August 21/22, 2005

Now that we're on the plane flying back to the United States, we have some time to think back on all of the craziness of the past 15 days. There are a few things we've noticed from our trip:

• The Kiwis are really nice people.
• Beware if you are a pedestrian in New Zealand! Kiwis have just changed their traffic laws to give pedestrians the right of way in crosswalks. The majority of drivers haven't quite caught on to that yet.
• There's an obscene amount of roadkill on the highways. Part of that is due to the fact that the animals don't move when you drive by. Seriously... we hit a bird on our windshield the first day.
• Everyone in New Zealand must like Coldplay, cuz it was blasting everywhere we went.
• The wine industry here is amazing. After tasting 78 different wines, which is really not even the top of the iceberg here, I'm impressed by the consistent quality of production and the broad-based success across a range of different varietals.
• I'm addicted to these New Zealand potato chips.
• You have to love Rugby to really connect w/ the folks in New Zealand.
• Meeting and talking to folks when you're travelling out of the U.S. is really cool; most of them tend to think that U.S. foreign policy is way out of whack, and they're right. More importantly, they tend to be incredibly active and well-travelled, and as a result, really interesting people.

Accomodations
Steve's B&B, The Waiaroa Valley Bed and Breakfast, Kerikeri
Giverny Inn, Waiheke Island
The Heritage, Queenstown
Pretty much any YHA in New Zealand (especially in Waitomo and Kaikoura)

Activities
BUNGY JUMPING! The views at the Ledge in Queenstown are fantastic!
Glow Worm Cave Tour (with abseiling, rock climbing, tube rafting... the works)
Hair-Raising Walking Tour, Dunedin
Milford Sound (flying highly recommended)
Penguin Place
Tamaki Village, Maori Culture Show, Rotorua
Wai-o tapu Thermal Wonderland, Rotorua

Restaurants
Amisfield, just outside of Queenstown
Ebisu, Christchurch
The Hungry Frenchman, Dunedin
Jizu, Dunedin
Replete Food Company, Taupo
Tulsi, Christchurch

Wineries
Cloudy Bay, Marlborough
Craggy Range, Hawke's Bay
Mt. Difficulty, Central Otago
Peregrin, Central Otago

The other day, we decided to make a list of all the countries we've been to. Lav's list is way more impressive... she's totally kicking my butt:

Jack Canada France Italy Japan Mexico New Zealand Nepal Switzerland Tahiti Taiwan Thailand

Lav Australia Austria Belgium Canada Czech Republic Denmark France Germany Great Britain Hong Kong Hungary Italy Japan Luxembourg Macau Mexico Monaco Netherlands New Zealand Spain Switzerland Tahiti Taiwan

Our Wish List China France (never been there together) Greece Iceland (along with Norway, Sweden and Denmark) Madagascar Somewhere in South America

Helping to make this trip possible, we need to give special thanks to:

• Jason, who got us a copy of the Lonely Planet, New Zealand... an essential tool for this trip
• My Mom, for looking after Bora
• Jen and Ash, for getting our mail and keeping our plants alive
• Jeff and his buddy Graham, who gave us first-hand tips and pointers from their own experiences in New Zealand