Yay for an extra hour of sleep! As Greg points out we did lose an entire day crossing into New Zealand, but last night we got an hour back with our second daylight saving change of the year. Thankfully the hotel reminded us as Greg and I would have had absolutely no idea.
Fun fact #3, did you know that Napier, New Zealand is the Art Deco capital of the world? Apparently after an earthquake destroyed the downtown area in 1931 they rebuilt it with the style of the day, Art Deco. It's like a Disney main street for art history buffs. So strange and wonderful at the same time.
We've had an incredible, if totally whirlwind, time in New Zealand so far. We spent the first night in Auckland and managed to visit the art gallery (wonderful) and by chance have a drink next door to the oldest pub in New Zealand (thank you FourSquare). The next day we took a very scenic drive around Coromandel bay and then down to Taupo for the night (almost all of it successfully on the left hand side of the road).
On Saturday we explored Taupo, spending the morning at Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Wonderland (sounds cheesy, but was incredible) followed by a swim in some local hot springs before driving to Napier for the night. Spent the night in an old converted hospital where the fluorescent light buzzed, flickered, and freaked us out a bit a la Bates Motel before we discovered the floor lamp and then got a great night's sleep.
We then took the wine trail to Wellington with Greg driving the first part so I could enjoy the wineries and my taking over for the second half of the trip so we could stop and enjoy a tasting at the Tui brewery.
Our stay in Wellington was terrific, of course, and a great place to just chill and regroup for a bit. The Te Papa museum was fantastic if you're ever in the area and one of Greg's colleagues gave us some excellent food and drink suggestions. Thanks Jeen!
We're in the airport lounge now waiting for our flight to Sydney and hopefully another great adventure there. Best wishes to everyone and thanks to those of you who've kept us posted on events at home too.
Lots of love,
Kat and Greg
We've had an incredible, if totally whirlwind, time in New Zealand so far. We spent the first night in Auckland and managed to visit the art gallery (wonderful) and by chance have a drink next door to the oldest pub in New Zealand (thank you FourSquare). The next day we took a very scenic drive around Coromandel bay and then down to Taupo for the night (almost all of it successfully on the left hand side of the road).
On Saturday we explored Taupo, spending the morning at Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Wonderland (sounds cheesy, but was incredible) followed by a swim in some local hot springs before driving to Napier for the night. Spent the night in an old converted hospital where the fluorescent light buzzed, flickered, and freaked us out a bit a la Bates Motel before we discovered the floor lamp and then got a great night's sleep.
We then took the wine trail to Wellington with Greg driving the first part so I could enjoy the wineries and my taking over for the second half of the trip so we could stop and enjoy a tasting at the Tui brewery.
Our stay in Wellington was terrific, of course, and a great place to just chill and regroup for a bit. The Te Papa museum was fantastic if you're ever in the area and one of Greg's colleagues gave us some excellent food and drink suggestions. Thanks Jeen!
We're in the airport lounge now waiting for our flight to Sydney and hopefully another great adventure there. Best wishes to everyone and thanks to those of you who've kept us posted on events at home too.
Lots of love,
Kat and Greg
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