Nieuw Zeeland - vluchten geboekt.. / New Zealand - flights are booked..

hi all

om onze aanstaande reis naar down under vorm te geven volgen alvast wat foto's, kaarten en voorpret reisinfo. vanaf hier zal langzaam ons reisplan gaan ontstaan en zijn we straks op reis te volgen, is de bedoeling. we hopen op veel bezoekers..
inmiddels zijn onze heen- en terugreis geboekt en hebben we ook gereserveerd voor de lokale vluchten naar en van zuidereiland.
we vertrekken op donderdag 18 maart met cathay pacific via hong kong, komen dan zaterdag 20 maart 's ochtends vroeg in auckland aan. vandaar vertrekken we eerst voor een goeie week op noordereiland om te eindigen bij wellington. de bedoeling is om een auto te huren en in hotels/motels te overnachten. bij wellington plannen we twee nachten in de moana lodge bij tristan (onze neef die hier als manager werkt) en yoko! (http://www.moanalodge.co.nz/)
vanuit wellington vliegen we zondag 28 maart naar christchurch en huren we een campervan om verder over het zuidereiland te trekken. op zondag 11 april vliegen we weer terug naar auckland en op maandag 12 april van auckland naar hong kong, we hopen dan op dinsdag 13 april 's ochtens vroeg weer in holland te zijn.

het verdere reisplan hoop ik via de blog uit de doeken te doen de komende tijd.

op de foto hieronder ze je kaikoura op het zuidereiland en de toppen van de nieuw zeelandse alpen. we hopen vanuit deze plaats mee te kunnen op een zgn. 'whale watch', om walvissen en dolfijnen te spotten, die in deze baai en langs deze kust met diep water veelvuldig voorkomen.

in order to shape our trip down under, intend to post some photos, maps and preliminary travel info. as from this point we will gradually be building our itinerary, and folks home will be able to follow us during our journey. we do hope many may find us.

we have meanwhile booked our flights down under and made reservations for the domestic flights as well.
we depart on thursday 18th march with cathay pacific via hong kong, to arrive on saturday 20th march early in the morning in auckland. from there we will spend a good week on northern island to end up in wellington. the intention is to rent a car and stay overnights in hotels/motels.

near wellington we have planned two nights in the moana lodge with tristan & yoko! (http://www.moanalodge.co.nz/)

(tristan, our nephew works as a manager together with his girlfriend yoko in the moana lodge).
from wellington we'll fly on sunday 28th march to christchurch and from there we will rent a campervan to further explore the southern island. on sunday 11th april we'll fly back to auckland to continue our trip back home on monday 12th april via hong kong. we then hope to be back in holland on tuesday 13th april early morning.

our further itinerary is meant to appear on this blog in the coming weeks/months.

on the photo here above you'll see kaikoura on south island, and summits of the new zealand alps. we aim to be going on a whalewatch trip from here to spot dolphins and whales. these animals are frequent visitors of this bay in deep water.

New name for the blog

hi all,

well.... I must admit I have never lived up to my own expectation of posting one photo per day on my blog. apologies for that..

since we (my wife and me) have decided to book a 25th wedding anniversary super-duper holiday to new zealand come march 2010, i have chosen to change the name of my blog, and hope to be able to keep the folk at home posted during our trip down under.

we will be visiting a nephew who is living near Wellington with his girlfriend, and travel around north and south island during approx 3 weeks.

our flights are booked, we depart thursday 18th march 2010 to arrive auckland saturday 20th march, flight back to holland is booked for monday 12th april..

from now on i will keep on track here with the latest and greatest, the travel itinerary (which will likely change from time to time) etc. etc.

the intention is to keep this blog bi-lingual i.e. in english and dutch, once we're travelling.

see ya!

ps can't post without adding some photos...so here we go

our kitten Sam... some weeks ago (he grows rapidly!)