Exploring the Land of the Long White Cloud

Driving home from zumba a few weeks ago, I had to stop and take pictures of this amazing sunset. Too bad my camera doesn't do it justice!

A while ago, friends of ours made plans to cycle New Zealand from the top to the bottom. They did so as part of an organized ride and you can see posts about their journey here: https://canteentaranaki.everydayhero.com/nz/carmela-snooks#/ As they worked out logistics, they asked if we wanted to do a little road trip up north to take them to their departure point. Since it's been 5 years since our last visit up north  we decided it would be a great chance to get up there again. Timing meant that we only had 4 days to do it though! (It's about 730km one way...) So we drove up for two days, spent the night way up north then drove back for two days with a night in Kerikeri for a stopover that way. It was cool to see Northland again and although we didn't catch any fish this time, we still enjoyed the Pahia/Kerikeri stopover. (Ok, we caught tons of fish but none were large enough to keep!! Yikes.) The view way up north. We were in the middle of nowhere. Wishing...

Porter at the beach jumping like a jumping bean. Or something that jumps higher than a bean. Man can he fly! He loves fetching the ball and doesn't ever stop trying to get you to play with him. Yummy summer salads after the crop swap! Extra fish that a workmate of Dustin caught and dropped off for us. Bluefin tuna. It was delicious as sushi! Stone carving symposium they hold on the coastal walkway. The work people do is incredible. They set up for a month and carve it beside the sea and then there's an auction. Unfortunately big expensive art is not on our current shopping list but maybe one day! A summer concert at the winery down the coast. A friend's band was playing and he got us VIP tickets! Woo. Then in early February we headed back to the Kai fest. No food photos funnily enough. The best was the first picks of the day: creamed paua with fry bread. I missed out on the watermelon ice cream sundaes though, they were ...