Winding Down

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The last couple of weeks of our NZ adventure were always planned to be a lazy wind down. Our two days at Whangarei proved to be very much the case. We arrived on a Sunday morning and apart from a few cafes and the supermarket the town was pretty much shut down. Monday was Auckland Day. Every town in NZ has a celebration day. In essence it is the equivalent of our public holiday. Whangarei is in Auckland province so celebrated Auckland Day. Apart from a few cafes and the supermarket Whangarei was pretty much shut down. Our days were spent doing some leisurely walks through the local forests and a visit to the beach. You may be wondering about our blow up bed. It was deflated and lay on top of the suitcases in the car. We had not pre-booked any accommodation in Whangarei or the next place, we intended to stay at Mangawhai Heads. So it was lying at the ready in case we slept in the tent. We found a backpacker at Whangarei so there it lay looking very forlorn and neglected. Linda phoned a backpacker in Mangawhai Heads and booked us in. Poor blow up bed! Worse was yet to come. We met an American couple at the backpacker. They had just arrived in NZ and were looking for work. Den offered them our tent and they gratefully took it off our hands. The bed is now packed in the suitcase ready to come home. Ah bless, I hear you say. Our last couple of nights in NZ were to be back in Auckland. On the way from Mangawhai Heads we stopped at Goat Island Marine Reserve. There is some spectacular snorkelling to be had there. Better still, there is a glass-bottomed boat which takes you all around the island. The fish are spellbinding and we saw far more than if we'd snorkelled. One of the highlights was a large ray, about a metre across, which we followed for some distance. It looked like it was flying through the water. Linda had read that NZ's biggest shopping mall was at a place called Albany, which was on our way to Auckland. She wanted to go there, and the ever obliging Den agreed. Thankfully nothing was purchased! We leave NZ in the morning.

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