New Zealand 2011

Well, we finally did it... We are officially in New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup 2011.  

South Africa vs Wales

We have only been here 3 days now and have done so much!  We drove down to Wellington on our first day and went to see the South Africa vs Wales match.  It was a great game and actually the best game of the tournament so far!  We stayed over night outside of Wellington and then got up the next morning to go for a run.  We ran about Paraparaumu, took a little hike and even found an awesome zip line in a park to play on.  

Ferry coming into Wellington

Then we drove down to Wellington again to catch a ferry to the South Island.  We arrived in Picton at about 6pm and had an awful time trying to find a WiFi signal to get directions to the house we rented.  It was less than an hours drive to our house and we were finally able to unload the car and unpack.  It was a nice feeling to have a home base.  Today we got up and finished unpacking to pack up again for a trip down to Christchurch.  

Our little house on Moetapu Bay

 We drove back into Picton to find some internet again.  We found some reliable WiFi finally and then headed out to visit my former colleague and friend, Jennifer and her husband Kevin.  It was a beautiful drive!  We even got close and personal with a seal!!  We went out for Mexican that wasn't bad for New Zealand and had a great time visiting and planning a few things to do tomorrow.  I have found some amazingly good gluten free food.  The Kiwis definitely put the USA to shame on the options/price of gluten free.  Almost every place we've been (besides the game, ahem... next host of RWC take note! There was no food for me) we've found yummy evenly priced gluten free options.  

Vegetarian Pie.

Chocolate Chip GF Muffin

Spinach & Feta GF Muffin

Looking forward to a day in Christchurch.  Tomorrow we're going to see the earthquake mess and Mt Hutt.  Adventures!!

Meeting a seal that Mike found on our drive south to Christchurch.