We're Back!

After a great “vacation” and holidays with friends and family back homeish, we left the states on Dec 31st and arrived back to Auckland NZ on Jan 2nd. ‘Twas especially nice to start our time back with an all-family Thanksgiving and ending it with an all-family Christmas – plus a hockey tournament in Vegas. It’s summer in NZ, very similar to a Door County Wisconsin summer with moderate temperatures and cool nights.

Our first destination is Napier, a seaport on the east coast known as the Art Deco Capital of the World. Much of the city and its main street was rebuilt in the Art Deco style of the 1930’s after it was destroyed in the 1931 Hawk’s Bay earthquake which killed 256 people and leveled the central business district. By the end of the decade Napier was the newest city on the globe.

On our way to Wellington, we drove through the Hawke’s Bay region which is popular for its wine country, beaches, rivers, forestry, farming and sheep – and windmills. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand & NZ’s Capital of Craft beer, it is located at the south-western tip of the North Island between green hills and the sparkling harbour. As usual, we are attracted to the waterfront, art galleries, public murals & sculptures, coffee shops, bakeries, ice cream shops, nature walks, gardens, and whatever else catches our eye. Besides all the craft breweries we visited, the highlight of Wellington was connecting with some Beaver Dam friends for drinks and dinner!

To get to the South Island we board the Interislander Ferry, Kaitaki, to cross Cook Strait from Wellington to Picton. By far the largest ferry we have ever been on, Kaitaki can carry 1,650 people, 600 cars plus many larger campers, semi-trucks and freight. It has several cafés & lounges, adult only and family-friendly areas, a cinema and lots of large windows to enjoy the beautiful scenery. The 3 ½ to 4 hour passage has to be one of the most beautiful ferry rides in the world – even on our cloudy, misty day.

Missing you all already!
XOXOXOXO
Gma & Gpa