Bush walk in Pahia

On the walk

A Black Fern

At the top

On Monday we hung out pretty close to home and walked around our town of Pahia.  In the afternoon Greta and Steve took a bushwalk through the forest up to the top of a mountain range (NZStyle) to a lookout over the Bay of Islands. 

Home in the canopy

Our place top left

Our new home for the week makes us think we are in the canopy of a rain forest.  We look out our windows and see a variety of thick vegetation, knowing that down below is an orchid garden with a few cactus and fuschias blooming beside them. Another beautiful spot,  completely different from the others.

One of the orchids

The drive north

Tane Mahuta

November 3rd, Steve picked up our Toyota Highlander and got into the mindset of driving on the left hand side, with Dave as the co-pilot.  We headed north towards The Bay of Islands, stopping at a historic hotel that claims to be the only hotel that has been shipwrecked, looked at the remains of a 45,000 year old kauri tree, ate meat pies, and took a short walk to see the 2,000 year old living Tane Mahuta kauri tree.  

Walking tour in Auckland

Clock tower at Auckland U

Add caption

Bird of Paradise bush

A Mime on Queen's St
Dave went solo to The Maritime Museum, and came back impressed with the scope of the museum.  There were displays beginning with the Maori boats, then the immigrant boats,  up to the modern day race boats.  The displays were complete with sound effects of  the ships creaking and water coming aboard.  While he did that, Sandy, Steve, and I followed a walking tour written up in The Lonely Planet.  We wandered through second hand shops, parks abloom with spring flowers, a kindergarten in a gorgeous colonial building (we checked out the playground to make sure it wasn't just cute), Auckland University Campus, and the fashion district.  

Harbor CruIse

Auckland from the ferry

 The next day, we took a ferry,  (of course we sat outside on the front deck), around the harbor, with a 10 minute stopover at Rangitoto Island.  When we got off, we realized we had missed the commentary that the people inside had heard.  The young lady, a recent marine biology grad, told us how nervous she was doing the spiel, because it was just her second day on the job.

She graciously encapsulated the main points of interest from the cruise.  Such a deal!

Rangitoto last volcano in the harbor

Cruising the harbor

Transition from Fiji to Auckland

Fiji/ Auckland

Three hour flight

Swimsuits off/jackets on

Sweat pouring down/Goosebumps

Small villages/City

The Ferry Bldg at night from our window

It was quite a drive from the airport to our hotel, but well worth it.  We unloaded our bags and watched Steve negotiate our arrival at the front desk.  Somehow, our reservation had not been confirmed, so it took a bit of patience and perseverance.  The reward was two rooms on the top floor, 12th floor, overlooking the harbor, Ferry Bldg, and Maritime Museum.  Wallah!

Fijian Flora

Red on top, brown on bottom, taller than two story bldgs

This tree blooms for Christmas

The Fijian Via Via

Harvesting coconuts

While we were in Fiji we enjoyed seeing the many plants and flowers there.  Here are some of the ones we saw.