Day Four

After a long hard day on the winery tour trail yesterday, Bec and I were happy to be back out on the links. We played Napier Golf Club. It was a fun track with a lot of beautiful old growth trees. As is typical here, the fairways are not as plush as we are used to in the US, but the greens are in great shape.
Now all of you know that Bec is not looking for her ball under this big tree. I think she was looking for mine!
Bec makes friends easily. Below is what they did with the remains of an old tree...
After we finished playing, we drove the 3 hour trip over to Gisborne to spend the night. You get kind of numb with all the fabulous scenery here. This is a shot as we were beginning the decent down to Gisborne.

Day Three

Napier and Hastings are the epicenter of the Hawkes Bay wine region. Additionally, Napier unabashedly claims to be the Art Deco Center of the World, although somewhat tongue-in-cheek. The downtown area is replete with art deco buildings.



We set off to have breakfast and as we were enjoying our eggs and toast, who should walk by?Yep, Karen and Ed Levine from Beech Mountain. Now in fairness, we had seen them in Auckland on Sunday, as they were preparing to leave on a cruise to Australia. But it was funny that we saw them walking down the street in Napier.

As I said before, Napier is at the center of wine production in the Hawkes Bay Region. I guess this might only be second to the Marlborough Region of the South Island. Marlborough is famous for Sauvignon Blanc, which put the New Zealand wine industry on the map. Here in Hawkes Bay, they focus more on Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Voignier. When you enter this region, you are greeted by miles and miles of vineyards. Very reminiscent of pictures I have seen of the Sonoma Valley.

We were going to do a self-guided winery tour, but the folks at the hotel talked us out of it. Were they ever right. We went with Vince, who has been doing tours for nearly 30 years. What a blast! We did four wineries, sampled a minimum of eight wines per winery, and had a great cheese platter at the last winery. First we would have never found these wineries on our own, and secondly, should not have been driving if we could. There were six other folks with us, and we had a great time.


Above are our wine tour friends, from left our guide, Vince, Hal, Barbara and Inge(?) from Sweden, David and Vanessa newly-wed Kiwis, Becky, and lastly 2 young ladies from England.
Tomorrow it's golf and then off to Gisborne.

Day Two

So today is a beautiful day, a little cool in the morning but very nice. We are headed to play the Taupo Golf Club Centennial Course. This is a links course so off the fairway is big trouble.

Yes, we have learned to use a trolley on most courses.




There is no extra charge for those of you looking to improve your golf. Take note of how precisely I place my hands on the club! Behind me in the bush you can see some steam (just to the left of the tee marker rock, the 2nd shrub looks outlined in white) coming up from the ground...there are geothermal effects throughout this entire area. We were told that there are places on the course that you can feel the heat underground as you are walking.

After golf we headed down town for lunch. This is a shot across Lake Taupo with Mount
Ngauruhoe, Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings movies, in the background. It is the perfectly formed cone just to the right of the mountain with the snow on it. Yes it is mid-summer here.

After lunch we headed southeast over to the coast and Napier. On the way we saw this beautiful waterfall.

We stayed at a lovely boutique hotel in Napier. As you can see our view was directly at the Pacific Ocean. My favorite tree is on the left, a Norfolk Pine.

The First Day of Our Six Day Trip

Well we finally got of Auckland for 6 days. We left on Monday and headed south through Rotorua, the center of the geothermal activity in New Zealand, and on to Lake Taupo. Lake Taupo is the largest freshwater lake in this part of the world.

This is Lake Rotorua. One of the things it is noted for, is the large population of Black Swans.

Huka Falls is just north of Lake Taupo and is on the Waikato River.



Although not a great vertical drop, the amount of water being pushed through this small gorge makes it a spectacular sight.

A view out over the lake from the hotel. The sunset was truly spectacular.


We have some additional pictures of the lake taken on day 2, including a picture of Mount Doom in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings.

Not Little House on the Prairie

Things are different here in New Zealand. The kids are headed to the start of school on February 3. Ann has been buying uniforms and school supplies, and except for a few odds and ends, they seem ready to go. Zack will be in the sixth year here and Emma either second or third. Kindergarten here is year one. The school is just up the road and across the street, so a short walk for the kids. Within the first month, Zack will go on a week-long camping trip with his sixth year mates. They go somewhere down south of Auckland. All part of the curriculum, as well as water safety and other things. The uniforms remind me of Little House on the Prairie for some reason. The hats must be worn outside at all times! At least they all have to wear this, not real fashion forward in my book.

They both seem to be taking it all in stride.

Extending the Stay

Becky said I didn't do a very good job showing the view out the back of the house last time, so hopefully this gives everyone a better idea. The pictures are from the left to the right.

We applied to New Zealand Immigration to extend our 3 month visitor visa to a 5 month visa, expiring in April. After about a week, they extended us until mid-April. We have changed our flights and are now scheduled back on April 3rd. We will assess what to do and how to proceed with the Palencia house when we return. We intend to spend the summer at Beech Mountain, and then head back to New Zealand in November for six months.

Ken has found a job, very quick for coming over only a few weeks ago, and so the need for me to quickly pursue a company to buy, has passed. I may still buy something, but who knows.

Now that things are more settled here at the new house, Bec and I intend to do some traveling and see a bit more of the country than just around Auckland. The weather has turned beautiful, with most days now getting into the mid 70's. Nights are cool and great for sleeping. As I have said before, it reminds me of San Diego.

The New House

After looking at numerous houses across south and east Auckland, we were extremely happy to find this four bedroom house in Mellons Bay, and very close to the village of Howick. It is about three houses and across the street from the kids new school, they start on 3 February. As you can see, the house sits well of the road down a long driveway. The grounds are beautifully landscaped, with a small backyard for the kids.

Straight behind that tall pine is the front door, and to the right is a double carport.

Looking through the front door into the dining room and out to the back deck and out to the water.

From the dining room out towards the back deck. The kitchen is to the right and the main lounge area to the left. Back a hall to the right are three bedrooms, one with ensuite, and separate guest toilet. Downstairs is another bedroom and bath, and a larger rumpus room. We have chosen the downstairs accommodations.

The view is essentially the same view we had in the other house. The landmass in the background is Waiheike Island, a popular summer destination with vineyards, restaurants, etc. We will be making the ferry ride over in the not to distant future.

The basic household needs have been acquired, furniture, kitchenware, etc. We will continue to fill in items as we find them. This is a great location for everyone, and we feel lucky to have found it!