Up early on a pretty sunny day in Auckland. What a challenge it is to drive in that city if you are not used to driving on the left side of the road. I got twisted around mixed in with the morning work traffic and had a b**** of a time finding the freeway (Motorway) to drive north out of the city. Oh well, ust a little adventure in getting lost. Once we got out on the state highway, it started to look alot like Sonoma/Napa area with very pretty rolling hills with lots of cattle and of course Sheep. The farther north we drove - the rainier it got. Not a hard rain but steady wet. We did take the long scenic drive up the east coast for the views. Lots of beautiful beaches. We only saw two surfers and a few surf caster fishermen. We made it ti Paihia in the Bay of Islands and will spend a couple of days here with a nice 4 hour boat ride and more oysters in store....Hopes for some sunshine tomorrow...V