Emancipation!!

Kia Ora

Per the words of the famous Willie Nelson song, we are "On the Road Again".  That little ditty has become our theme song and always makes us laugh as we sing it on the way to our next destination.  New Zealand has done a terrific job of stopping Covid 19 with no new cases appearing in the country.  Inter regional travel is once again allowed so we boogied to the north island pronto.  Our flight to Auckland was the first to carry people under the loosened restrictions.  The airport was nearly empty but our flight had every other seat filled.

Air New Zealand at the Christchurch airport

Our current home is on Mount Manganui beach with great views of the Pacific ocean.  It's so glorious to hear and watch the waves again.  Our back porch faces east so we're enjoying our morning coffee watching pink filled sunrises unfold over the ocean.

Our path to the beach

Great waves for surfing

Sunrise drama

Day two in our new locale found us visiting our first pub since late April.  In level two, restaurant dining can now be done with lots of space between tables, mandatory contact information registry and the use of lots of hand sanitizer through out the experience.  We found a great gastro pub just down the street.  The beer was cold and the food tasty.  Man, we've been missing the pub scene!

Doing the happy hand

Just down the road sits Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcano turned into a hiking path and preserve.  The trails offer some heart pumping elevation to get your attention but the views make the effort absolutely worthwhile.

Small islands dot the coast

Mount Maunganui

NZ fur seals like to lounge on these rocky beaches

From what we've seen so far, the North Island of New Zealand is very different from the South Island.  The south island is primarily covered with high and rugged mountain ranges (nicknamed the southern alps) created by earth quakes and fault lines.  On the north island, the landscape is covered in rugged hills punctuated by volcanoes both active and extinct.  Finding native bush is more difficult here due to significant agribusiness, timber and dairy operations.  But, we've managed to find some areas that have offered excellent hiking and birding opportunities.

Wairere Falls drop 900 feet

McClaren State Park offered some lovely fall colors

A view of the volcanoes on the horizon that dot the landscape here

We're off to explore some of the unique geothermal sights plus search for a nearly extinct bird here in New Zealand called the Kokako.  We hope that each of you can begin exploring your worlds again too.

Stay Curious!

Cheryl & Dan