Hole in the Rock to Auckland, Tuesday

weather a perfect 24 again and off we head on a half day cruise to the Cape Brett Peninsula. My little camera trued valiantly to capture the scenery of the majestic little islands that dotted our cruise. Saw a pod of dolphins up close and personal as they swam all around our ferry while they searched for their fish brunch. A tiny little lighthouse that is no longer in use but has been maintained well against the elements. Cape Brett's lighthouse was built onnthe Coromandel Peninsula, barged up the coast and winched into place. Lighthouse keepers lived here from 1910 to 1978 when a new automated light went into service. And then the Hole in the Rock on Motukokako Island. Passed Roberton Island where Captain James Cook anchired the Endeavour off this beautiful little island with twin lagoons, when he visited the Bay of Islands in 1769. A small concrete pillar has been erected in the water to commemorate his visit.

Cruising around these islands was a history lesson in itself. Assassination Cove is the site where French explorer Marion du Fresne and 26 crew members were killed in June 1772. We stopped off at Otehei Bay and had a cuppa. American author Zane Grey lived here in the 1920s. His popular book 'Tales of the Angler's Eldorado' made game fishing in the Bay of Islands world famous.

You can live on some of the islands, but be prepared to pay 7 figure numbers. And then its probably only your holiday home! One family have built theirvown private yert anchored in Otehei Bay! How the other half live. There are camping facilities on Otehei Bay but the only stars I ever want to sleep under are those of a 5 star hotel! After we finish our cruise, we are back on board our coach and head to Auckland. A couple of comfort stops along the way and we arrive back in Auckland to the same hotel from our first night, at about 6.30pm. There is a 3 course dinner put on by Travelmarvel, on the 10th floor of the hotel. The meal eas very nice, as was the company, but food service was very slow so the early night I wanted didnt happen. Was still a great day and looking forward to another great day as we head to Rotorua in the morning.

Paihia and Russell

Paihai is where we are staying in the Bay of Islands. Missionaries were the first to settle in 1823. Led by Rev Henry Williams they built a housr, a store and the first church in NZ. After breakfast D, G and I headed to the pier to get on the 20 minuteferry ride that tookus to Russell, or where the locals hope to have the name changed to Kororareka as it was an established Maori settlement with that name prior to Captain Cook's arrival.

Once we arrived at Russell we had a short wait for our booked mini bus tour. The delightful Kerry was our driver and guide.She had us hanging on every word. From the early1800's The town grew in response to being ideal as a provisioning port. It gained a reputation as a lawless and bawdy port and earnt the nickname "Hell Hole of the Pacific". It is now a quiet historic town that is simply horgeous. Flagstff Hill lookout provides 360 views. Christ Church is the oldest standing chirch in NZ and still carries the bullet holes from the Maori Wars.

After our tour we had a lovely light lunch right on the waters edge. Perfect weather and a lovely way to spend an hour. we got the mid afternoon ferry back to Paihaia and strolled around the little shopping area where I was able to buy a cheapie pair of magnified glasses (Chris's pair were a god send but had scrathes on them) so now I can see considerably better. Only excuse now for all the typos is fat fingers on a small keyboard! we stumbled into a top little pub 'Bad Habits' and were the only ones there. Staff were great, as they have bern everywhere, so took our time over a quiet tipple and then heded back to our hotel for a rest until dinner time where we went back up the street for Thai food at Green's Restaurant. Much to our amusement and pleasure our excellent food was delivered to our table by a robot! What a great evening. Eventually finished our meal and staring at the robots, to go for a walk around town, then back to the hotel and time for bed.

Bay of Islands

No wonder NZ has been called the Land of the Long White Cloud. It really is a beautiful lush country. Waitangi is where the treaty was signed in 1840 between Maori chiefs and the British Crown, and very special to a lot of Maori peoples,however not all were thrilled by it which caused tribal in fighting. They weren't averse to setting fire to everything for a time.

"/> The Bay of Islands is home to 144 islands and is stunning. Our hotel has a fabulous location right on the coast line. Had a lovely buffet dinner looking out at the magnificent view. it has been a great day only marred by very poor internet acceess, so photos may need to be on hold for a while.

still heading to Bay of Islands

We then had an unscheduled stop at The Basin rather than go straight through to the Bay of Islands. What a delightful tourist spot. We absolutely loved it and were so happy wandering around, checking out much of what thereas to see, that we didnt even stop for lunch! Mind you, we did manage to go into one shop that D and I had to buy a couple of t shirts each.

What a delightful place. Clearly set up for tourists. the Spanish Guadi-like museum was amazing from the outside. Didnt have time to go inside but we may be able to stop back here on the way back to Auckland which will give more time for wandering. Next stop is the Bay of Islands our homefor the next 2 nights.

Auckland to Bay of Islands

This morning got off to a very happy start, as when I went down to breakfast I went to sit down at the table D was already seated at, at the same time this fellow comesp to the table and asks to join us. No idea who the heck he was, but he introduced himself as Chris, a driver with Travelmarvel/APT. He was on a required day break from his current driving tour and was heading off to visit his daughter. I told D about my lost reading glasses and how angry I was with myself, not helped by the airline cleaning company not answering any of my repeated phone calls. I couldnt believe it when Chris insisted I take his cheapie reading glasses that he said he buys 5 at a time! I said I would arrange to return them later but he said to keep them. I figure I'll never lose these $2 glasses no matter how hard I try so may as well plan on being buried wearing them! And so our first full day in NZ began. we were out of the hotel at 8am having now met Tui (pronounced like the beer) our driver, and Di our travel host. Weather today around 24 so a perfect day ahead. First stop is Parry Kauri park. the oldest Kauri tree is about 800 years old.

We were told that it was a lovely walk through the park where we could enjoy the native bush setting. It was a lovely walk with countless steps that definitely took its toll on some of the older travellers! But all returned to the coach eventually, albeit out of breath and complaining of sore knees, bless them. (Apologies, but the blog has a mind of its own when I try and add photos after the relevant information...)

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Auckland here we come.

This is going to prove very interesting, as I think I've managed to leave my reading glasses on the blasted plane! Typical airlines customer service in that after 5 phone calls we now think we have the right number but no one is answering. Anyway, I have an excellent excuse now for all the typos! So here we go.... Very early morning star being picked up at 4 am to go to the airport. Got through check in easily enough and hopefully my suitcase is booked all the way through via Sydney. Not sure that I would cope with another Tasmania fiasco where Qantas lost my luggage for 3 days and had no idea where it was or had been. Still waiting for reimbursement for all the essential items I needed to buy just to make sure I had a change of clothes for a few days.... been waiting since October so doubt I'll see any money from that horrible little Irishman Alan Joyce... grrrr. Back to my current travel saga. The plane was about 45 minutes late leaving Adelaide as the Sydney Air Traffic Controllers were understaffed so all planes in and out of Sydney were affected. once in the air, an uneventful flight. Managed to squeeze on to the transfer bus to the international terminal where I then did almost my full day's step quota weaving up and down the lines to go through passport control and then bag screening! At long last I made it to the reqisite terminal and found D and G waiting for me. So great to seethem inperson instead of our weekly Zoom catch ups which we've been reduced to die to covid and limitedtravelopportunity. Our Flight to AAuckland was very late leaving, not helped by waiting for a solitary passenger who had failed to appear after checking in. Woyldn'tyou know, it was for the empty seat next to me! Flight staff kep coming up to me and asking me if I was Sally as they kept doing call outs for Sally Dunntoidentify hetself if she eas on the plane. I kept saying that No, it wasnt my name but when another fellow came and again asked me if I was Saaly I said "If I say yes I'm Sally, can I get an upgrade?" He didnt think it was funny but it did stop them coming and asking me again. Just when the announcement came onthat there would be another 10 -15 minute delay while they located Sally Dunn's luggage and removed it from the plane, she appeared and got herself sat next to me, out of breath and in a heck of a state. i told her to catch her breath and calm down as she was obviously embarrassed. Once wewere in the air and she'd had a drink of water we started chatting. She said that she had been travelling for 2 and a half days, getting back from Manchester to fly home to Auckland and her latest flight came in at gate 52 and this flight was at 19. She had run all the way! Her story was so desperately sad. Her parents had been flyifrom Manchester to New Zealand tosee her and her kids but during the flight, her dad died! His body was taken off the plane in Singapore and cremated. Her mum as you might imagine was a wreck so Sally flew back with her to Manchester and had just spent 2 weeks trying to sort her dad's affairs, and was now needing to rush home again for her 13 and 16 year old children, and go back to work. She still had a 3 hour drive home from the airport. no wonder I left my glasses on the plane, I was just so sorry for this woman... Anyway, we arrived safe and sound at Auckland and rventually got through the passport and customs processes. Poor D and G waited ages and ages for their bags yo finally come off the carousel so by the time we finally got through the airport process to meet our driver to take us to pur hotel, we were and hour and a half later than planned. we got to the airport about 7pm and decided that we would all want an early night. The hotel restaurant was booked out until 8:30 so we went across the toad to the Food Truck Garage where we each hada really nice burger and drink. it's a very mild night so hope tomorro's weather is similar. Great view of the Sky City tower from our hotel and zi have a couple of photos I will look at adding laterwhen I hope to be able to see what I'm doing. So until then I'm worn out and my bed is definitely calling.

Brisbane on the Great Southern

It has certainly been a long time between trips, but 2023 is my year for travel. First proper holiday away since the dreaded covid, and it's 2 nights abouard the Great Southern train and then 3 nights in Brisbane. Not a cheap experience as we are going Platinum on the train, but as I don't go anywhere to have a bad time, only the best will suffice! Best off train experience was our day in Canberra, visiting the National Portrait gallery, then lunch at Old Parliament house, followed by a tour of old Parliament house. Our visit ended with going to the lookout behind the War Memorial. All in all a great day.