Dec 29 - Waiheke Island

The Waitomo trip was postponed one day while we were in the canyon and we didn't check email so we got up at 5:30 a.m. to hike up to the bus.  Damn!  Could have slept in.

Oh well, it's an adventure.  Lee left Chris a message the change in itinerary and asked about a visit to Waiheke Island.  Chris said to come on - they would be catching a late ferry to Auckland to take their boat out for a few days, but they could show us around.

We caught the 9 a.m. ferry and had a stop in Devonport where we watched the people fishing off the Devonport pier.  The gear is different, twice as tall as some of the fishermen. 

Devonport Fishing...

And a catch!

The rest of the ride to Waiheke is very pretty.  We went by Rangitoto Island - the "youngest island in the Hauraki Gulf and the newest and largest in the Auckland Volcanic Field ", per the Fuller's Rangitoto brochure. 

Rangitoto

We had a strange "mechanical" on the ferry - the boat cut speed dramatically, they announced there was a problem they were trying to fix, then 5-10 minutes later they announced the problem "seems" to be fixed.  Really?  Actually, I think I want the report from the guy who had the duct tape and did the 'repair'.


There were some pretty views on the way to Waiheke. 

Chris met us and took us on a "tiki tour" ( (New Zealand slang) 1. a sight-seeing journey with no particular destination in mind. 2. taking the scenic route to a destination.) of Waiheke on the way to his home.  It is incredibly beautiful!

One view from the deck.

We met Hilary and chatted on the deck for a bit and then we went to one of their favorite wineries. 

Mudbrick Winery has a wonderful Sauvignon Blanc that we tried and with a cheese platter (Yippee - more of the fabulous New Zealand cheeses).  The view from Mudbrick is so nice that many weddings are held on the grounds.

View from the Mudbrick Winery.

Waiheke also has olive groves and the island's olive oil is very good.  We could use another week - at least - just to finish seeing the North Island's treasures!

We took the ferry back to Auckland with Chris and his family and headed to the "Food Store" for dinner.   We expected more.  The food looked good, but it was rather blah.  The service was very slow. 

Dec 28 - The Blue Canyon Experience

Woke up to cloudy skies again.  We hiked our way up to the Sky Tower (15 min. from condo) for pick-up at 10 by Canyonz for our Adventure through the Blue Canyon.

There were 10 "adventurers" braving the canyon.  A gent (estimated 35 or so) and his dad (57 - Di asked the son) from Brazil, a college kid and his programmer buddy from Wisconsin (estimated 20-somethings who do triathlons), a guy and his girl from Australia (estimated late 20's) and us (62 and 60)... it was a fascinating group.

The canyon is 40 minutes West of Auckland up a very winding road.  The rain started when we stopped at the staging area.  We picked our helmets, changed into swimsuits/shorts, put on the wet suit booties, picked shoes (they were all rather beat up Croc type shoes), were given our wet suits and climbing gear, wadded the suits up if we didn't have packs,  got back into the vehicle and drove a short way to the parking lot.

Rain got very heavy - the picture says it all - and we started trekking down the 300 meters to the way up.

Then we hiked the 40 minutes UP to the starting point, had one last "pee" before donning the wet suits, had an offer to turn around and go back, and took a "before" picture.

Drowned rats - even before the canyon

Ready to go!

While we hiked up to the top and while we were getting ready, the rain became relentless.  Javier and Connie, our 2 guides, seemed a bit nervous - and rightly so.  The river was way higher than anyone - including them expected.  Here is the map of the Blue Canyon and what it is supposed to be like (hover your mouse over each 'jump' or 'slide' or 'abseil' for a picture).

The first few of the 'Jumps' were fine and fun... though only the group jump preparation photo turned out. The slides were fun and Lee even went head first on the second one.

Lee's Slide

Prep to "Group Jump"

 

Di and Javier Halfway Down

After the slides and another jump came the first of our Abseils/rappels and the guides had a large discussion about this one.  The usually have the abseil from the left - as you face the descent, but the water was flowing so hard over that side that we had to go to the right.  For some reason, they decided that I should go tandem with Javier... it was probably an OK idea, but I started feeling a tad wussy.  He said, "No worries, it's just because the river is quite rough."  I'm glad I went first and with Javier because the bottom part of this 2 part abseil was incredibly slippery.  Lee lost control there and banged up his hand against the rock.

What was exceptional about the lower pool is that there is a very large Eel living quite well there.  I believe Javier calls him "Roscoe" and Roscoe came up to meet us.  Javier talked to him, held out his hand and the eel actually stuck his head out of the water and allowed Javier to pet him!  Di was the only one to see Roscoe.  Javier lifted him and let him slide through his hands - this eel was about 3 - 5 inches in diameter!  Amazing!

By this time the river had become a raging torrent and too dangerous to continue the normally scheduled slides and jumps, so the rest of the descent down the canyon was hiking/abseiling down the bank with river crossings at shallow spots. Somewhere during this last 3 hour descent, Di lost both of her shoes and Lee lost one. The wet suit booties provided some padding for the feet but the rocks in the river bed and the roots and gravel on the paths were brutal on the soles of our feet. Two days later the bruises were still vivid. 

We had some floating (feet first) along the bottom of the canyon - that was fun unless your butt crashed into the rocks or the rocks got caught on each other and you were forced to muscle your way over them with your arms.  Then we forded the river a few times and started back UP to the vehicles, (only 450 feet in under a half mile).  There were makeshift stairs, but the thighs were rather wobbly.  It felt like this part took forever, that was probably just the thighs and feet fighting back.

There was a lot of gravel in the dirt so our feet got pounded even more.  We decided that if it had been a sunny day, it would have been hot and humid on the hike back and that would have been much worse.  We 3 elders were the last ones to get to the parking area - probably 5:45 pm and we were beat!  But we were very proud that we made it. 

Javier and Connie said they have had other people come on the trip and some had cried or gotten angry when it got difficult.  I guess they had expected me to get that way by losing my shoes and being my normal "slow and steady and cautious" self.  They said they appreciated my attitude.

We changed, found bruises and injured areas we didn't know we had, and looked at the pictures they took.  Because they were rushed with the weather and trying to get us all through the canyon before dark, the pictures didn't turn out so we all got a disk of them without being charged for them.

The drive back to Auckland was rather quiet and the walk back to the condo was pretty stiff - thought the real pain of it all hadn't fully hit yet.

We showered, cooked hamburgers on the grill, had some wine and went to bed.  What a day!

Christmas Eve thru Dec 27

Christmas Eve - Exercised, cleaned up the condo and ourselves, then met Chris for coffee at Sierra Cafe (5 minute walk from condo).  Sierra's Lattes are good!  Chris was in town for some last minute shopping and to touch base with us about a visit to Waiheke when he can take a break from work, some time after the 27th.

We set off to pick up some groceries and to see if we could find White Creme de Menthe.  The paintings and bronzes at the "Lonely Dog Gallery" drew us in so we stopped and took a good look.  Ngaire (pronounced "NI-ree), the manager, showed us some pieces and then suggested we do Spago for lunch.  Spago was very good - Lee had the Macaroni (with 5 cheeses) and Di had the Pappardelle with chopped pork belly and a spicy sausage.  Both were very nice.  Spago has a Tiramisu that is exquisite.

The grocery store was packed with people - as expected.  We took everything home, but had no luck finding the Creme de Menthe.

We headed back to the gallery and Lee made the purchase we had discussed.  Ngaire shipped it before she left for her holiday so it will be waiting in our pile of mail when we return home.   Ho Ho Ho... Santa was good to us!

Dinner was 2 slices of Champagne Ham from the deli done on the grill and a tin of New Zealand style baked beans heated on the stove.   Good food to end a good day! 

Christmas Day - We paid our toll for our Russell trip... don't want the local gendarmes adding interest and then tagging Chris for our rides.

 Since there was no one on the streets, we each took turns taking the bicycle out for a ride around a few blocks and we each took the Honda "Scooter" (actually a very nice motor bike) out for a short spin.  That was fun.

This is a pose - he rode with a helmet.

We spent the rest of the day blogging and calling folks back in the states - hooray for VoIP phones.

We went to the Fortuna buffet for Christmas dinner; it had a wide variety of items and we tried most things.  The champagne glazed ham was the best entree and Di went nuts for their cheese platter. Their bar actually had an unopened bottle of White Creme de Menthe, so Lee showed the bartender how to make a Stinger. 

Fortuna is located in the Sky Tower so we scoped out the Sky Jump landing platform and wires.  Hmmm... Di is still considering that as an option for a thrill.

Boxing Day - Another quiet day in Auckland. We took the bus to New Market, an upscale shopping area, and scoped out the Boxing Day sales. Found a tee shirt priced at $119 and decided this was too upscale for us. Bused it back to the harbor and stopped in at Danny Doolan's Irish pub. We each had a beer (Lee had a Murphy's Irish Stout) and shared a plate of their smothered chips - french fries covered with a beer & cheese sauce topped with bacon, sour cream and salsa. It was kind of a Kiwi-Irish poutine. It was very good and we were glad we only ordered one. Dinner was Di's leftover lamb chops (heated on the grill) from the Duke in Russell and a salad.

Kiwi-Irish poutine

Dec 27 - Lee started out with a 50 minute bike ride along the harbor as the weather was magnificent.  The harbor was mirror-like all night and into the morning as you can see...

Waking at 2:30 am has some perks.

Mirror perfect!

We cleaned the condo a bit and Lee suggested going on the motor bike to the part of Auckland he saw on his bike ride.  The only issues were that Di's helmet was a tad tight and Di is not real comfy riding on the back and leaning into curves.  After hanging on so tight, cutting Lee's air off, we got to the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial Park.

We tried to drive north to the Goat Island Reserve and to do some snorkeling but alas, 2 things happened; the weather turned to crap and the Northern Motorway clogged up.  We were stuck in traffic moving between 0 and 5 kmh for over an hour.  When we passed the tunnel (where the motorway closes to 1 lane each way - adding to the mess), we turned around and got off the motorway to find some lunch.  We stopped in Orewa and ate at the Farmhouse Cafe.

Got back on the Motorway and arrived at the condo in time to do some laundry and have a Snap (short nap) before going out for dinner at White. 

Dinner was very nice.  Entree for Lee was Scampi and Prawn Raviolo (the flavors were incredible!) and Main was the Wakanui Blue Beef.  Di had the Seared Carpaccio as an Entree (a special for the evening - and it really was!!!) and the Pan Roasted duck breast and leg confit (WOW!).

Carpaccio

Scampi & Prawn Raviolo

Duck Breast & Leg Confit

Waganui Blue Beef

We ended with a cheese plate that was very nice - though not a good as Cibo.

The waiter, Jerryd, recommended a couple of wines to go with the duck and the Clos Marguerite 08 Pinot Noir from Marlborough was beautiful!

It was very nice, though the NZ government threw us a curve that wasn't on their web site... on Public Holidays (which this technically did not count as one), the business adds a 15% surcharge.  There was no mention of it on the website, other than the normal disclaimer that it happens on public holidays.  So apparently, the government can declare any day a public holiday.  Jerryd had to be the one to tell us.  We were there and had made no other plans so it seemed pointless to "storm out".  Not sure we would have have indulged a bit more, but it did put us off.

Dec 21 to Dec 23 - The Bay of Islands, Vol. 3

Our tour boat

Overcast skies and heavy swells on the seas greeted us for our 9 am boat tour of the Bay of Islands. The four hour boat trip included close drive-bys of the various islands, viewing a very large pod of dolphins (NZ has very strict rules about viewing dolphins, whales, etc), and a trip to and through Hole in the Rock. What a thrill.

We returned to the Russell dock and shared a tarakihi fish and chips at the Duke then drove back to Auckland.  The sun came back out south of Whangarei so it was a pleasant trip.  We stopped at the grocery store and then started back to the condo.  Di let her guard down and the brain went back to trying to drive on the right - she did the screaming then, but corrected her mistake without causing any issues.  Thank heaven there weren't many people out and about at the time.   Took awhile for her nerves to calm.

Dinner was steaks (scotch fillets as they are called here) on the grill with fabulous NZ blue cheese and a salad. All in all it was an excellent trip to the north.

Dec 21 to Dec 23 - The Bay of Islands, Vol. 2

Wednesday 12/22 - Up at 6:30 to catch the 7:00 foot ferry to Paihia (pie-HEE-ya) to board our tour bus. Bus driver's name was Huey (Maori name Haunga) and he sang us the traditional Maori song of welcome followed by stories and points of interest all during the day long tour. We proceeded to the Puketi Kauri Forest where we took the Manginangina Kauri Walk and were awed by the old growth kauri trees. We then proceeded up the east coast to the northern most tip of the north island named Cape Reinga (REN-ga). This place is of significant spiritual importance to the Maori people and possibly the most beautiful place we've ever seen! When we arrived the area was covered with mist which gradually cleared to bright sunshine to reveal the magnificent views. It couldn't have been scripted better for a Hollywood movie.

Tasman Sea side

Tasman Pacific Mix

Pacific Side

Di with boogie board

From Cape Reinga we proceeded down the west coast to the Te Paki sand dunes, where we grabbed a boogie board from the luggage compartment of the bus and did the big slide after a nearly fatal climb to the top of the dune (I was sure I was going to die before reaching the top). After one slide (oh please don't make me climb it again), we boarded the bus to follow a stream of quick sand (got to keep moving) for about 2 km to Ninety Mile Beach and headed south along the west coast and the Tasman Sea. We stopped about half way down to explore the beach, look for shells, collect Pipi (NZ clams) and/or frolic in the surf.

Ancient kauri wood carving

We then headed inland and stopped at the Ancient Kauri Kingdom where the bus got the sand and salt rinsed away. Rental car companies charge $3000 if you are caught driving one of their cars in Ninety Mile Beach (they pay a bounty to locals to turn you in).The ancient kauri wood has been buried for 25,000 - 45,000 years and is recovered and and used to make gorgeous furniture, carvings, turnings, etc. We told Huey that Diane was a wood turner and he took us back into the shop where we met one of their wood turners. Di was the first female wood turner he had ever met. To say their work is impressive is an understatement.

After almost 12 hours we arrived back at Paihia, had a lovely Tiger Beer and an order of flat bread at Kava Brasserie and then took the ferry back to Russell. Tim, Kava's owner, recommended having dinner at the Gables - he knows Nick, the owner of Gables.  Had a late dinner at the Gables Restaurant (the oldest restaurant in NZ).  We had the pate's for 2 as an entree, Lee had the venison, beef, and Guinness pie while Di had the pistachio & parsley crusted Hapuka (grouper) for dinner. Too full for dessert, we tried in vain to find a stinger to end the day (there is no white creme de menthe in NZ) so we returned exhausted, but happy to our hotel room.

Dec 21 to Dec 23 - The Bay of Islands, Vol. 1

The sun came out for us today.  The harbor is beautiful. 

We were just putzing around doing laundry and paying the toll for our Saturday drive when Lee suggested we take the next couple of days and check out Russell (as recommended by Chris) and the Bay of Islands.  Lee booked a room at the Duke of Marlborough hotel and we took off.

The weather was fine - unlike our last trip north - and the drive in the sun was beautiful with, as always, wonderful rolling hills with tree ferns and Pohutukawa (New Zealand Christmas) Trees and lots of cows and sheep in the fields.  We stopped for gas and bought a couple of small bags of cheese curls (BBQ rib and Cheese & Bacon), drove a few more miles and stopped to have our sandwiches and chips.  After Whangarei, the road was very interesting; a few one lane bridges and a couple of train crossings. 

The Garmin has done a magnificent job directing us around; however, this time she seemed to throw us a "curve ball".  It went something like this: "Follow this road for 1/2 mile and keep left on that road.  Continue on that road and take a sharp left, then get on the ferry."  What ferry?
 
We had seen the ferry lane, but no ferry was mentioned until we were about 50 yards away.  We whipped a U-turn, found a parking lot and checked the map since we didn't realize we had to take a ferry.  OK, so we now believed her and got back into the lane and we were the last car on this cute little ferry.  The ride lasted about 10 minutes or so and was an 'easy on / easy off'. 

A few more curvy miles and we drove into Russell.  We parked and checked in at the Duke and then walked around and checked out the shops.  With the sun out, Lee was hot for a hat.  The first shop also had the "Great Sights" touring desk.  The person told us of a bit of savings if we booked the combination bus tour to Cape Reinga and the boat ride to the Hole in the Rock.  We mulled that over as we walked through the shops in town.  Lee found a great hat at the pharmacy.  The Art gallery was fabulous - we loved almost everything there.  We wound our way back to the 1st store and Lee booked our tour while Di picked up her hat.

Back to the hotel to take pictures off the camera (tomorrow will be a BIG photo op!), have a short rest, and prepare for dinner at the Duke.



Dinner was very good; appetizer -not shown - of Paua (NZ Abalone), Lee had the duck and Di had the rack of lamb (Heaven!).  And the dessert was wonderful - Orange Panacotta with Chocolate Ice Cream on Pistachios... to die for!

The wines have been excellent - again rivaling and passing those back in the states!   We spent a bit of time in the bar and then positioned the fan in the window to get some sleep for the morning adventure.

NZ Foodie Experience thru 20/12/2010

As usual, we always travel on our tummies and hunt down good food on our trips.  This has been no different and a very pleasant experience - plus we still have a week to go!

First evening we had Tarakihi on the grill.  Nice, firm fish that has a mild flavor.

On the 16th we had a doubly good day.  For lunch we had one of Archie's lunches (the dinner menu is here: Archie's Restaurant & Pizzaria and for dinner we had the Seafood Platter for 2 at Soul.  The seafood platter can change daily, but this day it contained calamari, green lipped mussels, tuna, and shrimp.  It was very good.  Favorites for us - of course - are the shrimp, calamari, and tuna.

The 17th was our Lamb on the grill.  Marinated in lemon juice and olive oil with garlic, it turned out to be the best lamb we ever had.  The myth in the US that New Zealand lamb is strong and "gamey" has been totally blown away by this trip.  The lamb is fabulous!!!

On our Saturday drive in the rain, we stopped at a cafe in Mangawhai called the Smashed Pipi Cafe & Bar.  We did not have pipi's, but the sandwich and fish and chips were quite good.  After we got home and recovered from the trip, we headed to Monsoon Poon for dinner.  It is very good Southeast Asian food (Di noticed the wonderful smells coming from the kitchen on her way home from the hair salon). 

On our Sunday trip to Thames after the gold mine, we stopped at Sola Cafe for a snack and some tea.  We shared a Spanakopita and a dessert... Wow!   We stopped at the grocery on the way home and picked up some large shrimp.  We made scampi and relaxed.

Monday, the 20th, was a trip by bus to the Parnell section of Auckland.  Di had read about a restaurant called (warning: they have music at this link) Cibo and the reviews made it a requirement for this trip.  It was everything and more that the reviews said!  Di had the Carpaccio and Lee had the Prawns.  We had these as Entrees (appetizers), not as Mains - and it was a good thing.  Had room for a cheese board with Kapiti Awa Blue Cheese and Quince Paste.  OMG, Oregon Rogue River Blues have real competitors here in New Zealand!  The BEST ever!  We also tried an NZ beer here, Emerson's Pilsner. 

The hike from Cibo up to (and I do mean "UP to") the bus on Parnell Road felt like the climb above Paradise on Mt. Rainier!  Locals must have been chuckling as we huffed our way up the road.  We took the bus around through Ponsonby and back to the Viaduct Harbor and walked home.  We relaxed and then just had bacon and eggs for dinner.

The food has been wonderful - it is a good thing we have access to a gym and are walking quite a lot!

Dec 18 - South to Thames

Keep left, keep left, keep left...

Today we went south to the town of Thames, the gateway to the Coromandel peninsula. The weather was like yesterday, gray and rainy (very heavy at times). A week before we arrived in NZ, they had declared a drought. Thank heavens the Dodds brought wet weather to put an end to that. Lee drove and discovered that despite all the yelling and screaming from the passenger seat, driving on the left was indeed a challenge. There was no lack of yelling and screaming from the passenger seat this day, especially when Lee turned into the wrong lane of traffic.

 Thames is a cute little town and a former gold mining boom town. Up to a tonne of gold was processed each month during its heyday. We stopped at the Info Centre in Thames to find out what activities were befitting such a soggy day. We've found the Info Centres in NZ to be prevalent and very helpful. The lady at the Info Center suggested the Bird Hide, the Butterfly and Orchid house, and the Gold Mine Tour.

Di in the bird hide

The bird hide is a blind from which you can observe shore birds. It is accessed via a boardwalk through mangrove thickets. Inside the hide were pictures and descriptions of the various birds. fortunately it was low tide and there were a lot of birds. We spent a good 30-40 minutes watching and identifying them.

Not the Blue Morpho

Next was the Butterfly and Orchid house but we missed a turn and wound up on a black gravel road climbing into dense forest. There were several one lane stream fords (which were dry today despite the rain) and one lane bridges. Lee saw a wild green and blue parrot fly across the road. We finally turned around and found our original destination. The butterfly house contained about 400 butterflies of various colors and sizes. Diane was bedeviled trying to get a photo of a Blue Morpho.

The gold mine tour is run by a trust (non-profit) dedicated to keeping old mining equipment operational. We wandered the grounds (with umbrella) and looked at the descriptions of the mining operations and equipment. Next was the tour of the actual mine shafts followed by a demonstration of crushing and separation of the gold and silver from the ore. Quite fascinating and educational.

Dec 17 - North to Whangarei

Well, we knew we needed to just pick a destination and drive; stick shift/manual transmission vehicle and driving that on the left side of the road.  So we picked an interesting town called Warkworth from the description of a road trip in the AA book; it's about an hour or so up the "Northern Motorway" - State Highway 1.  The weather has been unusually rainy and today was no different.

The motorway was very nice - though getting on it was tricky due to some construction closing the normal entry.  We were surprised when it became a toll road.  They had plenty of warnings about it - and there are no toll baskets/toll takers. You pay on-line by entering you license number and supplying your credit card for the $2 toll.  We have 5 days so Lee needs to get on the stick and provide our credit card number to the toll authorities (NON PAYMENT IS A VIOLATION according to the signs)!

Since it was rainy and Saturday, not many people were out so we decided to head farther north.  When the Highway ended, the road was still very nice - though somewhat curvy at times.  They have passing lanes quite often so we didn't wait behind slower drivers and they didn't wait for us.

It is a beautiful country!  Lee was navigating and usually doesn't take many pictures.

We went all the way up to Whangarei (pronounced "Feng-er-ay -- I believe).  We stopped in at the Info center and she directed us to the Whangarei Museum and Kiwi house to see the Kiwi named "Snoopy" - only to find out that Snoopy had died and replaced by "Snoopy II" and that they were closed.

We returned via a circuitous  route of hairpin turns along the beach during a torrential downpour in search of a place to have lunch. It was a good day of driver retraining and gauging distances.

After a shower and some R&R, dinner was at a local restaurant called Monsoon Poon, a southeast Asian restaurant with very good food.  Lee had Singapore Noodles with prawns and chicken (every bit as good as Pad Thai) and Di had shaking beef with a killer lime sauce. 

Dec 16 - Explore and Experience Auckland

After exercising at the condo's gym, eating, and making ourselves presentable, we headed out to explore Auckland.  Weather was overcast and showery.  Lee got a haircut and Howard at "Men's Hair Cutting" suggested a salon for me and a restaurant for lunch.  I made an appointment at Rodney Wayne Salon and we took the train to Newmarket to have lunch and see the Auckland Museum.  I love the trains!

Lunch at "Archie's" was wonderful.  $12.00 for pasta or pizza or salad.  Lee had the Spaghetti Peperoncino (Kelly - it has BACON!!!).  Di had a Diavolo pizza.  It was fabulous...  Lee's was nice and spicy and the pizza had 'boccocini' (a different type of salami) which was a new taste treat.

Hiked over to the museum and spend a couple of hours wandering and learning.   Great carvings - on homes and canoes.  Wonderful exhibits... nice time.

Huge canoe carved from a single log

Dodged a lot of raindrops on the way back to the train station - with one slip and fall by Di on a metal grate (good hip padding saved the day).  Got back to the salon in plenty of time for my appointment. 

Lee slogged his way back to the condo while Di had the best cut and color EVER!!!  Mandy and her colorist did great things and suggested good things to do while we are here.  I told Lee that the next cut and color will be WAY more expensive because I'll have to return to NZ to have it done!

We went to Soul for dinner.  Very good fish platter for 2 and a great Chardonnay - Joan, you would love the Oak in this one!!!

We are still catching up - will do yesterday's (12/17) and today's(12/18) adventure in the morning.

Dec 15 - Auckland Arrival

Air New Zealand was very nice... food was better than we've had on any other flight!  We actually slept on the plane and arrived at the airport in good spirits.  We then purchased some spirits (Glenfiddich 18, Tanqueray, and Grand Marnier) in the duty free shop (what a good deal!) and moved to get bags and go through customs.  Bummer for Dazee!  The dog cookies we purchased in Hawaii did not have an ingredients list so they said they had to confiscate them.  We understand and will have to pick up something else for her here.

View from the Condo

The Corporate Cab driver was extremely nice and pointed out some highlights of the city as we drove to the Harbor.  Chris met us and showed us the condo - beautiful!!  We walked over to a restaurant nearby, Mecca, and had a couple of "Long Blacks" (coffee) with milk while Chris got some breakfast.  He showed us some interesting places to eat and drink in the area, then took us for a drive to a grocery store nearby.  It was good instruction for driving and a useful way to the interstate we will need for trips to the North.

After we walked Chris to the ferry terminal, we had lunch at the Irish Pub "O'Hagan's".  Lee had a Guinness and I tried a lager called Oranjeboom... Doug and Ad would like that one! 

Di then drove to the grocery store - with (of course) some hints on improvement from Lee.  The manual shifting came back fine, but it felt very odd doing that left-handed.  We bought, among other things, some lamb and a fillet of a fish called Tarakihi.  The grocery store was fascinating and took us awhile since we needed to figure out what exactly we looking at and where things were.  Very nice store. 

We had the Tarakihi for dinner - what a good grilling fish!  Mild flavor and sturdy texture.  We are finding good wines here, too!  So far, so good!

Aloha from Kailua

Toddies with Cam & Rita on Waikiki

Flight from Seattle to Honolulu was an uneventful 5 hour affair. Cam picked us up in his Mini Cooper convertible at the airport and whisked us to the east side of Oahu (Honolulu is on the west side of the island) where we met Rita and the dogs, Kiko and Koa. The next morning (Sunday), Rita drove us and the dogs to Kailua beach (10 minute drive) where we walked the about 2 miles on one of the most beautiful beaches we've ever seen.  We all had a brief swim (dogs encouraged by flinging a fetch toy out into the ocean) and returned to the house. The afternoon was spent shopping in Honolulu followed by toddies at a swanky Waikiki hotel while serenaded by a trio singing Hawaiian music complete with hula dancer. Monday morning we repeated the the beach walk/swim before Rita had to leave for work. We drove the Mini Cooper to the north shore of Oahu (about an hour's drive) to see the big waves (10 to 12 feet this day) and surfers. In the evening, Cam took us to the airport for our flight to Auckland. We have made new friends with Cam and Rita and plan to visit with them on our return trip.

A Blogging Adventure Begins

Ad & Anne-Marie at Chateau Ste. Michelle

We had a Dutch couple, Ad and Anne-Marie, spend 3 days with us in late November. Their travel stories are fabulous and they kept us entertained all 3 days. They chronicle their travels in their blog which is unfortunately in Dutch, but can be translated from here.  With our upcoming Hawaii/New Zealand trip, we decided to try our hand at blogging. Stay tuned as the escapades are about to begin.