Dogs on tour

We think Maddy enjoys coming with us but it's hard to tell for sure. Now she's a bit poorly, we can't take her for huge long walks with us so she doesn't get out and about as much as we'd like her to.

But she gets to hang out with us still, and as she doesn't get car sick, she copes will with the travelling.

Here's a couple of shots of her from the trip, although admittedly not that many!

A scenic cove

The first stop in Hahei was to aim for Cathedral Cove. This required us to find a parking spot and walk about 40 minutes.

Because the area is a reserve, dogs aren't allowed, so we were concerned not leave Maddy for too long. Especially as the weather was improving.

The downside was the car park for the cove is small and many people park up to spend the day at the beach there.

We tried when we first got to Hahei, but to no avail. There were just no cars moving. Stop we went for a walk on Hahei beach and went for some lunch.

We wanted to give it one more try and lucked out. We managed to nab a spot as someone left.

The walk to the cove didn't afford much on the way of views, but was still a nice stretch. And upon descending into the cove, the spectacle of nature isn't obvious. But then you find it. And you realise why it's probably one of the most photographed beaches in the country.

A trip to a NZ icon

After some rough weather and torrential rain that flooded some campgrounds the day before, we headed to the East coast of the Coromandel peninsula to visit some iconic destinations that usually adorn travel guides for this country.

We bad ourselves at a campsite just outside Hahei, keeping us within shorty driving distance of the main sites yet still allowing us to stay, considering we had Maddy with us. Many campsites forbid dogs in the height of summer so we have to do our best to find dog friendly sites.

We managed to get based at a campground belonging to a bird and animal park, which seemed a strange place to be dog friendly. But we were relieved to get somewhere.

It did mean that Maddy had some interesting neighbours to "observe"

And we're off

So it's that time of year again when New Zealand breaks up and goes on holiday. And we're no different. With a week and a half off, it's the ideal time for us to make the most of the van.

This time we're off to the Coromandel, a popular holiday destination near Auckland.

Maddy assumes her usual position in the van while we're driving. We think she enjoys coming with us but it's hard to know for sure! We'd like to think she'd rather come with us than be left behind or at kennels!

Shake, rattle and roll

Well it's been a shaky few days in the capital. But we wanted to let you know that the three of us are OK
Things kicked off on Friday morning with a 5.7 magnitude quake just after 9am. It was enough to make Annalie "Drop, Cover and Hold" as her 9th floor office swayed with the movement. Ian was blissfully unaware as he slept through the whole thing!
As did Maddy. Who said animals had heightened senses to these things?
Thankfully there was no damage, but it was the start of a series of shocks that continued through the weekend.
On Sunday morning, just after 7am, we were woken be another long, juddering quake. It wasn't enough to have us sprinting for the dinner table, but it was significant att 5.7. Our house normally doesn't feel much, but that one sure did.
This sparked several aftershocks that we could feel, both at home and as we ventured into Wellington for some brunch. But we thought they were subsiding throughout the day.
We had planned a night out as it was Ian's first night off work from his new job. So Annalie had organised dinner at Big Dogs on Blair, before heading to the movies to see The World's End.
We'd only been sat down for 10 minutes when the biggest quake we've felt hit the town. At 6.5 it was roughly the same size as the second major quake that crippled Christchurch over two years ago. And it rattled.
Because we were out, we asked our friends to check on Maddy, slightly concerned that she might be freaking out on her own. They duly checked on her and let her calm down, before returning her to her crate with some tasty snacks. Their commitment was that they would go back and get her if there were any more quakes.
We felt a few minor aftershocks but continued about our evening, not wanting to let the quakes ruin things.
Not long after the film started, at just after 7pm, we heard and felt the next big aftershock, at which point Annalie got a text to say our friends were off to get Maddy. This was always going to be an interesting exercise as they have two cats! As you can see from this photo, we think that Maddy was probably more scared of them than they were of her! But apparently she wasn't interested in them and was just happy to me around people (usual story for her really!).

There were a couple more shakes during the evening, but nothing major, however the 6.5 quakes appears to have sparked in excess of 100 aftershocks, of varying magnitudes, throughout the course of the night. We had shoes beside the bed just in case, but we never felt a thing. Friends and colleagues weren't so fortunate it seems.
Here's where all the action has been centred.

Here's a video overview of the seismic activity of the last three or four days. But this doesn't include all the 100+ aftershocks that have occured since the 6.5 "big one".


As we've said, we're all OK and just hoping that we're coming to the end of the trail.

In wine country. Again

This weekend we're in Martinborough again, this time courtesy of Annalie winning her Biggest Loser competition at the gym. The prize was a weekend for two at Brackenridge. We stayed here last year in the winter. But as we're having an amazing summer, the stay has a different feel to it.

Maddy gets to come with us too as it's pet friendly. Her favourite pastime at the moment is counting sheep. Literally!