Beervana

Good-bye Wellington. I'll miss the regular cafe visits we had with Chris. Note the lovely hat Chris has. I made it in a night, special for him.

Hello Auckland. We are staying at a bed and breakfast. They have a moggy (cat) named Honey. She is as nice as she looks. Her favorite activity is slashing people and sitting in front of the heater.

We went out for a bit of shopping. Crisps (potato chips) were at the top of my list.

I also talked Dad into paying for some beer. So far we've had the Pirate beer (pretty good) and the Moa beer (also pretty good). Dad didn't like the Moa beer as much. He said it was too light. I prefer a beer that doesn't make you feel like you've eaten a loaf of bread after a sip.

Mmmm. Beervana.

Spotted Kiwi Spotting

The Tui is a native New Zealand bird. It has become much more common in Wellington since the last time I had visited. Chris said that this one was an older one. You can tell by the white feathers on the back of it's head.

While Dad was doing boring computer things, Chris and I went out for a bit of shopping. Chris treated me to a neat cookbook after hearing how poor a cook I am. (Although, I did make scrambled eggs in the morning, and it went well) I don't think I can mess up four ingredients as badly as some other meals.

Later on we visited the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, which is now known as Zealandia. We got permission to come later at night to do a tour. But before we left, we had a lovely lunch.

Chris always has a knack for finding the coffee shop.

In the afternoon we visited downtown Wellington. There was some spiffy street art. I visited the yarn shop, which was very well tucked away.

Here is an abbreviated picture of the purchase. I have a sweater's worth of the Tui yarn and another ball of the Kauri yarn. Both have possum in them. There is another bit of lace yarn, but I think I left it in Chris' car.

We went back to Zealandia and tramped about in the bush for two and a half hours before finally locating a certain special little guy. We saw a spotted kiwi in the wild! When we found him, he looked as surprised to see us as we did to see him. They are much bigger than I imagined. Dad called them a giant football with feathers.

I didn't have my camera with me, so I found this picture. It is linked if you click on it.

Cape Palliser

I experienced my first New Zealand traffic jam on the way to Cape Palliser. New Zealand traffic jams are rather dissimilar from ones in the United State. Less honking, more pooping. You could tell which paddock the sheep had come from based on the poo trail.

As we came over the hill, the first sight of the ocean was quite magical. The sun lit up the water into a magical blue.

Most of our journey was through farm land, but after many a bend, we saw a small fishing village, Ngawi. (Pronounced: Na-we)

There is no dock in Ngawi. In order to get a boat into the ocean, each boat has it's own trailer and bulldozer. The bulldozer backs the trailer into and out of the ocean.

Our favorite was Tinky Winky.

It was quite windy in Ngawi. Chris and I had to help each other keep our hats on.

A bit further down the road, Chris told us there was a place the fur seals liked to hang out. Two bits of advise shared were:

1. Don't step on a seal, they don't like it.

2. Never stand between a seal and the ocean.

After the seals, we reached Cape Palliser. Cape Palliser is the most southern tip of the North Island. There happens to be a lighthouse on the cliff.

Which you can visit if you enjoy climbing 250 steps.

The lighthouse is quite impressive to see up close. It is still in use, although it is manned remotely.

The view is wonderful as well. Although you should be prepared for ungodly wind speeds. I speculated that the fence that was built around the area was useful for keeping people from being swept off of the cliff.

I could have spent all day by the beach. At least until we all got hungry.

We drove back an hour to get to Martinborough to get a little something to nibble on.

And a nice warm Mocha.

We Have Landed

It took over 20 hours, but I've finally made it to Wellington. The flight from SFO to Auckland was made much more pleasant with the two glasses of wine my father and I drank during the flight. A twelve hour flight felt like a four hour one as we both passed out. I didn't even watch one in-flight movie. The flight from Auckland to Wellington was a quick hour journey.

After landing, our family friend Chris picked us up. Soon we went to his favorite cafe. The eggs benedict were excellent. There is no picture because they were that excellent. Afterwards we went to the best park in the world (which happens to be a two minute walk from the excellent eggs benedict) to swing on the flying fox. For those of you not in the know, a flying fox is a seat attached to a long wire. You hurl yourself off the platform to go swinging through the air until the wire runs out and the top bit bumps into tires.

Dad didn't want to go, but agreed to sit on the seat for a picture. Dear ole Dad.

Next we stopped by the Stansborough Mill. Unfortunately they stopped giving tours three days before we came. Fortunately, the lady who bred the Stansborough Grey sheep, the only kind in the world, gave us a quick, personal tour. She even had some test yarn for me to buy. That's right. This yarn isn't even on the market. Yarn nirvana.

We headed along the coast for a bit to take in the sights. Chris is known to choose routes based on cafes. We found one. Chocolate Dayz Cafe. Yes please.

I had a very yummy mocha. It had a little strawberry cream filled chocolate fish on the side.


After all the excitement, we headed back to Chris's place. This is the backyard. How cool is that?

I've still had time to knit a little. I've started in on my Tardis Socks. If only I had an episode of Dr. Who to watch while knitting.

Guess Where I'm Going

Tomorrow I'm leaving the country. Locals are known as Kiwis. Can you guess where I'm going?

It is a subject of the British Crown. Captain Cook charted the coast. Any guesses?

The indigenous people are the Maori. Give up yet?

I'm going to New Zealand. Land of hobbits and sheep.

I'll be on a nice, long, twelve hour plane flight soon. They had better not take away my wooden knitting needles.

Emu Exploration

Goodbye old room. Goodbye old house. You had lots of character and plenty of memories.

I found my camera cord, so here is sneak peek of my new place. I haven't finished putting it together just yet, so I'll take a better picture once it is more presentable.

Here's the view from my front porch. Right across the field is my place of employment. In the morning, I just hop a fence (a lower one next to the high one in this picture) and cross the field. I've been keeping an eye out for Walter. He has it in for me.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon knitting in the warm breeze.

When the evening came for a visit, I started to explore.

The sky was stunning. I kept walking across the property until I reached the dividing fence.


The neighboring farm has some Emus. They were grooming themselves and largely ignoring me, which was just fine.

I've Moved!

I moved out of my old place on the 31st. Now I live a field away from where I work. I'm sure there will be all sorts of interesting stories to tell in the coming days. Of course with moving, there are the endless days of sorting ahead. Which brings me to my next topic.

Things I can't find right now:

1. My camera cord

2. Anything remotely useful

Until I can locate the camera cord, there won't be any new pictures on this blog. However, I'll be the first to tell you all that my new place is fantastic. Pictures will come in the hopefully not too distant future.