Where in the World is Terri

Well all we made it to New Zealand - WOW what a place. We arrived at the Airport and entered the land of sails. We picked up the vans(or what I would call small buses) at the airport and needless to say it has been an experience. All three of the vans are manual shift - NOT GOOD WHEN YOU ARE DRIVING UP AND DOWN THE STEEP HILL SIDES. I learned real quick you need to drive up hill in a low gear otherwise you have no power. As I tried to downshift to a lower gear the van died - yes it was quite an experience when you have a semi on your rear bumper. However he had no road rage and I just waived and yelled sorry mate just a bloody American. The crew ridding with me has been great and they think I have done a wonderful job driving with the exception of one who when we arrived at the hostel informed me no offense but your driving scared the hell out of me.
It is currently 4:30 am on Saturday December 22. Yesterday when I started this writing we went to Waitangi Treaty Grounds and participated in a welcome ritual. The area overlooks the Bay of Islands and is just breathtaking. It was where on February 6th, 1840 that the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed between Maori and the British Crown. During the welcome ritual Dr. Coffin was are Representative for the group to speak. We were required to sing as they sang a welcome song to our group and we arrived. Dr. Coffin explained that since their treat was signed February 6th we elected a verse from a singer who was also born on February 6th who wrote many songs about freedom. One Love by Bob Marley is what we sang and they joined in after we sang the first verse. We seen the Ngatokimatawhaorua which is one of the world's largest Maori ceremonial war canoes. We the walked up the hill to the Navel flagstaff which marks the place where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed. We also visited the Te Whare Runanga which is a fully carved Maori Meeting House, which is representative of all lwi (regional tribes) in New Zealand. The craftsmanship of this building was just amazing. Each carving represented a different tribe in New Zealand.
We returned to our hostel around 2:00 and that gave us the rest of the day as our free time to do what we wanted. A group of us took the fairy over to Russell which was once considered the hell hole of the pacific by the British. We have tasted a lot of New Zealand wine as Maggie, Jim, Marcy, and myself (the elders of the group)usually each by a bottle giving us a chance to sample many different kinds along with the different cheeses and crackers what more could anyone want. Well is has truly been an experience so far and I will try to figure out how to post pictures tonight so you can see the beauty. We have a five to six hour dive ahead of us today so I need to gather all my belongings. By the way yesterday we woke up to the the news that New Zealand had an earth quake that registered between 6-7 on the scale. That was further down south so it did not affect us but that is the area that we are traveling to today. I will keep you all updated as we move on. Off the blog for now.