Paraparaumu,
North Island,
New Zealand
Monday, January 5, 2009
just up the kapiti coast from wellington is a small suburb town called paraparaumu. this isn't generally a stop on people's trip round new zealand, but we had a wonderful two nights here. this is where Baz and Hillary live. we met baz and hillary along with catherine (our friend in wellington) on the slow boat from thailand to laos (two long days to get to know each other). well, they graciously opened their home to us. i especially had been looking forward to paraparaumu. why? well, baz is a suit and tie IT executive by day, but a hunting, diving and fishing kiwi by night ... he said there might be a possibility of doing several outdoor activities when we come over... STOKED!!! he promised to take me diving for abalone, sea urchin and take me hunting to shoot rabbit and wild goat! AWESOME!... well, we had everything planned, but it didn't work out... :( the weather was not good enough to go diving (this area can get really really windy) and baz sprained his foot the day of our hunt and so everything was nixed... no worries though, eunice and i still had an incredible time there... hillary's cooking was incredible! the hospitality was undeniable! and the guest room was the best bed we'd had 6 months! on top of that, they had two labs, Tiki and Popi, that we took for long walks on two of the days!
let me brag about the food a bit...the salad was simple and delicious. the meat was venison (deer meat) that baz had shot earlier in the season and the NZ wines were awesome... good times and good company.
one day, eunice and were able to tear ourselves away from baz and hillary's luxurious accommodation for little sight seeing... we ended up at a farm center, Lindale Center. we got to walk around and pet sheep, goats, pigs and even the ostrich. i tried to pet the deer and alpacas, but they were a bit too fast...
simply, Paraparaumu was a wonderful place to recharge our batteries before moving on...
