Woke to a dull overcast day, still warm though ;o) Typical, we deliberately scheduled 4 nights up in the north to catch some good weather before we came home and what happens? The glorious summer they have been having decides to break. No rain to speak of so far so not so bad. Forecast looks the same until we come home though.
We took a short drive up to the Bay of Islands today, a really picturesque coastal area with bays and harbours brimming full of yachts. First stop was to see where they signed the Waitangi Treaty - The Treaty established a British governor in New Zealand, recognised Mâori ownership of their lands and other properties, and gave Mâori the rights of British subjects. The site included amongst other things the largest Maori canoe. Spot of lunch in the cafe there, overlooking the manicured lawns leading down to the beach.
After lunch we took the car ferry over to Russell, quite similar to AKaroa - a town visited earlier in our trip - lots of quaint wooden houses clustered round the sides of a bay. In the early 19th century this place had the reputation as being the "hell hole of the south", lots of drunken debauchery taking place as a result of the sailors coming ashore letting of steam! The sun also popped it's head out of the clouds for a couple of hours making it a realy nice hot afternoon.
We then took a nice slow drive back alongside the coastal road to rejoin the state highway to Whanagerei. You had no choice but to go slow, this was the twistiest road I had ever driven on and it went on for miles. Spectacular scenery though, with precipice drops to the rocks and sea below, stunning properties hanging to cliff faces and ancient forests all over the hillside.
After we had eaten our hosts invited us into their section of the house and we had a chat for a couple of hours about stuff, how they came to be in NZ, etc...
Photo: Sailing ship, Russell, Bay of Islands, NZ (Joe)
We took a short drive up to the Bay of Islands today, a really picturesque coastal area with bays and harbours brimming full of yachts. First stop was to see where they signed the Waitangi Treaty - The Treaty established a British governor in New Zealand, recognised Mâori ownership of their lands and other properties, and gave Mâori the rights of British subjects. The site included amongst other things the largest Maori canoe. Spot of lunch in the cafe there, overlooking the manicured lawns leading down to the beach.
After lunch we took the car ferry over to Russell, quite similar to AKaroa - a town visited earlier in our trip - lots of quaint wooden houses clustered round the sides of a bay. In the early 19th century this place had the reputation as being the "hell hole of the south", lots of drunken debauchery taking place as a result of the sailors coming ashore letting of steam! The sun also popped it's head out of the clouds for a couple of hours making it a realy nice hot afternoon.
We then took a nice slow drive back alongside the coastal road to rejoin the state highway to Whanagerei. You had no choice but to go slow, this was the twistiest road I had ever driven on and it went on for miles. Spectacular scenery though, with precipice drops to the rocks and sea below, stunning properties hanging to cliff faces and ancient forests all over the hillside.
After we had eaten our hosts invited us into their section of the house and we had a chat for a couple of hours about stuff, how they came to be in NZ, etc...
Photo: Sailing ship, Russell, Bay of Islands, NZ (Joe)
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