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Our first experience meeting a sign with an exclamation point on it was on the North Island when we drove from Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula. We were driving on an extremely steep winding road and the fastest that we could go without tipping over was 25km/h (speed limit was 100km/h!). When we saw the “!” sign, we both said “I wonder what that means!” Next thing we saw was a big drop off in the road and the front of the camper van slammed down with all of the contents thudding, clinking, and clanking. Our question was answered… or so we thought. We have since encountered many of these signs and have discovered that the “!” sign means that there is something ahead that we cannot yet see, the nature of the warning is a surprise, and it could be very dangerous or it may be nothing at all.

The ferry ride to the South Island may be one of my favorite parts of the New Zealand experience. The views of Marlborough Sound are beautiful. Sometimes dolphins and whales can be seen, although this trip we did not get so lucky. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were able to spend much of the journey out on the top deck until Fenton became difficult. A 17 month old boy cannot walk around wherever he wants to on a ferry.

By serendipity, we met a German couple that we spent some time with in Rarotonga. Stefan and Heike have been fabulous company and we will travel together for most if not all of our travels in New Zealand. This, of course, means that blogging is much more difficult as the nights are spent visiting rather than typing on a laptop.

Our fist night on the South Island was in Blenheim, a fruit and wine producing area. This would be a great place to live. It is sunny, beautiful, and the wine is excellent. Unfortunately, our time is limited, so we left to see the infamous Abel Tasman National Park. 12 years ago, I walked and kayaked the Tasman trail. This time, however, we cannot do this as a 17 month old boy will not do well with such long periods of sea travel in a long thin sea kayak confined to the small opening which he would have to share with his dad. No… instead we stopped at a very crowded campsite near a remarkably beautiful beach and played all day. Yeah… life is rough. Fenton learned how to walk on the beach and even waded into the shallow (but wavy) water himself. He would yell “weeeee!” every time a wave hit him.

Having the time to play together as a family has been fantastic for all of us. It will be so sad for this vacation to end. But then we think about how our winter will have an average temperature of 20C (yes… above zero) and we realize that we have nothing to complain about. The only exception would be the price of gasoline here. It is double that of Edmonton.

Today we will head out to Nelson Lakes and attempt to take Fenton on a short hike.

One last comment I wanted to make was a big thank you to everyone who has read the blog. The comments on the blog and on Facebook are very appreciated because we would never know if anyone was reading it otherwise. Maria, a grade 7 student of mine, commented that the whole class of 701 was following our every move. I want to take them with me here on a field trip – especially to the volcanic areas – but I am sure that the school would not be able to cover the cost. I’m also sure that they would not appreciate being woken by Fenton at 5:00AM every morning. Anyhow, it is good to feel the connection to home!