Visit to north Auckland

Today is the 31st of October (the30th at home). They don't seem to celebrate Halloween here. Guy Fox day (Nov. 5th) is the big one so maybe Halloween is a bit close to that. Anyway, we just got back last night from the northernmost tip of New Zealand. On the 29th we drove up the east coast to the Bay of Islands. We had a beautiful, warm, sunny day for our trip. We have been really lucky with the weather so far. There always seems to be rain in the forecast but other than a few sprinkles we have had none. The Bay of Islands was worth the drive. There are several little villages that make up the Bay of Islands. All of them have lots of small shops, cafes, bars and hotels. All of which are very expensive as well. We had a delicious seafood chowder in a place called Paihia. We then continued on further up the coast to some not so touristy villages. Decided to spend the night at a seaside resort called Taipa. Immediately we found the only tavern in town and made some new best friends. The owner of the bar is Terry (pronounced Teery). He was on a trip to Vancouver with a rugby team in 1991 and just happened to have all his pictures in his office so we had a great time looking at them. So along with Teery, his partner Fran(known as Fruitcake), The bar manager Joe and his wife, also Fran ,we had so much fun that we forgot dinner time. Everything shuts down at about 6:00 except the restaurant in the resort, which closes at 8:00. We missed that deadline too, so at about 10:00 they sent us home with some lasagna and butter chicken from Fruitcake's  freezer. I'm sure they were glad to see the back of us.

The following morning we headed out early for the peninsula up to Reinge which is as far north as you can get in New Zealand. These are the Maori sacred grounds where they believe that the spirits of the dead leave the land. Ian was very careful not to get too close to the edge. It was a beautiful spot though and worth the hour and a half drive. From there we took the west coast drive back down to Auckland, stopping at the most amazing museum that was recommended by our landlady and others. We got back to our apartment around 7:00, so it was a long day.

This morning we got up and spent a leisurely few hours over coffee and breakfast and then did a walkabout around Devonport again, and then , of course wound up at our favourite pub, the Patriot. Home of the $23.50 hamburger, $19.00 sandwich, $12.50 bowl of soup. But, the people are really nice!

So tomorrow we are planning to visit the botanic gardens and the Auckland zoo. I have to see a real live kiwi! Will update tomorrow