Hello New Zealand!

When I left you we were at Rarotonga airport awaiting our flight to Auckland, we had five hours to wait and were considering our options on how best to spend the time but the weather intervened and made our decision for us - it rained heavily and continuously so we stayed at the airport with our friends from Frankfurt whom we met on the lagoon cruise on Thursday who were also going to Auckland. They had travelled since the beginning of September through most of the South Pacific islands and now on to NZ and were not returning to Germany until January.
Anyhow the four hour flight to Auckland was uneventful and getting through customs was fine though they are very hot on the walking boots and golf shoes you are bringing into the country, are they clean, what type of terrain have you been walking on.
Our hotel for the night was immediately opposite the terminal which was very welcome so we checked in, shared a pizza and were early to bed.
Woke up early (6am) as we have been prone to do on this trip, had a good breakfast and picked up our hire car which is a brand new Toyota RAV4. Our first venture was to find an electrical shop for we had left the charger for our electric toothbrush at home but no joy so we set off for the Corromandel Peninsula which is east of Auckland. It was a lovely drive hugging the coast for much of the way and then up into the hills with roads zigzagging up and down and amazing views. Stopped for lunch at Corramendel and booked a trip on the Driving Creek Railway nearby. This is a private railway built over a number of years by a local man that takes you up to the top of a hill with great views over the hills to the coast. There were only nine of us on the train, New Zealanders, South Africans and us so comment was passed about the World Cup.
We are staying tonight in an excellent B&B in Hahei and have dinner in the local pub The Pour House where the local beer was on offer and excellent it was too!
Driving in NZ is very easy, the roads are well maintained and are SO quiet. The people are so very friendly wherever we have been so far, interested in where we have been and where we’re going. A great country that we are very impressed with.Read more