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My Dad’s father lived in Kawhia as a child and went to school there, between about 1906 and 1914. His father was also the local chemist at that time. So, since my Dad had never really been there, we decided to suprise him with a day trip to Kawhia, complete with picnic (we aren’t really a picnic kind of family—it was the first time the picnic set had been used EVER) for Father’s Day.

We even enlisted the help of my Aunt, the family genealogist, to provide some info about the town and when they had been there. We were lucky enough that the museum was open, and there were photos and newspaper articles that referred to the family (although no photos of the people themselves that we could make out)

All in all it was a great day. It’s a beautiful, rugged, isolated place although much bigger than we expected. I can also recommend the fish and chip shop, the hot chips were FANTASTIC. Crunchy on the outside and lovely and fluffy inside.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t recommend the road to Raglan though unless you are into rally driving. It was very rough and there were lots of slips and some car repairs were needed along the way!

Just got back so still spinning a bit from the adventure…. I had an amazing time. Two weeks wasn’t nearly long enough, there is still so much I want to see…

Went to Quito, Cuyabeno for a 4-day jungle tour (highly recommended), back to Quito, Mindo (also highly recommended, a 2 hour bus trip from Quito) then to the coast before flying out of Guayaquil.

I’ll be back – one day.

Well, it’s totally out of character but I’ve just made a “spur of the moment” decision to go to Ecuador in a month. Booked the tickets and everything just an hour ago.

Why do I want to go? Well, I like the sound of the diverse geography and the culture sounds pretty interesting. It will be an opportunity to use my spanish skills, and I’m going to be meeting up with friends there who have been adventuring around South America for the last 3 months… Very excited right now!