Earthquake!!

Yesterday as we were sitting at our table having breakfast, the dishes started to rattle, and the table started to move. At first I thought it was just a big truck driving by, but then I remembered that we live on a dead end and there are no roads by our house...we realized all at once that this was an EARTHQUAKE! We excitedly got up and ran outside (not what you are supposed to do apparently) and could feel the ground swaying. It was quite surreal. I found out later at work that it was a 5.1 on the richter scale, and the epicenter was about 50 miles away. Everyone here was very blase about the whole thing, as they are used to it, and it wasn't a very big one anyways. They told me that you are supposed to get under a table during an earthquake....

I have lost my earthquake virginity...

Napier, the Art Deco City

The sun is setting on our Gannet adventure, and low tide uncovers an interesting landscape...

The gannets are claiming all the rocks for their nests...

Riding on the beach at sunset. Can't beat this.

Gannets

New Zealand has the largest mainland Gannet colony in the world with about 8000 pairs of birds, spread over three main areas on Cape Kidnappers.

This is the classic partnering behavior...

A 20 minute walk uphill led us to some amazing views....

You can see a gannet colony on the first rock.

Cape Kidnappers

This is the tractor we rode on the back of for 3 hours...

The limestone cliffs.

The beginning of the cape.

A fault line!

Te Mata Peak

The view from the top...

Living on the edge.

Te Mata Peak

Picnic!

We made it back in one piece!

Our first stop on the wine tour....

Our last stop (he looks happy)

This seems dangerous...

Riding through olive groves on our wine tour...