Day 45 Russell, Bay of Islands Our last day in Russell today and the day dawned bright and sunny; what a welcome sight after yesterday's cloudy day. Obviously a day for the beach, plenty to choose from but as it was rather windy choosing the right one was important; finally settled on Long Beach which was pretty much sheltered from the winds although the surf was up; Bill likes to body surf though so he was happy. We stayed there for most of the day just sun...

Day 44 Russell, Bay of Islands Quiet morning here in Russell with news of the earthquake in Christchurch dominating the news understandably, the terrestrial channels are showing nothing else as a National State of Emergency has been declared. There is a lot of talk in the streets too and even though we are hundreds of miles away there are many people who are on holiday here who either live in Christchurch or who have friends and relatives there which makes it ...

Day 43 Russell, Bay of Islands Well I was about to post about the wonderful day we have had and our close encounters with the dolphins but have just switched the TV on in our cottage and hear about the devastation in Christchurch after another earthquake. To think that only a few short weeks ago we were there and had we not decided to swap our trip here around and do the South Island first we would have be either in Christchurch now or certainly very close by...

Day 42 Whitianga to Russell What a difference a day makes, it's really raining hard today, the sea that yesterday was a deep turquoise and calm is now a charcoal grey and choppy. Hoping desperately that things will improve as we drive north. On the road by 9:15am as we have at least a 6 hour drive ahead of us. The rain stayed with us for a good couple of hours but stopped and it looked brighter when we were about half an hour from Auckland which raised our ...