Well Mike and Gary arrived in Wellington last week safe and sound but not before they hit the gale force winds that are so popular and unpredictable here. They hit some 50 knot winds but made it through. When they arrived I met them at the Marina where they told the manager they hit 50 knot winds coming in. Her response was “Aye, it’s usually 90 knots out there, 50 knots is a summer breeze.” So…. We’ve been waiting for a break in the weather to cross Cook Straight to get to the South Island. This is a fierce part of the seas the run between North Island and South Island…..Many boats don’t go there and take the Ferry….which is my choice. Long story short, Mother Nature has not been in our favor and we are loosing valuable touring time so Mike and I decided to take the Ferry to South Island Sunday morning and start our Tramping and Camping trip.  While we were on the Ferry we learned of the earthquake in Chili and the tsunami now headed for NZ….just our luck again.  The captain assured us it would be small by the time it reached here and it was only less than 2ft…hardly noticeable but still made it 4,000 from Chili.

We’ve rented a car and will camp along the way. We expect to put 2,000-2,500km on the car before we are done. There is so much to see! We drove 280 our first afternoon down the east coast…..gorgeous! We are at Hanmer Springs (hots springs) and will move down the east coast some more……stay tuned to our avdentures. Life is good!!!