Yesterday was a travel day. Left Cairns around noon and arrived in Auckland at 8:30, NZ time (3 hour time difference). Usual traveling day hassles, but nothing serious.
This morning we picked up our camper. Let's just say it's a pretty big step down from our last vehicle! When we made our van reservations last November, this was our third choice, but everything else was booked. In Australia, we were definitely off-season, but not so here. So, back to the camper. It's about a 10 year old Toyota high top van, fitted out as a camper in 2006. It's got its share of dings, but runs well. Inside, it's basic and once we figured out where to stow all our stuff, we think it will work out fine. Our senses of humor will need to be at the ready for the next 24 days!
We headed north out of Auckland, to Whangarei [pronounced "Fun gar eye" - accent on the first syllable, and a Spanish "r" in the second syllable], on the east coast. Along the way, we passed through some rolling hills (dairy farms); forest that looked much more like home than Australia, except for the tree ferns and palm trees mixed in; rocky, steeper areas; and near deep green water with jagged heads in the distance - gorgeous. Had lunch in a little town at a cafe in an art gallery by the water.
Took a hike to a lookout point above Whangarei and behind our campground. "Not very long, but a bit of a climb," according to the woman at the visitors' center. That second part turned out to be an understatement, but it was worth it. It was late afternoon and everyone else on the trail was a local out for their exercise, huffing and puffing up the hill. It made us feel pretty good that they were out of breath, too, and all our juniors by quite a few years.
The weather is completely delightful. Probably about 70 and not at all humid - a most welcome change from Alice and Cairns!
No comments:
Post a Comment