Saturday, 4 Feb.  On Feb 7th I depart for New Zealand.  That country is a whopping 21 hours ahead of me, meaning I arrive on Thursday afternoon.  I’ve created an itinerary and reserved cabins/hotels for each night.  February is their August (14 hours of sunlight), so it’s a busy time.  I was hoping to be a little less rigid in my travels, but I’m not interested in spending my days worrying about available lodging.  I’ve bought a tour guide to help find places of interest, which regretfully lists far more locations than I’ll be able to visit.  I had considered doing some camping, but rain is a high probability.  I’m renting a car, GPS and cell phone.  All the modern conveniences.  Getting lost is unlikely since the island is about half the size of California with 3% of its population.

NZ’s population is 4.7 million. At last count there are 39 million sheep. This is about half of their historical peak.  Surprisingly, dairy production is now their No. 1 industry.  Wine has also become a big thing.  Some people who know me might say I’m going for the wine, but putting a trip to NZ on my bucket list long predates my love of the grape.  Though, to be sure, I’m now also going for the wine.

I’m arriving in Christchurch and will circle the South Island clockwise.  I’ll take a ferry across to Wellington on the North Island and stay two nights.  My return flight has a five hour layover in Auckland which I hope use productively.  Total time in the country will be 15 days.

I’ll also spend three nights in Fiji.  My flights are on Fiji Airways (of questionable customer service reputation) and during the reservation process I realized I could schedule a long layover there for only a few dollars more.