Where the heck are we now?: Auckland...day trips

Since neither of us were too keen on driving we decided to buy a bus pass on Intercity which travels all across the country...

Our first trip was to a small city, Whangarei, in the Northland about a 3 hour drive away. The bus was on time, clean and comfortable so our first impressions were good. Along the route we saw amazing scenery...

Small beach towns...

Green valleys...

Offshore islands...

When we got to our destination we discovered the local buses were not running so we took a taxi to a trail head about 8km outside town and hiked back in.

At the beginning of the trail was a circular route around Falls...

We hiked to the bottom and it was an impressive sight...

We then crossed the bridge and picked up the trail which went along the Hatea River...

There were swinging bridges...

Large meadows filled with wild flowers...

Quiet sections...

And at every exit point a cleaning station to stop the spread of disease which is killing the kauri trees...

The town itself was lovely, built around a basin filled with boats and lined with places to eat and enjoy the day...

Lots of public art...

We were impressed with the outdoor spaces, the trails and walkways which made the outdoors so accessible to the people.

Another day saw us take the ferry to Waiheke Island, about a 45 min ride...

Arriving in the harbour...

The island is known for its’ wineries which were started in the 1970s, before that it was dependent on sheep farming and wool exports. The winemakers discovered the climate and soil of the island was similar to the Bordeaux region of France and became very successful. Even though it is a small island, 92 sq Kms, there are 30 wineries.

We took a hop on, hop off bus from the ferry and spent the day exploring this beautiful place, here are some of the wineries we visited...

This one owned by a Canadian produced wine and craft beer...

Don said all the beer was good!

Great views to enjoy your beverage...

In a section called wine valley you could walk from one winery to another...

Wine tasting and local cheese at another...

The birds got the scarce leftovers...

Lots of comfortable places to sit and enjoy the wine and the views...

Also spent some time on one of the gorgeous beaches...

It is summer holidays so these girls were practicing their surfing skills...

All in all, a really fun and relaxing days with no long walks or hikes!

Our final day trip was a 2 hour ferry ride to the Coromandel peninsula where we spent the night at a BnB with this little view outside our room...

The Coromandel peninsula is a remote area and it would have been nice to have a car to get around as there is no public transit. There are some of the best beaches in the world here but unfortunately we didn’t get to see them. So Plan B saw us rest up for the rest of the day and enjoy a fabulous meal of fresh seafood cooked for us by our host.

These are green point mussels which are farmed here on the peninsula as there is a large aquaculture industry here...

These oysters are also picked locally. I really love oysters so these were a treat!

Our ferry ride over was a gray, misty day but the Captain gave us an interesting commentary as we sailed by...

Here is the shipping port of Auckland which is undergoing a major expansion to accommodate the shipping needs in this part of the world. It is a major employer...

This is Bean Rock lighthouse, one of the few wooden cabin lighthouses remaining in the world. The lighthouse keeper would row out for his shift and be relieved every three days. It is now automated.

Auckland is also known as “the city of sails” due to the large number of boats which sail from its’ harbour, on this day it was hard to see them for the mist...

On arriving we took the shuttle bus to Coromandel town which was established in the early days of the gold rush in this area, it was small and very charming...

Main Street still reminiscent of the gold rush days...

Lots of Victorian cottages...

Public art...

These are Tekoteko which is a Maori language term for a carved human form either freestanding or attached to a gable of a house.

The next day we took in a couple of attractions that were close to town including the Driving Creek Railway which was the vision of a local potter and is built up the side of a mountain on narrow gauge tracks.

The views from the top were amazing...

We also did a guided walk through one of the few stands of Kauri trees that are left in New Zealand. The kauri tree is one of the mightiest trees on the planet growing to 50m high and living for 2000 years, but unfortunately nine years ago it was infested with a disease that is killing them.

The tree is sacred to the Maori who used it for boat building, carving and building houses. With the arrival of the European settlers in the 1700s the trees were decimated as they were cut and used in ship building.

In front of the grove...