Merge Like a Zip

Our belongings of the past nine months of travel lay splattered around the guest room here on the Parade. Items like our 1.5 person MEC tent (if you live in a tent, be sure to choose one that has a little wiggle room), to a half-filled bottle of sunscreen (helpful, however does not adequately protect you from New Zealand`s "lack of ozone" burn), to our well-used camp stove (with which we championed the one-pot meal). All pieces of equipment that have enabled us to survive this New Zealand adventure, now waiting to be packed away for the return to Canada.

How could I possibly begin to describe our time in New Zealand? We came, we surfed, we hiked, we wwoofed, we fought, we made up, we road-tripped, and we settled down. We milked cows, stuffed sausages, picked blueberries, and fed the sheep. We baked bread, ate pie, and met inspirational, remarkable people. We felt the beach with our feet on every coast, in white sand, brown sand, and black sand. We drank flat whites in urban cafes and fell in love with rural New Zealand. We will be back.

Soggy morning chores in our gumboots during a return visit to Soggy Bottom.

Little Piggy.

Learning the art of butchery over coffee.

Left alone in the butchery to pack sausages.

Savouring the last few bites of NZ`s no. 1 breakfast cereal.

Saying good-bye to Wellington.

Now to find our way back onto Canadian soil, find you and give you huge hugs,

seek out (paid) employment, and drive on the other side of the road.

Time to merge like a zip.

See you soon!

The Swell Season

After and week of great food, amazing home brew and cider, and phenomenal company, we said farewell to yet another set of great friends that we have met here in New Zealand. Next step: heading north in search of surf for the final steps of our journey.

I was very excited to be back in the water after a long hiatus. Unfortunately, "Surf Highway 45", the coastal road around Taranaki renowned for its surf locations, was not where we would find these marvelous waves I had been dreaming about. Instead we found some wind, and lots of it.

When we got to Raglan a few days later, the weather cleared, the swell picked up, and the water was warm enough for me to get Lanna into the water. Despite the initial nervousness, she performed like a superstar standing up on her first day out!

After our week of "vacation" in Raglan, we are headed back to the farm in Ngaruawahia to work with some old friends and hopefully sell our car... I can hear it now, here piggy piggy piggy...

Playing a game of Phase 10 in our storm shelter somewhere in Taranaki...

Perched on a log and putting thoughts to paper

Having a cuppa in Raglan while waiting for the tide.


Unfortunately this is the only photo we have of Lanna surfing as we were both in the water.



A view from Mt Kaori, our only day in Raglan with no working and no surfing.

Our lovely Merlot, the one that carried us to so many places.