These are photos from the first half of the Dupriest family motorcycle touring trip to New Zealand. They were taken between Auckland and Rotorua, as well as near the city of Tauranga near the coast. You'll have to excuse the huge number of photos of grass and road. Those pictures are too pretty to not include.

From the airplane you can see the long white stretch of sand that is Four Mile...

A good example of a barrier reef viewed from the air. The leading edge of the...

Fluffy white cloud wallpaper

Our first stop out of Auckland. One of many MANY stops for photos.

I think this is the Firth of Thames

I led the way on the assumption that since I'm used to left-hand driving I will...

Never been on a Japanese road that looked like this!

NZ homes

NZ homes

Where are all the busted truck tires and discarded fast food containers?

We arrived at the beginning of winter for New Zealand. Apparently the grass...

NZ is one giant salad bar for sheep.

I love the civil engineers who made these roads curvy when they could have made...

NZ homes

These horse covers or 'rugs' are used in the winter to help the animals stay...

NZ homes

NZ homes

What would you do if all you needed to be happy was grass?

Windows XP wallpaper candidate

Tell an artist 'draw a beautiful country scene' and they'll paint this.

The land is very three-dimensional with rolling hills as far as the eye can see.

Every square inch is growing grass, trees, or concreted over.

Path to the ocean

Let's play 'spot the powerlines'!

We shared the roads with quite a few RVs during out trip.

Every view from the road is a backdrop for a movie set.

Hay? Wheat?

Since I was in the lead it was also my job to decide when to stop for photos.

I can understand how someone could forget to turn here if not for the sign.

Cobblestone beach stretching into the distance

NZ homes

One thing I noticed, is there isn't a lot of 'stuff' or 'junk' in New Zealand.

NZ businesses

I rode a Suzuki V-Strom 650.

Fantastic weather during the day with scattered showers most evenings.

Most roads had a speed limit of 100 or 'free up to 100'.

NZ homes

Turning tree row-planting into an artform.

NZ homes

It must be really strange to have people visiting from around the world just to...

To milk or to grill, that is the question.

Friendly folk everywhere

Wide, calm river

Mysterious land lumps.

Sharing the road

NZ homes

The grass is always greener...

'cafe' is the magical word to look for when you want breakfast, lunch, dinner,...

Could these unobtrusive little fences really keep in livestock?

Over the river and through the woods...

City of Rotorua, our destination for the first leg of the trip.

There seem to be 10x more roads than are necessary for the NZ population.

Heading toward Lake Taupo

There are two professions in New Zealand: Sheep herder, or cow herder.

One of the rare surfaces too steep for grass to grow on.

Log house construction

Cruising through the forest. Mom took these great action photos from the back...

This might be Lake Rotorua

NZ home with adorable little mailbox

It's not polite to stare guys...

Cows and... a volcano?

NZ homes and autumn colors

Brand new fenceposts

House (?) no 51. I'd hate to be the postman to find all these remote places.

Not a speck of modern technology as far as the eye can see

Dad navigates the GPS gui and northern New Zealand.

Freshly harvested... sugarcane?

Kiwi-style privacy fence

I think everyone in NZ must have a horse.

Pick your speed limit!

I bet they use MiracleGro

Lovely eucalyptus trees leaning over the road

Tauranga and Mount Maunganui in the distance... I think.

Dad at the helm of the (blurry) BMW R1200RT with mom riding shotgun.

Beginning of a sunset over the Bay of Plenty

Not househunting I hope...

Dark clouds threaten to rain on our ride along Papamoa Beach.

Mount Maunganui with a stark treeline

Mother and son

Fred, Shirley (very cold) and Daniel

Tauranga, viewed from across the bay

Greeting card background maybe?