We arrived in New Zealand on December 8th after a quick 3 hour flight. Both Val and I forgot there was an hour time differnce from Fiji to here so the flight was an hour less than we thought. Yippee!!!!
Customs in New Zealand is like no other country in the world. They do not want ANY food, seeds, plant matter, insects, etc. getting into this country. With good reason. These islands have some of the most diverse, yet unique vegetation and wild life in the world and they want t preserve this. The introduction of foreign plant or animals in the past has caused major problems. Val was bringing in some dehydrated Black Beans and you should have seen what she had to go through to do it. One thing we did learn is that the posted limit of alcohol of 1.125 litres per person has been raised to 3 litres. Wish we had known this when we left the Duty Free shop in Fiji! Oh well, live and learn.
We were met at the airport by Brendan of 'Campa South Rentals' with our new home/transportation for the next 9 weeks. Culli is her name and she's fully loaded. All we had to do was get in and drive away. Of course we had to pay him first:) We drove about 5 miles to the nearest camper park so we could get fully unpacked and test every inch of the thing for where we could store things, how it all worked, etc.
The next day we spent getting lost and driving around in circles in downtown Auckland. Did I fail to mention they drive on the wrong side of the road here, and our camper is way to tall to fit in most parking garages. So we spent at least an hour trying to find a surface garage. When we finally did, it was $29 per day to park! We wnet ahead and bit the bullet. We needed to spend some time in downtown and figured it was worth it. Things we needed to do:
- Buy warm clothing
- Buy some fresh coffee (Starbucks abound here)
- Buy some additional storage devices for Culli
- Finally, most important, and the thing we had the least success with, figure out Wi-Fi for the laptop.
As of this writing, we have still not been able to get set up with a wireless network here in New Zealand. The one Starbucks uses is available through-out the country, but it's $10 per hour. I have heard rumors of other networks, but until I find one, I'll keep writing journal entries and wait until I can get a connection to upload.
Now, for the fun stuff. Did I mention that New Zeland is the greatest country in the world in my humble opinion? It has the greatest natural beauty, sensible laws and rules, friendly courteous people, and great food everywhere. Our first breakfast was at a small cafe where I got a bagel with Lox and capers. There must have been a quarter pound of the best Lox I've ever tasted! The price was cheaper than Noah's in Portland, and I was given at least three times the amount:) Life's good.
We did some grocery shopping at a store called New World. It's kind of like Whole Foods. Lost of organic foods, but also lots of specialty things that you just can't get anywhere else. While shopping I happened to find several varities of beers from the best brewer in all of New Zealand, Emerson's. We visited the brewery in Dunedin last time we were here and I hope we can make it there again. Richard Emerson is a great brewer! I know lots of our beer conn-e-sewer friends in Portland are scoffing at this right now, but over here, he's the John Maier of brewing.
After we left Auckland, we drove to the base of the Coramandel Penninsula and spend the night. The next morning (today) we drove up and back down the entire penninsula. This is a region that reminds me of the Oregon Coast. Rugged, windy, and lots of little artsy towns along the way.
Tomorrow we are visiting some friends we met last time we were in this part of the world. Andy and Angie Belcher. Andy is a very well known photographer. When I get the chance, I will add his website to the links at the top of the home page of this site. If you're a photography fan, check out some of his work.
After a visit with Andy and Angie, we have a few days to spend before our friend Mark from the UK is arriving from Rarotonga. He and I are planning to do some diving up north. The sites will include Poor Knights Islands and the Rainbow Warrior wreck. Should be fun!
That's about it for now. We'll keep you posted at things progress. Once I get the wireless service straightened out, you will see posts occuring much more frequently.
Until then, Eric & Val
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