Week 21

Week 21

Where We Went: Christchurch/Sumner Beach, Picton/Marlborough, Napier/Hawke’s Bay, Mt. Cook, Lake Taupo, Rotorua, Waitomo, and Hamilton 

Funniest Thing We Did: Adam saw a sign that read ‘exit’ so he decided it would be awesome to drive through mounds of gravel in our hatchback corolla through the vineyard to a gate that was closed.  Then I had to get out to open the gate, let the car through and close the gate behind the car.  So embarrassing.

Craziest Thing We Did:  We went in the limestone caves in Waitomo then boarded a boat in pitch black and were taken through glowworm caves lit up by millions of glowworms on the ceiling.  It was crazy because it was like nothing we’d ever seen before and everyone has to be completely silent.  

Best Thing We Did: Wine tasting in Hawke’s Bay.  We went to five wineries, all the tastings were free and we met some very cool people along the way.  The wine region is especially gorgeous because of the surrounding bay.  Adam was the awesome “DD”.  Thanks, babe!

Tastiest Thing We Did:  My favorite meal was “Green Tipped” mussels harvested in the Marlborough sound served just minutes away at Le Cafe in Picton.  We also drank lots of good wine in the Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay regions.  Then, in Napier I had the best scallops I’ve ever tasted…paired with amazing wine, once again.

Dumbest Thing We Did:  Go 13k over the 100k speed limit.  Got an $80 NZD speeding ticket.  Turns out we got another speeding ticket via mail from a camera, plus, we got a parking ticket!  Such an industry there!!

Coolest thing we Learned: We went to the Quake City museum in Christchurch and learned about the devastating earthquake and how the city has been rebuilding since.  185 people died and much of the city has not been rebuilt.  

Biggest Surprise: For a small country it was kind of a shock that we drove 2,919 miles!!  

Mystery Solved:  When we saw “A Bowl of Cheerios with T-Sauce” on the menu we had to inquire.  Turns out they are mini hot dogs and ketchup.

Other Updates:

• We took the ferry back across the Cook Strait to the North Island.  The weather the night before we were supposed to go was 160kph winds and crazy rain so we weren’t sure the ferry would go but it all cleared up just in time.
• We met a really nice guy pouring wine at Saint Clair who was from Mendoza, Argentina. He gave us winery recommendations and helped plan the South American portion of our trip.
• Our private rooms in airbnbs have been awesome.  Really nice people, really comfy rooms and really reasonable prices (plus they include continental breakfast!)
• It’s true, there really are more sheep than people here!
• While in Christchurch we watched six hours of football (playoffs!) and met some cool Americans doing the same.

Check out more photos by clicking on the photo links below!