Bikes, Kayaks, and Some City Time

Hello from Kaiteriteri! We have made our way to the south island of New Zealand via the beautiful city of Wellington where we spent a couple of days wandering around town, learning lots about the Maori culture and the history of NZ, eating very well, and soaking up the city life a little bit. Monday & Tuesday, we were in Nelson, visiting some great wineries and trying to act like we learned something about wine while living so close to Napa Valley. Yesterday, we rented mountain bikes in Nelson. We got a little lost in the hills, ran into some very excitable sheep, and eventually made our way out the beach.

But, so far, the highlight of the trip was today's kayaking adventure in the Abel Tasman National Park. We had a fun group and guide, perfect weather (not too hot and not rainy), and were lucky enough to see seals climbing rocks (who knew?!) and dusky dolphins playing in the waves.

Ernest (our spaceship, aka campervan) is treating us very well and our time spent with him has exposed us to a very interesting side of New Zealand life. During the few weeks around Christmas, most New Zealanders are on holiday. So they pack up the car with the camping gear and head out to their favorite "holiday park" where they get a tent or campervan site near all of the friends that they have made over the years. Now, these parks are not like the spacious sites that we know and love in US national parks. They are a small field separated into little spaces about the twice the size of your average SUV. New Zealanders, however, have figured out how to squeeze huge tents, a boat on a trailer, a truck, and the biggest BBQ you have ever seen onto each one and topped it all off with carpeting, string lanterns, and sound systems. All of this creates a very festive atmosphere complete with roving bands of teenagers.

Our other observation has been that we could really make a killing by opening a great sandwich shop. New Zealanders love great bread, cheese, and heaps of deli meat but really have not yet figured out that if you combine them that you might get a good lunch. And while we have discovered every imaginable combination of food put together in pastry form, we continue on our quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. So we've decided that our first official alternative to returning to a life in D.C. is to open a sandwich/half-baked Nestle Tollhouse cookie shop and easily afford our own giant tent/boat/truck and BBQ.

Sadly, our connection is a little slow tonight. So stay tuned for photos next time when we tell you about our time on the west coast visiting NZ's glaciers and fjords.