Judy & Brian Tour Oz

Apart from a good old wander around Kerikeri and a visit to the local market, our day was taken up with a ferry ride from Paihia to Russell and a cruise around the Bay of Islands culminating in a visit to the Hole-in-the-Rock. Russell is across the water, 10 minutes by boat, from Paihia and is reputed to have been the original 'hell-hole' of the early 19th century, being a magnet for all the pirates, ne'er do wells and scurvy blackguards of the world. Today it is a refined quiet little village of nice little white painted timber cottages and of course the obligatory cafes. The cruise turned out to be a 3 hour boat ride, out of Russell and past a few of the inlying islands, all with the occasional commentary. We even stopped to eyeball some bottle-nose dolphins, a bit of a rarity in these waters apparently. Right out at the end, a surprise. A well looked after lighthouse stuck out on the end of the rocky point, still operation, even if it is a new solar powered light f...

Rain, rain and more rain. Actually, the day wasn't too bad. We managed to get out and visit the site of the Stone Store and  mission cottage. The mission was established under the direction of one Samuel Marsden from Paramatta who had taken it upon himself to convert the Maori to Christianity. The house was built in 1822 and the store, to house and sell the produce of the mission farm, in 1830. By the the time the store was finished, it was uncompetitive with the freeholders and was sold to the Kemp family in 1832. How the site survived the intervening 142 years until it was gifted to the Trust is a modern wonder, but here it is in all its glory for all (well, those willing to pay for the once a day tour) to see. A pear tree, believed to have been planted by the original missionaries, which makes it over 200 years old Kerikeri, NZ The stone store. Kerikri NZ An expanded and restored mission house. Kerikeri NZ  We took a tiny detour to see the Haruru fa...

Today we picked up our rental car, which turns out to be a great big Holden Commodore, bright green, looks like an overgrown frog. They told us that they were upgrading us from a small cheap 4 cylinder Toyota and doing us a favour. Now I ask you, who needs a 3 litre V6 in NZ where petrol is $2 a litre? Anyhow, doesn't matter, we were just glad to be out and on the road, driving into the driving rain.... Didn't see much, although the coastline is right there next to the road. We stopped at Whangarie for lunch and had a bucket of prawns and a shrimp sandwich at a place called 'Love Mussel' right on the water. It stopped raining long enough for us to take a little stroll and look at the boats before heading north again. We stopped again almost straight away to go and look at the Whangarie Falls, which are pretty good even if only 24 metres high. Whangarie Falls, New Zealand Whangarie Falls, New Zealand Whangarie Falls, New Zealand Finally at 4pm we found ...

Catch-up day, slept in! Finally struggled out the door and across the road to a cafe for a late breakfast and to consider our options, sight-seeing wise. Finally we settled on the big yellow bus which cruises around the city, gives a running commentary  of the passing scenery and lets you get on and off as it takes your fancy. We fancied getting off at MOTAT, the Museum Of Transport And Technology, and having a poke about the old bits and pieces. I was taken by the old computer bits and pieces, some of which I remember all too well! Needless to say there are steam engines and locomotives and trams, and also a small village. I would have said 'pioneer' village, but it's not a term we've seen used anywhere. The Ferry Building, and part of the very long, very red fence that  was built in 1911 and once kept the riffraff out of the docks and wharves. Auckland NZ Just what is a Melbourne tram doing at MOTAT in Auckland? A cottage in the reproduction early-ti...

We thought we'd do something different and take a bus to Sydney, and after Lauren & Daniel dropped us off at he Jolimont Centre, at least 1/2 hour early, we found that we could walk straight onto the writing bus. They must know something the clever little possums, because even though we were really early, we go the last double seat left... Trip to Sydney was uneventful and apart from the noise and erratic speedup / slow down driving technique, not altogether unpleasant. The best part is being dropped right at the terminal which is right near the hotel, so that's good news as we are both pretty tired. Too tired to do anything but walk back over to the airport pig-pen and find something simple to eat before walking back to the hotel and crashing for the night. 5:30AM - yes, there is such a time and it's when we got up to go have breakfast and make it back to the check-in at the designated 2 hour ahead of departure time. Good news, I am officially not going to blow ...