Holiday - Day 6 - Bay of Islands to Auckland

I was due to fly out of Bay of Islands in the afternoon. However, I'd heard the rain thrashing against my cabin in the night and was unsurprised to see a wet and cloudy day when I opened the curtains. A quick check on the internet showed that there were still seats on the morning flight. I suspected that we'd be on the bus rather than the plane again and so I packed and headed to the airport. I was moved to the morning flight (with no quibble and no fee for altering my plans!) and waited for departure with a coffee and ham sandwich made by a fellow knitter behind the counter at the airport kiosk.

As predicted - our plane! I was rewarded upon arrival in Auckland with blue skies and a lovely sunny afternoon.

I went for a walk around the harbour.

The ferry terminal.

The Volvo Ocean Race was due into town and a village had been set up at the Viaduct Basin, with food stalls, music and environmental campaigns. The marquee's above are for the teams involved in the race. The boats were due in overnight so I didn't get a chance to see them as I was leaving Auckland early the next morning. The race is still on going, they are due to reach the end in Galway about 3 weeks before we end our tour there. 

Sky Tower.

From the harbour I walked towards the Sky Tower.

I didn't see any crazy people doing the Sky Jump!

Then onwards around the city.

I love this avenue of trees each one's branches closer to the ground than the last. And unlike the UK no warning signs just a blob of yellow paint on the lowest limb!

After my walk it was a quick snack and bed time as I had to be at the train station early the next morning.

Holiday - Day 5 - Bay of Islands

On my first morning in Paihia I decided to brave the Hole in the Rock cruise. As it's a four hour trip that's quite brave for someone who gets queasy on the Isle of Wight ferry! This is the view of the wharf in Piahia that the trip set sail from. As you can see another nice overcast day.

Russell, our first stop to collect more passengers.

A group of dolphins were spotted by another tour boat, we waited at a distance for a little while and then got our chance to move up close and see them. They were playing around the tourist boats, even swimming between the hulls of a catamaran. When we finally moved off a couple chased along in our wake for a while.

Cape Brett lighthouse. The lighthouse keepers cottage is just down the hill from the lighthouse itself and is now a holiday cottage. So if you really want to get away from it all - just remember to bring enough loo roll and tea bags!

The Hole in the Rock.

On calmer days the trips take you through the hole. Thankfully they weren't doing that today!

The island we stopped on for lunch. Beach photo's in the rain - that's dedication!

The harbour at Russell. I hopped off the boat in Russell and went for a wander around. It was a slightly half hearted effort as it started to rain again. After an ice cream (well I was by the seaside!) I caught the ferry across the harbour to Paihia and went back to my lovely cabin for the rest of the afternoon. I drank tea, did a little knitting, and as I'd almost finished this project I wound yarn for the next one. I'd be needing it for my train ride in a couple of days.

Holiday - Day 4 - Rotorua to Bay of Islands

I left Rotorua early on the fourth day of my holiday to fly to Bay of Islands. This is the tiny plane that took me from Rotorua to Auckland on the first leg of the trip. It's such a small plane that there is no crew member, the co-pilot explains the safety procedures whilst the pilot is busy flipping switches in the cockpit. I had a great seat for this flight, no window but full view of the pilots and out of the cockpit window. Getting the local Air New Zealand flights was like getting on a bus. Check your luggage, head to the gate, follow a member of staff to the plane and sit down. No security checks, no passport checks, just a quick look at your ticket and you can watch the plane being flown. Amazing!

Things went slightly down hill when I arrived in Auckland. The plane from Bay of Islands, that I would be getting on for it's return journey, was delayed. After an hour or so it was displayed as cancelled, as was my flight. I collected my luggage as instructed and headed to customer service to find out what was going on. It was raining in Bay of Islands. Really hard. When this happens the pilots can't see the runway. And when they can't see the runway they can't land. Luckily Air New Zealand are used to this and rather than facing an unknown delay as everyone fought for seats on the afternoon flight (which was still running at this point) we were sent off to one side to wait for the bus. Plane replacement bus service! I did have a nice surprise as we stopped for fuel somewhere outside of Auckland and I bumped into 2 of the cast who it turned out had been in Rotorua the night before and were headed to Bay of Islands. Small world!

A couple of the passengers on the flight/bus were quite excited that we were going to stop in Kawakawa for the toilet. I figured that they maybe had small bladders - but no. Kawakawa is in the guide books for it's loos! They were designed by artist Hundertwasser and use bottles and ceramic tiles to create a very unusual loo. 

I finally arrived at my accommodation about 5 hours later than planned. The Bay Cabinz Motel. I had one of a handful of wooden chalets that cluster together on the hill. I had a bay view cabin, there's my view - across the car park and shopping strip to the sea. The cabin was lovely, a comfy bed, a little kitchen and a covered veranda that I sat and drank a cup of tea on as soon as I arrived.

After a trip to the shop for provisions I had dinner on the veranda then headed to the beach for a walk in the dusk. I had another close encounter of the actor kind as I bumped in to the same cast I'd seen earlier in the day, now finishing dinner and a glass of wine looking across the bay.