NEW ZEALAND 9

THE SOUTH ISLAND!!!! (Our bicycle trip around the South Island continued - again)
November 22 - December 27, 1999
And the conclusion of our Kiwi Experience - New Years.

  Our preferred mode of travel after leaving Te Anau.  (Which is surprisingly safe and effective in New Zealand)

  A juvenile sea lion in a bay whose name I have forgotten.  Stupid Short Term Memory.

A yellow-eyed penguin in the wild!   It had been injured in its foot by a baraccuda, and was struggling up the beach.   Terry used to work at a penguin colony, and he and a ranger captured it for rehabilitation.  Normally they are not seen in the open like this one, and I would never have gotten this close to get such a good picture.

  The Speight's brewery in Dunedin - a little quality control - the Distinguished Ale or the Gold Medal Ale?

  AP  Austin Powers, watch out!   AP  Alex Polamero is in da house!  Thrift shops in Dunedin were good to Alex, although he did not end up buying said suit.  According to him, "Purple doesn't match my eyes, but if I was wearing this suit, I'd hit on you."

  In Christchurch, we spent Christmas with the Marist Priests and Brothers.  Here is Father Kevin, who showed us around the city - in all honesty, WE struggled to keep up with HIM!

  The famous Wizard of Canterbury in the main square of Christchurch.  An outspoken man with many plausible theories, one of which states that women have been in control of the world for the past 6000 years enslaving men to work so they can spend their money.  He calls all men to stop working and take control of the world. 

  So next time you are sitting around watching rugby and drinking beer, and your wife or girlfriend asks you what you are doing, you can honestly reply, "Honey, I'm saving the world!!!"

  Father Rowan, with whom we spend Christmas.  He apparantly taught at my high school in Atlanta while I was a student there!

An undisclosed beach in Little Rakaia (an hour outside of Christchurch by car).  CHRISTMAS DAY!

  So, the end of our trip arrived on December 26, where we boarded the Coastal Pacific and rode from Christchurch to Picton for our ferry ride to Wellington before our subsequent 12 hour train ride to Auckland!   Oh, and the scenery wasn't so bad either!

  Once back in Auckland, we hung out with Nikki (back from Japan) and Travis.  Here we are on NEW YEARS MORNING!   Probably 10:00 am or so of the NEW MILLENIUM!  "Jeez, Travis, your breath stinks!"  We were back at Cathedral Cove, living it up, sleeping out on the beach.

  We fell asleep after the celebrations (we were three of five people on the entire beach) to the patter of rain on the beach and crash of the waves on the sand, but we stayed dry in our sleeping bags, which were protected by a limestone overhang, lulled to sleep in paradise.  This is about 6:00 AM, New Year's morning.  I estimate that we were among the first 500,000 in the WORLD to experience the New Millenium.  We were East of Auckland, and there is not all that much between us and the date line.  That estimate might be an overstatement.

  Yeah, whaz up?  My shades have reflective lenses, so I can perv and you can't see me lookin'.  We bad, and we know it.  Hangin' out on Hot Water Beach on New Year's Day.

  The myriad of people digging holes with the intent of relaxing in the scalding waters of the beach.

  Would you like to get in my pool?   Heated by pee, not geothermal activity! :-)

  ...And then put your hand on her hip, pinch just enough to make her want you more... Travis, HEY Travis!                                                                                                               Stop it now!  That's enough!  Save it for Alex!

  One last view of the Auckland skyline in January, 2000.

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