Goodbye Mazd'r, Hello Dolphins

Album Link for this Post. Well, it is time to say goodbye to our home on wheels. Andy successfully sold the grey beaut to a young couple just moving to New Zealand from Australia for a little less than we bought it for, so after all was said and done we spent about $6.35 NZD per day (!). Buying a car was certainly the way to go being here for two and a half months. Our time here is drawing to a close - we leave for Oz in less than 4 days.

The new car owners were gracious enough to let us take the car for another week, so from Paul & Di's we made the 5 hour trek up north to the Bay of Islands. We drove through traffic (what in the heck is that?!) in Auckand and did a bit of reconnaissance for when we are back here in a week. This city has 25% of the country's population at 1 million people; it's packed! We hit the east coast on the way up the North Island northern peninsula to see the mighty Kaori trees - the tallest and widest in the country. Because of logging over the centuries the area once covered with these magnificent trees is now wiped down to a couple of small reserves. My knee was feeling better (finally after 2 weeks) so we took a nice walk amongst them and visited the tallest at 51 meters high and 2,000 years old named Tane Matuta. It felt wonderful to be back on my feet in nature (thankfully without a pack this time). As we often do on these drives, we stopped randomly this time at a Honey Farm and did some tasting. My favorite was the avocado honey which is created from the nectar of the avocado tree flower. It has been delicious with butter on an English muffin in the morning.

We drove through paddocks as bright green as leprechauns and vast forest boasting 300+ species of plants on our way to the Bay of Islands . This area is known for its 150 small islands surrounded by crystalline blue waters, sub-tropical weather and bottle nose dolphin sightings. In celebration of our 2 year anniversary, we took an overnight boat cruise which was was fairly unique. Loaded with about 25 guests on an old ferry-turned-cruiser named "The Rock," we began with a skeet shooting contest off the back of the boat. Andy won! With his prize of a free beer in hand, we mingled amongst the guests, half of which were from a Maori Pool Club. At sunset, we fished off the back of the boat - I caught a snapper and Andy caught a carpet shark, mackerel and a mutton fish. They were all pretty small so we had to throw them back, but it still made for a fun activity as neither of us had fished in over 10 years. It reminded us both of our Dads to do it again. After a game of Connect 4, we had a BBQ dinner and enjoyed the company of the boat crew. One of the boat owners, Sarah, gave us a wealth of information on Thailand as she lived there for about six months and was a scuba instructor as well. We have had the fortunate experience to speak with a many travellers along our way who have been to Southeast Asia, so an image of our upcoming time there is beginning to formulate in my mind.

The next morning we awoke to the unmistakable pitter-patter of the rain. Before breakfast someone yelled, "DOLPHINS!" and we scurried to the front of the boat to have a look. About 5 bottle nose were jumping in the distance as they swam towards us. As dolphins often do, they swam along with us at the front of the boat as we had a good look at the playful creatures. Next, we kayaked to Robinson island and took a small hike up the hill for a vista of the surrounding area. I could see how beautiful it really would have been on a clear day but of course this is still NZ so it was gorgeous anyway. A bunch of the folks from the Pool Club were up late partying and one guy was barfing all morning, nice. For the remainder of the morning it dumped buckets so we curled up on the couch with our coffees and read books.

It feels like the right time to leave this incredible country and move on to the next chapter though I am going to miss it terribly. It's interesting how we have created our own comfort zone here with daily rituals in how we go about things from shopping, to cooking meals, to where we keep things in the car. We are at a point of recognizing NZ stores, brands, commercials, customs and sayings. We were even mistaken for kiwis by a staff member at a DOC Wildlife Rescue a couple of weeks ago! Nightly, I continue to be amazed with just how bright and magnificent the stars are with the Southern Cross standing out like Orion does and the Milky Way stretching the length of the night shimmering sky. But we aren't meant to be in once place on this trip and get comfortable...like all things, it is ephemeral.

Today we are on our way to the Coromandel Peninsula for a last hurrah with Paul and Diane, then Auckland to catch a plane. Goodbye, NZ!