The Bluebird Takes Flight

A few days ago, we got a message from Liz (the Liz who joined us for the first part of our bike journey). She was buying a car and heading north...were we in?

Two days later she pulled into Katie and Mark's driveway and we met "Bluebird"- her new Nissan and our new mode of transport for the next two weeks.
Bluebird has a few quirks...like no antenna, therefore no radio and one back window doesn't roll down, but other than that, she is one fine mobile.


We have been flying (in comparison to our two wheels) up the coast and have been to some incredible places already...Kaikoura, where we got up close and personal with fur seals, Picton, where we ravaged every second hand store for used CD's (we decided Rob's singing was still better than NZ classic country hits), Anakiwa, where we visited Outward Bound New Zealand - voted the best place to work in New Zealand...and a little town outside of Nelson where all of our strawberry picking dreams came true in an organic farmers patch. For $5, three of us gorged ourselves on warm, sweet, juicy berries, picked picked right off the vine and ended up taking over 1kg with us in the car. (Notice that I am putting them directly into my mouth and have none in the tray!)

Things are definitely moving faster, but my two travel companions have been showing compassion for a broken hearted biker and have been stopping, no questions asked, when they hear a 'gasp' or an 'awwwwww' or an outright "STOP THE CAR" from the back seat.

That's how I got the photo of the giant crayfish and how we got to visit the salt flats outside of Blenheim where NZ table salt is made.

It may not seem like a big deal, but those little stops make a world of difference. For me, the sights, sounds, smells and tastes are the trip....and New Zealand is just too darn sweet to miss out on even one strawberry.