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Published: February 5th 2015
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"Tena Koutou" meaning greetings to you all in Maori language. We arrived in Auckland about 2am so a bit hard to have first impressions. The apartment is good but a bit on the small side, we are going to be cosy but hey ho staying in a city you are not often in your pad! First day we wandered around the city in the morning, we had a lovely leisurely breakie and got chatting to a couple from London who had only just arrived and were doing two months so we swapped lots of info etc. we ventured to the sky tower and decided to go up it. The views of Auckland from up there are magnificent, the yachts were racing below and people were bungy jumping off which was good to watch and watch only! We did momentarily think about doing the sky walk around the rim but hell that looked more scary than the bungy jumping so we sat in the sky bar and had a couple of drinks and took in the ambiance instead. We planned to watch the sunset from up there but it was cloudy so no evening glow for us! We ate in an Irish
pub and low and behold bumped into a couple from Lytham, small world! The next day we did the coast to coast walk across Auckland which is 16km, we walked up all the high bits in the city which actually are quite a few as New Zealand is definitely not flat! Apparently Auckland has long been known as Tamaki Makauiau meaning the spouse desired by a thousand lovers as all who saw it desired it's fertile volcanic slopes, sheltered fishing sites and access to the greatest waterway in New Zealand, the Waitako River. I hope you are appreciating all these snippets of culture I keep imparting on you all!!! There is a big rugby tournament on in Auckland at the moment so it's a busy city with lots of people wandering around in very silly costumes, some with very very little costumes (just the men!) good atmosphere and a nice city, the harbour is full of bars and restaurants and has a good vibe to it.
Picked up a car today, it's a Nissan bluebird and I have called it the vomit vehicle or puke mobile as it makes me feel sick! For three months hire it was very
cheap but there is more motion sickness in it than if I was in a force 20 gale in a dinghy in the middle of the southern ocean so if I don't get used to it it will have to go back!!! The costal drive up here which took about five hours was stunning to say the least. Very green, mountainous and lush with golden sandy beaches and turqouise seas. Arrived at our apartment which is in a place called Cable Bay which is in Doubtless Bay so called as apparently Captain Cook spotted it on his way past and said it was doubtful he would be able to land, hence the name! Anyway we booked a studio apartment and on arrival they told us they have upgraded us to a villa so that we would be more comfortable. What can I say, it's awesome, very modern, patio doors open onto the ocean and we can wake up in the morning to the sounds and sights of the ocean and sit in bed with a brew, we may never move!!!, we are in the Bay of Islands and have a full week of exploring planned.
A day of rain
and low cloud but still we ventured out and visited a place called Whangaroa which was Georgous even in the rain. The little harbour was nestled in between mountains and Islands. If the sky and sea had been blue it would have been out of this world, nevertheless it was still beautiful.
We have been to the farthest point on the North Island today and it's called Cape Reinga. It's at this point that the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea merge and whilst sometimes the waves are supposed to be very dramatic it was more of a swirling mass when we were there. the views from the point are dramatic and stunning. Fortunately the sun was shining today which made it all that much more beautiful. In Maori legend, the Cape is where the spirits of the deceased leave the land by leaping into the ocean and returning to their ancestral homeland of Hawaiiki. It is a sacred place and you are told on signs not to take food or water with you on your walk down. We next visited Spirits Bay which is a long beach that stretches for miles, the water is crystal clear and the
sand white, we pretty much had the beach to ourselves where we had a picnic. I was obviously looking forward to a gin or vodka but they weren't that kind of spirits in this bay!! Next on the list was 90 mile beach which is reached by the most ridiculous road on the planet. 15km of very rough ground in the vomit bus was a bit much and I was very glad to see the beach opening up in front of us. But what a disappointment, all that way for a long boring beach. The waves were crashing which was good but not a palm tree or any kind of tree in sight. It all looked just long, flat and uninteresting. Its called Ninety Mile beach but it is only actually 64 miles long, so where it got it's name from I don't know. Anyway I think it is most famous for the coaches which have been specially adapted and drive down the beach at high speed in the surf. You can take your 4x4 on the beach after you have read all the rules and advice but regardless of this the Bennetts took their hired puke mobile (nothing in
the insurance to cover you for getting stuck) on the beach for a drive to see if they could get rid of it but alas we and the barf bucket survived, didn't need digging out or anything and although it was a bit of a non entity we can now say that we have driven on 90 mile beach! Another good day and fingers crossed there will be many more to come, will keep you posted.
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