Tuff travels on the South Island

Hello All - As we get ready to depart the south Island we finally have stumbled upon "civilization", a town of about 5000 that offers internet...for a fee. So real quick, everything is going great! we have really enjoyed visiting the South alothugh we both agree it's not a place we would like to live...WAY too desolite and wild, but naturally beautiful with the coastline, Southern alps over 14000 feet, abundant wildlife, and glaciers we can walk right up to! Unfortunately due to our lack of experience and the costs of internet time we are unable to post new pics (we'll try later, there unbelievable!) But travel is tuff...Our camera broke after 3 yrs of loyal service, and after 2 weeks of use Matt's surfboard snapped in half at a gnarly south island break!
We are looking forward to our ferry ride to the Noth Island next week (Christmas Day!) and our concert we have tickets for on New Years! Soon after we will be heading back to our base town of Tauranga to search for a house to hunker down in for the reaminder of our year.
So, from far across the world..Merry Chistmas to All and a Happy New Year!!

Further South

We are currently enjoying our time around the city of Dunedin in the southern part of the south island. We will be headed even further south this week, weather is cold...(about the same temps as now in NYC). Experiencing some problems with the internet and downloading all our new pics, promise new ones soon!

Going South

Hello again everyone now from the South Island. It has been an exiting time . Last we wrote we were in Napier on the North. Since then we have traveled to Wellington city. That is were we spent our 2nd anniversary. We got a hotel in a section called Cuba. It was a colorful, artsy fun area. The people are a little off in dress and the way they behave but they make for good people watching. We started out at a Belgian brewery for lunch then found a Borders book store. My present was a $50. paper back! It sells for $15 in the States. We spent most the day doing laundry. Later we got Thai food for dinner and walked around. We are usually in bed by 9pm. At midnight I woke shocked by the noise of rock, salsa and who knows what else roaring from the streets. We had to shut the windows because it was so loud. The locals didn't stop partying till the sun came up.
The city was a little crazy for us after being out camping in peace and quiet. We couldn't't wait to get out. We worked our way to Kaitoke park. A camping area you can stay for $5 each per night. It has trails and a river, and bathrooms and a kitchen area. The area is a popular tourist spot for Lord of the Ring tours. We found a rail trail down the road. It said to bring a torch so we brought headlamps. We had no idea the tunnels would be so long dark and scary. One lamp died so Matt followed me. I could only see a spot of ground in front of me. All I kept thinking was.Please don't see anything! This was what ghost stories are made from. We safely got back. The one other guy we saw on the trail wiped out in a tunnel and landed over his handel bars bleading. I guess we got lucky.
We visited Te Papa Museum for free in the city. There are great exhibits that expand over 6 floors. We took allot of the Native Maori things in. Matthews favorite was the Polonesian section with artifacts, costumed and pictures of their sailing rafts. We got our ferry the next day from this port. We drove the car under it and headed across the Cooks streight for 3 uneasy hours at night.
We arrived on the other Island around midnight and drove up a windy mountain not able to see much but possum eyes in the dark. We camped out on the side of the road, in the morning to discover a beach campsite down the road. Nelson was our next small city to drive through. Most the people here are passing through on their way to or from one of the great walks. This is a huge rafting and kyaking area because of the rivers and gorges. We crossed a swing bridge to the other side, a gold mining area. The beach had flakes of gold floating around. It was unreal. The bugs are awful and relentless.
We drove down the West coast. You can see the beaches in the pictures are breathtaking. There are lots of pull offs on the side of the road for photo ops. Lots of tourist in rental caravans everywere. W e try hard to escape them and find off road private sites to camp, sometimes almost falling into a ditch but most times finding places like the shot of the van on the beach.
We continues South to a town Hokitika, known for it's jade or greenstone. You can walk on the beach and just pick it up in it's raw form. This wasn't as great of a spot as we thought so we traveled on. Next was a drive through snow capped mountains with glaciers escaping from cracks. We got to climb to the base of fox glacier and see were it was receding fro. It's pretty dangerous. There are constant shifting and landslides. It moves a meter a day.
We celebrated Thanksgiving with a pasta dinner from our kitchen. People here don't have this holiday so they are early to get a start on Christmas.
We are doing well and are in Queens town now, the capital of extreme sports. No we are playing it safe. Everyone else is here for bungee jumping,para sailing,jet boating, hand gliding, rapid surfing, rafting, cave rappelling, monster trucks, 4x4ing and being flown to mt. tops and dropped with your bike. All this things are extremely expensive. We try to do things on the cheap. If it's free it's for me. We did a nice scenic bike around the lake in town. The Aspen flowers smell great. It is Spring here in the mountains and the sun doesn't go down till at least 9 pm at least. We are getting far South. All that is on the other side of the ocean is the south pole and Tasmania.
We are headed to Milford sound to do some day hikes then continuing south. Jude's a trooper and gets plenty of rest. We will keep you updated. Hope you all enjoy the postcards. Love Lauren and Matthew P.S. Everyone whos checking in please log on and leave a comment. We'd like to know who's out there. Thanks

South Island...the trip goes on!

made it here on a nite ferry, currently working our way down the west coast...enjoy the pics internet cafe is closing...we will write more at a later time...ENJOY!!!

Leaving the North Island

Hello from Napier on the East coast of the North Island. We have been camped out at a beach you will see in the pictures. The water is a clear aqua, the waves are all you hear, the weathers sunny and fine and it's all free! The rocky beach runs for miles on the coast and it is open for the public to enjoy. They even have a 7 minute shower in town for one dollar. We have held down this spot just outside of town for four nights. After waking we go into town to explore,have lunch, bike around etc.
It is a beautiful town with all it's architecture done in the art deco style of the 30's. The whole town was destroyed in a earthquake in the 30's so everything had to be rebuilt. The buildings are geometric with lots of arches , light purples and allot of soft yellows. We are in Hawkes Bay otherwise known as wine country. We lost count of all the vineyards. Fresh produce is sold at the roadsides. There is a local peak you can drive to the top of. Legend has it that it looks like a giant sleeping. We decided to bike down the designated bike trail after being recommended by a local. Good God-did we make a mistake. Take a look at the picture of me coming down the beginning of the trail. It didn't get any better. I have the bumps and bruises to prove it. Matthew made it down in one piece and was playing it cool. I know he was scared too. These Kiwis are hard core. Some of these trails I can't imagine just cruising down without padding and a mouth guard.
We just bought our ferry tickets for next week. It will carry us and car to the South Island. We will return on the Christmas afternoon ferry back to the North. Things are fine except for the shortage of used book stores and poor selection of literature. Please send books but don't send anything till a few days before Christmas or after. Our post office only holds mail for a month before sending back or discarding. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Back to the city

Kia Ora,(hi in Maori. We are back in Auckland to clear out our storage. It has been a month. We pick up Jude tomorrow. We have been on the road exploring and camping out. The first place we visited after leaving Auckland was Bay of Plenty were Matts school is. The first few weeks the weather was rainy, cold and windy, nothing like we had anticipated. We had only packed summer clothes and a pair of jeans each. It keeps us doing laundry regularly.The poly tech campus is gorges, covered halls leading to separate classrooms outside and a huge facility. I fell in love with the library. I may be sneaking in myself. As you see in the picture there is great surf here and one of the loveliest beaches either of us has seen. We climbed the mount as they call it. Everything is volcanic, the beaches have pumice like volcanic rock that floats. There is an active volcano off the coast.
We tried for a week or more to find a place between the beach and school but it is like the cape in the middle of the summer. Everything is rented and it's hard to find a place that excepts dogs. We decided to hit the road and save the money on rent we would be spending to store our stuff and explore the country like we had planned on.
We left for lake Taupo in the middle of the North island. It is an active thermal area that has natural hot springs everywhere. We were lucky to camp out on a Farm for free along a Crystal blue river with a trail leading to Huka falls. There are great bike trails here that gave us a run for our money. We both got new bikes,with disc brakes! We stayed the week indulging in the natural spas. The locals are very friendly and helpful but a hearty bunch. The cold and rain don't faze them in their short shorts. It is a clean way of living. No trash, everyone recycles, thermal energy, half flush toilets, and a great respect for nature. Everyone is active and spends most their free time outside.No one has a large home. If you have money you have more land.
We are headed out of the city for the Corromundell peninsula that is a warmer place. We will write more when we get a chance.Ta

Out Traveling Around

Nothing to post now...too busy compiling adventures and getting some amazing pics for all to see!! Picking up Jude in Auckland next week...plan on giving a full update then! Thanks...chat with ya soon!!

Almost out of the city

Hello mates, greetings from Auckland. We have moved out of the tiny hostel room and into our home on wheels. The other day we dropped the van off with this English bloke who custom built a platform for our mattress and made storage underneath, open the back and pull out a table and cook with a burner.
Our first camp spot was quite a crazy ride. We both almost lost our dinner winding up and down a dark mountain on narrow unlit roads. There were no rails and we could only imagine were we would land with one wrong turn. Finally after an hour of intense navigation up a mountain and down to sea level on the other side we stopped at a camper site. We payed the ten dollars and then the van wouldn't start! How could this be? Don't ask but it started up again to get us to our site. The next morning we took a walk to breath and pray for a miracle before trying it again.
The view of the ocean was amazing. This was a hot spot for surfers with a death wish. We would have enjoyed our stay more here if we weren't in such a rush to repair our van. It didn't start but fortunately kiwis are a handy breed and one then two came to our rescue. He surmised our battery was too small and came ajar on our bumpy ride. They gave us a jump and then detailed directions to a fine electrical mechanic. No problem getting there and repairing it.
We are making some progress. We have spent the past two night outside Auckland city on a farm. You pay five dollars and drive out into a field through gates to your choice of spots amongst the sheep, lambs, cows, horses and even an active peacock. We opened the back of the van pulled out our table and two coolers for seats and prepared a dinner. Our meals have consisted of soup and noodles washed down with some local red wine(no need to chill in the chilly bin) For lunch we have been picking up veggies and fruit. The sunsets are amazing and can't beat our view. There has only been two other campers in RVs near us at a fields distance. They have satellite TV we have a few good books and some trivia.
Early this morning we got the van looked at and got a clean bill of health. Tonight we stay at the same site and shower and eat. Tomorrow morning we get the van tinted in town. After that we are hitting the road and getting out of the city. We are going to the middle of the country, Routora, home of hundreds of natural hot springs and thermal pools. We are in an Internet cafe now using their computers next to local boys playing PC games. We have had trouble uploading pics but we'll fix that when we have more time. Trying to buy some bikes now to explore the North island, talk to everyone later. Thanks for reading. We will keep posting.

Auckland city

Wow what a trip it has been to get to this point. We are still chugging along ,since Sunday,trying to acclimate to the other side of the globe. It's been an uphill battle since we landed in There Auckland four days ago. We took a $90. taxi ride to a storage unit we rented for a month. After that we were dropped at a hostel downtown. The room wasn't ready so we waited it out for a few hours then took the greatest showers ever. The room has a double bunk and a small bath off it. There is no other room to move. We have used it strictly for sleeping. They do watch allot of American shows like Rachael Ray, CSI , Simpson's and allot of other detective shows. The hostel is 7 or 8 floors of rowdy foreign kids looking to hook up with other travelers to share expenses. It gets pretty loud when they come back to their rooms. There is a bar in the hostel, lounge and computer room to pay for Internet time. We have been going to Starbucks down the st. for free.
Our first night we tried to stay on their schedule. We ate at a rugby bar that served a $3 breakie(as they call it) and saw the American movie Super Bad.It felt good to have a bit of America for awhile.
Woke up early day two to buy the necessities like phone, converters for electronics, and set up NZ bank account. Later we took a hour train ride out of town to visit Jude. That day we must have walked 10 miles at least. This is the first time in a long time we've been without wheels. It's getting us trained for our hikes! We are staying positive. All this work will pay off when we escape the city. There are allot of people here, mostly Asian. The trend in music and clothes are the 80's.
Jude is being well taken care of in kennel. There is a young kiwi girl who loves Jude. She plays with him every day. We got to hang out with him for an hour in his caged area. We left his favorite teddy bear for him. Can't wait to get him back.
It had been a beautiful Spring afternoon. WE enjoyed seeing all the different flowers and trees along the way. Lilies grow like weeds on the side of the road. Trees flower purple and pink and smell like lilacs and Jasmin grows on trees. This was great till the skies opened up and poured down on us after getting off the train. We decided to find our storage and get a few things out -like rain gear. It took longer than anticipated by looking at thew map. Most of the walk was up hill in pouring rain. There are allot of awnings on stores you can run in and out of. We arrive at storage and changed. Matt sat in his boxers and ate his lunch while I dug out the rain gear. No one else was there so we decided to wait out the storm. An hour later we realized it wasn't letting up so we braved it back with ponchos , waterproof pants and gortex boots. The gear passed the test.
Later that night we found a van on line the next day we took a train to the house to check it out. A 10 year old Solomon girl met us. She had been the young sounding woman we've been talking to. Her father speaks broken English. We test drove it and realized it's the best for the cheapest. It has roof racks, four wheel drive and a ram bar. The father was home when we returned. He said all we had to do was follow him to the post office and change names and pay A diesel fee. We keep the plates and all that. Nothing to sign. The line wait was the most painful part. We gave him the cash and we drove off into another rain storm. Matt braved the roads on the right side. We made it to a paring lot a few blocks from the hostel. Looks like we will have to stay a few more nights to get the van fixed up for our execution. We are having someone build a bed, hang curtains, tint it and new shocks. After all that Matt and I travel up to Corromendel Peninsula were everyone goes to holiday.
We will write again when we get out of the city and have more tales to tell. Miss you all.Happy Birthday Meg and Love you Molly and Frankie!

Two more days in paradise

We are enjoying every morning waking and realizing we are still here in Kona. The weather has been clear and sunny. We have driven all over this side of the island in our rental car and yet to fill the gas tank. I tried to update some of the pictures for everyone to get an idea of what we've been up to. The past few days we have been kayaking like crazy. We rented a double sit on top sea kayak for $45 for the day, snorkel and fins included. We tied it to the roof and drove up the coast to Captain Cooks Bay. This is were the Captain first landed in Hawaii and then unfortunately got eaten by the natives. The bay was amazing, more than we could of dreamed of. The water was aquamarine and full of sea life. On our paddle to the coral reef we passes through a spinner dolphin habitat. They loved to play with the kayaks and swim in front or next to. I was so in awe I couldn't even take a picture, just trying to take it it in my mind.
The other day we spotted a sea turtle right off shore at a Beach coming up for air,there is so much sea life everywhere. Holualoa is a small artist community in the hillside of Kona. It is definitely a place we would choose to move to in the future. Now we have an idea of the desirable spots on the island. Tonight Matt's' friend Ryan is flying over from another island for a few nights.It should be fun. We leave for New Zealand Friday night. Our next blog will be from Kiwi land. Wish us luck. Write often.

Kona at last

We have safely escaped the main land. Jude is going to be on a plane by Monday.
We have been here in Kona for about two days. We are just now adjusting to the 6 hr. time difference. Our rental car is a little Pontiac hatchback. We are staying in a really cute condo across from the ocean. It has a small kitchen, queen size bed and most importantly a nice sized portch. There is a pool here and BBQ, but haven't used yet. Mostly exploring other neighboring towns, and getting some seriously relaxing beach time. Tomorrow we are driving up the coast to spend a lazy Sunday a new beach. Enjoy the pics.

Doggie dilema

It is 3:30 in the afternoon outside LAX in a some dingy travel lodge. All you can hear are jumbo jets soaring overhead. No elevator, overpriced food, far from comfort. Weather is nice and sunny but things have got a bit hectic. We received a call early today from the export company informing us because they never received a test result from a doctor Jude can't fly out for 2 weeks or a month. To top that we would have to pay to have him boarded in LA after we depart. It would be about $40.oo a day. They wouldn't admit their mistake. We love our little shiba so we called everyone involved and harassed them. Early in the afternoon things didn't look that hopeful. I realized that Jude potentially could be in quarantine for another 6 months if he misses the cut off date. We decided if he couldn't fly out today as scheduled we would rather find a good home for him here in California. We looked up Shiba rescues in the area and sat and nervously awaited a stream of calls. Now we sit waiting to hear if New Zealand will give us a week extension to get new blood tests. Hopefully we are able to drop in off in a few hours. This company has really dropped the ball but instead of going off on them we helped them do their job. The vet in NY called a lab on our behalf, we owe them big.
Matthew walking Jude in the hotels little court yard. Get me out of L.A! Tomorrow at this time we'll be in Kona, can't wait.

almost blast off!

Our last day in NY. The other day we took a car trip to the Blue Mt's. We had to drive down a winding dirt rd for almost 3 hrs to get there but it was worth the ride. We visited the Adirondack Museum for a few hours. There were antique furniture, trains,buggies, photos,everything you could imagine . This was a hot spot before AC for the wealthy from the city. The intricate wood working is mind boggling. I admire these people. You definitely had to be self sufficient up there.
All afternoon yesterday was spent repacking our luggage. Once we realized how much extra lbs cost we rethunk things. With the help of a scale we weeded out the stuff that doesn't matter. I think everythings ready to leave tomorrow morning. One last vet appointment today for Jude and then we are out. We will write from Haiwaii.

the North Country

Arrived safely in northern NY, my parents live on the St Lawrance River 1000 Islands. Took a boat trip on my parents little cruiser, wonderful day, even had time to relax and take a nap!

New Blog

Lauren and I will be updating this page to keep all our friends and family up-to-date and informed about our travels. Please enjoy!