Returned last night from a month in the deep south of New Zealand. We cannot thank johnboy & Rosie enough for taking time from their normal daily life to escort us around their beautiful country so that we didn't become statistics in the NZ traffic deaths due to tourists. Also thanks to Robin & Lynda Barnes for hosting us over the last weekend we were in-country, and showing us some of the beautiful parks and gardens around New Plymouth.

Our trip started with the NZ NSRA Nationals, which were held in New Plymouth, Taranaki this year, held over their Labour Weekend which is equivalent to our Labor Day weekend with events Saturday, Sunday and Monday before folks headed for home around mid-day. Tuesday we picked up a rental "people mover", a Toyota mid-size van, and headed south toward Wellington & the ferry to the south island. Once engaged we toured the perimeter of the south island, and made a few inland loops for specific sights that were on the "don't miss" list over about two weeks. We took the ferry back to the north island on Tuesday, 11/11 and spent three days catching some of the middle north island sights before heading to New Plymouth & the weekend with the Barnes. Monday & Tuesday were more north island sights, including the amazing Bridal Veil Falls before getting up to Auckland Tuesday evening for our Wednesday return flight.

We met some great people during our trip. Besides jb & Rosie and the Barnes we met SharpMark and saw his work space, and Colin Proust who goes by V8Flathead here and drives a very nice '36 Coupe. We also met Graeme Cox (Coxy) who did the chassis mods on jb's bus, and has a righteous shop turning out some great work, besides being a stand up guy. I was amazed by the number of guys that told me that they had multiple "left drive" cars that they had imported from the USA over the years, including a fellow who just celebrated his 90th birthday and owns a '67 (or '68?) Mustang fastback that was one of 40 built with a factory Paxton blower!

We have something north of 1700 photos of our trip, mostly scenic shots that are only special to us but with a few segments of cars from the NSRA gathering, plus a couple of private collections. I may post some of the NZ cars one of these days, but it's going to take some time to sort through everything and make sense of the images, especially considering that the holidays are upon us, and we've got nothing done to prepare like outdoor lighting, getting the tree out of storage, etc, etc, etc.

Today was the first time I've driven in over a month, so I made it special by taking the '33 for the run to WalMart to pick up milk & a few staple needs. It was a great trip, but it's also good to be home.

Johnboy, once again I cannot thank you & Rosie enough for taking time & traveling around "GodZone" with us. I believe that we could have navigated the roadways safely, but I expect that we would have experienced a few exciting moments in the process. Robin, thanks also for you & Lynda giving up your weekend to show us the Taranaki highlights. All in all it was a trip to be remembered!