I-heart-NZ

New Zealand Vital Stats

Human Population: 3,6 million
Number of Sheep: 49,5 million
Number of Lord of the Rings movie filming locations: 150
Number of LOTR locations visited/sighted by M&M: 5
Most adored citizen (or so it seems): Peter Jackson (please pronounce 'Peta Jaeksen')

The time for us has come to continue on to Australia after our brief NZ stop over. If I were to sum up this visit in one sentence, it would be "I'll be back!" - it's simply magnificent here: gorgeous landscapes of all kinds, lots of fun things to do and very very friendly Kiwis (the people, not the birds, those seem to have been in hiding ever since we arrived.) We're sad to be leaving so soon, but also very excited about going to Sydney and seeing Bjoern & Agnes later today. Once we get to their house I hope to get the chance to upload some photos, but for now I'll add some links below to some of the NZ treats we have been exposed to.

Day 1 - visit to Hobbiton
Day 2 - driving/hiking the Volcanic Loop (seeing "Mt. Doom", "Slopes of Mordor", "Ilthien", "Meads Wall")
Day 3 - visit to the Polynesian Spa in Rotorua (ladies, you have to try this!) + an (yet another) unsuccesful attempt at Kiwi sighting


-- the Nissan Pulsar, our fine NZ companion.

-- first sighting of Mt. Doom!

-- Meads Wall, Mt. Doom in the background

-- Your average Mordor landscape

-- Just scenic :)

-- Looking for Elves (close to where Camp Ithilien was filmed)

One more NZ post: Scotch for Dinner

Just a last brief update on my favorite subject: The NZ Language

Out for dinner on Saturday night, waitress approaches.

W: Tonight's special is a scotch, with two side salads and a complimentary glass of wine
M: Huh???!
W: Scotch, the meat, it's a type of steak
...

Hobbits! Hobbits everywhere...

Good news folks, we found the hobbits! And we have danced under the party tree (well almost).Unfortunately my network time is running out here, so you'll have to wait for the full story (and green hilly pictures of Hobbit holes!)

3/1 Update - finally adding pcitures:

"Do not throw Rubbish into the Toilet"

Welcome to NZ! We managed to board our flight after some complications, mostly related to me not understanding the local language - conversation snippet:

Flight Attendant: We must sign your boarding pass
Maiken: huh?
FA: We must sign it
M: Why?
FA: You have to show it to us - we must *sight" it...
M: aaah!

So after learning how to speak New Zealandish, everything has been fine. I loved the plabe signage too - the title above being my favorite...

The Itinerary!

Here it is - the so far final dates for when I will be where for the next six months. Visitors welcome at any and all times en route!


(2.22) 2.24 - 2.27 New Zealand
On the road with rental car from:
www.zoomrentals.co.nz


2.27 - 3.22 Australia

Sydney:
visiting Bjoern Schliebitz an old Amazon.de friend!

Cairns, Whitsundays, General Queensland coast:
On the road with our rental from Wicked

Byron Bay:
Visiting Monique who was an exchange student at my house in Denmark in 1991! She now owns and runs this fun little place Cheeky Monkey's in Byron Bay

3.23 - 3.30 China / Shanghai
(more details to come later)


3.30 - 7.2 Japan / Tokyo
(more details to come)


7.14 - 8.30 Europe [Denmark, Germany, UK, Ireland, France]
(more details to come)

Making Plans

So, there was a time when I thought that taking time off meant relaxtion - I couldn't have been more wrong!

This last week has been just crazy, possibly because I jumped in to this with a sense of 'no time to loose'. It's been good getting all of this stuff done quickly though and looks like we are actually ready for take off tomorrow.

Since i haven't completely shed my former PM life and personality here's a brief summary of action items completed in the last 10 days (wow! It's almost a Status Report!)

finished up everything at work (I hope - he he) and wrapped up 7 years of 'Zon.

sold excess belongings

moved out of apartment

moved in to storage container

rendered apartment "monica clean"

drove 1200 miles to California (like this) in 36 hours [this included a birthday party in SF].

completed no less than 50 (i am not joking!) TO-DOs along the lines of to booking tickets/hotels/shuttles, getting insurance, filing taxes, calling banks/doctors/you name it.

wrapped 2 birthday presents for my sisters boyfriend

enjoyed a walk on the beach... (finally!)






next: posting the itinerary!

Coastal Service

We made it - down the coast to the OC in the Super Focus. Mikhail has an extensive description of the drive on his blog, which i'll take the liberty of leveraging: Seregine's 2006 Worldtour

Care of Hansen Bros.

Friendly people named Hansen have taken over the care of (almost) all my earthly belongings - this is a long standing family tradition, albeit not with the same set of Hansens... we're branching out - going global I guess.

Tuesday Morning in Seattle

Going to the Pike Place Market to pick up presents, mountains coming out as a backdrop for a gleamning golden sound, paul simon pops into my head:

You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free


You just slip out the back, Jack...

You just slip out the back, Jack...