I simply love local markets . . farmers markets, artisan markets, junk markets, no matter - they all are so much fun to browse. My favorites are markets with fruit and vegetable produce from those who actually grow it. We saw two great markets today, the Hill Street Market which showcases authentic farmers - my kind of place, for sure! Then later in the day we went to the Wellington Underground Market which presents an array of bakers, crafters, artists, desig...

We are still in love with this little portside city. At last, we took it a little more easy. We did some serious laundry--we even hung clothes out on a line--so fresh!! The we did a power-walk down the winding roads that make up this little portion of the Wellington area. Kelburn is the oldest portion of Wellington and shows a strong Dutch and German influence. Kelburn is set on a big rock hill on which folks throughout the generations have carved out a shelf...

Stan and I are still not sure we gave Christchurch or the South Island of New Zealand its full due, but we had to catch a morning flight from Christchurch to Wellington on the North Island today. Surprise, surprise! What a pleasant place!! We know we are in Wellington but it seems like San Francisco - there is a sizeable and stylish waterfront, Queens Wharf. There is a cable car line and you actually need it to get up the hill from the central business distri...

Today was a dang hard day but full to the brim of good stuff. We are such die-hards! We did see stars last night, many stars, even a bit of the milky-way, but the sky was not clear enough to see the billions I was hoping to see. Encouraged by simply being here we decided to wake up early-enough to see the sunrise - thinking that it might be one in a million coming over the range of mountains facing the patio of our room. As it turned out, I got two quick phot...

We stayed in Twizel, New Zealand last night - we have fun calling it twizzle - it always makes the locals laugh. Our schedule called for us to drive back to Christchurch today but we panicked again and became concerned we might be missing some of the very best parts of New Zealand by not seeing the western coast. We debated for a long time last night. We settled and consoled ourselves that we would simply go back to Christchurch as planned and treat ourselves ...