New Zealand is Awesome!
Wow!! What a difference it makes to travel in a country where everyone speaks the lingo. don’t get me wrong…we had an amazing time in SE Asia but…it was time to go. 3 months was a good length for us. Granted, we really wanted to go to Laos, could’ve spent more time in Thailand etc… Oh well, you can’ t do it all.
So after a brutal flight(s) from Bangkok to Christchurch, we were wiped out for a couple of days. Terra ended up getting sick because she was so worn down. We guessed that only 3 hours of sleep was had between the two of us of about 36 hours. Not fun. We did watch about 67,000 movies on the planes though.
We decided that we would buy one of the around-the-country bus passes instead of renting a camper van or car. We had originally planned on doing the camper thing but. Being driven around for a few weeks sounded good. We started in Christchurch. Really cool little town. As we were flying in, I commented to Terra how much I thought it looked like flying into Boise!
There are about 300K people in the town but, from what I could tell, most of them live outside the “city” on farms. The downtown area was also much like Les Bois. Very easy to walk around clean lots of neat little shops etc. Our 5 days there were very enjoyable. Spend most of our time relaxing, enjoying the great weather etc. Even had a chance to go for a run on the very Boise-like greenbelt.
Have to make a comment on the coffee in Christchurch. Keeping in mind that Portland is probably second behind only Seattle in number of coffee houses per square inch; I’d say Christchurch is 3rd. It was amazing. You literally couldn’t hit a wedge (even as short as I hit mine) without flying over 6-7 shops. Needless to say I was wired the whole time I was there. It was great.
We were also really excited to try the authentic NZ cuisine. I guess I didn’t really realize there isn’t such a thing (except for the mystery Meat Pies that Sow already warned me about). The food has been quite good actually.
Oh…another one to but in the category of “We shouldn’t take it for granted at Home”… TAP WATER!!! I took my first drink from a tap as soon as we landed. What a liberating feeling!! No longer does every drink need to come from a bottle. You can actually take a bottle, drink it all and fill it back up again. FOR FREE!! It is delightful.
We have been making our way around the south island for the last 10 days. Mor details to come but so far so good. New Zealand is great!!
Tags: New Zealand
Weiser Wander
hello world travellers,
Glad to hear you both made it through all of the movies, I hope you did not have to watch any repeats!!
Tara, you can not live on coffee alone, you must sleep every now and then, rember, it is not cecessary to prepare for your audit starting on the 20th. Take care, I enjoy your writing style…Helga
sorry, I meant Terra, how fast we forget !!
I’m glad to hear you’re okay! I love to read about your travels. It’s great when you both write so we get two perspectives.
it all sounds so goooood….i had a great time in NZ and it sounds like it hasn’t changed too much….as you probably know, matt flew the Biositre coop …. Eric beat me out for the promotion, but i’m up for abig year so no worries…..you sound like life is grand and i wan;t to hear more NZ stories, so keep them coming…i hit queenstown and the sheep farm (remember, don;t believe a thing they say), doubtful sound (milford is the king of the sounds, i think), and the north island is terrific too. waitomo caves was a great day…anyway, it’s so fun ot keep up with your travels…take care…..steve saunders
s&t,
Let us know where you want to meet. Canary Islands, Greek Islands, Italian Archipelago? We’ll be ready to hit beaches in a month or so. After the cold rainy winter, a warm, sandy spot in the sun with someone running ice cold drinks with umbrellas from the bar sounds pretty darn good.
the boys
This is a repeat from another page for those who may not go back.
For those of you who may be wondering where the travelers are and if they are lost in the bush or not- the answer is they are great and traveling on the northern island of NZ. We talked to them on Feb. 23. They were sitting out having coffee. What a life! They are traveling with another young couple so they are not limiting their social graces. As you all know neither of the two are shy, shrinking violets. The word is everything is going great and they will be leaving NZ for Australia around the first week in March. We will be meeting up with them the middle of March for a week of them entertaining the old folks so we’ll make sure they really are great. They say they are having some great adventures and will share some when time and availability allow. They are still taking lots of pictures so should have some good views if they can find a good location to get them downloaded.
Scott/Terra:
Just got back from the NSM and boy was it EXCITING! Scott, everyone I spoke with wishes you guys the best and are very jealous of your travels. I love to read your blogs and updates. Sounds amazing. Just a quick note to say hi and hope your travels are safe.
Be well,
Ron
Thomas’s
Glad to hear your travels are going well. It changes your perspective in so many ways to see other people and cultures..something you can keep with you your whole life.
If you head into Russell in the North Island(Bay of Islands) feel free to look up our friend Bud Pigott. He is from McCall, but lives down there 6 months out of the year. He has 40 ft sailboat and he loves to take people out to sail. This was his last email address(budski19@hotmail.com)..just mention us. Warning… he is a crazy cat but funny as hell…bit old too last count 75++ oh yeah and he is deaf..but if your looking for an experience he will give it to you. He is the guy we stayed with for a month on his boat and sailed….
Peace out..