goodbye NZ!

today we are leaving new zealand and moving on to singapore to visit joanna and kevin, aaron and josh. joanna and kevin currently live in singapore, aaron is going to school there and josh is coming to meet us! exciting stuff, but kylie is not sure what to do with all her almost empty packages of gum.
our last days in new zealand were spent in the bay of islands and with my parents and julie and lowell in whangarei and kumeu. above are pictures of our sailing trip in bay of islands. it was billed as a trip with a potential to swim with dolphins, but once we were on the boat they added multiple caveats. we can swim with dolphins... if they dont have any young, if they are not feeding, if they are not travelling, if they are in a playful mood... so we didnt get to swim with the dolphins. :-(

we did however get to see multiple dolphins extremely close. they obviously wanted to play and continuously sidled up to the boat to blow water on us or slap their tails
or rub themselves on the rudders... this happened alot.
this guy had an encounter with a boat propeller, but apparently is healing well.
i was disappointed not to get in the water, but i have had that once in a lifetime experience already in zanzibar (no restrictions there!), so i cant be too sad. the day was amazing regardless.

on the way back from bay of islands we visited the kauri forest and basked in the presence of the biggest trees in new zealand. they are wider than the douglas firs of coastal BC, but not nearly as tall.
in the forest, gus rolled over to 50,000 km. we have personally put around 10,000 km on him, but we will still be able to sell him with low mileage! good find lowell.

that reminds me, we have never given you a tour of gus. we are really going to miss this plucky little motorhome. he would be intimidated by all the behemoths back in canada, but for the 2 of us he is just perfect.
here is the interior with the bed flipped up for more space. the seat by the table can face either direction, but unless we needed the seatbelts we left it flat to maximize useful interior space. note the 6 inch JVC speakers with beautiful built in boxes.
here is the console: note the flash backup camera/flatscreen, as well as the new panasonic CD player that lowell installed. also key is the tweeter in the top right (easily modulated by adjusting the sunvisors). when the bed is flipped up the 4s in the dash, tweeters on the roof and 6s in the back make for amazing sound through the cabin... perfect for watching lord of the rings on our laptop or blasting tunes while tidying or lounging on the grass outside. our own hometheatre away from home!

the back comes equipped with a 2 burner gas stove, fridge and sink, as well as copious cupboard space. we also had a toilet and shower which we used only for emergencies or convenience. we found that botanical gardens made great camping spots throughout new zealand. the concatenation of large parking lots, free bathrooms and beautiful gardens in which to enjoy our breakfast worked for us.

i think those are the high points... i could rave all day about how wonderful this campervan is, but we have to finish packing. it will be hard to go from copious cupboards to one backpack again! we have gotten used to travelling in luxury. goodbye gus. we will miss you but we known your other owners will treat you well in the next few months.



after camping in kauri forest we returned to tidesong and met julie and lowell and my parents... fresh off the plane.
we introduced mom and dad to boogie boarding and they loved it.




my dad caught the very first wave he tried and he was hooked. we were surprised he still had a voice after all his whooping.
we had a borrowed surfboard as well, but it was a shorty and was really tough to stay on for us beginners. i only made it up one or two times, and was almost decapitated on several occasions.
being the prairiest of prairie girls, my mom took a bit of coaching, but once she got the knack there was no stopping her.
as mentioned previously, kylie is a pro.
they also enjoyed kayaking through the mangrove forests surrounding tidesong.

once again made our own pizzas in an outdoor oven. my dad is eyeing one of these hotties as a project for their own backyard.

this is a picture of a nordic fishwife on the wall in tidesong. and we thought she was from lethbridge! now she lives in seattle... what a globetrotter.

we are sad to say goodbye to new zealand, to our family and to gus. we will miss them all. new zealand isnt that big, but even in 2 months we havent seen or done half of what we wanted to. i suppose we will just have to come back.

now i am looking forward to doing some more challenging travelling. new zealand feels like a tropical canada. it is spacious and safe, people are very friendly, they are an ex british colony with a big brother complex and the attractions mostly involve natural wonders rather than ancient temples or bustling cities. it is the easiest place we have ever travelled to. moving on to southeast asia will be a big adjustment, but i am excited about it.

goodbye new zealand. next stop singapore!