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Stopping over for a couple of days before heading out to Milford Sound on an overnight cruise aboard a small ship.  We are continually amazed at how absolutely friendly and helpful the Kiwis are! 

For instance, the very small hotel we are in will let us keep our car in their very limited parking lot and will store our luggage as we head out on this next adventure.  We are coming back to the hotel on the day afterwards, but still, their parking and all is very limited, so it is a very nice surprise that we won’t have to find a place to park.

Driving from the West coast to Queensland was a bit scary for a good part of the trip, considering the rains that kept coming down and the narrow roads with everyone driving the opposite of North America!  I figure that since the water goes down the drain in the opposite direction and we are in the southern hemisphere, that’s the reason they drive on the left!

I did tell my husband that we could have stayed home and had the same experience in the rain, but then again, we’re doing it in a different hemisphere, so it’s all good!

Yesterday we even went over the highest paved road in New Zealand – 1076 meters.  Where we live that’s not all so high, but the way they grade the roads, and the way the mountains are in relation to the valleys, it is a very steep climb!

I am continually surprised how similar this beautiful country is to where we live…just one more reason to feel like home!  And I’m continually pleased to find so many internet access places!

More soon….

Today we took the TranzAlpine railway to Greymouth – on the coast of the Tasman Sea.  It is once again warm and beautiful after being rainy in Christchurch yesterday (we got drenched).  I asked my husband if the rain wasn’t the reason we left California in February?

Travel is delightful, as we have found everywhere in New Zealand, and the people are quite lovely, charming, helpful and friendly.  Even flying over on Qantas was the way travel used to be.  It hasn’t been that much fun in about 15 years or so, but it was on Qantas!  I highly recommend them.

Even internet cafes are more prevalent than in the US, but also sometimes pricey, and limited in how they can be accessed.

One more week – down the west coast to Queenstown and Milford Sound, then drive back to Christchurch and on home.  It’s been fun and I will post some photos when I get a chance.

Tonight we’re staying at a little apartment downstairs from someone’s home.  The hotel we were supposed to stay at in Lake Taupo had somehow cancelled our reservation, so we drove 50km south to the end of the lake. There is a major event in Taupo tomorrow – a 161km bike ride around the lake (volcanic lake in the middle of North Island), so all the rooms there were booked and they did not have space for us.

Seems this end (Turangi) has a music festival going on, so we had a problem booking here, too.  Luckily hubby Tom stopped at a motel and asked, they called around, and we are staying at this very lovely little spot owned by a retired police constable (22 years of service, retired in 2000) and his wife.  They are so sweet, and are allowing me to use the internet at no cost.

This is a version of the game I call “there’s always room at the Inn.”  It’s a game my husband plays that sometimes drives me nuts, but is a wonderful reminder that the Universe will always provide.

This is also a HUGE lot better than the $150 hotel that didn’t even have internet!!  And we’re paying the quite expensive amount of $30NZ (about $21US) to stay here!

Here we are about midway through the vacation and I honestly don’t want it to end.  Internet is more sporadic (and more costly) than I thought it would be.  Even when they have internet, they don’t always have USB, so it takes me a while to get my pix downloaded, and it takes me a while to be able to get them up to the internet.

The people here are so very, very friendly.  It’s really mazing.  I don’t think I’ve met one single person who hasn’t gone out of their way to be helpful.

Tom and I got lost on the way down to the Waitomo Caves (which were breathtaking – perhaps I can get some of those pix up in the next few days). 

Some kind soul stopped when he saw us standing at an intersection in the middle of nowhere and he attempted to help us out. Then a lady stopped and gave us advice, too. The man said even though he’d lived in the area all his life, even HE couldn’t figure out where we were on the map!  The people are wonderful, the maps are lousy.

We were told it would take us 2-1/2 hours to get to the caves, and since we had to be there by 9 am, I got nervous and booked us in at a close-by place instead so we left a day earlier.  It took us 4 hours.  I can imagine how disappointed we would have been since they only take 12 people on each black water raft trip.

Tomorrow we are off to the eastern coast again – and I get to take my class with the silver clay teacher.  Then in 3 days we head off to South Island, which they say is even more beautiful – amazing!!

Having a fabulous time in Pauanui at the moment.  On to Waitomo and other parts of New Zealand tomorrow.

Take the time to plan a holiday – it’s definitely the thing to do for yourself.

After a fascinating week in the beautiful but oppressively humid rainforest of Palm Cove, Australia, we have now been in Auckland, New Zealand for the past 4 days.  Interestingly, I got more bug bites in 2 days in Sydney than I did in the 4 we spent in the rainforest!

This is a lovely country, and it is amazing how much Auckland reminds me of San Francisco.  The people are very friendly and we are enjoying the warmth (without the oppressive humidity) while escaping the coldest and wettest month at home. 

Tonight we had a unique experience of going to their “Circle Lounge” to watch an American movie – “The Pursuit of Happyness”.  It is an inspiring movie that not only brought back memories of when I lived in San Francisco, but also of the times I had been unemployed (or underemployed) while raising my daughter by myself. 

And all this in a luxurious setting where they brought us coffee and dessert to our lounge chairs midway through the movie!

Both Smiths do a fine job in the movie, and it made me very grateful to have had the opportunities that allowed me this evening to sit back in comfort and watch this fascinating study of a man determined to make his mark.  It is the story of a man who made good despite the odds, a story that will inspire you and make you grateful for what you have.

Go see it (or rent it).  It will remind you to hold on to what is most precious to you.

In the meantime, remember that regardless of the circumstances in your life, it’s who you are at your core that makes the difference.  And when you are able to bring your gifts forward into the work you do in the world, it is amazing what you can accomplish.

Tomorrow we head off for a week without a computer to Pauanui on the Coromandel Peninsula.  Paua is very similar to abalone, but a much darker blue color generally, and a thinner shell. 

I hope to post a few pictures from our trip sometime soon – right now I’m on a computer that has limited USB capability!  I will post more later after we finish our black water rafting in the glow worms caves of Waitomo!