New Zealand….

This is a place that has been on our bucket list for a very long time. Ten years ago, or so, my parents came over, rented a little camper and knocked around for a bit when my brother was sailing these waters. They’ve raved about it ever since, only fueling our desire to wander a while along the same coasts.

We’ve been talking and planning for months for this segment of the journey. The kids as keen as we are to adventure through the land of their imaginations as avid readers of Tolkien’s books, and big fans of the movie versions that have transformed New Zealand into Middle Earth. There has been talk of Hobbits and Dragons, Elves and Ents. Gabe has been singing the dwarvish songs.

Our entry was a bit rougher than expected, but every second has been downhill from there.

• The camper is perfect and worked our seamlessly, thanks to the efforts of our new friend Paul.
• The coastline is breath-taking (what little we’ve seen thus far!)
• The countryside is idyllic… it feels like we’re rolling through a pastoral postcard
• And so far, the freedom camping has been as advertised; it’s pretty hard to argue with free!
• The passport renewal process was surprisingly straightforward at the American Embassy in Auckland. Of course, we’ve only dropped them off, we don’t have them back yet!

We’ve been having a good time figuring out the grocery stores, outfitting our rolling home and getting organized for the long haul. I got a hair-cut (which has been too long coming!) We jumped in with both feet and made our first attempt at cooking lamb chops last night for dinner (not bad… I’m seeking recipes, please post below!) Our evenings have been spent sipping beautiful, inexpensive local wines, crunching on crusty bread and listening to Hannah fiddle to the sea (no guitar music, a string broke in transit!) I’ve spent the evening working hours wrapped in a blanket trying to stay warm! Even though it’s still solidly summer here, it’s chilly compared to our equatorial year!

Today we stopped at the IceBreaker Outlet near the airport in Auckland. Our friend Chris had alerted us to it’s presence before we even hit the ground. We narrowly missed meeting his family when they were summering in Thailand this past year as well. “After the equator, you’re going to want some Merinos,” he quite accurately pointed out. The four adult sized people in the family are now tricked out with a couple of long sleeve lovelies each that promise to keep us warm as toast as this corner of the world bends away from the sun and fall descends.What would we do without friends?!

Speaking of friends… it seems we have them everywhere!

It’s been so much fun to have contact after contact roll in from around the islands, north and south, about twelve so far! We’ve been invited to camp, have dinner, share beach days, stay in log cabins, go on adventures and reconnect with long lost folks. Several of our traveling friends are making a point of crossing paths with us while we’re here and our social calendar is filling up already! Who says that vagabonding means giving up community?

Right now we’re in the Thunder Pig, rolling towards Hawke’s Bay and some friends we’ve never met. The boys are playing lego in the back . Hannah is writing an assignment for her Sociology class. Tony’s got the tunes cranked, and I’m thinking about the best parts of life, in all of the incarnations we’ve lived it, and what matters most: the people, big and small, passing and permanent. May this day find you in the place you most want to be, with the people who make your life richer.