. And there was a little bird that kep flying into the shop, perching on booths and chairs, looking for food.

The weather has alternated between drizzle and sun all day, but it's quite windy, which makes it chilly. We kept walking, though, considering part of the charm of a vacation. We stopped at the SkyCity building on the way back hoping to catch someone jumping but we got there right when they had landed! We went inside and there's a huge casino, but we didn't play Instead we got a bottle of wine and some beer. It will be an early night for both of us!

Whangarei tomorrow. We pick up the rental car in the morning and Chris will attempt driving. I know he's going to do great!

We're both so excited that I doubt we'll sleep tonight. We're getting a netbook to make updating easier, and we'll have the ability to keep in touch with people. It worries me to be so far away and not know about the animals or my dad.

We're pretty much packed, just some cleaning to do tonight, then we'll try to get a good night's sleep before our crazy long day tomorrow. It will be weird to leave on Wednesday and get there on Friday!

Hopefully we'll be able to upload some pictures and regale everyone with our hilarious travel stories. Catch you in New Zealand!

We are trying to tie up any loose ends before we leave next Wednesday. We have one more hotel to book - well, we also need to figure out where we'll stop between Dunedin and Christchurch. But everything else is booked!

And I think we're pretty close with any items we might need. Received our LL Bean toiletries kit yesterday. How exciting! Oh, yeah, and my awesome new Nikon D90 and a lens I got from Chuck off of Craigslist. I have another lens, a wide-angle, coming in the mail. I just can't wait. It's really hard to work when I have so much on my mind.

We have Heath's party this weekend and then all day Sunday will be spent cleaning, packing, organizing, and otherwise getting everything ready for our departure. Ray has agreed to take us to the airport. I sure hope he doesn't forget!!