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Hiking in the Hinewai Preserve

A millenium ago, when the Maori first arrived, the Banks Peninsula was heavily forested, mostly in red beech trees with evergreens (not the ones we know, but rather from the family Podocarpaceae that are mostly native to New Zealand). In 1838 Jean Langlois, the captain of a French whaling ship purchased from local Maori what […]

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Days 2 — Driving on the Left to the Banks Peninsula

We finished our day in Christchurch by attending a choral evensong at the Anglican cathedral in Christchurch. The singing, done by the men and boys of the cathedral choir was lovely.  As part of an annual event called the Festival of Flowers, the central aisle of the nave was decorated by a living floral carpet. This was a flower arrangement on […]

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We’re in New Zealand — Or is this New Jersey with an accent?

Hi – We’re finally made it to our hotel about 1:30 AM Christchurch time last night — almost exactly 24 hours after we got up to leave for the airport. After a good night’s sleep we are spending the day walking in town. Our motel is about 8 km from the center of the  city towards the […]

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A Big Step Closer, But Not There Yet

Our flight did start boarding this morning before 7. We learned from the Captain that the delay had been caused because there had been a fuel leak on the plane when it had been crossing to Los Angeles. However, because the leak was small, it had been necessary to bring specialists from Boeing in Seattle down to […]

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Flight interrupted

When we arrived at LAX at 4:15 for our 8:10 flight (we were worried about rush hour traffic but there really was not any), we were informed that our flight was delayed two hours. Then at 6:30, while we were waiting at the gate, V Australia announced that, because of mechanical problems, our flight would […]

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New Zealand trip itinerary

This is where we will be adding pictures and descriptions of our 2 months in New Zealand. Here is our  itinerary .

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