Monday 1st March

We had lazy start with BBQ’d venison sausages! Having bade farewell to Jill and David we drove to Rotorua. This is a ‘spa’ town beside a lake away from the sea. The area is volcanic and there is a lot of geo-thermal activity. We walked round the museum gardens and watched the ladies playing bowls – a quintessentially English activity. We went for a ride in a ‘Duck’ and visited 4 lakes in the local area; this was quite expensive and not really worth it. We are visiting a Maori village in the morning. Ben’s main digital SLR camera lens has been playing up and we also visited a camera shop. It looks like he will have to buy a new lens to ensure general photographs.

Sunday 28th February

We had an eventful drive to Tauranga. We stopped at Cook’s Beach where Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand. We had by then forgotten that there was a Tsunami warning following the severe earthquake in Chile. The beach was very sandy and pretty and the tide was going out quite quickly and was a long way out. Having walked to the sea’s edge we then walked across to where the river entered the sea and this was flowing very strongly. A local advised that this was the first effects of the Tsunami as the sea was effectively being sucked out. It was at this point that it started to come back in and we beat a hasty retreat to the shore line. Within half an hour the water was well up the beach despite the fact that in theory the tide was still supposed to be going out (see Liz’s pictures); fortunately there were no big waves but just a surge of water coming back in. We then went on to Hot Water Beach which had some good surf. The beach was officially closed, which was being completely ignored by the locals. We therefore walked along the beach to the hot springs and experienced very hot water bubbling up out of the sand. We met Jill and David (friends from UK) when we arrived in Tauranga and stayed with them on a Kiwi fruit farm (see Pic) where they were house sitting. We had an excellent BBQ with them and their NZ friends.

Saturday 27th February

Today we drove round the Coromandel peninsular and then across the hills to Whitianga, again in the sunshine. The coast line was spectacular with lots of sandy bays and islands. The sea is a brilliant blue/green colour, which, having earlier seen a bay called ‘Teal’ Bay, Liz has decided the colour must be ‘teal’. The main feature through the hills was the Waiau waterfall, which was very pretty. The house style in this area reminds us very much of the wooden houses with verandas we saw in the South Carolina towns of Georgetown and Charleston.
We ate out again at a ranch type restaurant. Liz has been disappointed with the fish dishes up to now as the choice seems to be between shellfish, calamari or battered fish and chips. Ben, of course is happy with steak every night!

Friday 26th February

Another sunny day! By comparison with earlier drives the scenery between Dargaville and Papakura was not as spectacular. Nonetheless we found some lovely bays to the North of Auckland on the Pacific side. The drive though Auckland was a long slow traffic jam – we did, however, get a good picture of the city from the car. En-route we visited the Kauri Museum which shows the history of the local area and gum digging. The ‘British’ influence is strong and all the preserved machinery used in the saw mill and offices was from the UK – including an old Imperial typewriter made in Leicester! There were some excellent ‘gum collections’ and I can see why it was so valuable (Pic of butterfly in gum). The Kauri wood has been worked into some lovely furniture and ornaments. Liz has bought a small bowl and box as mementos. We ate in Papakura at a cowboy themed restaurant and had excellent fillet steaks.

Thursday 25th February

Today’s drive took us through more varied scenery. Most of it was on very twisty roads through the Kauri tree forests – which were dense and lush. We stopped here to view the oldest Kauri tree in New Zealand; as an added bonus there was a bus tour party with a Maori guide singing a sacred song – in fairness he had a good voice!! We again found some fabulous deserted white sandy beaches which stretched for miles. We crossed the Hokianga harbour on the car ferry and had lunch in a cafe and sat out on the veranda which had decking out over the water. We have stopped for the night in Dargaville and are going to sample the food in the ‘Returning Services Association’ Club.

P.S. Ate at the RSA Club – they had finished cooking when we arrived but managed to rustle us up some excellent fish (snapper) and chips!

Wednesday 24th February

Today we took a bus trip to Cape Reinga via the ‘90-mile’ beach. We roared up the beach at 60+ miles per hour until we were slowed down by a rain storm. We then drove up a river to some huge sand dunes. Ben (despite his knees!) climbed to the top with his sand sledge and successfully careered to the bottom without falling off!! (Liz was waiting at the bottom checking the insurance documents). We then continued on to the Northern most point of NZ where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea. Whilst it was a little murky the grandeur of the area was still evident. We then moved South via a couple of bays on the Pacific coast back to Kaitaia. We have successfully BBQ’d tonight at the Motel and done justice to a bottle of New Zealand wine!

Tuesday 23 February

We started off at Whangerai falls. These are reputed to be the most photographed falls in New Zealand. We then had a most picturesque drive to Russell, which included a stop at an art gallery/coffee shop with a stunning view of the East coast. Russell was an interesting and quaint small town which was the first capitol of New Zealand. We then continued to Kaitaia via the Karikari peninsula, which had some spectacular beaches. The motel in Kaitaia was very much better than the last. Everyone is very friendly and pleased to see us!!