We moved to a ‘shed’ on South Head, a peninsula forming the southwest banks of Kaipara Harbour, only an hour’s drive to Auckland. A bucolic area of paddocks, small farms and smaller forest tracts.

The porch seating area with comfortable chairs and a view of our 3 bovine neighbors in the paddock.

We had 3 days here to explore the area.

On one outing we passed a deer breeding farm. The stags in the field were impressive!

Another trip took us to Omeru Reserve and a short hike to Omeru Falls.

Back to the verdant green hills of Aotearoa! Land under the ‘long white cloud’.

The view from the hills above Waipu, the town we are staying in for a few days with our friend Sam.

We made it to Brisbane, turned in our rental car and got a ride to the airport hotel where we have a room.

Literally at the airport! We have a view of the tower, but not the runways. Downtown Brisbane is in the distance, and that’s as close as we got to the city!

We continued our drive south and stopped in Caboolture, Queensland for a night. It’s a far north suburb of Brisbane, where we are ultimately heading.

We drove through bone dry country. What a difference from the ‘wet tropics’ where we were in Wangan, about 969 miles (1560km) north.

We moved on to a small apartment in Boyne Island for 2 nights, about 6 hours south of Bowen. We found a great little restaurant and ate before dinner time so we had the place to ourselves!

Grilled fish and chips! Delicious

To get the eclectic nature of the place, check out this video HERE.