Fiji: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Six (23 February)

We had a leisurely start to the day as our flight didn’t leave until early afternoon. We were lucky with our weather in New Zealand – only four wet days in the whole six weeks – but today was very windy and rainy.

Fortunately it was only a short drive to the car hire place. We said goodbye to Dora (our trusty steed since Amberley) and were taken to the airport. The kind people stamped my passport with an exit stamp (to go with the lovely entry one I had showing Christchurch cathedral) but I was sad to be leaving.

It is only a three hour flight from New Zealand to Fiji but they fed us dinner on the plane because we were not going to arrive until night-time (local time).

After we’d landed at Nandi airport, a minibus took us to a jetty as we were staying on an island resort off the main island of Viti Levu. From there we caught a little boat to Sonaisali, checked in and travelled by buggy to our bure ready for an early night.

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Five (22 February)

We had to drive back to Auckland today as we fly onto Fiji tomorrow. Our time in New Zealand has gone so fast but it’s been wonderful.

On the way we stopped in Thames, the main town in Coromandel. The Europeans originally called the whole area Thames – after the river in London – but fortunately were persuaded to return to the beautiful Maori name for the peninsula itself.

We took the scenic coastal road back to the city, breaking for lunch at Kaiaua and stopping for a cup of tea at Bach’n in Maraetai.

Roger and Anne had kindly said we could stay with them again and we went out for a Mongolian BBQ with our other friend, Graeme.

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Twenty (17 February)

This morning we moved to our other friends in Howick. Alison is a primary school teacher who went travelling several years ago and decided to stay in New Zealand.

We took the dogs – Yogi and Bruno – for a rather muddy walk along the beach before lunch and then visited Villa Maria winery. It is run by one of Alison’s friends so we were treated very well.

We had a lovely relaxed evening together and an early night ready for our long drive to the Coromandel peninsula tomorrow.

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Nineteen (16 February)

We had such a lovely time at Maraetai with Graeme last weekend, we went back there for lunch today. There weren’t many people on the beach because it was overcast but the view was still lovely.

From there we drove to Omara Regional Park and Beachlands via Shelly Bay and Pohutukawa Bay.

In the evening we had a BBQ with our hosts Roger and Anne, their daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Eighteen (15 February)

We took a different route down to Auckland from the one we’d followed driving up, although we did pass through Paihia and Whangarei again. The sun was shining on the waterfalls this time.

We drove through some very pretty countryside to Dargaville where we had lunch and stopped for a cup of tea in Wellsford on our way South.

Unfortunately we arrived in Auckland in time for its rush hour: a phenomenon unheard of in most other parts of New Zealand. That meant it took us an hour to get to Howick where we were staying with other friends of Miss Robb’s auntie, who emigrated to New Zealand many years ago. They made us very welcome and helped us to save all our photos to disc so we could clear the camera card ready to take more.

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Thirteen (9 February)

Today Graeme acted as our local tour guide showing us round Auckland. We started in the coastal suburbs and had brunch in Remuera. Then we took the train from Orakei into Auckland City Centre.

It is known as the City of Sails and the harbour is gorgeous (if not quite as breathtaking as Sydney). We had a lovely walk around it and along Queen Street (Auckland's main commercial thoroughfare) before catching the train back to Orakei.

Graeme drove us to Mount Eden where we had tea sitting outside - we've been so lucky with the weather during this trip - before returning to our motel via One Tree Hill. (Now known locally as No Tree Hill after the tree fell down :-).

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Twelve - Afternoon (8 February)

From the Kiwi House at Orotohanga, we drove to the famous caves at Waitomo. They are home to hundreds of glow worms, which is what we'd gone to see, but the caves are stunning too. The largest, Cathedral Cave, has even hosted a concert by Kiri Te Kanawa, a famous New Zealand opera singer.

Having looked at the silk thread they produce, we joined a boat ride to see the glow worms themselves. It was dark and no one said a word. The roof and sides of the cave were covered. It was like looking up at the night sky filled with hundreds of tiny golden stars. Magical!

From there we drove to Papakura near Auckland and met up with Graeme, who has been our friend since he studied banking with Miss Robb's Daddy in the 1970's.

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Twelve - Morning (8 February)

We were heading for New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland, but stopped en route at the Otorohanga Kiwi House.

Although we'd seen lots of statues of New Zealand's national bird (here I am with another one), this was our first opportunity to see the birds themselves. They are nocturnal so it is very dark inside to fool the birds into thinking it is night-time. That way people can see them moving rather than asleep but, of course, flash photography isn't allowed.

Barnaby