Friday morning I started with a farewell morning tea with the staff at Fulbright New Zealand, then went to pick up my rental car for my adventure. After navigating through some fun Wellington traffic (people were arriving in town for the Lions/All Blacks Rugby match tomorrow), I found a parking spot RELATIVELY close to my flat, and made several trips to get all my stuff loaded in the car, then I set off on my trip.
Leg one was a short journey – but I had planned a side trip to Castlepoint, which did add some time to the trip.
Here is the map of the journey:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pW2bxqrNXyfFxcO05AafwqoWoos&usp=sharing
Once out of Wellington, I wound my way through the Rimutakas, stopping for a few scenic points.
I had debated about whether or not I really had time to make it to Castlepoint before dark, but decided to go on, and I am SO very thankful I did – it was worth every minute.
I left Castlepoint as the sun was setting, and made the rest of my journey in the dark to my stop for the night, Dannevirke. Today was a short post for a long day – but it is definitely the beginning of a fantastic adventure – my last hurrah in New Zealand before heading back to the US.
Merry Adventures 