Happy Birthday to Pat! Enjoying her Birthday on an idyllic Greek island!

We decided to stay closer to our current home in Haruru, Northland, New Zealand. We drove the short 5km to Paihia Beach to stroll the beachfront and take in the sights. But first we had our leisurely breakfast and coffee and watched the tide come up the river estuary.

Our view of the bay, filled at high tide.

Down at the beach we walked and saw families enjoying the waterfront and kids playing in the sand and in the water.

The water was calm, but cool.

The sights in town included a reference to Zane Grey who visited the area in the 1920’s to do some sport fishing. He memorialized his fishing exploits in several books, putting Paihia on the map for international sport fishing!

Unbeknownst to us at the time is that our hosts at the Airbnb are decendants of the family that in 1887 started a sailing ship delivery service that eventually morphed into the sightseeing cruises on the Bay of Islands and the ferry between Paihia and Russell. The couple took on the task of commissioning this Marlin sculpture that is at the entrance to the ferry dock.

We walked the opposite direction over the bridge past the ship we can see in the distance from our Airbnb.

We can see with binoculars from the garden seat at the Airbnb that this is a permanently grounded boat.

On our walk back we can see why it is permanently grounded!

We had a picnic lunch and decided to head for a hike on the Paihia School Road Track in the Opua Forest, a cooler alternative than being in the sun on the beach! Up, up, up we hiked until we reached the outlook and enjoyed a semi-obstructed view of the Bay of Islands.Everywhere we walked today I saw patterns;

Our first morning at our Airbnb. Sunrise over the Bay of Islands!

Shining into our apartment. We have the lower level, a one bedroom with kitchen and bathroom. Great patio with a grill. After a leisurely breakfast, cleaning up, consulting maps and talking with our host, we headed to the closest hiking trail!

A short drive to Haruru Falls and the beginning of the hike to Waitangi Treaty Grounds through a forest and a mangrove swamp, a well protected habitat of the national bird, the Kiwi. Along the trail there are traps for stoats (weasels) that were introduced in the late 1800’s to control introduced rabbits. Instead they became another threat to the native birds, many of which are flightless, kiwi included. As we hiked into the forest we came to huge leafless trees, with huge bright red blooms (it is spring here). Amongst the branches were very raucous birds, chasing each other through the branches and feeding on the nectar of the flowers. The calls were loud, whistling, cawing, croaking sounds. Unlike anything I’ve heard! We were walking along the Waitangi river, which is the river estuary we see from our Airbnb. Huge trees lean over the river, festooned with bromeliads ( I assume).

Interspersed along the walk are large tree ferns, think of the Oregon ferns on large palm tree like trunks! These I learned are the Silver Fern, the symbol of New Zealand, worn on military uniforms and the jerseys of the All Blacks, the national rugby team!The new fronds are uncurling from the center. This tree fern was below us on the trail, so we are looking at its ‘crown’.An up-close of the fern frond. Seeing all the curled fronds I thought how similar they are to the tattoo patterns in Maori art.The underside of the fern fronds belie it’s name the ‘silver’ fern! “The undersides reflect moonlight, making them useful aids to navigating bush pathways at night.” “To Māori, the elegant shape of the fronds stood for strength, stubborn resistance, and enduring power. To Pākehā (New Zealanders of non-Māori descent), the fern symbolised their sense of attachment to their homeland.” (According to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa).

Our walk took us through a mangrove swamp on a boardwalk and we emerged eventually at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. We will explore that site at a later date, what we needed now was a cappuccino for energy to walk back to Haruru Falls, 7 miles total (11km)!

Travel Day! Today we moved to a new area, Bay of Islands! We packed up the Toyota Aqua and headed out. Our first stop was Costco NZ! We needed to stock up on inexpensive necessities like tomato soup and granola! They serve southern fried chicken burgers and fries here! Great for lunch. Further along the road we stopped at “Sheep World”, only for coffee at their cafe! The road became more narrow and curvy past this point.

Are Robert’s knuckles white? Mine were! Note the sign “Keep Left…” that’s our mantra now!

We encountered log trucks, very similar to the Pacific Northwest. Don’t know what kind of wood it is though. We thought Hwy 101 on the Oregon coast was curvy, try that, but driving on the left, and more narrow!

The views of the countryside are spectacular! We saw some sheep, but more cows.

We finally arrived at our destination “Linger Longer” Airbnb. What a view!

The eclectic, whimsical garden is enchanting, and we were immediately at ease and ready to relax!

Today we took the bus to the car dealership to pick up our “subscription car”.  Sort of like a car lease rather than a rental car. I spent lots of time communicating with a wonderful gentleman who guided me through the process of applying for the subscription. We started the process over a year ago, then had to cancel, restarting only a few weeks ago. Glitches in the process concerning a US phone number and address really screwed things up, but we finally got it straightened out and our car was waiting for us when we arrived. Robert took on the daunting task of driving on the left side of the road and got us back to the hotel safely! We then decided to walk to the local store and restaurant (we needed to ‘get our steps in’)!

A beautiful bush lily on our walk.

A creek meandering below our usual route we walked which we never noticed before!

Because when you see the Big picture, the new construction really gets your notice!

This is our lovely hotel room; couch, bed, kitchenette, dining table and bathroom. What more do you need?

Maybe a view?

Here’s our view; of the parking lot. At least there are palm trees, a norfolk pine to the right and beautiful, unknown, but striking bird calls at sunrise! And our car, a Toyota Aqua (basically a Prius C) parked right outside the door! The only problem is that the car is really from Japan, and the display screen is in Japanese!

Firstly I would like to pay my respects to my brother’s partner Ann who passed away. Tommy hosted a memorial for her at Comiskey Park  in Chicago (now know as “Guaranteed Rate Field”???) She was an avid White Sox fan!

Today we planned to venture out, using our bus passes, to the city center of Auckland. Being Sunday, there was not too much traffic, and the weather was blustery and cool. Before we left I took a quick walk around the cemetery across the street from the hotel we are staying at. What an interesting collection of headstones! We witnessed a funeral yesterday with traditional island dress worn by the mourners.

One of the native? headstones. It looks rather ‘Picasso-ish”. Walking back to our hotel I had to take a picture of the huge kiwi on the roof of the neighboring hotel. The hotel is closed due to the catastrophic flooding that occurred in August, 2022. We had reservations to stay at that hotel when we made plans for this trip in 2022, we were supposed to stay there in October, 2022. Nature had other plans! The kiwi survived apparently!

Our bus trip took us around the city and eventually to the city center where we headed to the Sky Tower.

No, that’s not us on the outside walkway above the observation deck (although we plan on that eventually!) This was a poster in the entryway to the tower. Today was too windy, cool and gray, and there was a large group with reservations ahead of us. Instead we headed for the Sky Bar for a beer and appetizers, and a view of the cables that guide those brave enough to do the jump off the tower.

The two wires on either side of the picture are the guide wires for the adventurous! We waited, but there were no jumpers today! The pointy island in the distance is Waiheke island, known as the ‘wine island’ of New Zealand. Walking around the observation deck (inside) I got many panoramic views of the city and surrounding countryside. I was almost able to get the window decal of the harbour bridge lined up with the real thing!

Finally we took the ‘lift’ down to ground level and explored more of the city, walking to the harbour where the ferries to Waiheke and other islands depart. We saw the old ferry building and enjoyed an ice cream while we walked around.

Outside, a small window displayed the wares inside! an homage to Jimmy Buffet!?

Inside, this beautiful window reflected in the equally beautiful tile work surrounding it! And the surrounding architectural embellishments brought to mind colonial (British) influences, juxtaposed with the modern electronic transport modes!