The adventure begins

 Hello to all who read this!

Nicole, Zane and I have begun another great Roman family adventure, this time it's kind of a big deal for us. The plan over the next 6-7 months is to visit New Zealand (both north and south islands), Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. Thanks to Nicole's hard work planning over the past year we have most everything already booked. Great work Nicole, I love you! We are also very thankful for the recommendations given by family and friends. Also, sorry to all the random people we accosted once we overheard them talking about a place on our list. I'm attempting to document our trip for our future selves and for others looking for ideas or tips as we find them. Please bear with me concerning the level of detail, I'm an engineer.  If something is lacking please comment and I will try to elaborate.

Here we are just before ditching our bags at the Delta counter at LAX. We rented a car and drove up from San Diego. Flight was supposed to leave at 10:40pm but of course as soon as we all got on and sat down there was a "delay" due to a malfunctioning communications system so we didn't end up leaving until about midnight. A few hours of sleep and 3 movies later we landed on the morning of Wed. Nov. 27 in partly sunny conditions in Auckland, NZ.

The rental car pickup was super easy once we found the shuttle, had to follow the offsite shuttle service signs. Scotties rental service seems to be on top of it. They just handed us the keys, we checked out the car and we were on the road, Nice!

First stop was Worldwise Travel Clinic 18 Saint Marks Road, Remuera, Auckland 1050. We were advised by Dr. Marc Shaw, it seemed clear he knew his stuff and he made us feel comfortable with the vaccines we decided to get. We each received the Japanese Encephalitis (Imojev), Rabies (IM), and Typhoid shots. In total it was $2,463 ($1,451USD) but included a consultation as well. We will receive our second Rabies shot in 8 days at another location.

Finally we were on the road again to the Coromandel peninsula and Shelly Beach Top 10 Holiday Park. It was about a 2.5hr drive but we stopped off to get a soda, some chips and Zane deserved an ice cream. He was such a tough guy and didn't even cry when getting the vaccines. The drive was easy with great views as you follow along the west coast of the peninsula, you're right at the waters edge! I only had a single instance where I almost forgot which side of the rode to drive on. Those one lane bridges are tricky.

Shelly Beach is a great spot for Zane. We barley unpacked the car and he was jumping on the giant inflated pillow out back. The grounds are well kept and even though we are in a cabin next to the road there just isn't any traffic for that to matter. The pool is clean and very warm, or up to Nicole standards ;-)

After putting everyone to bed I walked down to the beach to explore.

 They don't call it Shelly beach for nothing, its covered with half dollar sized shells. Shoes recommended. The image below is looking back at the Holiday Park.

Good night all!