Accommodation was a supposedly luxury hideaway self-contained apartment, but its proximity to the adventure park (next door) and the main road to the nearest large town, right where the 100 zone started, belied the serenity...
The weather was up and down - certainly never as hot as Melbourne has been thankfully, but a few wet days thrown in as well. We usually spent those days relaxing inside and reading.
On the drive up (about 3 hours) we stopped at the Winiana household, to say hi to the cousins (whilst avoiding the sick ones), and drop off some Christmas gifts.
Christmas day was one of the quietest on memory, for the first time I can remember we didn't have any family around. Which left more champagne for just the two of us.
On Boxing Day we went over to Waitangi, to the grounds where the treaty between Maori and pakeha was signed. Not a very exciting place, but nice enough.
We took some short trips on subsequent days, to Kerikeri for some shopping, and to Russell to check out the scenery. Russell is visible across the bay from Paihia (accessed by car ferry), but a world away in terms of vibe. While both are predominantly waterfront holiday towns, Paihia is filled with cheap motels, boat-trip package tours and backpackers, and Russell manages to maintain some sense of small-town style, particularly along the waterfront.
The 30th was of course our first wedding anniversary. We didn't do much for the day itself, but for dinner we took the car ferry across to a winery (Omata). Spectacular views and excellent food (and wine of course).
New Years Eve, and Jo's 31st birthday. We got up early (relatively speaking!) and rented a little motor boat to go explore the islands themselves. After a while of being screwed around by a dive shop (we'd arranged to rent some snorkelling gear, but they were late to open, then didn't have the gear there anyway), we finally launched and made our way out to the nearest island (Roberton). The views are impressive from the peak, and there's a shallow lagoon to swim in, where I managed to teach Jo to breathe through a snorkel long enough to see some fish. But the water was pretty cold, so we didn't last long.
We'd arrived at low tide, which meant that by the time we left, the boat was only accessible by swimming out to it. We should have left it stuck on the beach where it ended when we'd first arrived... gotta work on those boat piloting skills.
After an adventurous day we didn't even make it to midnight.
The trip back to Auckland was very slow - with a couple of sections of gridlock on the country's main highway, over 100km from Auckland. We first stopped at the Kawiti caves to see some glow worms hiding in the darkness, then at the Andersons (Jenny and Stuart) to catch up with more cousins.
Life otherwise has been fairly busy: lots of preparations for returning to Melbourne, trying to sell things (anyone want a car?), arranging shipping, kicking our tenants out, applying for jobs, and so on. It will be good to get home and back to a steady routine!
Love to all!
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