The mainland trail has come to a close,

And floating on an island tide,

The Continental Drift,

Has finally crossed the divide........

Greetings from Auckland - this is the start of day 3 in New Zealand. You should have seen the place yesterday - anybody would think that St. Patrick was the Patron Saint; Saviour and Governor General of New Zealand all rolled into one....

Still, any excuse for a Guinness.....

I missed Lauchlan & Abbie in Auckland - they left at 01.10 on the 15th and i arrived at 03.30 on the 16th - planning is as important as timing........

That was a big shame as it would have been lovely to see them & learn a bit about Auckland from a Jafa.......

Anyway, after the big excitement of the 17th - i.e. St Patrick's Day - came the 18th - St Hangover's Day - whereupon i duly left a slightly subdued Auckland behind in my Toyota Sprinter as i - er, sprinted - across the harbour bridge following Highway 1 northbound......

I raced - sorry, sprinted - out of Auckland on the motorway - it transpires that NZ has about 8 miles of motorway going north from Auckland and about 15 miles going south from Auckland and that would appear to be it - so much like East Anglia, driving anywhere takes a while. Just to add to the fun, NZ has dubbed itself "road-works capital of the world" - well, many hurrahs for that.... - it seems that there are two reasons for this - one being a government-funded initiative to create work and the second is that with so much seismic activity the roads are in constant need of repair anyway - all the more reason why not to hire a Toyota Sprinter.

You've probably never heard of this model - it's a variation on the Toyota Corolla saloon of 1998/99 - although quite why the automotive world needs a Corolla variation is something of a mystery. It lacks grip, power, a decent gearbox & decent brakes - but apart from that :-/

To be fair - having done over two thousand kilometres in 4 days it has loosened up but goodness me it's hard work - especially on the hilly-bits (of which there are lots) with hair-pin and swooping hair-pin bends (of which there also lots)....

My fault, i know - i rented the cheap option instead of getting the Ford Focus (moron!) - i'll see if i can change it in Wellington before heading south....

The Kiwis are spirited drivers - so even though the police here are hot on speeding - like their Australian counterparts - Kiwis will hack along merrily - i could make you cringe by telling you i've been overtaken by a Daihatsu Charade and any number of Honda Odysseys - and that's bizarre - why are there so many Honda Odysseys here? I've seen several ERF's and lots of Fodens - so for any of you for whom Sandbach means more than just a service station on the M6 - spare a thought & shed a tear for the passing of England's once-great engineering heritage (albeit latterly with Cummins engines rather than faithfull Gardner's...) - anyway, the point being - in a ute race between an Aussie & a Kiwi - back the Kiwi......

Anyway, i headed north to Cape Reinga - having passed Mairangi Bay i thought i'd get the container ships out of the way on day one (Tee Hee Line) - the drive north is lovely - through rolling pastures, gorges, forests and hills. From Kaitaia you run parallel with 90-mile beach to Cape Reinga - which is lovely and how Lands End in Cornwall should be (i.e. not tacky).....

I stayed in Kaitaia & drove down to Tauranga, via the Coromandel Peninsula, the next day - lots more scenery & ocean views. If you're down that way & fancy a good Chinese then go to the East Ocean Chinese Restaurant in Tauranga - extremely good food. Freshly cooked and really yummy....

From Tauranga i went to Gisborne via WalkieTalkie (Whakatane); Te Kaha & Ruatoria - yet more scenery and ocean views. Now most of you will know Gisborne from Sir Guy of Gisbourne and the adventures (all true) of Robin Hood. It seems a bit sad that - having been chased out of Nottingham - Sir Guy ended up here - but maybe it's a fitting end - anyway, that's folklore for you :-/

I stayed in Gisborne - but daftly chose a motel some way out of town. The motel was, however, quite close to the Wild Food Cafe & World Cafe - & i think it was the World Cafe that serves Gisborne Gold - a fine local beer + incredibly friendly service (which makes you wonder why i can't remember distinctly!). Moving swiftly on - but sadly not in quite the right direction, i went out on Highway 2. The good bit was that i drove through a 58km gorge following the Waioeka River - just stunning and enjoyable even in the Toyota Tepid - but it did mean ending up in WalkieTalkie again - not quite the end of the world as Wakatane is a lovely place - and i quickly picked up the roadworks to Rotorua....

From Rotorua i headed out to Taupo and picked up a Dutch hitch hiker (hitsch huyjker, shurely?) - she seemed to have more bags with her than seemed either plaushible or, indeed, shenshible (thatsh enough Dutsch) and surprisingly for a Dutch person not overly chatty. Still, she had been in NZ for several weeks & had been down to the South Island. She is now just killing time until her Chinese visa arrives (i know) (don't ask..) - she didn't find the joke about only 75% of the Dutch population being allowed in the Netherlands at any one time remotely funny - and, if this were possible, even less so once i'd explained it (twice - she didn't understand the first time) - you lose some - you lose some more.... - anyway, i dropped her & her mountain of luggage safely in Taupo town centre..............

Anyway - i'm here for 2 nights - it's a great place with lots of good bars & restaurants and the motel i'm staying at is pretty swish, too (Lake Taupo Motor Inn). I've booked my balloon flight in Hawke's Bay for the 24th - so i'll stay in Hastings for 3 nights in case they can't actually fly on the 24th - i'll let you know how that goes.

After that i'll head down to Masterton to see if Emma's mother is up to receiving a visitor - then Wellington and then to the south island...........

One thing you can't fail to notice as you drive through the forests here is the number of ferns - NZ has around 164 types of fern - many endemic - and some grow up to 8 metres in height - they are lovely - well, if you like ferns they are. Given that hacking down trees (logging) appears to be a national sport - as in many countries it's a sensitive subject - it makes you wonder how long some of these species of fern will survive....