
New Zealand

Wayne Baumgarten and Debbie Baumgarten
A Travel Blog
I went up to the east end recently just to check it out. It’s quite strange you get to the end of the road that leads east and then if you come down a dirt road to the water you find something that looks like it’s out of a James Bond movie. In fact there is a bone fishing outfit up here that runs a whole bunch of boats out of this enclosed dock area. The resort is across the water on a small island nearby and this compound is just for the boats. Small power boats and larger fishing boats that run out into the many small islands scattered around the east and fish for snapper and other bone fish. Apparently the fishing is great and this is one of the more popular destinations for the island even though it is very remote. The photo of our Jeep shows it parked a few feet from the eastern tip of the Grand Bahama island.
Debbie, Buster and I went and checked out another beach today. It was really wow-worthy. Of course you expect ample wow-ness when you are going to the beach in the Bahamas, but some are over touristy and medium wow, and others are super-wow. I would put this one at about 9.5 on the wow scale. When I post it’s always a struggle to pick the best photos. I hope you will enjoy this selection.
Click on any image to see the slide show.
Where we are living is right on one of the canals not far from Banana Bay. The owner here is a boat lover and owns or has access to 4 boats of varying size and types. There is a kayak and a row boat, then an open sailboat, a powerboat and an ocean going sailboat. The sailboat is serious, it could handle trans-atlantic no problem if your into that kind of thing and have the time! Anyhow with the water being the big attraction here its great to have some access. I am Captain of the kayak so far, but I am working my way up.
Click any thumbnail to see slideshow.
We are loving our new house. Somehow we seem to time everything a bit off. We settled on the bahamas right at the start of summer. It is baking hot, a lot like Florida. The thing about Florida is that the heat and humidity is only worth it if you have easy access to the water. Since we have a beach that is 5 minutes walk and a canal right outside the apartment complete with a wide selection of boats we are in pretty good shape. Here are some more photos of our new digs. click any thumbnail to see a larger image.
As you probably can see, Buster is exhausted after a 3,600 mile car trip travelling coast to coast across the Continental US. I have to say that Buster is the 4th dog that Debbie and I have had over the last decade or two and is by far the most wonderful. He is amazing in car travel. As soon as the car starts moving he flops down and passes out into a deep sleep. As soon as the car stops moving, no matter how many hours later, he immediately wakes up, sits up and starts looking around. He does enjoy his nap time as you can see in the photo. Truth be told all of us were a bit worn out from travelling and very glad to get to our new destination.
(click a thumbnail to see the picture)