Today is the day that Bev is reunited with her Australian friend, Denise, after last seeing her 22 years ago. Denise came to the US in the 1980's for two years while her dad worked near Columbia, Maryland. Bev and Denise hit it off right away and stayed in touch until around ten years ago. Denise found Howie on the Classmates website a few years back, and then she and Bev reconnected. When we added Australia to the itinerary, we knew a visit to Denise would b...

We arrived in Australia, and their customs officers came down on me hard for a bulb of garlic that made its way into my bag accidentally. We had so many groceries with us in various bags throughout New Zealand, and I just missed the garlic when we were leaving New Zealand. Oops! Anyway, not the happiest start, but we were stoked to be in a new country. Our hotel was really nice, and we landed at a good place for a quick lunch. We were pretty wiped from the...

We left Auckland for three days to head to the beaches of the Coromandel Penninsula, about 1.5 hours east of Auckland. We spent nights in two different towns, enjoying a nice dinner in one and sights in another. We hiked down to a place called Cathedral Cove, which includes a tunnel that can only be accessed during low tide. It leads to a secluded, beautiful stretch of white sand beach. We also went to a place called Hot Water Beach, where people dig pits in the ...

Since we have fallen behind on the blog a bit, we are going to try to wrap up New Zealand quickly and get caught up on Australia: We arrived in Auckland after some drama getting the camper van returned, but it all ended well. We stayed in a great hostel where Bev won a hula hoop contest and free beers (that's my woman) at a pretty fun beach-themed party. Am I in college again? We saw the infamous sky tower and went on a free tour from the hostel where we sa...

We found a great spot at a boat launch on the shores of Lake Rotorua, and we ended up camping there for three days. Our first full day, we checked out the town, and took a deep breath full of...hydrogen sulphide. Rotorua is a town smack dab in the middle of the active volcanic zone that runs through New Zealand. Along the roads and in people's back yards, thermal vents release hydrogen sulphide in plumes of white gas. The locals are accustomed to the smell,...