After a restful recovery at the Heartland Hotel, we met our Pre-Trip colleagues at the Auckland Airport and boarded the tour bus for Paihia, theBay of Islands. Six people, including the guide, boarded a bus that could easily hold thirty people, a stupefying sight for anyone observing us unload in a parking lot. (Perhaps the other thirty passengers had been struck down with disease the day before?). No, this was the Bay of Islands Pre-Trip “Pure New Zealand” by Overseas Adventures Travel.
The intrepid crew below:
On right, top to bottom, Vickie, Ron and Christie
We broke up the 122-mile trip to Paihai (Good here) with stops at Orewa, Warkworth and Kawakawa. Below Victoria on the beach at Erewa. Yeah, the weather was fantastic– cool, breezy and dry.
At Warkworth we took a vigorous walk through the Mahurangi Regional Park. Our guide, Catherine, sets a brutal pace, but slows for the stragglers. Below left, the crew pauses in front of the McKinnney Kauri (agathis australis), an 800-year old tree, hard as a rock. The Kiwi’s protect this park religiously. You scrub your footwear on brushes walking in and out of the park. “Die Back Disease” is a lethal threat to the plant life.
At Kawakawa we posed shamelessly in front of the famous Hundertwasser toilets, famous for their elaborate mosaic designs. We came, we saw, we paid tribute:
We arrived at Paihia early enough to settle in and enjoy dinner at the Copthorne Hotel, our home for the next two days. We would soon find out how true the name “Good here” was.