Wicked and Escape Vans

There are two camper rental companies that rent vans to tourists here. The vans have been painted by graffiti artists and range from stylishly cool to outright strange. We didn't happen to get a picture of the van with the sheep being chased by a coyote pushing a lawn mower. 

Cycling & Wine Tasting in Marlborough

We visited four Wineries in the Famous Marlborough wine producing region. Their whites were very good especially at Grove Mill. The region looks very similar to San Luis Obispo. We meet a couple from San Francisco and rode to a couple wineries with them.

Marlborough Sounds

Our first night on the South Island.

Wellington Ferry To South Island

As we began to reach the South Island we noticed our Captain appeared to be a stuffed horse.

Wellington

We stayed a few nights with generous couchsurfing hosts Nat and Drew. 

Wellington

Taranaki

Serena vs. Mt Taranaki (in the far distance).


Many postal workers in New Zealand ride bicycles.

Maori Marilyn

A nice piece of Kiwi street art. A little Maori spliced with Americana.

WOMAD Taranaki 09

Seun Anikulapo Kuti
Dengue Fever
The Bedouin Jerry Can Band
SKA CUBANO

Rere Falls

Re Re Falls is only a couple Kilometers south of the rockslide. As our guidebook pointed out, it is not to be mistaken for the rockslide. There is a narrow pathway where you can walk behind the falls. As we were leaving we noticed a few wild apple trees on the way back to Gisborne. 

Rere Rock Slide

About 50km outside of Gisborne, through really gorgeous wine country is this completely natural rockslide. We picked up an old tube from a tyre shop for about $3US. Immediately after leaving the top you realize that you basically have no control as you quickly gather speed on the way to the pool 200 feet bellow. It's towards the end of summer now and we had the place all to ourselves.

Gisborne

The East Coast of New Zealand typically has small surf. This break, called "The Pipe", gets solids barrels with a decent swell, and more often than not has off-shore winds. We were the only people out this day and had the whole spot to ourselves with super fun super small surf. After Serena took this picture I realized I surf any board like it is a longboard.