We woke to share our last breakfast with our gracious Affordable Travel Club hosts, Gerry and Maria. They were kind enough to allow us to share their home for three nights and to share some stories of their life. Both are Dutch immigrants from many years ago, with quite the tales attached to that time …
Author: redpathatease
Rotorua, day 2
Up early, had breakfast and went on our way to the start of today's adventures. We headed back toward Rotorua and beyond to what's known as Hell's Gate. We came for the mud and sulfur baths that the area is known for. Well. We arrived a tad early for our scheduled time and sat in …
Rotorua
Our hosts had breakfast for us, then we headed out for the day. The town of Tokoroa where we are staying is a bit further away from the center of activity than we had estimated. Took us a good 45 minutes to drive to Rotorua. We found the "i-site" or information center easily. They were …
Crossing the northern mountains
Or alternatively entitled "Critter Day". After last night's entry we had quite a rain for about an hour then it completely cleared up. Thus far on this trip the weather gods have smiled on us. The few times it has rained have either been while driving or safely ensconced inside. But we did have an …
Napier
We woke to the sounds of birds chirping, sheep baaing, cows mooing and dogs barking. Delightful. After a great night's sleep I was ready for the day. Rain was in the forecast for the afternoon so we didn't waste time getting into the city. We easily found parking and with the help of a wonderful …
Lifestyle Living
Another easy start to the day. Relaxed breakfast, packing up, tidying up the Airbnb and making sure we left nothing behind. Once again we headed into the main part of the city, but fortunately we were able to get on a motorway allowing us to miss the worst of the morning traffic. However, we've noticed …
Wellington
A very relaxed start to the day which carried through all day. We slowly got up and tried to fix ourselves some eggs and couldn't get the cooktop to light. Could smell the gas but got no flame. After a quick note to our host it was easily resolved and soon breakfast was on the …
Shifting Islands
We had a lazy start today, being in no rush. We had our usual breakfast then packed up to leave. Fortunately we could say our goodbyes directly to our charming, hospitable hosts. We headed out for Picton where we were scheduled to take the Bluebridge ferry across Cook Strait to the north island. We've spent …
Abel Tasman National Park
We woke at 6 to ensure we had sufficient time for the day's plans. We quickly ate breakfast and grabbed our prepared bags and headed out. We had booked a boat tour of Tasman Bay along the coast of Abel Tasman National Park. The tour company website said the tour would start at a concrete …
On to Nelson
We said our goodbyes to our host, Logie, actually regretful to leave as we adored that charming, quirky place as well as her. After all, she even brought me a jar of New Zealand honey after she heard my bad cough. We headed north toward Nelson at the top of the South Island. The road …
Redpath At Ease 