Our last couple of weeks in Kerikeri

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Well it has been a while, but this travelling thing is hard work and very busy! We will break things down into a couple of entries first I will go back to our last couple of weeks in Kerikeri. Well we continued to do lanscape gardening till 2 days before we left - when the rain allowed. Then at weekends we took it fairly easy but we did manage a couple fo days trips:

We did some more finishing - successful again! We also went to a place called Russell which is on a peninsula and from where we were staying is a short ferry ride from a near by town. Russell is where the first church in NZ was established and also very near the first capital in New Zealand. It was very quiet whilst we were there as it is not the right time of year here for holidaying is getting a bit cooler but we still found a nice cafe for lunch and wondered up a hill to a flag pole. The flag pole has a slightly comical history, one of the local Maori chiefs cut it down 4 times before the Maori people rebuilt in what seemed some way of an apology to the english. The integration of the English and Maori people in NZ has had a bit of a bumpy history particular in early days! There was also a nice view out over the harbour.

We also went to Puketi forest which has some very big trees! These are called Kauri trees and are quite a sight - we have some pictures of some others for the next entry. Unfortunately it started to rain lots again so we only did a short board walk and decided to head back for cover! However we did venture into a chocolate factory on the way back so wasn't all bad!

We also had a couple of nights out with some of our friends from the backpackers to Rocksalt, a local bar with a very eclectic mix of music and also went to a Turkish restaurant one night which had some very nice food! Then on Saturday nights, the BBQ's continued as normal!

Then on Sunday the 1st as planned we left for the far far north...............

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