Day 1

*Our trip began with a morning drive to the Auckland airport to drop off Dr. Jess. While we were off exploring the North Island, Dr. Jess was on a whirlwind trip to Switzerland to watch her husband compete for New Zealand in the World Cup Triathlon.

*Our first task was organizing the car for our NZ journey, the next step to navigate our way to Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World. We did a stellar job navigating city traffic and were grateful that we purchased our New Zealand Travelers Road Atlas (one of the many lessons learned from our SDI experience). Kelly Tarlton’s was certainly an underwater adventure as we perused the exhibits and arrived just in time see the stingrays fed (which was much less scary, than if we had gone after Steve Irwin’s death). The next stop was traveling along the underwater moving walkway that travels through a transparent acrylic tunnel. It was surreal to watch the sharks, fish, and sea turtles moving all around us … scuba diving without getting wet. The final stop was riding a tram through “Antarctica” to watch the King penguins swimming in the icy pools and waddling across their icebergs.

*After our adventure we drove up to One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie – Mountain of the Kiekie Tree in Maori), one of largest Maori pa (defensive village) sites. This would have been a place where the Maori retreated in battle. Being lazy American tourists (just for a short moment), we drove to the carpark and only visited briefly as the wind was howling and rain was coming down. There were some spectacular views of Auckland which we took in quickly.

*With the weather coming in, we left the city behind to head for greener pastures. You could term our trek “cow & sheep spotting across the North Island.” Our first day’s long drive led us to the western coastal town of Raglan. On the way we encountered some wet weather but were greeted by multiple rainbows arcing through a gloomy sky. The drive to Raglan traversed some winding terrain and rolling green mountains only the likes New Zealand can provide. We decided that the hills are actually oversized moguls that giants navigate through. We are also continually impressed by the dexterity of the sheep with lambs following in tow as they graze the steep hillsides.

*We arrived in Raglan just in time for the evening sunset. The west coast is known for its black sandy beaches and waves that lend themselves to surfing. We found lodging at a backpackers located right on the waterfront. For dinner, we enjoyed pizza (chicken, brie, & cranberry) and a bottle of wine at Vinnie’s World of Eats, and then these gals called it a night. Jess is slowly molding Margaret to the ways of those “early to bed and early to rise.”