Greetings and Happy Thanksgiving!! I realize I am a few days late as this gets posted but I miss you all and am so grateful to have you in my life.  We celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday in Napier on our way down to Havelock North where I taught my first yoga workshop of the trip.  More on that later though as we covered lots of ground since the last time I posted.

We began the week on the northern part of the north island in area called Doubtless Bay, small fishing villages on the coast (lots of fresh, delicious fish) and mostly farmland once you got away from the coast.  We only stayed a night but it was lovely, our campsite was right on Hihi beach, tucked into the bay with smooth water and white sand.  We had a few days of rain but it only made the colors of the flowers and ocean more vibrant.

After our trip up north we slowly wound our way south, stopping at the Ngawha Hot Springs (pronounced Naffa) which absolutely reeked of sulfur but felt so good after a few days on the road and also making a stop at the Giant Kauri Tree on our way back to Auckland.  This tree is thought to be over 2000 years old and is held sacred by the maori people. 

When we returned to Auckland we stayed with Sarah and Marek (who we met our first day in New Zealand) for 2 nights and explored the city a bit more.  It was nice to return to Auckland feeling a bit more comfortable in our travels.  There was lots to see and do and good wine and beer to drink (for far the Mac Black is my favorite) and friendly faces to meet and we had a great time.  We checked out neighborhood festival in Grey Lynn and visited some friends of friends (thanks to Rusty) in Ponsonby and touched base with Keiran, Mayana and the girls while they were in town between stays on the farm.  Oh yeah, and one rainy evening we splurged to see the new Harry Potter on Imax.  Go now, it was awesome.

After a few days in the city we were ready to get back on the road.  Mayana and Keiran set us up with some friends in Raglan so we stayed there a few nights.  Raglan has some of the best surfing in the world.  The beaches are black sand, with high bluffs all around the bay.  The town itself is nestled in right next to the beach and has great coffee and seafood.  We didn't try any of the local beer but the people we were staying with, Ollie and Karin, had some homebrew that was delicious.  They also had chickens, which meant fresh eggs, which were so good.  We can't thank them enough for their kindness and hospitality and hope to be back up there soon, hopefully for a new years beach party they are putting together.

With a few days left before teaching in Havelock North we headed to Lake Taupo, basically in the center of the lower part of the north island, it is NZ's biggest lake and is shrouded in the shadows of a huge national park where Mordor and Mount Doom were filmed in 'Lord of the Rings' (yes, I a big dork and I just referenced Lord of the Rings).  The view was amazing, especially at 5am as the sun was coming up and we were on our way to the river to go fly fishing.  We were out there for 10 hours, caught a few bites and lost a few flies but didn't catch one fish.  Regardless, it was a beautiful day and Sky is officially addicted to fly fishing.

Also near the lake on another river is a thermal hot spring stream that runs into the river.  This one did NOT reek of sulfur so we had a lovely afternoon sitting in the hot pools and enjoying the view.  Further up the river was our campsite, Reid's Farm.  The area is a free campsite left by the will of a man who had a softspot in his heart for backpackers.  We spend 2 nights there, cooking out of the back of the camper and sitting on the river.

And our final stop of the week, before I taught the workshop in Havelock North, was Napier in Hawke's Bay.  It was cute and it felt great to stay in a hostel and not in the car for a night.  The town was ver cute, rebuilt from the ground up in the 1930's all in art deco style architecture.  As it was Thanksgiving we treated ourselves to dinner, the first restaurant we'd been in since we left home.  It felt so luxurious to order a glass of wine and choose something from a menu, its funny the things you leave behind when traveling.  We shared fresch scallops from the bay as an appetizer and Sky had the lamb and I had a local fish (that I can't remember the name of) for entrees.  The preparation was german/ swiss style with local, fresh ingredients and it was delicious.

Today we are in Martinborough, as we've just arrived I'll post more on it later but it reminds me a good deal of Los Olivos, CA.  A small town with lots of tasting rooms surrounded by farmland.  We are staying in a cute little campsite with warm showers (yeah!!) and kitchen. I'm hoping to buy some fresh veggies to enjoy with some local wine for dinner.

Love to you all- xoxo
Kaitlyn

Raglan

A waterfall outside of Lake Taupo

Giant Kauri tree, I'm in the bottom left corner

Sky surfing in Raglan