New Zealand! Kia Ora

Apparently New Zealand has some pretty strict immigration laws. When we were in Bali trying to leave, the airline almost didn't let us board the plane because they needed proof that we had a departure ticket from New Zealand back to the states. Kristen was able to prove it by logging on their office computer and luckily finding the saved email and showing the Indonesians that we were in fact not going to live the rest of our days in New Zealand although I'm sure many people have tried it which explains the paranoia.
After we landed in Auckland, the first thing we noticed was the weather. It's winter time there which means very cold. The first thing we did after we visited another doctor to check on my Dengue fever was go to the mall and buy some winter clothes. I got a jacket and beanie and Kristen did the same. Driving in New Zealand takes a bit of getting used to as everything is on the left but the rules are a little more enforced. We did a classic road trip and stayed on the North Island. The first place we went to was Rotorua, a three hour drive south and home to Bungie Jumping, Zorbing, white water fast boats, Lord of the Rings filming sites and lots of natural beauty. It's a small town feel that but surely caters to the tourists. The first thing we saw was some natural geysers and hot springs. It looks beautiful but the smell of sulfur can be quite overpowering.

As far as food is concerned, it's not that much different from the USA. New Zealand does have the best lamb and mussels which we had plenty of. There is not much industrial farming as cows and sheep naturally graze, run and eat lots of grass. It shows in the taste of the food. We also got to visit a traditional Maori village in Rotorua. Rather than having traditional people on display, we learned, participated and engaged them in their traditions and history. It was quite enlightening to say the least. I got to participate in the haka. A traditional war dance that is mainly seen performed by the New Zealand all Blacks rugby team which the Kiwis are nuts about. We were also treated to a dinner where they slow cooked underground lamb, chicken and potato's. Even though it was all tourists, we had a great time and were able to meet lots of people from around the world.

Anyone that has ever been to New Zealand will tell you it's beautiful. The natural beauty as well as the cities. We wanted to take advantage of both. We mixed in a bit of the country and city experiences. We could not leave Rotorua without trying something called Zorbing. It's an activity that was born there where you basically get inside a large ball, get in your bathing suit, fill it with water and they roll you down a hill. It's the closest we've ever come to being inside a washing machine. Yes I also have it on video!

After Rotorua, we headed to the nations capitol of Wellington. A very cool and progressive city of about a half million people. Driving in New Zealand is stunning. They have a very advanced DOT and the most stunning scenery. Wellington is a coastal city and if I could live anywhere in the world, Wellington would be at the top of my list!

The people of New Zealand are very well behaved. Everyone is polite, everyone follows the rules, people stick to a strict schedule. I remember reading a local newspaper and on the front page, it talked about a police chase happening after someone tried to break into a car. I automatically thought car chase but it was a foot chase!
When we were walking around downtown wellington at night, after 9pm no one is out. It's kind of creepy. Most business are closed and everyone is tucked away nicely in their homes. We were walking in the middle of the streets and were the only people around.

One of the activities I was looking forward to was signing up for a Lord of the Rings film tour. Kristen and I boarded a bus with other LOTR fans and we we driven to the sites that had the major parts of the film. The buses had monitors in them and they would play major scenes from the films and then we would go visit them. Tour guides held up screenshots of where some of the significant parts of the story took place. Kristen however has never seen any of the movies!! She was so embarrassed that if I mentioned it to anyone, she would have ran out of the bus in shame. The good thing is that when we got home, she ended up watching all three and is looking forward to watching the Hobbit this Christmas.

After Wellington we headed back north up the coast to one of the most famous surf breaks in the world. It's Raglan and the reason why surfers come to New Zealand. It's a long left, and the forecast was over twenty feet but very mushy and choppy. The town of Raglan is a cool laid back beach town that resembles Santa Cruz. When we saw the wave not a single surfer was out and the water temp was in the 40's. It is a sight to behold and one day I will paddle out when I return.

Our vacation/honeymoon/adventure was coming to a close and we headed back to Auckland to spend a spare day before boarding a plane and having a loooong flight back to home. We got rained on but tried to savor every last minute before heading home. We walked the downtown area, checked out the harbor and had some last good meals and sweets. Auckland is one of the most diverse cities i've been to. You can walk down the street and see a Chinese restaurant, Thai, Mexican and Pizza all in the same block. All of it is very authentic as you can see a diverse range of people walking around the streets. We even checked out the campus of the University of Auckland which would be a great place to go to school.
A bike friendly place, with great weather, surf food, friendly people! What more could you ask for. Too bad it's on the other side of the world because I would visit as often as possible. We were sad to say goodbye to Auckland and our adventures. We are lucky to have the experiences that we have and the sense to be adventurous to learn about the world and ourselves.

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After being home for a while, able to digest what happened over the summer, we did keep some stats of some of the more interesting experiences that went down on our trip. Here are some of the highlights: 

18 Cities Visited

5 Islands

7 modes of Transportation

12 max number of visits to toilet in one night

9 American tourists we ran into

2 Hospital visits

16 beds slept in

8 airports

6 max number of bug bites in one night

2 police escapes

2 times we did laundry

25,000 air miles traveled

4 pieces of luggage (all carry on)

5 number of people seen on one scooter

25 minutes of longest paddle out

12 pounds gained during the trip

0 times we fought