South Island Road Trip - Chapter Four

The last chapter:

We took the Interislander ferry across Cook Strait once again as we returned to the North island. The girls took advantage of the three hour passage to do some schoolwork (not much of which happened over the course of the two weeks we were away).

The drive between Wellington (where the ferry lands) and Whangarei (where Malachi is) takes about 12 hours, so we decided to come back a different route stopping in Hastings to visit friends from home, Paula and Kevin and their lively boys! Since Kevin was out with Caleb and Jake for an evening cricket match, I went by myself to have a visit with Paula and little Joe who is 2 1/2 years old (not quite at the age of appreciating a good cricket match). We had a great visit. It was really nice to catch up and to see the boys who are much bigger than the last time I saw them (almost three years ago) and to meet little Joe, what a character! He just loved showing off how he could hop on one foot and how he could run and dive into the couch, what a sweetie pie.

Kevin, Caleb, Jacob and Paula

Me, Paula and little Joe

One last little thing, something that made us laugh and hopefully will provide you with the same comic relief.

Public toilets are everywhere in NZ, it's wonderful, and mostly they are well attended and clean wish is extra wonderful. We've had public toilets that have been works of art and other that sing to you while you do your business, both of which we thought were pretty 'super' offerings. So when we were driving near Lake Taupo and came across this public facility, we just had to give it a go!

Now, wouldn't that lure you in? We were so excited to see what they had to offer but were shocked that this was a pay-per-poo facility!

But, of course, since the sign did say it was 'super' we thought it must be worth it. So $1.60 later and feeling very relieved, we were back on the road and on our way home. Our review? Not that super.

Anyway, we are back 'home' in Whangarei after our two week blitz through the South island. We drove almost 4000 km and saw alot and did alot and now we're exhausted! It's good to be back on the boat and into a more relaxed and normal schedule. But I must say, we did have a wonderful time.