Oh the South Pacific - the seals, the surf, the giant plague carrying mosquitoes. And that's why Nomadic Monkey is taking a short break in the States...while Zoe gets over what the nice man at the CDC says is Dengue Fever. But no worries, folks! She'll be on her feet in a couple of days and back to exposing herself to virulent diseases before you know it.

Anyway, Roanoke VA! It's got trees, mountains, and pork products.

Nomadic Monkey is currently on pillow duty.

A LOOK OF DOOM like this requires years of practice. And antibiotics.

Later, Zoe's dad got tickets for transporting exotic species, and a helmet violation.

Zoe's Mom makes homemade mayo. Nomadic Squishy eats homemade mayo. The circle of life is complete.

The towns' name is Paekakariki. The next one up the coast is Paraparaumu. Basically, they've got multi-syllable names starting with P absolutely down. Here is a complete inventory of what can be found in town: One ocean w/ black sand beach. Two giant, yellow, freaky-looking mountains. Fifty tiny, agile, surfers. We were going to take a pic of Nomadic Monkey in a speedo, and then we remembered there were kids reading this.

Zoe demonstrates the finer points of coffee drinking. Nomadic Monkey demonstrates the finer points of looking round

Actually, this would be a really well-lit, artsy picture if only the human wasn't in it

Alright, that's quite enough of that

You know when you donate old clothes to Goodwill? You think they're going to that dingy store behind the car-parts warehouse, but actually, they're all coming to Wellington.  Where they are chopped up, resewn, and sold to the unbelievably attractive Hipsters who lounge in cafes. Aggressively. We're talking some professional-level-loungers, people. Nomadic Monkey, of course, fits right in.

It's a train that approaches Wellington, overland. It's called the Overlander. Any questions?

Two weeks in New Zealand and we're already jaded

I would like to formally apologize for the terrible pun I committed above. It was a bad thing to do and I didn't mean it. Incidentally, Parliament.