The Roadtrip Begins...Christchurch to Dunedin

Maia and I took another stroll through the botanical gardens before we all went to polish up the details (final payment and getting insurance) for the vehicle.  Monte and Carolyn finally made it to Christchurch, NZ around 6:40 pm.  They had suffered a five hour delay in L.A. and a shorter 20 minute delay in Auckland.  They looked a bit worn, but managed the further 2 hour ride south to Timaru.  When we heard about the delay we  our original plan to make it to Dunedin the same day we picked them up. 

The next morning we had a surprisingly good breakfast with some great conversation at the “2 Stags Café” which is likely named for the very kind young male co-owners who make our breakfasts and flat whites (the term for a small latte), chatted with us about surfing and our driving plans, and tried to entice Maia to try Marmite (a stronger version of Vegemite – yeast paste) on toast.  She ended up chowing down honey on toast while I ate the Marmite.  Not sure if it is the NZ sea air, but I actually liked it this time.  

We stopped in Oamaru for the cheese factory and a whiskey shoppe. 

 Maia encouraged us all to take a stroll down by the waterfront to see boats.  There was a very picturesque collection of older fishing vessels and sailboats on one side of the quay and a yellow-eyed penguin reserve on the other.   

The penguins don’t come out to rest till nightfall and we were planning to see blue penguins (world’s smallest) at the Otago peninsula, so we pressed on to Dunedin.  After dropping our belongings at our bach (pronounced “batch”  – this is the term for a rental house) made it out to the peninsula for an evening visit to the blue penguin reserve near the albatross centre.  It is one of the few places you can see the penguins without either an exorbitant fee or a hefty hike (difficult with a 2 ½ year old). 

Fur Seal Snoozing!

We saw only 3 penguins as we did not wait till nightfall, when there could be up to 80 penguins coming in for the evening.  One was a baby holed up in its burrow above the high tide line.   

We did also see the albatross soaring overhead and 2 sleepy fur seal bachelors.  There were seven rabbits grooming the grass above the beach. In fact there is an “Easter bunny hunt” on the Otago peninsula each year!

Eradication of all feral rabbits, possums, stoats, ferrets, weasels, and the like is a lofty goal in NZ.  These pests destroy habitat and eat the eggs or young of native species – primarily birds.  Poisoning, traps, guns, cars (vroom, vroom) and even a bit of biological warfare in the form of a species specific virus are enlisted, but the battle goes on.  Rabbits (unfortunately) can be pregnant again within days of giving birth- ick!

42 Hours and exhausted...but we're HERE!

OK, I keep forgetting how much effort it takes to get to the Southern Hemisphere...36 hours after getting up to drive to Seattle to catch our plane, we finally arrive in Christchurch, NZ (ugh!).
January 25th:
Drive to Seattle, check-in 3 hours early and wait for flight to San Fransisco, rush through the SFO airport to get to our international flight with a 50 minute connection window, fly from San Fran to Sydney and get there just in time for "brekkie".

Spend day in Sydney checking out the beautiful waterfront, the Sydney Opera House (design masterpiece-financial disaster)

and the Royal Botanical Gardens. Saw funky long curved beaked (and NOT shy) birds (ibis)

and noisy large white parrots, numerous sail boats, loads of runners...then back to the airport to connect with our 3 hour flight to Christchurch. January 28th: We arrive at our hotel at 1:00 AM...so tired our heads hurt from how much it hurts to keep our eyes open!
We only slept about 4 hours on the way to Sydney and stayed up all day outside in the warm humid sunshine to help reset our internal clocks. Must have worked as we woke up at 7 AM refreshed and spent the rest of the day doing a little sightseeing with our friend Chris who teaches at the University here.
Now our efforts turn to locating a decent vehicle to buy. Vehicles here are expensive to rent (+$100/day for a mini-van), so the hunt begins for a low cost purchase. Even if we sell it for 2K less than we paid we will still be waaaay ahead. Lots to negotiate though. First, apparently do not buy a campah van from other backpackers traveling NZ. Apparently they have had many owners, the odometer is usually suspect, and then there is the matter of legal title, a WOF (warranty of fitness...needed EVERY 6 months!) and a variety of other issues. Needless to say, we think we will go to one of the local used vehicle dealers or the local vehicle auction house. So, our morning tomorrow will be filled with looking at mini-vans and then it is off to the last international cricket game of the season (NZ vs. Pakistan). Tomorrow's game will be an "all dayer"...8 hours! About the amount of time to teach us only the basic rudimentary elements of the game! So until then...BATTER UP! er...whatever they say in cricket:)

Ten days and counting!

Hello Everybody from the Hideg Family.
Just want to get started on our travel blog for our much awaited (and maybe even a little deserved) trip Down Undah...to the South Island of New Zealand and then onto flooded Coolum and Noosa, Queensland Australia to visit our friends from our Indo trip 2-1/2 years ago.
Well, Alisa already had her and Maia's bags packed a few days ago and I got my bags packed yesterday, which included the much revered "surf gear bag". It has been packed, double checked, then sorted again just to make sure we've got our wetsuits, our booties and gloves (for the cold water of the South Island), various tools needed for surfboards (oh, and that now reminds me, I need to pack a pair of soft-racks for the boards!), wax, etc.
It is amazing that Alisa has all of her and Maia's clothing packed in a mid-sized backpack. The rolling duffel has my clothing and our camera and video gear. Hopefully that will translate into a lot of great photos for all of you to see and maybe even a few Quicktime videos:)
Then the "black hole bag" (AKA surf gear). A carry-on computer bag to take my work with me. Yes, I will be working 2 half days a week to keep the mojo working on the Santa Barbara house (shout-out to Darby & Alex, it's THEIR house!) and the Spokane house (shout-out to Michelle...toughing it out in the "Tiny House" next door to where the new modern box will reside). We plan on buying a mini-van in NZ as a car rental is just waay too much. Hopefully we can get a hold of a Mazda Bongo Van (great name for a surf wagon to be!).
 Alisa's Mom, Carolyn, and her new husband, Monte, will be joining us in NZ for the first 2 weeks of our trip and Alisa will be holding a packing class for her Mom to "show her how it's done". Yes, most of you know that we have a "fair" amount of experience traveling to different parts of the world. Some people get bit by the "travel bug", we must have gotten bit by the venemous Travel Snake! It's poison runs deep and apparently there is no cure; alas we have decided to live with our affliction:)

So, here's to ticking off the next nine days and getting excited for our new adventure.
Give us a call or drop us a line before we go.
George (Alisa and Maia are in nap mode this Sunday afternoon.