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2020 New Zealand & Tahiti

January - February 2020
Time to explore more of the beautiful Pacific with a 3-week coach tour of New Zealand and a 1-week cruise around the islands of Tahiti/French Polynesia. Read more
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  • Traveler2020 New Zealand & Tahiti
    Day 1

    Jan 22 - Off for another adventure!

    January 22, 2020 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C

    It's time for Doug and myself to set off on another adventure. We leave Jan 22 and return Feb 24. First stop - New Zealand. After a 3-week coach tour (see photo), we will go to Tahiti for a few days. Then we will explore Tahiti and the Society Islands on a one-week cruise. Glad to have you along for the trip!!

    If you are interested, there are four other trips on this site that we have taken - Australia 2016, Middle East 2018, Italy 2019 and Europe/River Cruise 2019. They are public and can be read by anyone. Click "Maureen's Travels" and then click the icon that has a squiggle with 5 trips underneath it. Maybe one of them will spawn travel plans for you!!

    And so the adventure has begun. Up at 6:30 a.m. Out the door at 7:30 a.m. We were like a well-oiled machine - we should be. We’ve done this many times before. Left the car at the Skypark Valet parking lot. I got a great deal on parking for 34 days with my Winter Special coupon. It’s worth the short van ride to the airport for those great prices. Easy check in - Air Canada agent Derek helped us with printing the baggage tags. Flashed our NEXUS cards (which classify us as trusted travellers in Canada and the U.S. - worth every penny of the $100 we each spent for a 10-year card) to go to the short security line and then we did the customs check in. Ooooops - got to go and visit the Agricultural Products Officer. We had packed our own lunch to bypass paying the exorbitant airport food costs. We intended to eat before getting on the plane - peanut butter sandwiches, carrots and apples. Discovered that the U.S. part of the airport is considered to be the U.S. where the import of fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh flowers, meats, etc. is prohibited - like on the TV show Border Patrol. The carrots passed the test because the bag showed they were a product of Canada. I always take the stickers off fruit so we couldn’t prove their origin to be Canada or the U.S., so our two lovely Honey Crisp apples hit the garbage bin. Lesson learned. Hope that’s the biggest speed bump we hit on this trip.

    We had lots of time to sit. First of all, I got the "selfie of the day" out of the way. You'll be seeing our smiling mugs a LOT. Then I binge-watched “Blue Murder” on BritBox. Great police drama series. Doug read the morning papers. Our flight for Chicago left at 12:25 p.m. on the button. The flight was smooth on this calm, sunny day. With no internet, I watched “Silent Witness” from Hoopla (free downloadable movies with my library card) - another excellent British series. We got into Chicago right on time and then we took the shuttle to the International Terminal. We are now hunkered down for about five hours until our flight at 7:15 p.m. to Auckland. Colette, our experienced travel agent, had advised us to build extra time in between the flight from Toronto and the flight to Auckland just in case there was a delay with the Toronto flight (snow/rain/ice/wind). Our flight to Auckland is 16 hours long - eat, sleep, watch movies, repeat. This will be the longest flight we have ever done. Sprang the extra $$ for Premium Economy seats that are wider and have a lot more leg room. I'm going back to binge-watching crime dramas. There won't be a post for Jan 23 because we will lose the day when we cross the international date line during the flight.

    Here's some information about New Zealand to prime the pump. I will continue (shamelessly) to draw heavily from Wikipedia.

    New Zealand is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country has two main landmasses—the North Island and the South Island and around 600 smaller islands. It has a total land area of 268,000 square kilometres (103,500 sq mi). New Zealand is about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, and plant life. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions.

    Sometime between 1250 and 1300, Polynesians settled in the islands and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire and in 1907 it became a dominion; it gained full statutory independence in 1947 and the British monarch remained the head of state. Today, the majority of New Zealand's population of 4.9 million is of European descent; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealand's culture is mainly derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening arising from increased immigration. The official languages are English, Māori, and New Zealand Sign Language, with English being very dominant.

    The largest city is Auckland at about 1.6 million. Wellington, the capital, has a population of about 425,000 - it is located on the southern tip of the North Island.

    New Zealand is heavily dependent on international trade, particularly in agricultural products. Major exports are food products and wood. Major trading partners are China, Australia, the European Union, the United States and Japan. Major market sectors are services, manufacturing and construction, farming and raw material extraction. Tourism comprises over 5% of the GDP. Wool used to be a major export but plummeting world prices have made it unprofitable. Dairy farming has increased dramatically with dairy products now accounting for almost 20% of total exports. The wine industry has doubled its number of vineyards in the last decade.    Read more

  • Traveler2020 New Zealand & Tahiti
    Day 3

    Jan 24 - Safely in Auckland

    January 24, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We are now safe and sound in Auckland. Our 16-hour flight from Chicago left on time at 7:30 p.m. Movie, dinner, movie, put the eye shade on. I must have slept some, because when the lights came on, there were only two hours left in the flight. Breakfast and a movie and time to land. Although we had had a couple of episodes of mild turbulence during the night, Doug’s Gravol kept him intact. For those of you who haven’t followed us on our travels, you should know that Doug is very, very prone to motion sickness so planes, boats and buses and anything else that he is not driving are his nemesis. There are going to be a few challenges on this trip. We’ve got one of the big ones behind us thankfully.

    The International Date Line is roughly based at the 180° line of longitude and roughly down the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We passed over that line in the middle of the night, so we arrived in New Zealand on Friday, January 24 at 6:30 a.m. New Zealand is currently 18 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time because they are on daylight savings time. After passing through passport control and customs, we rendezvoused with our driver - just like in the movies, he had a sign (actually an iPad) with our names on it. He apologized profusely for the light mist of rain and then for the morning rush hour traffic, neither of which was terrible. We are staying right downtown at the Crowne Plaza Hotel which is actually an upscale Holiday Inn.

    We had every intention of freshening up and then going out to explore the city, but by 10:00 a.m., we were both flagging. We crawled into bed and had a 4-hour nap. Much refreshed, we set out to enjoy the day where the rain had disappeared and the sun was shining brightly - temperature 26°C - sweet. The concierge had pointed us to a nearby grocery store where we got water, yogurt, sandwiches and cookies. (Eating at grocery stores is one of our favourite cost-cutting measures when travelling. We carry our own cutlery to aid us.) We walked down Queen Street, the main shopping street of Auckland, towards the harbour. We passed lots of high-end stores (many with line ups for controlled access) - Dior, Gucci, Michael Kors, and so on. We finally reached the harbour. It was hard to actually get to the water because the area is dominated by shipping terminals and warehouses and ferry docks. There is construction everywhere to put in a subway system and to reclaim parts of the waterfront for people. We found a bench and enjoyed our lunch with very envious birds giving us the stink eye. We walked all along the harbour front and finally found a place where we could actually see the harbour. At that point, we decided we’d be wise to get our pasty-white Canadian skin out of the strong sun. We headed back along Queen Street, but on the other side of the street. Auckland,unfortunately, has a big homeless problem, so there are people begging all along the street.

    We’re back in the hotel now - Doug is watching the Australian Open Tennis tournament. 8th-seed Serena Williams just went down to defeat at the hands of the 27th seed.

    We were both conking out again at 8:00 p.m. Knowing that going to bed at that hour would be a bad idea, we went out for another walk. We headed the other direction on Queen Street and watched lots of young people enjoy the lovely summer weather. We picked up more yogurt and some muesli for breakfast tomorrow morning and then finally called it a night. We walked 14,700 steps for a total of 6.7 miles in the day.

    Here’s some information about Auckland:

    Auckland lies between the Hauraki Gulf of the Pacific Ocean to the east, the low Hunua Ranges to the south-east, the Manukau Harbour to the south-west, and the Waitakere Ranges and smaller ranges to the west and north-west. The surrounding hills are covered in rainforest and the landscape is dotted with dozens of dormantvolcanic cones. The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitematā Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. Auckland is one of the few cities in the world to have a harbour on each of two separate major bodies of water.

    The isthmus on which Auckland resides was first settled around 1350 and was valued for its rich and fertile land. The Māori population in the area is estimated to have peaked at 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. After a British colony was established in 1840, William Hobson, then Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, chose the area as his new capital. He named the area for George Eden, Earl of Auckland, British First Lord of the Admiralty. Māori–European conflict over land in the region led to war in the mid-19th century. Auckland was replaced as the capital in 1865 by Wellington, but the influx of immigration stayed strong, and it has remained the nation's largest city. Today, Auckland's central business district is New Zealand's leading economic hub.

    Despite being one of the most expensive cities in the world, Auckland is recognised as one of the world's most liveable cities, ranked third in the 2019 Mercer Quality of Living Survey.    Read more

  • Traveler2020 New Zealand & Tahiti
    Day 4

    Jan 25 - Exploring Auckland

    January 25, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We were both awake at 6:00 a.m. but lolly gagged in bed until 7:00 a.m. We had yogurt and muesli and grapes for breakfast, and I had a coffee. The hot breakfast buffet here in the hotel would have been $34 each (about $30 CAD). Just a continental breakfast would have been $28 ($24 CAD). Our little repast didn’t cost that much. The tour picks up breakfast on Monday morning so we’ll get to see what $30 CAD gets you. While he ate, Doug watched sports on TV - a lot of North American sports are shown live during the day here. He’s honing his skills at understanding cricket too. I read yesterday’s papers on-line. I see there is more snow coming. So sad for you.....

    It’s another warm, clear day with a high of about 24°C forecast. We set out about 9:00 a.m. with our destination being the Auckland Domain, Auckland’s oldest park. The park contains the explosion crater and the surrounding ring of the extinct volcano Pukekawa. Our first stop was the cricket stadium where we watched young lads being timed running 22 yards - the length of the wicket. Apparently, 4 seconds is a good time. There are six cricket fields in the park - what a beehive of activity it must be in the height of cricket season.

    From there, we went to the the Auckland War Memorial Museum which sits on the ring of the volcano. The New Zealand War Memorial sits in the courtyard facing the museum. We didn’t tour the museum - we simply admired the spectacular stained glass lead light ceiling in the lobby. It displays the coat of arms of all the British Dominions and Colonies during the First World War. Canada is shown in one coat of arms. Newfoundland is shown in a separate one as it had not joined Canada yet.

    Next stop was the Domain Wintergardens - they consist of two lovely, old glass greenhouses - one is a non-heated temperate climate, the other is heated to a tropical climate. In between the two glasshouses there is an ornate courtyard with several neoclassical statues and a sunken pond in the centre. We could have used a garden expert in the greenhouses to help us identify the many colourful plants. We could identify only petunias, geraniums and alyssum.

    We found a Subway store and had lunch. That hit the spot. More on the day in the next footprint.    Read more

  • Traveler2020 New Zealand & Tahiti
    1
    Day 4

    Jan 25 - Sky Tower & Harbour Bridge Show

    January 25, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    From there, we wandered back towards downtown. Since it was a clear day, we decided to go up the Sky Tower - height 328 meters. It’s like the CN Tower, just shorter. The CN Tower (553 meters) is now the 4th tallest building in the world. The tallest is the Burj Khalifa (828 meters) that we saw in Dubai in 2018. The views were glorious. We were able to trace the routes that we had taken yesterday - we covered a LOT of ground. We graciously declined the expensive opportunity to bungee jump or to walk outside on the skinny ledge. Not happening....

    We were at the 8 mile mark, so we went back to the hotel, via the grocery store. Doug got a cold beer and we restocked our ginger snap cookie supply. He’s watching the All-Star Hockey Skills Competition now.

    We hope to go to a light show at the Harbour Bridge tonight - we picked our viewing spot while we were up at the top of the Sky Tower. The temperature will be about 20°C. Perfect!

    We had pizza for supper at Sal's Authentic New York Wood Fired Pizzeria. We've both had better pizza.

    We did get up the energy to head back to the waterfront for 9:00 p.m., and yes, as my research had shown, there was a 15-minute light show on the Harbour Bridge. Very cool.

    We're done for today - 23,600 steps = 11 miles. This tourist thing takes a lot of walking!    Read more

  • Traveler2020 New Zealand & Tahiti
    Day 5

    Jan 26 - Sea Life Aquarium

    January 26, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    This morning was a repeat of yesterday - sleep until 6:00 a.m., doze until 7:00 a.m. and then have breakfast - same menu. Our plan was to go to mass at 11:00 a.m. at the nearby Cathedral of St. Patrick and St. Joseph, so we watched videos until then. Felt a tad sacrilegious….. Today will be the last of the lazy mornings for a couple of weeks - we will be on the bus at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.

    It’s another beautiful, sunny day here. There are warnings about the very high UV index, so we’ll have to be careful with our still pasty-white skin.

    Mass was lovely with songs that I knew, so I belted them out vigorously. To sing is to pray twice!! The priest had a lovely sense of humour. He mentioned that tomorrow is his birthday, and as a result, he was giving everyone a day off. Bah ha ha. Tomorrow is already a holiday - Auckland Anniversary Day - a New Zealand national holiday. It commemorates the day on which explorer and first governor of New Zealand William Hobson first sighted North Island at the Bay of Islands. In 1840, Hobson arrived in New Zealand and quickly signed a treaty with the Maori, the Treaty of Waitangi, that led to New Zealand becoming a new British colony. It was on 18 September of 1840 that Hobson founded Auckland and made it the capital city of New Zealand. And that very year, a small regatta was held at Auckland in Waitemata Harbour, involving only three races In 1850, the status of 29 January as Auckland Anniversary Day (now celebrated on the Monday on or before to give a 3-day weekend) and the tradition of the Auckland Regatta became official. In these early days, Maori canoes, local fishing boats, and whaling boats took part, adding much excitement. Yachts, sailboats, and even seaplane races were added over the years. Today the regatta is the largest one-day event of its kind in the world and is the central attraction of Auckland Anniversary Day. It’s one of the reasons Auckland is known as the City of Sails.

    After mass, we picked up sandwiches at the grocery store, packed a lunch back at the hotel room and ordered an Uber with our destination being Sea Life - a huge aquarium about 6-7 kilometres from downtown. We ate lunch in the shade so as not to get burned in the strong sun, and then toured the aquarium. I had a 20% off coupon which even applied to the senior rate. Sweet. This being old thing has a few perks. (Got the senior rate at Sky Tower yesterday too.)

    The first display was about Robert Scott’s expeditions to the Antarctic. The photographer he had along was fearless and inventive - many of his photographs and films survived the brutal conditions.

    The next display was my favourite - penguins!! Sea Life is home to New Zealand’s only colony of Sub-Antarctic penguins - it was fascinating to see the magnificent birds up close in their icy world. There was one penguin sleeping standing up. Methinks it was a teenager.

    We took a moving sidewalk through a tunnel with sharks and manta rays and hundreds of fish swimming beside and above us. Very cool. In other displays, we saw sea turtles and huge lobsters and giant sea horses and ugly eels and jelly fish and so much more.    Read more

  • Traveler2020 New Zealand & Tahiti
    1
    Day 5

    Jan 26 - The View from the Pier

    January 26, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We discovered a long pier right outside the aquarium, so walked to the end of it to enjoy the spectacular views of the blue-green water and the clear blue skies. The pier is a very popular fishing spot - Doug is now best friends with one of the fishermen.

    I summoned another Uber to take us back to the hotel. We’ve got a bit of time before we have to meet our fellow travellers downstairs for drinks at 6:30 p.m. and dinner at 7:00 p.m.

    Back from dinner. There will be 18 of us on the trip. Had dinner with two retired police officers from England. Wake up call at 6:00 a.m. so enough for today!    Read more

  • Traveler2020 New Zealand & Tahiti
    Day 6

    Jan 27 - And We're Off!!

    January 27, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    First of all, KIA ORA!!! Pronounced KEY OR AH - it means, “Hello” in Maori.

    Up at 6:00 a.m. Breakfast at 6:30 a.m. It was a really nice, extensive breakfast buffet, but I still choke at paying $30 CAD for breakfast.

    Our coach is LOVELY!!! Check out the pictures - it even has Wifi! Our tour director is Linda - she is a wealth of information and is a very smooth driver.

    We left promptly at 8:00 a.m. on another warm, sunny, clear day. We did a short drive around Auckland, but not the downtown area - the massive construction project for the subway system has made most of the streets impassable for the bus. We drove out to the Auckland Domain where we had gone on Saturday. Then we headed to a suburb called Parnell, named after Samuel Parnell who advocated for and won the 40-hour work week for workers in New Zealand. Parnell is now a very ritzy and desirable place to live. Then we drove out along the shore on Tamaki Drive - the same route that we took yesterday to go to the aquarium. The view is simply mesmerizing. What a beautiful day all the sailors got for the massive annual regatta. We saw the huge shipping docks again. There is a proposal to move the entire shipping enterprise 2.5 hours north of the city to allow more of the harbour to be repatriated for enjoyment. The cost of the proposal is billions of dollars and will need a huge investment in roads and railways. The north of the country is the most economically challenged so residents there are rooting for the move so they can enjoy the good jobs that will follow.

    It was time to head north. We crossed the Harbour Bridge, the one where the light show had been on Saturday night. I found out later that we could have streamed accompanying music on my phone. Maybe next time!! The number of lanes of the Harbour Bridge was doubled a number of years ago - the work was done by Nippon who built “clip on” sections that were bolted to the original structure. Yup - they are called “Nippon Clip Ons!"

    Many people say that New Zealand looks like Canada - and I have to agree, it does. We passed drove through low rolling hills with lots of farms (beef, sheep) and lots and lots of trees. It’s been very dry here, so many the fields were brown and withered.

    Our first stop was in Parry Kauri Park near Warkworth to see the McKinney Kauri. Kauri is a coniferous tree that covered huge swaths of the North Island. Second only in size to the sequoia tree, kauri was valued for shipbuilding, furniture making and bracing for mines and tunnels. The forests were decimated by over harvesting, leaving only a very few pockets of growth today that are highly protected. The majestic McKinney Kauri at an estimated 800 years old has a girth of 25 feet.

    Our next stop was the Kauri Museum in Matakohe. This museum tells the story of the harvesting of the kauri tree and its gum that was used to make varnishes. They have a replica steam sawmill so Doug was in mechanical heaven. The gum solidifies and looks like amber - there was a huge display of carved pieces - fascinating to see. Learned something important at the museum - that New Zealand women were the first in the world to vote - 1893!!!    Read more

  • Traveler2020 New Zealand & Tahiti
    Day 6

    Jan 27 - The Waitangi Treaty Grounds

    January 27, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We had a bite of lunch at the Gumdiggers Café and then set off for the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. It was here in 1840 that the Maori Chiefs signed a treaty with the British Crown. It has become a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand, and has played a major role in framing the political relations between New Zealand's government and the Māori population, especially from the late-20th century. We learned about the treaty and its many pitfalls and saw the fabulous meeting house that is used by the Maori for celebrations and conferences. Our guide finished the tour by giving us a beautiful Maori blessing that wished us safe travels here and abroad. It was a lovely finish to a fascinating day.

    From there, it was a short drive to our hotel in Paihia on the beautiful Bay of Islands. We had dinner at the hotel with lots of laughs and are tucked up for the night. Tomorrow is a free day - stay tuned to see how we spend it!    Read more

  • Traveler2020 New Zealand & Tahiti
    Day 7

    Jan 28 - Exploring Russell/Kororareka

    January 28, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Kia ora!!

    We slept like logs in our fluffy, soft bed after our very busy first day of this tour. It’s a free day to do as we wish so there was no 6:00 a.m. wake up call. There will be one tomorrow. Linda, our tour director, is on a 24-hour break which will allow her to stay within her driving hour limit for the next leg of the trip.

    We had breakfast with Gaynor and Bob who live just north of London, England. They too are going to be first-time grandparents in May. The hotel had designated tables for us - it appears that each tour group is assigned its own tables. Some breakfast observations: streaky bacon = regular bacon; middle bacon = back bacon; thin milk = 1% milk. I’m going to see if that thin milk really does make me thin….

    Our mission for today is to go to explore Russell, the little town across the Bay of Islands from Paihia (pronounced Pie-ee-ah) where we are staying. Doug was a little leery about taking a ferry there and back, but when he saw how calm the waters were yesterday, he decided to chance it. And what a good chance it was - we had a great time over there.

    First some background about Russell courtesy of our friends at Wikipedia. Russell was known as Kororareka which means “how sweet is the penguin”, a line uttered by an ailing Maoria chief after he sipped broth made from the blue penguin which used to frequent the bay. In the early 19th century, Russell/Kororareka was the first permanent European settlement and seaport in New Zealand. It is situated in the Bay of Islands, in the far north of the North Island. The town has a population of only about 1000 permanent residents along with many, many tourists and vacationers. European and American ships began visiting New Zealand in the early 1800s. The Bay of Islands offered safe anchorage. Whaling and sealing were huge industries in the area at that time. The Maori of the Bay of Islands saw the many advantages to be had by trading with these strangers. They supplied food and timber, and in return, got firearms, alcohol and other European goods. They didn’t get the respect that they felt that they were earning. The little village became known as “The Hell Hole of the Pacific” with its many brothels and grog (liquor) stores and general lawlessness. European law had no influence and Maori law was rarely enforced. Kororareka was by this time a vital supply port and supported a thriving mercantile industry, but due to its bad reputation, it was not chosen to be the capital of the Colony of New Zealand. The town was renamed Russell in honour of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord John Russell. Auckland was chosen as the capital, and the importance of Russell declined rapidly. In the 1920s, the American writer, Zane Grey who wrote adventure novels and Westerns visited Russell and fell in love with its blue waters and fabulous sport fishing. He returned many times and the area quickly became a popular destination for the rich and famous. Tourism and sport fishing are now the two major industries of the area.

    We rode over on the ferry with Gaynor and Bob, and with Shannon and Tony. Tony is a retired cardiologist who knew my uncle, J.K. Wilson very well. Tony was instrumental in getting the bust made of J.K. that is at St. Mike’s Hospital in Toronto. J.K. was one of the pioneers of the heart transplant program there. Small world.

    The ferry ride of about 15 minutes was smooth on this, yes, another lovely, warm, sunny day. We had signed up to do a mini-bus tour at 11:00 a.m. We asked at the ticket office where the bus would be parked and were told that it was parked right outside and that we could take the 10:00 a.m. tour if we liked. Turns out we were the ONLY ones on the 10:00 a.m. tour. Our guide and driver, Kelly, was terrific. She gave us the history of Russell and pointed out all the major sights - the oldest store in New Zealand, the oldest church in New Zealand, lovely little cottages with foundations made out of ground-up whale bones, and on and on. We then drove up to a place called Flagstaff Hill. It was here that the British flew the Union Jack during the 1840s. The Maori resented the British sovereignty, so they chopped down the flagstaff three times. The town of Kororareka/Russell was sacked by Hōne Heke, a Maori chief, after diversionary raids drew away the British defenders. The flagstaff was felled for the fourth time at the commencement of the Battle of Kororareka, and the inhabitants fled aboard British ships, which then shelled and destroyed most of the houses. The views from up there were spectacular. You need more than one set of eyes to truly drink in the beauty of this country. The most expensive holiday accommodation in all of New Zealand, the Eagles Nest, is close by there - each night is a mere $2000 NZD. Maybe we’ll book it next time……

    After our tour, we had ice cream, because being a tourist is a hungry job and we wanted to support the local dairy industry. A favourite flavour of ice cream here is Hoki Poki - vanilla with lumps of honeycomb toffee. The stuff is deadly delicious.

    We walked and walked and walked all over the town. We visited the very good Russell Museum. They have a one-fifth scale model of Captain James Cook’s ship Endeavour. Cook was the first to circumnavigate New Zealand and prove that it was not attached to Australia.

    We found a lovely little bakery and had a ham and cheese croissant followed by ginger cookies. I washed it all down with Bundaberg lemonade from Australia - we drove very close to Bundaberg when we visited Australia in 2016. Yum.

    We sat by the water’s edge for a while, watching people enjoy the sunshine and the water, and watching teenager sea gulls giving their mother a hard time. She took off. You go girl. Good entertainment while we waited for the 2:00 p.m. ferry. Another smooth crossing brought us back to Paihia.

    We found the grocery store and picked up sandwiches for dinner and some granola bars for tomorrow morning. Lunch is going to be very late tomorrow so the bars should tide us over. We have found that NZ is NOT a salad country. We usually exist on pre-made salads when we travel. Not here - have only found one salad so far and it wouldn’t have fed a baby rabbit. The favourite vegetable here is kumara - sweet potatoes. Can’t believe I’m craving green vegetables and going to the gym……

    We headed home as we felt it prudent to get out of the sun even though we had slathered on sun screen today - twice.    Read more

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