Left Auckland yesterday morning and headed north. Beautiful scenery. However, about 30 minutes north of Auckland the traffic ground to a near-halt. We creeped along for about 20 minutes and then saw a sign for a "tourist drive". We took it. Mistake! It led into some nice scenery, but no exit. 90 minutes later we retraced our way back to the place we left the highway. Signage here is not great. We arrived in Whangarei, the major city north of Auckland and decided to stay here. Great one-bedroom suite with a full kitchen (only $100 NZD). After studying all the tourist info, we decided to make this our base for a few days. Today we toured the city and surrounding area. Visited the lookout high above the city, the Fenery (a fern conservatory) and Botanica (an adjacent park), the Whangarei Falls, the Reed Park with many large Kauri trees and the Town Basin. The Basin is one of the best marina and riverfront developments we have seen in a long time. Many shops, restaurants, bars, etc. along with a large marina and a long walkway along the water. In the afternoon, we drove to Whangarei Heads on the peninsula at the end of the bay. Great scenery. We are not sure what the next day or two will hold, since rain is forecast.