One Ring To Rule Them All

Hello dear readers, my name is Connor. You may remember me from previous blog posts such as Monterey Bay Aquarium, Yosemite, and Kentucky. For this special edition blog post, Audry has kindly allowed me a guest write and share with you yet another adventure we've had together. As you know, Audry has been in New Zealand going on 9.5 weeks. What you didn't know is that I joined her out there for a short time (4 days). This was my first time outside of the States, so I had no idea what I was doing. I packed few clothes and checked in a big empty bag so I could bring back all the yarn Audry bought out there.

Our first destination was Paeroa, known for its naturally fizzy water which inspired a local favorite drink called Lemon and Paeroa, or L&P. Tagline: "World famous in New Zealand." I highly recommend it if you're ever in the area.

From there we took a beautiful drive through the countryside to Mt. Maunganui, where she'd spent time as a child at her grandparents' timeshare. The ocean is very beautiful, but still cold. I decided it was a "looking ocean" after all.

Now I hear you asking, "So why, Connor? Why fly all the way to New Zealand just for 4 days?" Indeed it was not just to look at a beautiful country, nor just to transport yarn back to the States. There at Mt. Maungani I proposed to Audry. Several times. She said yes each time. 

I knelt here in this bit of sand as she sat beneath the bolder.

The rest of that short trip was pretty great too, but I'll leave it to Audry to tell the rest. 

Lemon & Paeroa

After the Agrodome, I managed to convince Dad to swing by Tauranga on the way back to Auckland. Only an hour out of our way. I, of course, found a yarn shop. I ended up buying roving.

We then had a nice lunch by Mount Maunganui. When I was a child, we would stay in a lodge for a week right by the mount.

Lunch was lovely and I had a bit of chocolate cake as well. But you had to keep an eye on your food. Otherwise the little birds would be all over you.

After lunch I convinced Dad that we should walk around the mount for old time sake. It took less than an hour.

Plus the view of the sea is unrivaled.

After we left Tauranga, we drive for an hour and a half before stopping in Paeroa. I was unaware that Paeroa was well known for a soft drink, which I sampled next to the large bottle statue. The tagline on the bottle is excellent. It says, "World Famous in New Zealand."

Paeroa is also home to the scariest loo ever. When you go into the bathroom, this voice says, "The door is locked." Then some muzak is piped in. I got a round of "What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love." It was a little worried that the voice would start sounding like HAL and tell me I was locked in forever. No toilet needs to have that much technology.

The scenery on the way back was quite lovely. I don't think I'd care to leave.