Catching up

Friday 10 September


Our holiday started well, with a delay of about an hour for our flight from Wagga, due to fog in both WW and Sydney. A lot of flights were delayed, and we finally took off about 1:30 instead of 11:05, and we must have had quite a tail wind or something special in the fuel because we arrived in Auckland only about 45 minutes late.

We picked up our key at reception, went up to the room, opened the door and found ... someone else’s cases in OUR room. Back to reception, where we left the problem with a very pleasant young man, and in to dinner. Keys to a new room arrived during dinner, along with a couple of vouchers for a complimentary drink, and then up to our very own room, bags already here, all is well.

We’re heading for an early night, it’s been a long day and tomorrow sounds interesting but with an early 6:00 am start.

Saturday 11 September

Our early start was OK, and we left Auckland heading north towards the Bay of Islands. On the way we made a brief stop to see a couple of very old kauri trees at the Parry Kauri Park, then on up the highway, turning off to Matakohe to visit the Kauri Museum, which is definitely worth a visit if you’re over here some time. It’s full of the most beautiful furniture and other items made from this timber. There’s also a series of rooms showing pioneer life in NZ, with models of descendants of pioneers being used in the rooms. The furniture and fittings are also from pioneer families, which made it a very interesting place to see.

We tried a Gumdigger’s Pastie for lunch, and found it much the same as most pasties we’ve had elsewhere.

This afternoon we were supposed to visit the Treaty Grounds at Waitangi but the weather had taken a turn for the worse so we have postponed that until tomorrow morning when a better day is predicted.

Off to the bar now for Beer and Wine time before dinner.

After dinner and back in our room, ready to do a blog catch-up and off to bed. Tomorrow we go to the Treaty Grounds and then spend the afternoon and night on a catamaran, which should be really good!