Wellington, August 24 - September 1, 2013.

August 25.

We arrived in Wellington yesterday evening, with Joh and Mark. The four of us took up residence at Jude and Nick's in Petone, where Jane and Tim where already staying. Jude and Nick aren't here at the moment, they are joining Alison on The World around now. George and Chelsea were kind enough to 'move out' for the night to accommodate all of us :-). All but us are heading back to The Hawke's Bay this afternoon. We are staying here about 4 days, before moving to Hamish's for our last days in NZ.

Last night The All Blacks faced the Wallabies in game 2 of 3 of the Bledisloe Cup; they had won the 1st last weekend. Some had tickets to see the game here at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington; some of us watched the game in the 'Fork and Brewer Pub' in downtown. The All Blacks won and so retained the cup. After the game everyone re-convened in the pub for some drinks before heading back to Petone.

Someone had to 'ride' in the boot of the car after the game..

Family breakfast @ Beannies in Petone.

August 27.

Currently we are relaxing in Petone.

Yesterday we handed in our visa application at the Indonesian embassy in Wellington; all going well we can pick these up tomorrow.

Naturally we've been keeping an eye on Sterlin's travels and according to the tracking page he is in Auckland, NZ, about to depart for Sydney.

Walking across the railway bridge in Petone.

Walking Wellington's hills.

August 28

Had a wonderful dinner with cousins and their partners.  It was so nice to get to know the cousins a little bit better.  Caroline cooked Rabbit in Belgium beer, which was well received by all.

While in Petone we enjoyed some coffees in Beannie Cafe on Jackson.

Hilary, Caroline, George, Josh and Chelsea (left to right).

August 29

Said goodbye to George and Chelsea, leaving Petone for the big smoke of Wellington.  Hamish picked us and all of our luggage up for the short ride to Wellington.  Stephen finally got his fish chips, and they were very good.

Dinner - Local Tarakihi.

August 30

Spent the day being a tourist in Wellington touring Parliament and Te Papa National Museum. And in fine Wellington tradition, it was windy and wet.  Capped the day off with another wonderful dinner with cousin Kate and her partner Bevan.  The pudding was especially wonderful.

Parliament House.

August 31

Final full day in New Zealand was spent relaxing and enjoying the city and spending time with Hamish and Tabitha.  In the morning we we caught up with local photographer and friend Rob and his partner for coffee.  Caroline prepared rabbit for dinner, this time in a white wine sauce.

September 1

All packed and ready to fly.  We had an absolutely wonderful time in New Zealand.  We did a little touring and spent most of our time catching up with family (uncles, aunts and cousins).  But it is time to head back to Sydney and be re-united with Sterlin.

Apparently Sterlin was offloaded at Sydney harbour last night.  We have no idea how long it is going to take to clear customs and related paperwork.  Hopefully not too long.

Caroline ready to fly.

Havelock North, August 5-24, 2013.

August 23rd

Today is our last full day here in Havelock North, tomorrow we head south to Wellington. That will give us a chance to see people in the area and to arrange some documents to get us and Sterlin into Indonesia.

Meanwhile we've been having a great time here in the Hawke's Bay.

 Family anyone?
Nick, Tim, Stephen and Joh.

The in-laws.
Mark, Jane and Caroline.

Dinner at Ros and Tony's.

Hamilton - Auckland - Gisborne. August 13-16, 2013.

We went out on a 3-day trip, mainly to catch up with family.

First stop was Hamilton where we stayed with Jan and David. Then onto Auckland to catch up with John. We stayed the night in Ascotia off Queen.

We decided to drive back a different route and went via Tauranga and Gisborne. Ended up stopping for the night in Gisborne as it had been a long day's drive. From there it was a leisurely drive back to Havelock North the next day. We drove through some amazing scenery those last 2 days.

With Jan and David.

At Jan and David's farm.

'Our' wheels for the duration.

Basecamp Havelock North. August 5-?, 2013.

August 6th.

Free rental car. Really.

We needed to get from Wellington to the Hawkes Bay. We looked at flying and rental cars, with the latter being our preferred option: the drive is not that long (about 4 hours) and quite pleasant. All the quotes we found for rental cars for a day were horrendously expensive (around the NZ$150 mark). Hmmm. Then Hamish found us a link to a rental deal. Stephen rang them and was told: 'Look mate, I'll fill up the tank, you just drop it in Napier with a full tank, and the rest is free'. Sweet! Too good to be true? Nope. Worked a treat! And no, there was nothing dodgy about it, just a rental that needed returning to another office.

So we arrived in Havelock North yesterday and set up camp in our nice home for the next few weeks.

Today, on a glorious winter day, we went for a first walk in Te Mata Park,  literally just down the road from where we are.

In a small grove of Giant Redwoods in Te Mata Park.
We felt right at home :-)

August 17

Still at Havelock North Basecamp. We are staying in a self contained one-bedroom flat off of Joh and Mark's home. We are only a 10 minute stroll from the village.

Stephen, Joh and Mark.

Places fondly remembered:
Birdswood Gallery

Intermezzo: New Zealand

August 2, 2013.

New Zealand was not a scheduled stop on this world tour, but circumstances beyond our control had us looking for a place to cool our heels while waiting for Sterlin to arrive in Sydney.

What happened?

Sterlin was supposed to have arrived in Sydney sometime mid to end of July. Unfortunately the shipping company we engaged made a right mess of things and we are still waiting for our car to make it. In addition to them messing things up, we also had to tell them things about temporarily importing a car into Australia. Ie.: they didn't seem to know that a 'Carnet de Passage' is what's needed (and no other import documentation). We knew.... you'd think they would too.
Enfin, not much we can do about this delay but make the most of it. So before leaving Tasmania, we looked at our options and decided that 4-6 weeks in NZ looked rather attractive. We have our family and some friends here, and have a place to call basecamp for the duration in Havelock North.

We arrived in Wellington 2 nights ago and are staying with Hamish, Stephen's brother. The current plan is to make our way to Havelock North on Monday.

Brothers discussing dishes.

Tabitha 'Taby' showing uncle Stephen how a puzzle is solved.

Lunch at Jude and Nick's.