Ashore, awaits a hospitable yacht club with doors open to cruisers. Here's Scott catching up with old friends.

You don't think of New Zealand as a surfing destination, but you can see by here (right) that the storms offshore cause some pretty awesome waves! The water looks cold though doesn't it? My son, Drew pointed out what looks like something swimming in the water behind the surfer. He thought it looked like sharks!

One of the things that has been interesting about our travels in New Zealand is the style of architecture. I would say that form follows function. The New Zealand sense of style is unique and quite refreshing. In contrast to the American attitude of "more is better," the New Zealanders embrace a philosophy of "enough is enough." This attractive home on the left embodies that notion.

You may know that the fern is one of the Kiwi symbols. The reason for it is quite apparent as you drive around the countryside. Roadsides are lined with these magnificent fern trees. I've tried to capture the beauty of those ferns in my shot on the right.

Because of their geographic isolation there are many unique plant and animal species. I need to learn more about these various species before I tell you more. I just took this photo because I liked it!

These pukako birds became an obsession with me (right). We'd be driving down the highway and I'd see one of them and Scott would have to risk his life to try to back track and find them again before they took off. All this while driving on the left side of the road!

And speaking of driving, you're probably happy you weren't with us on one gravel road when a logging truck came down on us at full speed! We did get out of the way, but it was a bit scary. Of course, not scary enough to keep Jean from snapping it!

Here we are in the typical New Zealand countryside scene. (right)

I don't know why we saw so many cows and so few sheep. Perhaps it was because we were so far north.

We took ferry over to Russell (right).

Russell is on an island in the Bay of Islands.

It's very charming as you see on the right.

This is one of the first churches built in New Zealand.

Russell radio has been a huge support of the cruiser community for many years. In fact, they are one of the few supports of the cruisers with updated weather information every day.

Here's the outside of the radio station. They have a small vineyard in the yard. Pretty impressive.