Auckland & the Northland

So first let me say that New Zealand is much larger than either of us anticipated...

Our luggage finally arrived early Thurs morning much to the happiness of both of us. My shoes had also received a nice washing from customs but everything appeared to be in order. We'd booked massages across the street for the morning which were wonderful and removed at least the top few layers of knots. We took the harbour tour of Auckland and got to enjoy a sunny beautiful day and learning snippets of history. Part of the tour included stopping briefly at Rangitoto Island which is the youngest volcano in the area at 600-700 years. Auckland is basically made up of volcanoes and it's expected that another will form in the near future.


Auckland at night

Included in our harbor cruise was a free ticket on the ferry to Devonport, a more upscale area of Auckland. There we hiked around an old hill battery which had a variety of tunnels carved into to allow the troops and artillery to move around unseen during times of war. A flashlight was definitely needed as once you moved beyond the stretches of natural light everything was pitch black. Of course we didn't have flashlights unless we counted the flash from Ben's camera, which I didn't.

Devonport with Rangitoto

We caught a movie in the oldest cinema in the Southern Hemisphere, also in Devonport. (RED is hilarious and a good shoot 'em up comedy). Dinner was another pub as thus far NZ is mostly what would happen if England were in the tropics.
Yesterday we picked up our car and after some minor difficulties in trying to find better maps we eventually were on our way north. Driving on the left was fairly easy for us to get back into, especially as the car is an automatic. The hardest part for both of us is that the turn signal is on the right side so unless we really think about we usually turn on the windshield wipers before making a turn!
We made up it up to Russell, what used to be the "hell hole of the Pacific" but what is now a lovely seaside tropical paradise overlooking the Bay of Islands. After a brief hike down to the beach and around many Kiwi Zones (no Kiwis spotted) we ended up eating dinner at the oldest licensed hotel in NZ, enjoying some fabulous wine and delicious food while watching the sunset. NZ has certainly been the trip of extravagances for us!
One night in Russell and we were on our way back south to hit up Hot Water Beach. Yep that's right Hot Water on the Beach. And when they say hot they mean hot! There are two underground pools that are heated by the rocks that are heated by lava. At low tide you can dig into the beach allowing the water to seep to the surface and create your own hot tub. However the water can reach up to 60C so finding a nice mix between the hot water and cool water is a challenge. Also the space of where the hot water is located is approximately 20x30 feet on a huge beach. It was actually quite comical to see a crowd of people in one relatively tiny spot on a huge beach! But once the temperature was mixed right it was lovely to lay in the water and watch the surf.
Thai food tonight, otherwise we might tire of the pub food, though I may be on the search for NZ's best fish and chips!
Tomorrow is heading south to hopefully do some black water rafting and then get to Wellington to cross over to the South Island!