Road Trip!

Have car, will travel! We set out on our first Kiwi road trip over NZ's Labour Day weekend. Wellington is a cool city, but it can feel small to me. However, it is a booming metropolis by NZ standards. Drive 30 minutes outside of the city and you're truly in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by hills and sheep... lots and lots of sheep. It suddenly hits me: "I am in New Zealand."

We headed up State Highway 1 (yes, one!) towards the central part of the north island. Don't let the word "highway" confuse you. This is a mostly 2-lane road that winds through mountains (guardrails optional), small towns, and national parks. The most difficult part of the drive was keeping my eyes on the road. The scenery is beautiful! I missed out on many photo opportunities because I am unable to multi-task while driving.

My co-workers made me very nervous about this trip. They were horrified to learn that my planned departure time was 9am Saturday. They warned: "Leave much earlier! Make sure you start the return trip on Monday either very late or very early." (If they were so worried, maybe they should have stopped supplying me with beverages on Drinkie Friday. This pushed back my departure time to noonish...) Silly Kiwis - they don't even know what traffic is! We barely encountered other vehicles on Saturday. Monday was busier, but nowhere near "busy" by US standards.

To deal with the holiday weekend gridlock, the police set up "driver reviver" stations along the highway that offered free espresso and facepainting. Kiwis take everything to the extreme. I don't know about you, but nothing keeps me alert on the road like a jolt of caffeine and a tiger-striped face. It's a jungle out there!

Note: Trip details/pics to follow later. It is my bedtime.