New Zealand Part 2

Bula dear friends!

Please don't hate us. We write you from Fiji (we said please don't hate us), where we recently arrived after a fabulous few weeks in New Zealand. It is hard to write words that do justice to our time in New Zealand because the country is so gosh darn gorgeous, so we'll give you a brief description and we will post the pictures as soon as we can.

Since we last posted, we traveled up the South Island of New Zealand to Abel Tasman National Park, across the Cook Strait that connects the two islands, into the highly caffeinated city of Wellington, and up the North Island. Every inch of the journey was magnificent. From the rolling green, sheep-filled hills where the hobbits were filmed for Lord of the Rings to the jagged, snow- covered volcano Mount Tongariro and Ruapehu (aka Mount Doom), the landscapes in New Zealand are the most beautiful from our five-month travels.

It is hard to pick favorites, but we fell in love with the coastal playground of the Bay of Islands in the north of the North Island. Taking a sailboat around the turquoise bay, we swam with penguins, hiked on deserted islands, and pulled mussels off of rocks for our lunch (Tanya has the scars to prove it!). Clearly we were not the first to be enchanted by this area-- according to local folklore, such Hollywood legends as Tom Cruise and Demi Moore (accompanied by her boy Ashton) have shelled out $38,000 per night to stay in one of the fantastic hotels in the area (and according to the same source, Demi-Ashton conceived in this very spot).

Very different from the Bay of Islands, Rotorua was another highlight of our trip. Set in the middle of dozens of volcanoes, and reeking with the stench of sulphur, the Rotorua region boasts fabulous natural thermal streams and pools, bubbling mud lakes, and powerful geysers. We bathed in the natural pools warmed to 39, 40, 41 and 42 degrees Celsius. We will post many pictures in a week so you can see the spectacle for yourselves!

Most people have negative things to say about Auckland, New Zealand's largest city (over 25% of Kiwis live here), so we braced ourselves for the worst when we arrived. However, we didn't see anything negative to speak of. Not only was the city beautiful and organized, but its diversity amazed us. In one day alone, we spoke with people from Iran, Mexico, Brazil, China, Japan, Portugal, Holland, England, Germany, the Channel Islands, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Israel, Russia, and Mauritius! It was really exciting to be surrounded by such internationalism and we would return in a heartbeat.

We are now in Fiji, where we are spending a lot of time lounging, running and walking on the beach, swimming in the pools, and exploring the local towns and villages. We will write you more from home when we arrive there in just a few days! We will be in the States and in Mexico until the end of April when we will hit the road, yet again, for another couple of weeks. Turkey, Libya, Tunisia, England, France, biking through the Netherlands... we still haven't decided what to do! Let us know if you have a recommendation!

We will post a ton of pictures as soon as we get back to California where the internet is fast and free. With love from the Bula Internet Cafe in Fiji,
Tanya and David