Last day in Wellington

Wellington is a wonderful place to visit. You can walk almost everywhere. Yesterday we rented bicycles and did a tour of the bays in the harbour. We cyled 40 kms at times in a stiff breeze that peaked at about 35 knots. Apparently Wellington gets about 176 days a year with wind in the range of force 4 to force 6 on the Beaufort scale (20 - 49 kph). Today we visited the excellent national museum, Te Papa and the maritime museum then walked around downtown. Tomorrow we fly out to Christchurch and the South Island.

Wellington

We've arrived in Wellington and are now car less. We plan to visit the national museum Te Papa, cycle the bays that make up the harbour and do lots of walking. The trip up the cable car was well worthwhile for NZ$3 then you walk back down hill through the botanical gardens and finally the memorial park. The botanical gardens are outstanding sort of like having Butchart Gardens in the middle of downtown.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from Napier the art deco city. It was demolished in 1931 by an earthquake and was rebuilt almost totally in art deco. We spent the day visiting wineries by bicycle. It was 29 degrees!

Merry (Happy) Christmas

It is already Boxing Day here and we are in a town called Opotiki. We may do some river kayaking this afternoon. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.

Ohope Beach

We arrived in Ohope after taking a bus to Rotorua where we picked up our rental car. Past knowledge although rusty of drivng in the UK was helpful at the many roundabouts. Driving is similar to when we lived in Nelson with lots of mountain roads. I'm starting to feel comfortable although still cautious.. The beach house has surpassed our expectation and is only 3 years old with all modern conveniences. The wine and beer store is 200 metres away!

From Wellington we fly to Christchurch on the south island where we pick up a camper van then head north for the vineyards and a visit to the other Nelson.

Our Route takes us from the airport near Auckland to Rotorua by bus.  In Rotorua we pick up a rented car and drive to the Bay of Plenty where we will spend the first few days.  We then follow the east coast to Gisborne and eventually Wellington where we fly to the South Island

Count down to New Zealand

The count down has begun.  30 days until we board the plane for Auckland.   Our bags are upstairs and packing has begun

Canos Island

Snorkling and hanging out at the beach.

 

Bahia Drake (Drake Bay)

 

Flora and Fauna

 

Some of the Wildlife

A coati, white faced monkeys etc.


 

In the jungle

It was hot and this waterfall was a pleasant spot to rest and cool off.

In the rain forest

A large part of the Osa Peninsula is composed of Corcovado National Park that boasts incredible biodiversity with close to 400 species of birds, 140 mammals and 500 species of trees. There are also 239 varieties of snakes (no pictures)

Cashews, bats, large insects, walking trees were seen on our hike. I want a cashew tree in my yard!

Dianne's Birthday

The bay was visited by its namesake in 1579 when Sir Francis Drake was on his global circumnavigation. Drake Bay lodge straddles a green space between the wildlife rich Agujitas River and Drake Bay. We stayed in comfortable cabanas 20 paces from the surf amid gardens of glorious tropical flowers. Hammocks are strategically laced between palm trees. Just right for a birthday afternoon.

After landing we were loaded into a small boat and crossed a lagoon about 100m wide. We disembarked, walked over a sand dune and boarded a larger boat for the trip across the bay. It beats bouncing over rough roads in a land cruiser for 30 minutes! 

Bahia Drake International Airport

We landed in a small swathe in the jungle. The runway is gravel. If you can't stop its a wet landing in the lagoon.














Baggage handling













The terminal building














Taxis

San Jose

The street in front of our hotel in the old section of San Jose. We were on route to the Osa Peninsula

The Central Market














the national theatre