So I am now in Auckland and struggling to get used to a German keyboard! One of the only differences is that the y and the z are in completely different places so I have to pause and think every time I wish to use the y - which is surprisingly quite a lot! So excuse me if a few zzzz's slip in now and then!
Our last morning in Rotorua we woke up to pouring pouring rain. We figured out pretty quickly that we would be unable to do anything by hanging around so we planned to head out of the city and towards the coast. On the way we happened upon a local Rotorua library fair and I was able to purchase over ten books for eleven dollars! Bargain - I should be right now as I will be able to trade them while I am away. I am just wondering whether they will be enough for our first passage!
So we hit the east coast at Whakatane where we stopped for lunch and dad scored a free fish by being friendly with a local maori fisherman. We also bought some venison and feasted that night at a place a bit further up the coast called Mount Manganui. We had every intention of walking up the famount Mount the next morning for its views but unfortunately (not) there was a marathon running up it at the same time so we had to move on :) Up the coast to the famous Coromandel peninsula about three hours drive south of Auckland. I can see why it is famous n- stunning long beaches and obviously very popular with wealthz aucklanders! The south Island was a relatively low standard of living but now we are up in the north we can see where all the wealth is! We stayed the night in Papanui which fronts a beach and as well as having two international golf courses it had houses with canal frontage and then some houses with private airstrip frontage! I have never seen any thing like it! We walked along the reserve and saw a plane flying in really low and then as we walked past we realised he flew into the airstrip and parked in front of his house! There was a whole row of houses like this with all manner of choppers and small planes parked in their front yards! It was beautiful anyway and by then the weather had fined up beautifully.
The next day we headed across the peninsula to the west coast - more estuary like but still nice and decided to spend the night at a small place about one and a half hours drive south of Auckland ready to head in in the morning. It was called Miranda and the Caravan Park was adjacent a hot springs complex which it obviously owned as well so we spent the last night of our 'real' holiday in a hot springs pool in the Van park. It was just beautiful and we had two swims before the night was out. In the morning we had a lovely shower before heading into Auckland and wandering around town where we ate at an awesome Asian foodcourt. Very authentic as the population of Asians here is huge and as a result there are many great places to eat and see. Then we headed up to the house to meet Steffie and Alfred.
We all talked the afternoon away before heading down to the sheds to have a quick look at the outside of Verena. She is in the process of finishing a major repaint with new sails etc. We hope to be back in the water on Monday. Then on to a nice Italian restaurant for tea before I spent my last night in the Maui monster with Mum and Dad. It was great to see the kids again and spend time with Alfred and Steffie as well. The next day mum and dad and I went through the Maritime museum here which was huge and very interesting with lots of goss on the Americas Cup. Team NZ are in the process of whitewashing Luna Rossa for a shot a the Cup Challenge at present so it is front page news here and on the radio all the time. Verz big sailing culture! Then we caught the ferry over to a suburb called Devonport on the North Shore which is a bit like Battery Point with lots of old houses and cafes (how ironic) where we ate at a cafe for lunch.
Back to Auckland to see the inside of the boat as the covers came off and then I moved my things into the new house and very very tearfully waved goodbye to Mum and Dad. It is very sad to be without them - but I guess that is part of being in my new life and with a new family.
We hope to have Verena back in the water very soon so I am busy at the moment helping out getting things finalised and cleaning the boat with Steffie while the kids are at school. it was a big day today but nice to be kept busy so I cannot dwell on things. Tonight we headed out to a beautiful sushi train for dinner on the Viaduct Harbour. Very yummy.
Soon to bed for more work tomorrow - cant wait to unpack when we move onto the boat in about ten days and then not long after we sail out of the harbour for Noumea in New Caledonia. Our first stop! YAY!
