Tourists in Northland

Thurs 28th up for 6.30 breakfast! Down the mountain goat road for the dolphin swim boat. Cruised this amazing sea of islands for 4 hours and we saw the dolphins (leaping and playing just like the movies) but it was too choppy to swim. Those who know me will understand the idea of me ON the water is stunning but it was so interesting (and pills/travel bands helped!). Left boat at Russell, the original ‘hell on earth’ because of the sailors drinking and ‘wenching’ and toured around the old wooden houses etc. A feeling of quiet gentility these days but great ice cream. Ferry back/change/dinner out. Every time we walk in the door at night John (our host) offers us drinks and then we sit chatting for an hour or so. It feels as if we are staying with friends.

Fri 29th 6.15 breakfast (the penalty of being a good tourist!). Coach tour day – very comfortable with scenic windows. Visited a ‘gumdiggers’ site where amber was ‘mined’ i.e. dug up from under the living forest. Then onto Cape Reinga the northern most tip of NZ where the Pacific meets the Tasman Sea. Walked out to the lighthouse and we were only 18,000 or so km to London. David planted a tree at S-34.43044/E-172.68195 ! Next, the sand dunes 300ft high where our fellow travellers sand boarded down while we watched before driving ON 90 mile beach with a quick toe dip in the water. Saw a staircase carved inside a Kauri tree and ate fish & chips out of paper but What was the fish?

Sat 30th A lazy day breakfast 8.30. John makes a mean scrambled egg and Audrey’s fruit concoctions are delicious. Wonderful visit to the Waitangi Treaty grounds and saw a Maori wedding at the most beautiful location. Visited our hosts golf club (needs water). Back to the Treaty grounds in the evening for dinner and show – show was poor but dinner (lamb) was wonderful.

Sun 31st Thanks Rita – went to see the Hunterwasser toilets in Kawakawa – he must have visited Barcelona or studied Gaudi – before crossing East to West and driving down the Tasman Sea coast. More green but not much softer and just as winding. Stopped over night at a beachfront motel in Orewa. Breezy but nice.

Mon 1st – what happened? Torrential rain, black sky and windy. We left.