We left Dartmouth around 07:00 for the 4 1/2 hour drive to the Sydney area on Cape Breton. Stopped in Antogonish at Peace by Chocolate to stock up. Great chocolate and we love supporting this company. The family that started it were refugees from Syria and had a
We were having a quiet morning in at the campground when I got a notice that they were starting racing 2 hours earlier than planned (they wanted wind!!!). So in the van, drove down closer to downtown and caught a bus to the waterfront. Grabbed a quick (not healthy) lunch
We parked the van on the Dartmouth side of the harbour and took a bus to waterfront. Much easier than trying to park (and pay) in the city. We had lots of time to wander around, buy some SailGP “merch” and generally just experience the buzz of thousands of people
We left home yesterday to start our trip to Newfoundland. First stop though is Halifax to take in SailGP. SailGP is the Formula 1 of sailboat racing with a few twists. They sail 50 foot foiling catamarans with top speeds touching over 100 km/hr. All boats are identical and
Had a a quiet last day in Auckland. Went for a short walk in the rain to check our lottery ticket (we didn’t win), finished packing, then just chilled before the long haul began. Our friend Helen’s sister and husband picked us up and drove us to the
We left Rangiputa on Monday morning after saying our goodbyes to Tony and Lou and headed south to stay with our friends Tony and Helen in Auckland. Got there early afternoon, and after unloading the car and passing on our food items into the Bacon family pantry and fridge, it
It’s been a very eventful few days! We were closely watching a big slow-moving sub-tropical low that was forecast to dump a huge amount of rain on the country, starting with northland, where we were headed. The rain started Wednesday night, as forecast, so we got an
Our last stop south of Auckland for this journey around New Zealand is at Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula. We’ve been on the west side of the Coromandel a couple of times before, but never the east. The Coromandel is a very popular tourist spot with easy access from
The first thing we noticed when we got to Raglan was the real nuts and berries vibe. Stopped at both grocery stores on our way to the AirBnB and it hit us immediately. Very laid back, barefoot kiwi kids and adults roaming around, and generally easygoing. The place we’re
The stack on the waterfront of New Plymouth was once the tallest structure in NZ. Built in the 1970’s to house 5 flues from the coal fired power plant (decommissioned in 2008), it’s an industrial icon and was built to last. It is estimated that it will remain
We spent another few days visiting our friends Penny and Spencer in Palmerston North. We again booked an AirBnB close to their place, and while we knew from the listing is was on the small size, we weren’t prepared for how small. It was set up well for one
Due to “operational reasons” the Bluebridge Ferry Connemara was 2 hours late leaving Wellington and, surprise surprise, we were 2 hours late leaving Picton. The official reason was due to southerlies on the Cook Strait all week, but there was no issue on Saturday, lovely calm crossing. Oh well… We