Another early and frantic start. Feeling as though we need a holiday from this holiday. Off this morning to be at Emirates office for 8.15am and then planned to walk to pick up rental car.
On route I had a call saying Karen’s case had arrived at Auckland airport and they would deliver to Hotel within a hour!. Queue much celebration.
We decided to still go to Emirates office as Karen wanted to thank Craig for his efforts. I will also write to thank him.
Picking the car up was straightforward enough and we drove back to the Hotel for find the missing case waiting for us.
After loading the car, Karen decided to return the fleece and shoes we had purchased the day before so we walked down to Queen Street before starting the drive to Pilhai.
The traffic was light and to start with the roads were easy to drive. I had purchased a Sat Nav on eBay loaded with NZ maps to navigate with and this worked with no problem. The roads soon got smaller and much more windier and hillier ( are they real words?).
After a short stop on route we drove to Waitangi Treaty Grounds in Pilhai. This is NZ most historic site and where the country was founded. We had a Maori led guided tour and he was very engaging and made it very interesting. The site itself is a beautiful spot in the Bay of the Islands. The weather was stunning. Not sticky at all. Just like a UK summer day and hit 29c. We wandered around for a bit and then went to the Averill Court Motel to check in.
The motel was fine and just around the corner from the main drag and beach. Before exploring all of that we got back in the car for a very short drive to Haruru Falls which were just outside Pilhai. These were very pretty and we sat right alongside the falls watching people paddle boat up to them.
After purchasing some milk to make our porridge in the morning, we returned to our room before walking to explore Pilhai. It really is a stunning place and as usual we wished we had more time here. It is often the case, but trying to fit the whole country into 19 nights here is difficult. Hindsight is a great thing.
Pilhai has an interesting mix of people. There are what seems to be the normal amount of backpackers, but also lots of families, older folk and also well off folk. We decided we were the only young and trendy couple there! We soaked up the sun looking at the various restaurants trying to decide where to eat. In the end we opted for Fish & Chips from a takeaway on the main drag and sat and ate them on the promenade/beach. It was a glorious evening and apart from being tested by the seagulls it was a lovely setting for an infomal supper.
We ambled about exploring and ended up in a small bar to end the evening being served by a girl from Leeds.
Back in our room we ended the evening with me trying but failing due to an intermittent wifi service to join a conference call (don’t ask – I thought I was retired as well). Fortunately my assembled team back in Norfolk were more than capable of handling the meeting with the client without me.
I am still not sure about this blogging lark. Is it a faff or worthwhile? Am I actually doing it for just us or for others. How naff is what I am writing? Is it all just be a bit all self indulgent clap trap. The only time I really post on Social Media is to let family and friends know some of what we are up to. I don’t post things to show off and I don’t post everything. I see no point either in posting the bland or day to day rubbish. I find it faintly ridiculous when people put their own portraits on there. Don’t get me started when people put political views on there. There are other outlets for that. Social Media is meant to sociable. Quite frankly I don’t care what you think about Brexit or the NHS or whatever, if I did I would ask. In fact spouting your opinion is more likely for me to take a contrary view and to take a dimmer view of you. Get a life and get some real friends in the real world you can actually talk to.
Just realised that the paragraph above is opinionated for which I apologise!
