Trips in the near future ...

We pretty much have a stream of visitors from the US and India starting late march all the way into mid may. We've started planning trips and will attempt to visit places that we have not seen before. Some of the places on our list include

• Wellington: Its relatively close, but the drive, the wait and the ferry ride make it a 5-6 hour trip. However the ferry ride is guaranteed to entertain the kids and give them something to talk about. We'll probably do this over the next few weekends by ourselves. It has the added bonus of having the IceBreaker factory outlet in the vicinity (or so i've heard)
• Northland and the Bay of Islands: We are planning to go here with Phu, Tamar, Chi, Jason and Grace after Easter. Their visit coincides with the kids easter break, so I suspect it will be one long road trip
• Golden Bay: We'd like to revisit this place and spend a few days there. Most likely we'll go there with Jill and Marley and my brother Steve
• Nelson Lakes: Definitely want to spend a few days there hiking and tramping. Hopefully the weather will still be good when Mari's parents visit and we'll rent a bach there. We'll probably do a day trip or overnite with JD and Lisa there
  
• Dunedin / Otaga Peninsula / Invercargill: I suspect we'll do this with Stephen, Ivy, Freia and Reia
• New Plymouth and Stewart Island are on the list. Not figured out when we will be able to make it to either place. Maybe with Mari and/or my parents
• Fiji, Cook islands, Vanatu: too many places, too little time :(