New Zealand Vagabonds

elcoyote

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0004
After several years of putting it off, Anne & I are finally setting off on our honeymoon tomorrow: we are vagabonding around New Zealand for a month. No reservations, just a couple of round trip tickets and a vehicle. A really good escape should be flexible and spontaneous in our opinion.

Life has a way of taking over your time as in our case, getting a business off its' training wheels, family deaths etc...Just recently I had an e-mail dialogue with a client who had spent the last 1 1/2 years modifying his vehicle and trailer for the trip of his life...3 weeks later he died. I don't need to spend too much time on the moral of that story. Bottom line is, get out there, see as much of the world as you can. Your curiousity with reward you with untold experiences and knowledge garnered thereof. If you wait until everything is "Just right" to make take that big adventure, well....you might be dead!

Why New Zealand you ask? Simple, never been there before. Been in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Europe. Big world and a life long "To Do" list. We expect our trip to include many kms of hiking (the Kiwis call it "Tramping"), fishing, interesting people, wine & lots of green lip mussels. We'll be reporting in every couple of days or so as we can find connectivity to share with you and post pictures of which way the wind has blown us. Although we have done blogs before, we feel that the ExPo community is a better place to share this trip.

Catch y'all in a couple of days from Snowy Peaks to Ocean Deep in New Zealand!
 

kcowyo

ExPo Original
elcoyote said:
.... we feel that the ExPo community is a better place to share this trip.

Catch y'all in a couple of days from Snowy Peaks to Ocean Deep in New Zealand!

Please do! :jumping:

I'm super jealous as I've always wanted to travel to New Zealand. Hope you and the Mrs. have a wonderful and safe trip!
 

DaktariEd

2005, 2006 Tech Course Champion: Expedition Trophy
Wow, Mario!
Great trip! :victory:
Have a ton of fun tramping about...
And dunk those green lip mussels in some ice water...they'll be blue lipped in no time! :rolleyes:

Keep us posted...
:sombrero:
 

OverlandZJ

Expedition Leader
Hoping you and the Mrs have a blast! I hope your taking a flyrod...some awesome fishing in New Zealand.



:camping:
 

Andrew Walcker

Mod Emeritus
Awesome!!! You and Anne deserve a great H-Moon!:clapsmile Looking forward to the pictures and stories.
Fair Winds and Traveling Mercies:exclaim:
 

Nullifier

Expedition Leader
Justa heads up some customers of mine went there last summer and were raving about the wanganuey river (I think that's the right spelling) anyway they used an outfitter called Blazing Paddles I believe. It sounded like a great river trip. If you get the paddling itch check out that river!

Have a great time on the honey moon.

Oh and a fianl Dadism....Son do you know how to tell when the honey moon is over...it when your standing at your sink in the morning brushing your teeth and your wife is on the toilet next to you taking a dump. :xxrotflma
 

articulate

Expedition Leader
So you know what you're doing to me, it's taken about 30 minutes to figure out what I want to say to your post. Still can't bring myself to respond with anything witty or responsive, so I'll just wait for your next update and enjoy the trip.

:camping:
 

Martyn

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
Posting From Mario

Mario is having some problems posting to the Portal from NZ (strange I also had problems posting from South Africa??) so he asked me to post this update for him. I also promised not to make any remarks about those most attractive sheep in the pictures, so I won't!

From Mario:
07/05/07

12.5 hours spent in the tail section of a 747 in turbulent air is one heck of a way to start a long awaited R&R getaway. Me, I have slept through mortar attacks but unfortunately poor Anne could not get comfortable and found no rest.

We landed in Auckland at sunrise, 6:14 AM local time, two days after we left. The international date line taketh away. Getting through the airport was a breeze and as promised, Kendrick Mitchell, the owner and one man band behind New Zealand Frontiers rentals was awaiting us post baggage claim holding a sign with our names on it.
He went through the function and operation of our Ford Transit 2 berth van in the parking lot of Auckland International Airport and then took us to his office to complete our paperwork and grab a cuppa.

It turns out that his office is in his modest home and he made us tea and coffee while going over the rental formalities as well as giving us some tips on where to get a decent breakfast, stock up on supplies and recommend some routes out of town that would not be too grueling for the first day behind a right hand drive vehicle in almost 30 years…dang, has it really been that long? Geez I’m old!

Just a little shameless plug for the small entrepreneur but if you ever plan a small 2 berth motor home rental in NZ, you won’t get more personalized service or a higher quality van from any other that this man. Remember the old Avis slogan, “We’re not #1 but we try harder”? Well nothing is more true than here. Check him out at www.newzealandfrontiers.com

Wait a doggone minute! A mini motorhome you ask? What kind of overlanding is that from the guys who build expedition trailers? Heck, give me a break, it’s my honeymoon of 3 weeks of camping … I plan to stay married!

We grabbed a leisurely breakfast on the patio of the Robert Harris Café in Papakura, south of Aukland before heading over to the Countdown, a NZ chain supermarket, to pick up some food supplies for the next few days. The produce and variety of foods available is remarkable! We found familiar favorites such as olives and feta, but then there were some real oddities to us like the feijoa fruit, beef and chicken flavored potato chips, even lamb and mint sauce flavored chips. Then of course my favorite find, right on the shelf next to deodorant, between housewares and dog food…vibrating condoms. Yeah, you read that correctly.

We hit the road right away from the market, finding our way to Hwy 1 south. The countryside is lush. We pass many dairies, so well manicured you’d think they were golf courses. We eventually merge onto Hwy 5 towards Rotorua and pass though Fitzgerald Glade which is a fantastic canopy of giant ferns…like 30 foot tall ferns! We decided to run as far south today as we had the energy to. Our van is equipped with a nice little 2.2 turbo diesel that hauls up the hills without downshifting. More pep than these two jet lagged puppies have. We had no particular destination in mind, just something before 4 PM. We had purchased in advance, a membership to Native Parks. This is a collaboration of small rural businesses to offer at no charge above the original membership of NZ$50, a parking space to self contained vehicles on their property. We thought that this would be a great way to meet local entrepreneurs and artisans in NZ instead of just cruising the usual tourist top 10. Well, tonight, we happened upon the Maruka Blue Winery about 20 km northwest of Rotorua. Six years young, they are growers, harvesters and blueberry wine makers. The only one in NZ. We sampled their sweet, medium and dry blueberry wines, blueberry and gooseberry cordials and chutneys. Yummy I must say. They have a little café were we indulged in a plate of local fresh cheeses, crackers and a bottle of dry blueberry wine. With a nice little knob on, we moved our van to a comfortable flat spot next to the fence that separates their parking area from their sheep and called it a night. Anne sleeps softly as I write this, enjoying a glass of NZ Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc, Marlbourough 2006, a bit of Bruce Hornsby americana in the background…hoping that you who read this can enjoy our experience vicariously….G’nite y’all.
 

mountainpete

Spamicus Eliminatus
Martyn said:
hoping that you who read this can enjoy our experience vicariously….G’nite y’all.

With those last few sentences I pictured myself right there. Looking forward to more updates and pictures. Have a safe trip!
 

DaktariEd

2005, 2006 Tech Course Champion: Expedition Trophy
Go Anne & Mario!
Looking forward to more updates and photos....
:sombrero:
 

p1michaud

Expedition Leader
Vagabonds

Wow,
great first update. Love how you can just eat, drink and be merry then sleep in their parking lot. Thanks for sharing!

Enjoy the adventure.

Cheers,
P
 

wagner_joe

Adventurer
:bowdown: :bowdown: goodluck Mario.. lookin forward to seeing you in June.. Give my regards to Anne.. and keep posting...
 

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