The names for things tend to be pretty literal in New Zealand. On our hunt for dolphins, with
whom we nearly swam, we went all around the bay in a large speed-boat and saw lots of islands;
big ones, little ones, barren ones, forested ones. I was scoping some of them out, figuring
where we'd put our house and our guest cottages on our private island. (Writers are dreamers.
When we're not writing or involved in some other activity we're likely day-dreaming. It's one
of the many things that are infuriating about us.)
We did finally meet up with some dolphins, who are hard to photograph unless you have a camera with
no shutter delay, (like a digital does.) We did get a few good shots that I've included on this
final picture gallery of our trip!
I've also included a picture of a vehicle we saw all over North and South Island. They're small
camper-vans that seem quite popular. With the cost of hotel rooms I could see the wisdom of doing
some car camping. There were also a lot of "farm stays," where you spend the night at someone's
private farm, and hostels. We stuck to hotel rooms as camping is not Erik's thing and hostels
are not my thing.
On the second day, Erik went para-sailing. Pictures of that conclude our stay at Bay of Islands.
The next day we drove back to Auckland for an early morning take-off to Sydney, where we transferred
to a San Francisco bound plane.
But aside from these pictures we also took a lot of wonderful memories from this trip. We saw so
many amazing things and met so many wonderful people, I truly did fall in love with New Zealand.
Erik thinks I joke, but I'm serious when I say I would live in NZ if the conditions were right.
It's the most incredible place I've ever seen, (so far.) It's very water-centered , they have
strict ecological laws, the food is good and the beer is excellent.
And the people, the New Zealanders, are the most charming, lovely folks. (Except that wanker that
ran us off the road.) They are polite like the British, but more relaxed like the Australians, but
less boisterous than their neighbors. We were welcomed everywhere we went, even when they were a
little surprised by having a gay couple staying amongst them. Once they saw we were just regular
guys they warmed to us quickly. I know there's some homophobia in NZ, but I live in San Francisco
and there's some around here.
Great place to visit. Take 3-4 weeks and see as much of it as you can. Don't speed on North Island,
at least not near a large city. Respect the environment. And if you're polite you'll be treated
with kindness and hospitality everywhere you go. And lastly, if you're going, take me along!
I would return gladly.
