Two Froggies Abroad: New Zealand

Bay of islands, skydive session...and a bit of surf... - March 2014

Nice surfing beach in the bay of islands..which is north of Auckland...

One of our numerous great spots for lunch...

Agnes looking for mussels...

Us..showing off....fyi we are still beginners ;-)

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Scarred..of course...

Skydiving mates ;-)

Just before going in the plane...glaglagla...

Rotorua, its hot pools & geysers and Bay of Plenty & its beaches - March 2014

Fantastic trek in the Volcano Tongariro National Park - March 2014

First nice view from the bottom of Ngauruhoe mount which is for the fans of Lords of the Ring. Mount Doom.

Nice panorama including Ngauruhoe mount...

Yes..the volcano activity is not dead here....and you can smell it...

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We decided to climb the top of Mount Tongariro to enjoy the view....which is actually not the above picture ....but you will see it a bit down...

...looks nice, no?

...The view from the Top of the Tongariro mount...

Ngauruhoe mount's crater

No comment...Ngauruhoe mount is so beautiful...especially under a blue sky...

The red crater...where it smelt like rotten eggs...

The red crater in the foreground...and Ngauruhoe mount

Amazing colors of the Blue & Emerald lakes...

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View on Emerald and Blue lakes...

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R.I.P Agnes left shoe...what a spot for dying...The blue lake

Nice view on the two volcanos: 1st the Red Crater and 2nd the beautiful Ngauruhoe mount

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Fumes on forbidden area....We should not forget that this volcano is still active...

End of our trek overlooking lakes and Taupo lake in the background

Our work and wonderful time at Crab's Farm winery with Hamish and his family - March 2014

The logo...of Hamish's winery..that goes very well on the bottles...adapting its colour on the wines...A bit of history...The field where the winery is now standing used be the see....In 1931, the Hawkes Bay suffered a terrible earthquake...and suddenly this whole land raised from the see...to create the future vinyards...and the field was at that time full of crabs...

The entrance of the winery & cafe

...Nicky smiling....

Breakfast time in the vineyards...paradise again...

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Our gardening gears....

View on Nicky....

Agnes taking out some dead leaves & branches from very high trees (she is already training her vertigo before our 19th March skydiving sessions at 12,000ft (3,800ish m)

Lunch break at the winery with Salvador & Hamish (See Portraits' section)

Nice sunset at the winery...

Waking up in the vineyards at Crab's farm

Gardening break: coffee, tea...the atmosphere was so peaceful!

Great evening at Hamish's and Dominique's...The roast lamb, the veggies and gravy were absolutely delightful...

Dominique (Hamish's new wife), her kid, Salvador and Dominique's Mum posing just before our departure...

Still in the South for a few days in the Malborough Sounds before taking our ferry to reach Wellington....- March 2014

Pelorus bridge on the way to the Malborough sounds...

Pelorus river at campsite

Agnes and I enjoying the river

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Nice jump, hay?

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Campsite in the sounds at low tide + check the fishing rod out...It is Agnes' creation and it works...even if fishes are not as big as expected ;-)

The fishing squad in the evening: as soon as we started, two lovely Kiwis came along, Nick & Courtney, with their professional equipment ;-)...they lent us a small fishing rod, we fished and drink beers together....unfortunately once again, we only caught small fishes for bait only...But what a treat!

The traditional kiss to her first fish ;-)

Fishing lesson with Nick

Relaxing at campsite

The Malborough sounds...how beautiful...

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Ferry trip from Picton to Wellington (North Island)...reaching the sea...

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Leaving Picton at 7pmish offered us a great sunset in the sounds before reaching Wellington at night...

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A froggy in the sky....?

Stand & Carol, our hosts in Wellington via Air BnB

Beer tasting with Stan in Wellington...which is full of coffee bars and beers bars...

View on Wellington

Us with Stan

No comment...

North coast, Abel Tasman, Bay of Nelson etc...- Feb 2014

Wharariki beach for Sunset...near Cape Farewell (Extreme North of the South Island)

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Agnes and one of our favorite Kiwi friend...

Nelson region, its vineyards, and its Sweet Agnes Riesling

Agnes enjoying a tasting at 11am ;-)

Froggy style..again...

Cape Farwell - Extreme North of the South Island

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Evening at Wharariki beach...

Nelson Bay from our campsite and morning swim....

Nicky will be for sale in 4 weeks time...poor her, she cannot hide her emotions...

One of the numerous oysters catchers...

Beach from one another campsite...

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No joke...i had a spleen during this break...;-)

Nice trek view in the Abel Tasman National Park

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Split Apple Rock & its hidden beach

Another nice view from our coast treks...

East coast, Christchurch and its bank peninsula - Feb 2014

One of numerous buildings being structurally supported...

Again, one old mall that has almost not been touched since the sad events...

One of the new streets...made of shipping containers...

The Christchurch cathedral...

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Agnes & the boulders...

One of a few people demonstrating on the beach against oil deep sea drilling near their coasts...

"Fleur's place", nice seafood restaurant renowned worldwide...we enjoyed some nice seafood chowder and seafood platter...

One of our campistes' sunset...

Agnes & I trekking to reach the view on the pacific at the bank's peninsula...

Agnes showing off, on her way to our lunch spot...and where we will have a nice surprise...the spot is full of green lips mussels...yummmi...We caught some for our dinner and traditional Moules Marinieres...

Green lips mussels...

Moody Nicky had to have one tyre checked after it was flat...Just an issue with the valve...Ouufff..

Spot North of Kaikoura, full of seals, and baby seals...

On the road again...

Agnes & Xavier fishing....we were "Broucouille" at the end of the day ;-)

4 days in the Catlins (South of New Zealand) - Feb 2014

Sea lions family playing...

Wind swept trees...

The lighthouse near Slope point (extreme south of NZ)

Agnes chilling out after a short walk...

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What colors...

Waterfall after a 40 minutes walk and 1 hour nap..when we came back, we realised that we left the lights on...that meant no battery....thanks to a lovely German couple...we were able to get cables (jumper leads)...

Nice bird...

Young yellow eyed penguins...

Hector dolphins surfing the waves...

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Pretty big fur sea lion...

Nuggets point...obvious, no?

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On the way to Allans' beach for Valentine's ;-) on the Otago Peninsula (dunedin)

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Beach full of fur sea lions...

Valentine's ...I told you...

This was the paradise for the family made of 6 sea lions..

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Young sea lion provoking us

Thanks to Vic, whom we met at one campsite (South of Queenstown in Waikaka), we found a volunteering opportunity at Pam's dairy farm - Feb 2014

Vic & Pam

A new Mum for us, Pam

Pam & us

The glasshouse that we have worked on: before starting it was just full of bad plants of 1m high...we had to chop the roots off, change the soil, plant some various vegetables, set up the irrigation system etc...

Agnes showing off with the grass mowing tractor + cleaning the hens fields by collecting pines cones & wood...

No need to tell you that I did most of the work ;-) with the tractor...

Oh yeah..a real truck with an automatic...? Cool, no? A real man's job, isn't it?

View from the farm's house...no comment!

I and the wheel barrow...

Calves...

1 hen and its egg ;-)..we daily collected 6 fresh eggs...what a life...!

See our portraits section to read more about Vic whom we met at one campsite while he was cleaning the campground and collecting the money from customers...and thanks to whom we found this volunteering opportunity at Pam's dairy farm...

Cow being milked...

As you can see, there was not much work for us there as it is very industrialised and + skills are needed. That is why we worked on other things ...

9pm shift with Stuart and Kyle...they would work until midnight to milk 640 cows

Our truck during our work at Pam's...i really felt like a cow boy out there ;-)

Rodeo afternoon in Gore - Feb 2014

No comment...and dont think NZ is like that...

Here we are...on the road again, on our own...again...but not really...we now have "Nicky"...our comfy van - Feb 2014

Life is hard..but Nicky is here...

Apero time...anywhere, anytime...

The proud owners...

We acquired the van when Matteo & Ines where still with us...I can tell you that they really wanted to start our world trip with us ;-)

Matteo & Ines taking their habits in Nicky...

Agnes enjoying its very private, clean and fresh bathroom in Queenstown...water at 14 degrees...once in the morning, once in the evening...wahoouh!

1 week family holiday in Queenstown & its region - Jan/Feb 2014

After Thailand and Singapore, we had the chance to spend more time with my sister Caro, Jordane and the two kids, Matteo (6 years old) and Ines (2 years old, Agnes' god daughter) in New Zealand. We spent one week near Queenstown in the Southern island where we enjoyed, the fantastic landscapes, the lakes, the meat (burgers..), some nice walks, bike rides etc...

Family fantastic luge race...with Matteo as the champion ;-)

Agnes & Matteo during one small trek that lasted more than expected as we got lost...what an adventure for Matteo who had to go on my back several time, climbed some tough rocks and even did his first poo in the middle of the forest ;-). On the right side, you can see me & Ines enjoying our first day imn Queenstown near its lake.