We have very much enjoyed our first few days here in New Zealand. The main problem we have is that there is so much to see and do and not enough time for it all. Our impressions are still much the same as they were when we arrivedk, but much more reinforced this week. The country is beautiful and lush with greenery and the people are extremely friendly to tourists. The scenery we have seen this week is beyond description.

Before leaving Auckland we enjoyed a visit to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Adventure. This is an amazing view of life in Antarctica with a life size replica of Captain Scott's cabin where 25 men stayed for four months at a time in total darkness during their 3-year stay. You can even hear the wind whistling through the cabin and see their very cramped quarters.

A major part of the visit is the penguin encounter where you can see penguins living in their natural habitat while sitting in a snow-cat similar to the ones used in Antarctica. We were lucky to visit when babies had recently been born and were able to see the baby penguins nestling with their mothers and being fed. We had to go through twice because it was so exciting to see the penguins that close. The rest of the exhibit is marine life and there is a great selection of different fish to view. A guided tour of the different aquariums will give you a good overview of all the creatures, their habits and lifestyles. There is a walk through an acrylic tunnel where the tanks go right over your head and around the sides filled with sharks and huge stingrays along with a multitude of fish.

We left Auckland on the only motorway we have seen so far in our travels. It was rush hour and the traffic was heavy but we made good time out of the city even though we were getting used to driving on the other side of the road for the first time. Mike was concentrating very hard to drive the unfamiliar campervan and make sure he stayed on the correct side of the road. He has found it helpful for me to remind him which way the traffic is coming from when we enter the many roundabouts. Instead of four way stops or traffic lights in New Zealand they have roundabouts where you merge with traffic and choose your road very carefully! It was tricky the first few times but now we are pros at it!

Our destination was Rotorua and we arrived there in the late evening to spend our first night at a holiday park in the camper vans. The holiday parks are full of rented camper vans every night and they are set up to accommodate this kind of traveler. There is a communal barbecue area with a coin-operated grill and a kitchen area where you can eat and wash your dishes if you prefer to have more space than the camper van.

Talking of space in the camper van, there is not much! Everything is very compact although there is more storage space than it appears at first. As I have now realized, packing before you leave is very important. The attitude here is very relaxed and I have found that I do not need to dress up for anywhere we want to go. I did pack a few sweaters though, which I am thankful for, as the weather has not been as nice as we expected and I have needed all of them. I was told before I left not to pack a lot of things but, unfortunately, I did not listen and now I have to move everything to get to the things I need every day. All the parks have laundry facilities so it is possible to keep up with laundry as needed. Next time I will definitely pack fewer clothes and have more room to live.

We spent a full day in Rotorua and certainly only scratched the surface of the things available to see and do. We visited the Buried Village and found that very interesting. It was a major tourist attraction in the early 1900's and the Victorian people went through a rigorous trip just to get there to enjoy the terraced hot pools with temperatures ranging from 80 degrees to over 100. In the 1930's there was a huge eruption from the volcano they thought was inactive and it buried the whole town and several people. Now they are excavating the buildings and they are open for display along with many artifacts that have also been uncovered.

The Agridome is also well worth a visit. It is a chance to see a working sheep and cattle station up close and get a taste of New Zealand farming life. There is an hour-long show presented three times a day with an excellent showman who certainly puts a great deal energy into his job. The first half hour was devoted to bringing 19 different breeds of champion rams on stage and explaining their habits and uses. I did not know that some sheep are bred for wool and some for meat. The ones used for meat are bred to be fatter and have more lean meat while the ones for wool are bred to develop thicker coats. Of course the star of the show was the Merino ram as merino wool is still the most expensive wool available. We were also treated to a demonstration of sheep shearing. We did not realize the energy the shearer expends while shearing the sheep. The second half of the show featured the dogs used for sheep herding. After the indoor show we saw an outdoor dog trial where the dog rounded up the sheep and put them through obstacles at his master's commands.

The second part of the Agridome is the Farm Tour. Our guide told us that not many people take this tour but we found it the most interesting. It is a tour around the 160-hectare working farm with an up close visit to the shearing shed where we stood right beside the shearer as he worked on the sheep and saw for ourselves what hard work it is. Then we visited the sheep paddocks where we were able to hand feed sheep and emus. Visit www.agrodome.co.nz for more information on this interesting and educational attraction.

Rotorua offered us another opportunity to try something new that evening which we have since taken advantage of in many towns. We heard about the RSA (Returned Services Association) Club and went there to have dinner. These clubs are wonderful as they cater to the local people as a kind of social club but welcome tourists also. It is necessary to sign in but there is no membership fee required. The food and beer is excellent and very reasonably priced and it affords an opportunity to meet and talk with local people. Pokey machines, or slot machines as we know them, are usually available as well as darts and pool and billiard tables. In Napier we visited the RSA on a Saturday night and they had a live band and dancing. Everyone has been very friendly at the clubs and eager to welcome out of town visitors. In Petone, just outside Wellington, we could not find a RSA but did find a Workingmens Club with the same atmosphere and food quality. During our travels we also found Fishermen's Clubs, Lawn Bowling Clubs and Rowers Clubs and they offered the same good food at low prices and a nice place to meet local people. Be sure to look out for these and know that you will be welcomed and receive a good meal at a reasonable price.

Leaving Rotorua we decided to take the long and very scenic drive around the northeast peninsula on the North Island arriving finally at Gisborne. This peninsular road hugs the coastline most of the way and affords gorgeous views of the South Pacific Ocean and beaches. It is not for the faint hearted driver, however, as the road is quite narrow in places and requires great concentration. It is also a very slow road so make sure there is enough time to take the drive slowly without pressure. The ocean views are definitely worth the effort! Mike and I love the ocean and beaches and this is the best place to see huge expanses of beaches without any people. That is the amazing thing to us, the beaches are so beautiful and plentiful but no one is using them! I could walk for days along the beaches here and probably pass only a handful of people. Also, there are no houses built along the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen, they are just sitting there alone in all their splendor. Part of the answer is that there are only approximately 3 and a half million people in the whole country and there is so much coastline on the two islands that it would be impossible for it all to be inhabited. Another problem is that the accessibility to the beaches is very limited. The roads are in very good repair but quite narrow and there are no super highways. All the major roads are like American secondary roads that travel through many small towns. The back roads that you use to visit the beaches are even narrower and twist and turn their way through towns and up and down hills. When we were planning our itinerary we did not realize the time needed to drive from place to place. One hundred kilometers in New Zealand takes much longer to travel than the equivalent 60 miles does in the United States.

After a long day of driving we did not feel like driving far the following day and finished the day early in Mahia Bay at Mahia Bay Holiday Park right across the street from a beautiful and deserted beach. I was finally able to take my long walk on the beach which I had been anxious to do since I had glimpsed the wonderful beaches the day before. The weather was wonderful, warm and sunny but we found out something else about this amazing country. The sun is very much more intense than we were used to and within a few minutes we were getting sunburned. This taught us to always make sure we had suntan lotion with us.

We spent the evening at the Sunset Bar and Grill just down the street from the holiday park and met very friendly people who treated us as long lost relatives. Again the pokey machines were available as well as pool and videos for dancing.

Our next stop was Napier where we took advantage of a free afternoon to visit some local wineries. Clearview Estates was our favorite with a wonderful unwooded Chardonnay that we found irresistible. Clearview is a historic winery, first planted in 1916 by a Spaniard Anthony Joseph Vidal. In 1989 it was established by the present owners and has become one of New Zealand's top boutique wineries producing small quantities of handmade wines. None are currently exported so make sure to enjoy them during a visit to the Hawkes Bay area! We visited with Geoff Wilson the Assistant Winemaker who was very knowledgeable and educated us on the local wines and wineries and offered some suggestions of wine we may enjoy. Visit www.clearviewestate.co.nz for more information on this excellent winery.

The next day was a long driving day to get from Napier to Wellington. The distances do not look formidable but again it takes a long time to get anywhere on the small roads. As Wellington is a big city we did not feel comfortable taking the campervans into the downtown area so we decided to take a city tour with Hammond Scenic Tours. We were picked up right at the park and driven to the downtown area to begin the tour. The weather was very bad; pouring with rain and much colder than usual. We enjoyed the tour and Wellington is a beautiful city, but it would have looked much nicer if the weather had been sunny. Our bus driver was a lot of fun, and full of information about the sights, and the morning was very enjoyable. We were able to ride the cable car and got a very in depth tour of the local attractions. In the afternoon, we were free to do as we wished and then the bus picked us back up again to return to the park.

We elected to spend the afternoon in the Lambton Quay area where many of the city's most elegant stores and restaurants are located. A highlight was the historic Kirkcaldie and Stains department store with their windows decorated for Christmas with the story of Alice in Wonderland. The inside of the store was full of Christmas decorations, which was an unusual sight as there were not many public Christmas decoration displays.

The Te Papa National Museum is also a highlight of the Wellington area. It is an interactive museum that tells the story of New Zealand's past, present and future. There are many displays to participate in, and a lot to see. The admission is free, but there is a charge to participate in some of the interactive displays.

Of course, as the capital of New Zealand, Wellington has many other attractions to enjoy and many fine restaurants and bars to explore but again our time was limited and we had to pick only a couple of things to actually visit. The city itself is very clean, as is every area in New Zealand, and, as usual, the people were very friendly. A few days could definitely be spent in this city and surrounding area.