All My Bags are Packed, We're Ready to Go…..

All our bags are packed and repacked and packed again and weighed and repacked ------ You get the picture.  We thing we've got it now --- just a few odds and ends to stuff in at the last minute.  And yes we are on the blow up mattress on the floor ----- I believe along with some expletives I might have said "I'm too old for this" as I rolled off the bed and got up this chilly morning.  We are back to camping out in our lovely cottage.

It has been quite a year and we have spent the week saying "good bye" to several friends --- Sue, Chris,  Carolyn, Katie, Steve, Adrienne and all the zumba gang, Barb and Jeff, Eric and Martha, Felix, Flo, Penny, Sylvia, Lola, Graeme.  David had a wonderful send off from the center with an Elton John song reworded for him and his work with the crisis team.  He felt very appreciated.  Now after a flurry of teas and dinners we are gearing up for our day of travel.   We will miss our cottage by the sea and all that came with it!!

A final pictorial farewell to Howick and  Auckland City

All set with our All Blacks scarves (thanks Steve)

We enjoy one last sunrise!

Thanks New Zealand for a wonderful year!!

Saying Goodbye to New Zealand

Just 2 weeks left before we board the plane headed home.  We are trying to wrap our heads around selling furniture and all those things that made our cottage home for the year.  It is like undoing all that we worked so hard to set up.  I have learned how to post items on trade me (the NZ answer to ebay) and now am fielding questions as bidders view our items.  David spent the morning at a car fair trying to sell our shining red Subaru.  Although he made some connections I did add the car to trade me also.

I have looked at the 4 huge suitcases we brought but have not started trying to fit everything back in them ----- UGH ---- I do need to get started.  And the real question "Will it all fit?!!!"

The hardest part is saying "good bye" to all the friends we have made.  

Lola, my kiwi friend originally from South Carolina at her new place in Point Wells

My Zumba buddies who took me out to lunch at the Howick Club

Walking Club

David and his colleagues

Sue (in the bring pinkl) with Jo, a friend visiting from Denver.

Yes, they were looking a bit "happy" after some wine tasting at Mudbrick Winery.  You would never know it was pouring outside….

New Zealand has truly been an experience of a lifetime!

We also leave an orange magic dahlia  in Tricia's garden for Mike.

And Tricia added some more orange dahlias.  So now this particular spot is Mike's  garden.

To help take our mind off all that needs to happen we did get to enjoy a visit from our friend Jo.  Jo particularly loved Devonport so we got to enjoy that again  and did some hiking while Jo frolicked amidst hobbit holes.

Lady Knox Geyser  (I kept referring to it as Lucy --- don't ask)

We revisited Rotorua seeing some more geothermal activity.  Jo really could have done without the "sulfur" smell though.

David and Jo in the red wood forest

                                                   Orange poppy from Hamilton Gardens

We find ourselves saying "goodbye" to some of our favorite spots.  This is David walking along Orewa Beach Saturday afternoon.

                                                       So for now -------- Night Night
                  I'll probably do one more blog before we actually leave this incredible country

Nelson --- Home of "The One Ring" and Abel Tasman National Park

This is the last leg of our South Island adventures.  We arrived late evening and were told as we exited the plane on the tarmac to just go straight outside and await our luggage.  Sure enough carts loaded with luggage rolled out front and we just picked our bags up from there.  Domestic flights within New Zealand are pretty stress free.  Our shuttle driver decided to give us a tour of the town before taking us to our accommodation.  He did the same thing when he picked us up to take us back.  What a kick!  Everyone we met in Nelson absolutely love their town and life style.  We were told that when you move to Nelson you never leave.  It is located between two mountain ranges so is protected and has very mild weather all year round.

Autumn colors ------ mild temperatures ----- creative energy ---- make Nelson a place of relaxation and rejuvenation ----- I could easily live here.

Just a snippet of the center of town ---- there are several quaint shops and cafes lining 3 or 4 blocks.
We of course enjoyed sitting along the side walk at a local cafe.

This is looking back at Kaka Point where we started our cruise to Anchorage Bay where our hike would begin.  This is all part of the Tasman Bay.

     
                                                               We bused to this point.

Views of the Tasman Bay

Anchorage Bay ---- starting point for our hike.  Just a heads up --- there was not a sand fly to be seen or felt.  Apparently the sunny dry days scare them away.  We had heard so many stories about sandflies that we were very prepared ---- I mean on this warm beautiful day I was ready with the Loci polartec Katie had given us which allows you to fold over mittens and a neck and chin protector --- I was armed for these pesky flies -----Maybe it was "Me" who scared them away.  We did not encounter any on our whole visit to the South Island.

                                                                  Views from on high

                                                       I always love the bush walks!

                                         It was tea time at this lovely spot at Apple Tree Bay named for the apple trees the first settlers planted there.

More views from this beautiful hike.  I can see why the Abel Tasman is considered one of the great walks of New Zealand.  We just did the day walk so got a little taste of it.

These sculptures were in the garden of an artsy shop in Marahau --- the last town before the start of the National Forest.

To our delight there was also this funky cafe at the end of our hike.  Nothing like a relaxing cup of Chai after a long ---- hot ---- hike.

                                                                        Touching!

Before leaving Nelson we discovered a street with some original buildings from the 1800's.  David also climbed Botanical Hill which is the unofficial "geographical centre of New Zealand"

I, however, scoped out all the little shops and chatted with a few artists in their galleries.

                             This is a beautiful old cathedral on a hill overlooking the center of town.

I will end our South Island trip with this sweater clad figure hanging on the wall of Mac's - a restaurant in the center of town.  Carol, I thought this could be your new project -----Aaeh?

We sampled bits of this beautiful island with the knowledge that there is much much more to explore ---

                    So much beauty ---- so much creativity -------AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

Dunedin --- steepest street to cutest penguins

I will now continue with our visit to Dunedin,  New Zealand's first city constituted in 1865.  It's Maori name is Otepoti "place beyond which one cannot go".  It is said that the first settlers were from Scotland and settled there because they just couldn't go any further.  So Scottish influence is apparent throughout from stone walls and buildings to the Octagon in the very center of town.  It is a notably older city and a bit of a hodgepodge.  We especially enjoyed our tour of the Otago Peninsula.

Since we were the only visitors picked up by our coach that day we again had a personal guide.  He was fantastic.  Our first stop was Larnach Castle and we were given our own personal tour.

William Larnach was an architect,  financier and merchant baron who had this built.  Construction started in 1871 and took 200 workers 3 years to complete the guts of it.  European craftsmen continued the artsy parts for 12 years.  Quite an undertaking at that time.  William was also a member of Parliament and took his life with a single pistol shot after learning of an affair between his 3rd wide and his son (her step son).

Quite a colorful family.  The present day family that owns it and restored it live in the basement.  In the day it was quite like Downton Abby on a smaller scale.

This hanging staircase is the only one in the Southern Hemisphere.  The handrail is carved from solid kauri.

I was tempted to snag the bed warmer.  Apparently rather than the hot water bottle that David and I used all last winter here in Howick, one would fill this pan with hot coals from the fire and run it over the bed to warm it before getting in.   Hmmmmmmmmm

This room is a bit of a museum and thought to be haunted ------- No,  that lady sitting there was really there ----- You are not seeing things ------- Eeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrriiiiiieeeee

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

We're smiling because we made it up a very narrow spiral staircase to the roof overlook.

While I was off in the Ladies' Drawing Room ,  David was waiting for his brandy and cigar in the Library.  He is waiting to hold court with his buddies.

We did see the current resident and woman responsible for restoring the castle puttering in her garden.  Quite lovely.

We made a stop at the Otakou Marae which sits at the end of the Otago Peninsula.  This Maori village was located here because it is on a hill overlooking the peninsula and was a perfect place for fishing.

Now onto our wildlife cruise

                                  I'm ready in my "one size fits almost everyone" rain jacket

These little blue penguin are hard to film but are a delight to watch as they swim right beside the cruiser.

This lighthouse is at Taiaroa Head which is  the world's only mainland resting place for Northern Royal Albatross.  All along that hill are babies.  We watched the large albatross swoop in to feed them.  Quite a sight but impossible for me to capture on film ---- All my closeups look like "nothing"   Sorry

If you look close when you blow this pix up, you will see fur seals.  This is a breeding spot for them.  Talk about camouflage -------yikes!

These are Royal Albatross ---- their wingspan is incredible ----- what beautiful birds ----  we were lucky enough to get quite close to them.

Now onto Penguin Place --- the home of the most endangered penguins in the world ---- Yellow - Eyed Forest Penguins. This reserve was so impressive.   To view the penguins and not disturb them we walked through underground tunnels which allowed us to be at eye level with the penguins.  Even then we were only allowed to peek at them through a small viewing crack in the fence.  At the time we were there it was molting time for the penguins ---- they stand still to conserve their energy and basically need to loose all their undergrowth and produce new feathers.  A huge task with no food ---- so they really reduce in size during this process.

So cool to see penguins in their natural habitat!

 This is Jim --- yes all the penguins on the reserve are named and tracked.  The guides are so protective of them.  Jim is about 20 years old and is clearly busy molting and preening.

                                                An overview of the penguin reserve.  The next pictures will be from the penguin hospital ---- the only one for yellow-eyed penguins.  Some of these penguins had their feet chewed ---- they were all healing pretty nicely.

Our day on the Otago Peninsula was charmed with viewings of wildlife in nature.  It was a chilly, cloudy day but felt perfect for our exploring.

Pix from the Dunedin Botanic Gardens --- pretty cool, huh?  These gardens are spread over several hectares and provide a wonderful walk.  There is also an aviary with some interesting parrots.

Now this is a picture of the world's steepest street ----- it was such a long walk to get there I have to admit I refused to walk up it ----- David had no problem passing on that either.  So remember Baldwin Street!

We also went to a fantastic Settlers Museum and David toured Speight's Brewery.  We enjoyed dining every evening at a variety of cafes around the Octagon in the center of town.  We got a taste of the Southern part of the South Island. Next we will fly to Nelson at the Northern Tip before returning home to Auckland.   Until next time  -----   Kia Ora