We have arrived at the Heritage Hotel in downtown Auckland. Very hilly city with lush forestlike trees and plants. The view from our hotel looks at the harbour and onto the ocean. Walked down to harbour and then stopped for a cold one at Shakespeare’s Pub

This morning we decided to take a ferry over to Waiheke Island and took the hop on hop off bus around. Absolutely lush island and very quaint. People are so friendly. Strolled around the little village and then onto Stonyridge winery for some wine tasting. Next stop was the Onetangi Beach for a great lunch of fish’n chips. Met some people from Edmonton. Small world! 😉😀

Well today was truly an adventure. Got a shuttle bus to car rental and Mark drove a right hand drive vehicle for first time. Of course, we didn’t do a normal drive 🙄. We were going to go to one area and changed our minds mid-way and took off to a peninsula on the east side of the north island. Holy, mountainous and windy narrow roads! The kiwi’s really drive too! Mark seemed to handle it well. What an amazing drive. So jungle like. Never seen such an area of thick trees. Stopped at Tairua for lunch and some supplies. Then decided to check out Hot Water Beach. Wow! On this beach people can dig big holes in sand, which you will see us standing in. The water in the bottom of these holes is hot! Water in the ocean, just a few feet away is cold 🥶. We found out that the hot water is heated by a volcanic intrusion that is 2 Kms deep. The water rises up through fractures under the sand. From there we drove to Paeroa and are staying here for the night.

Today we drove on back highways to a little place called Waitomo. Found the cutest bed and breakfast. The landscape around is spectacular. Fruit trees, grapevines, flowers. Took a tour of the Waitomo caves and saw the glow worms in the bottom of the natural caverns. Amazing!!! Left there in the pouring rain and got back to the B & B and no rain here.

Today is a much quieter day for us. Left our bed and breakfast in Waitomo and drove to Matamata. Found another b &b here. Looks like we might have a rain day in awhile. The hydrangeas are spectacular. Think we will stay for for a couple nights as we got tickets to Hobbiton on on the 17th. It’s the 15th here today.

It’s a bit cloudy today so we decided to do a hike to Wairere Falls. This is the highest waterfall on New Zealand’s North island. Was quite a hike. Only did the first part as ground was very wet and slippery. As you all know, Mark was wearing his sandals and everyone that was coming down said he needed better shoes 😂. We decided that we needed a soak in hot water. There is a hot spring close called Opal Hotspring so went and enjoyed a good soak.

Today we left our b & b and drove to Blue Spring. This was a nice hike back to a natural area with crystal clear water that is provided by springs. It supplies most of the bottled water in New Zealand. From there we went to Hobbiton. Didn’t know a thing about Lord of the Rings or hobbits but found it beautiful. This is where these movies have been made. Now we’re on the north side of Lake Rotorua for a couple nights.

Today we left our b & b and drove to Blue Spring. This was a nice hike back to a natural area with crystal clear water that is provided by springs. It supplies most of the bottled water in New Zealand. From there we went to Hobbiton. Didn’t know a thing about Lord of the Rings or hobbits but found it beautiful. This is where these movies have been made. Now we’re on the north side of Lake Rotorua for a couple nights.

It’s a beautiful day in Mourea today so we decided to go to TePuia to see the geysers,boiling mud pots and Maori culture. What an awesome thing to see. The geyser shoots water up to 30 metres and is the highest geyser in Southern Hemisphere. Unbelievable that mud can boil!!! The Maori people are so nice and do a very good job promoting their culture. From there we went to Hell’s Gate. This is another amazing wonder. How the water and mud can boil. Really eerie!! So interesting.

We left Rotorua and made our way down to Napier, which is an oceanside city. Tried to get a room but had some difficulties. Tried one last motel and the couple was so sweet. He had a friend with a hotel and called him. Got last room in Napier!! Turns out there is a cricket match on and stock car racing 🙄. Anyway, ended up with a real nice room. Wanted to check out a cricket match so went to it. Sat next to a couple guys that could explain this sport to us. Lol! One thing off the bucket list!!

Left Napier this morning and made our way down to Martinborough. Did a stop at a bird sanctuary. Another hard day to find a room but finally did. 😳. Lol. Really nice town in wine country. Stopped at a winery and there was a live band playing. Really enjoyed this. Going to a farm tomorrow. A fellow that works on Cliff Drevers farm and his mom lives here. We are going to meet them.

Left town of Martinborough and met new friends, Gerald and Dinah Cox. They are so great to visit. Had nice lunch then Gerald took us on side by side for a look through the back hills to see sheep and cattle. It was quite an adventure. Really high hills. So interesting to see how they pasture their animals. Then went to supper and a movie. Great evening!!

Today we drove from Martinborough to the ferry in Wellington to go to the South Island. Arrived in Picton and are staying at a nice little bed and breakfast. Ferry ride was nice and smooth. When we arrived Mark only had about a 5 minute drive so was a nice change for him.

We left Picton this morning. Had a great visit with the owners of the bed and breakfast. Drove through beautiful wine country and mountains to come to Nelson, which is on the north side of the South Island. We are in a very unique small motel. Lots of backpackers!! By far the oldest people here😳😂. Went for a walk to downtown. Nice little place.

Left Nelson this morning. Went to the WOW Museum (wearable art and classic car). Very different but interesting. Drove into an area called Lake Rotorua. Absolutely stunning. Then drove southwest to Westport. Stopped at a Dust and Rust Museum. Guess what girls?! You could sell your old hand egg beater for $45!!!! Lol! Couldn’t believe it. Beautiful lush scenery on the way. A few one lane bridges which we’ve never seen before. Even a part where highway was only one narrow lane! Stopped for the night and onto next adventure tomorrow

Left Westport early this morning and stopped at Mitchell’s goldmine. Quite a nice walk through jungle to get to the mine. Went a little farther to Charleston and went down to the beach and walk around rocks. Then Stopped at Truman Track for a small hike through bush to end up at beach. Waves were really crashing in on rocks. Amazing!! Drove on a bit down the road to the Pancake Rocks. Wow!! They were great to see. Now in Greymouth for the evening

We left Greymouth this morning and headed south along the west coast highway. We heard that Hokitika was a nice stop and found a great hike to Hokitika Gorge. Went across a large suspension bridge and ended up at a beautiful area where the water is glacier fed. From there we went to Lake Mahinapua. Had a picnic lunch there and enjoyed the scenery. We are now at Franz Josef Glacier and hope to hike to it tomorrow.

We left our great little hotel and drove to site for Franz Josef Glacier. Did a great hike to the glacier. Amazing scenery. Just kept taking pictures 😉. Wanted to go to the Fox Glacier also but there was quite a rain last night and road was closed. 😩. Made our way to Haast for the night. Still raining 😳.

Well, we had quite a day! In the previous evening, we were looking at the beautiful view from our balcony in Queenstown and could see smoke below. I mentioned this and we decided it was from a chimney. Then more smoke further over. Our rooms are individual outside units and we decided to look out the door. Smoke was from our hotel lobby!!! We ran down a small flight of stairs to get a better look. Fire engines and workers everywhere so went back to our room. Guess what? Keys were in room 😳. Locked out and couldn’t get keys cause lobby had a fire! We banged on our neighbors door and 2 scared Pakistani guys opened. Huge eyes! Asked if we could use their balcony to get to ours as our patio door was open but about 10 above ground. They let Mark in and somehow he made it from 4 feet away onto our balcony and got in our room!! I dubbed him James Bond!!lol. Anyway we took a bus tour to Milford Sound. Was great and no driving for Mark. Absolutely beautiful scenery. I do know now why we don’t do bus trips 🙄. My there are annoying people.😳. Anyway, a great day😀

Had a nice day today. Went up the gondola here in Queenstown and watched bunking jumping. Then drove to Arrowtown and had a good look around town. Drove to Greg and Kathleen Rotto’s place for a great visit and wonderful supper. Had our first try of Whitebait! Delicious! I had gone to high school with Greg and hadn’t seen him since then!

Had a quieter day today. Drove from Queenstown to Dunedin. Lovely drive with many different types of landscapes. From first and gorges to rocky hills to vineyards and fruit orchards. Hope to stay here a couple days.

Last night we found the path to St Clair Beach. Softest beautiful sand ever. Amazing beach. Walking back we found the only hockey arena 🙄. Of course we had to go in and check it out. Talked to a couple fellows and they were from Red Deer and Winnipeg! Canadians still playing hockey here!! Raining this morning and windy. Had a real quiet day, which was nice to recharge our batteries.

Great day today! Made our way to Larnach Castle. Stunning place. Toured castle and gardens. Then decided to see the Dunedin Botanical Gardens. Really interesting birds and plants. Huge area with lots of climbing. Driving back we spotted the Settlers Museum so stopped for a look. It was huge!! Back home for a pint of Tui!!(type of kiwi 🍺). Yummy!!

We left Dunedin today and drove north to Oamaru. Stopped at a fishing village on the way as well as an old farm started in 1860. No longer a working farm. Walked in old town Oamaru and through a farmers market. After we went on a steam engine ride. This evening we went to the Blue Penguin Colony. Interesting. They swim to shore about 9 pm and make their way up a steep hill of rocks past sea lions. They are blue and only 30 cms tall!! So cute.

We left the lovely town of Oamaru today and went as far as Timaru. Another great town. Found a great place to stay as it is a full apartment! Staying 2 days!! Our place overlooks Caroline Bay. Spectacular. We did stop in Waimate as we had supper with a couple bloaks last night and they suggested we see the painted silos, so we did. The people here mentioned that the Blue Penguins come up here at night so we are going to have another look at them.

Today we just walked around old downtown Timaru. This afternoon we went to the Botanical Gardens and had quite a visit with a cockatoo! He was fun. Lol. Then went for a drive to the country and Mark had quite a visit with a local farmer. They are combining now but today the grain was too tough.

We left our wonderful little apartment this morning and drove to Mt Cook to see new sights. Nice small mountain drive but to our dismay, too cloudy!! Couldn’t see Mt Cook 😩. Decided to drive back towards the east coast. Stopped at the largest lavender farm in Southern Hemisphere. Had trouble finding a room in Geraldine so drove onto Ashburton. Success! Found a room. 👍 nice farming area. Will check out more tomorrow.

Made our way from Ashburton and headed north. Mark wanted to see some farmland so took a gravel road that became narrower the farther we drove. Ended up at a riverbed. 🙄. Anyway another adventure. Lol! Decided to go to Akaroa for some new sites. Really beautiful seaside town. Turns out we’re having trouble getting rooms as it is Chinese New Year and Waitangi Day😳. Holiday everywhere. Finally found a nice room in a bed and breakfast. Here for a couple days.

Omg! What a day. Started out doing laundry 🙄. Lol. But then we took the 2 hour cruise (Gilligans Island). 😉. No, it was great. Had a great time out on a boat. Saw blue penguins, dolphins and seals. The dolphins were so fun. Kept up with the boat and played around it. Was really fun to watch.

We left the cute village of Akaroa and drove over to Hanmer Springs. This is another cute resort village inland. This area is known for the thermal pools and there is variety of thermal pools at different temperatures.

Couldn’t decide what direction to go this morning. We talked to the motel manager and he said we should see Kaikoura. This is the town that had an earthquake that measured 7.8 and it was in 2016. He said it was horrible. Still lots of rebuilding to do there. He also mentioned that the land shifted so much that the mud from the ocean pushed up and out of the water. Something to see. We struck off for this town. He was right. You can see in the pictures the mud piles in the ocean. Very pretty but there are quite a few buildings that need help. Also, there is a lot of netting on the mountain sides to keep more rocks from falling on highway. From there we drove to Christchurch and will be here for a few days.

We had quite a day today! Wanted to do some site seeing so drove to the gondola. What a view from up there. Seeing the city and ports around Christchurch. We got a pass that would allow us to do the gondola, tram, punting on the Avon and Botanic Gardens. Saw a lot of the earthquake damage that occurred here in 2011. Still lots of restoration to be done. We did get to the tram and then went Punting on the Avon! Didn’t have a clue what that was but was real nice. We checked into our bed and breakfast and it was awful. Left it to find a better room. Would you believe that there weren’t any rooms in all of Christchurch!! Finally found a room at a holiday park. Whew! Lots of walking!

It was a hot day in Christchurch today! 🥵 made our way back to the city centre and strolled around. Took the tour around the Botanical Gardens, which was wonderful. Then went to the Canterbury Museum, which included the Antarctic Mission. It is huge and quite interesting. Walked down to the art museum. 😳. Very unusual art. Not our taste and I wonder how they determine it is art! Lol. Anyway, each to their own.

Well today was the day to turn in our Toyota Prius rental car!! Little thing took us over 5,000 kms 😂 she did real good. I think it was a happy day for Mark. 😉. We are in the Melbourne airport at this time waiting to fly onto Adelaide. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!! (I guess you have to wait until tomorrow. Lol).

We made it to Adelaide last night. Tried to find a place to eat but it was about 10 pm. All restaurants had a sign saying they were open from one certain time until ‘late’!! They were all closing 🙄. Had to laugh about that one! 😂. This morning we left to go on a wine tour for the day. Was a great day. Went to Jacobs Creek Winery then to Saltram Winery. Both are very large wineries and enjoyed the tasting! After that our driver took us for lunch. Mark had a kangaroo pie! Really liked it. Met some great people on this tour. On the way to a little German town called Hahndorf, we saw a tree that is 1,500 years old!!! Yes, 1500. Unreal. Still alive and the roots are pushing out of the ground. Hahndorf is a cute village and we just walked around and enjoyed the sites.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, we have had to fly home 😢. Thanks to those that have followed our travels. We had a great trip and got to see some beautiful countryside. Take care all! Cheers.