Well, we packed up all of our cold weather gear, shipped it home, turned in our campervan, had a very nice dinner in Auckland and flew to Tonga. It's HOT!!! A beautiful place in the world-more later.
We wanted to wrap up NZ with some tidbits of info we gathered throughout our trip:
-driving on the left is wierd for the first day-C kept saying 'think left', as she made sure her seatbelt was secure.
-1 litre of petrol ranged from NZ$1.55 to NZ$1.98
-most cars are small and fuel effecient-no Hummers
-'cooked breakfast' consists of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato, mushrooms, and toast. Baked beans, lamb kidneys and spagetti also available.
-a 'flat white' is similar to a cappicino-'long black' an americano
-burgers come with beets and shreaded carrots
-4 million people-40 million sheep; 135 sheep per sq. kilometer
-trail lengths are given in appox. time, not distance
-sayings you will hear often: 'good on ya' mate'-'good as gold'-'no worries'
-a pint of beer is 6-9$NZ
-don't order cocktails-8-16$NZ and very weak
-i've hit 1 bird in my life (in the car) before our trip-3 in 5 weeks in NZ-they are kamikaze
-prepare for 4 seasons of weather everyday
-Stephanie asked about 'heli-skiing', which is taking a helicopter to the top of the mountain and skiing/snowboarding down. In addition, you can heli-hike, heli-mountainbike, heli-land on a glacier, and probably heli-shop, if you would like.
-the first bungy was in NZ. the tallest is 135meters-the permit is in place for 215meter jump. thats just silly.
-when tramping in the mountains, secure your boots at night or the kea (the only alpine parrot) will snag them.
When we think of more we'll update, NZ is awesome-we are looking forwaed to retuning!
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3 comments:
So much fun - thanks for the tid-bits. Please post a photo of yourselves in Tonga so we can see your smiling faces (and tans:)
We loved hearing your voices on our machine.
All is well here.
MUCH LOVE, Erica and crew
Love all of your NZ comments.
We miss you!! I can't believe I have been out each time you called.
Had a great 8th grade reunion at St.Phil's....lots of fun going back in time!
Janet Gaskill's daughter, Jenn got married at dad's old church in Lansdowne...Dad and I went and drove around the old town. G'mom's house is still in pretty good shape.
Hope to see some Tonga pictures soon.
Love, Mom
Wow... guys! The pictures are awesome. I cant take it all in.. I find myself reading all the old blogs over again so I can retell them at dinner! At our house you are superstars so once you must make an appearance!!! What a great idea this was.
Anyway, same old same old on the mundane northeast coast. THe colors are nice, the weather is wet and dreary. We really missed you at the reunion. I am thinking about doing a cousins (and kids) one in a couple of years.
Keep safe and much love,
Stephanie
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