Touch Down! We made it after 32 long hours. After a day in Auckland, the City of Sails, we headed north to the Bay of Islands to camp for 3 days on the beach. The first day we went on a 7 mile coastal bushwalk. The next day we sailed on a 65 foot sailboat, kayaked and snorkled. From there we drove 7 hours south to the stinky thermal Mauri land of Rotorua. Tonight, Christmas Eve, we are going to a Maori cultural show and dinner. Tomorrow we head south to Wellington to catch a ferry to the south island.
We are living out of our van we've named the "Magic Bus". We saw one wombat commit suicide by running into a car. Mike has yet to get into an accident driving on the wrong side of the road. If he goes against every natural instinct we should be ok! The weather Gods want to make us feel at home so we have had sprinkles of rain every day.
Merry Christmas or Maorekka Walekekia as the Maoris say (not really-that's just us being culturally insensitive after trying frustratingly to follow street signs).
Love,
Mike, Karen, Kyle, Mariah & Jakob
