A Broken Record

Hello again. Today finds us in a nice little town called Tauranga, after a semi-long day of driving. Yes, still driving on the left side of the road. It's getting to be much more natural, although I'm still getting used to the speeds. I cannot shake the feeling, when I see the speed limit is 100, that it is really fast! Of course it's not, because 100 is 100 kilometers per hour (100 km/hr), which is much slower than 100 m/h. I'm not sure what the conversion is, and I don't feel like looking it up. I think it would be something around 65 m/h. Eric, a little help here?

The driving continues to be interesting in other ways too. For starters, it's beautiful here! Simply driving from one town to the next often takes you through a forest, then rolling hills of lush green life, then a flat rural scene that could be Ohio, then a beautiful coastal view, then to a massive hilltop "scenic stop" that looks back, stunningly, across all 4 landscapes. It becomes like a broken record inside our Capella; "Wow, that is just so beautiful." Of course, the beauty is a welcome distraction from the ridiculously winding roads. It often seems as if the road we're on was planned by a child scribbling on a map. Or, perhaps a theme park artist drew them up. Either way, I've been a tad queasy more than once.

Our campsites have been gorgeous! Our first site was about 30 yards from the water. The ocean! Our second faced a wall plant life that could have been pulled straight from the Congo, or some junge in South America. Of course, this site too was close enough to the ocean that we could hear that waves as we went to bed. Our latest site was perhaps the most beautiful yet. The water (yes, the ocean!) was 30 yeads in front of us, while behind us was another wall of plant life. In this case it was a nature preserve, a forest on the Coromandel Peninsula. In the evening Betsy and I went for a walk on a trail in this forest, during which we repeatedly remarked how this walk alone was worth the price of admission at the site. We saw the a massive tree, the biggest I have seen in my life.

This country is truly spectacular, and we've only just begun. Oh yeah, and we went to Cathederal Cove, my favorite place from my first visit to NZ! I'm wiped out after a long day of driving, so I'll have to cover that another day! Don't let me forget, because it was awe inspiring; the most beautiful place I've ever seen on this planet.