Another Milestone!

This, ladies and gentlemen, is my 100th post!  Yay!

The first weekend in New Zealand we traveled to Palliser Bay with Melissa and her daughter Ayla.  Melissa and Ayla are very good friends of Jennifer and Michael and spent the weekend with us at a friend's house.

We drove along the mountain roads while Naomi DJ-ed the ride and Melissa and I chatted away.  We stopped in Greytown, an adorable small tourist town.  We shopped around, made a few purchases, and ate delicious pastries at a French (and apparently the best in New Zealand) bakery.

After about an hour longer in the car, we arrived at Palliser Bay and ate a rocky picnic lunch before   going out to the seal colony.    

We carefully walked through the rocks, unsure of where the seals would be hiding.  Aidan found a nice spot, overlooking heaps of seals.  (Heaps- I picked that up in New Zealand!)

As we stared at the rocks we found more and more seals hiding.  We sat for a while watching for seals, watching as they lounged in the sun, fought with each other, dove through the waves, and played in the surf.

After watching the seals for a while we decided to climb up to the lighthouse.  250 steps later (yes, we counted), we were at the top, with another spectacular view.

After our long day of picnicking, seal- watching and stair- climbing, we were ready to drop our things at the house.  We encountered a bit of a problem when the keys that Michael were given didn't work.  On top of that, Michael thought that the house was number 4, but he wasn't one hundred percent positive.  Oh, and, none of the cell phones had service to call the owner of the house.  So what were we to do?  Break in, of course!

Aidan went in through the window while Naomi held the bottle of perfume from the windowsill.  Jennifer then wiped the bottle clean of fingerprints.  Just in case the house wasn't number 4, and we were breaking into a complete stranger's house.  We had to be prepared.

Luckily, there was a landline telephone, Michael called the owner, verified that it was the correct house, and explained the key mishap.

The view from the house.

Then, we were off to dinner at the only restaurant in town.  Aidan worked his magic with the waitress and seven chocolate fish were delivered to the table.  They are common in New Zealand, and definitely not my favorite.

After a wonderful night of sleep we went for a walk the next morning to the pinnacles, and my first Lord of the Ring location.

On our way back to Paekakariki we also went to Rivendell, where Jennifer, Melissa and I took another walk.

Overall, it was a great weekend filled with laughs, views, and Lord of the Rings sites.