I’m so bad at this!
I think I’ve been treating this as somewhat of a travel blog and we really haven’t traveled all that much lately 
You can check out my other blog- Winter Cluckers- and learn about our adventures in raising backyard chickens!
http://wintercluckers.wordpress.com
Mendocino – B&B – Redwoods – Shasta
Ok, it’s been a really long time since we updated this. Hopefully we can start to keep this going a bit more.
So we decided to do a quick weekend get-a-way to Mendocino and see the giant redwoods. Ended up being a really fun road trip. I would highly recommend both B&B’s.
Brewery Gulch Inn – http://brewerygulchinn.com
Shasta Mtn Inn – http://www.shastamountinn.com
We woke up to a great ocean view on Sunday morning and a great view of Shasta on Monday morning. Pretty cool!
The northern California coast has to be some of the prettiest coastline in the country.
Here’s a few of some of the better photos. click on the images to check out the whole album.
 |
| From B&B – Mendicino, CA – Redwoods |
 |
| From B&B – Mendicino, CA – Redwoods |
 |
| From B&B – Mendicino, CA – Redwoods |
Home Sweet Home…
After spending a looong day of travel, including 7 hours in a very hot airport in Figi, without airconditioning we arrived back in the states, in LAX (landing before we left- didn’t we already live through Thursday?)…picked up our new rental car (a Prius- how very California!) and headed to San Diego…
The Far North Or North North – Cape Reinga and back…
With our last few days of freedom before heading back to the states, and work we headed up to the Far North or North North…all the way to Cape Reinga and back down to Auckland. Check out Justin’s crazy 4-wheel photo 
 |
| From Road Trip & Far North |
Tongariro Crossing…AKA A Hiker’s Highway
Spent the night listening to Kiwis (!)- woke up early to catch the sunrise and a bumpy van ride to the beginning of The Tongariro Crossing. This is probably the most famous hiking trail in New Zealand…and I don’t doubt it. I’m pretty sure there were about 10,000 other hikers on that trail! If you look really closely at our pictures you’ll realize that those little dots are all people! It was still beautiful none the less…
 |
| From Road Trip & Far North |
 |
| From Road Trip & Far North |
On the road again…
Last day of work! We’re headed north for the next few days. If the weather is good, we hope to do Tongariro Crossing and then explore the far North. We’ll likely be without any real good internet the next few days but I’ll try to get up some pics as we go…one more week till we’re back in the states!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Not a real big Irish population here in Levin. Had a great first day at the Tararua Health Team. I’m the only doctor, covering for a doctor on holiday for the week. My clinic is in a big new very nice health center with a few other private GPs, PT, nursing and a small inpatient ward which I don’t have to deal with. This seems like a really nice place to spend my last week of work…
The flying fox of death…
Our next and final assignment is a 4 day locum in Levin, about an hour north of Wellington on the East Coast of the North Island. Levin is a little farming community/beach town with THE COOLEST PLAYGROUND ON EARTH, or at least the coolest in the South hemisphere for sure! It’s called the Adventure Park and this place, I am sure, provides the doctors here with scores of injuries. And it’s free. With free BBQs and a little train that takes kids around it. There are multiple rope course type stations and a big wheel that spins inside a block of concrete. But the best feature of all is the double flying fox (T-bar zip line that you ride on). Who can resist a zipline? Especially one that seems like it was actually made for adults? Safe to say- I almost died. Literally. Most likely from the head trauma that neither Justin nor I saw coming. There I am, flying down the line…getting towards the end…slowly realizing that I am going REALLY FAST…seeing a look of panic start to develop on Justin’s face who is behind me on the other line…luckily I really didn’t see what was happening and when I got to the end, hit the tires on the line, somehow flipping up perpendicular to the ground, holding on for dear life, I somehow missed hitting my body, head, legs on the big end pole AND managed to stay on the T-bar. My back is totally sore and Justin was pretty sure I was going to seriously hurt myself. I’m sure it wasn’t pretty and I’m definite that I will not be trying that again anytime soon. Justin’s only saving grace was that his ass dragged along the ground, slowing him down before the end.
 |
| From Road Trip & Far North |
Gypsies!
Spent the day checking out cool art and hanging in downtown Christchurch…after FINALLY sleeping in late! We were surprised by an actual Gypsy fair being held in a random park. This was totally crazy- they live in the best vehicle/RV/homes on wheels, like a crazy wooden dollhouse built around old school buses…photos coming soon…
onto Christchurch
Had a leisurely brekkie and left Oamaru for Christchurch. Not too much to see along this coastline so we didn’t stop all that much. We did head into the harbour of Christchurch, somehow making it through the customs gate before sheepishly admitting to the guard that we had gone too far! We did get to see the Esperanza, a Greenpeace ship- painted with a beautiful rainbow on it! Our new friend Tonnie works in Christchurch and was nice enough to let us crash with her.
