New Zealand

We had a great two days in New Zealand. Having spent seven weeks here a few years back (5 weeks in a campervan followed by a two week cruise) we knew that it is a lovely country. We had been toured around Auckland by a young friend on our last visit, so this time around we took the ferry to Devonport and rented a bike. We enjoyed this small town so close to the city and the views from North Head very beautiful.

Then, as we were enjoying the park by the ferry terminal, we noticed a very nice library behind us and remembered having Wi-Fi access in libraries on our previous visit. We no sooner sat down with our computers to use their good wireless when it started raining heavily - a great spot to wait out a thunderstorm :).

Our second day in New Zealand was in the beautiful Bay of Islands. We were tendered to shore, right outside the. Waitaingi Treaty Grounds, where the first treaty between the British and the Maori was signed. It's an important part of New Zealand history. With a short port day, we did not have time to spend extensive time in the Treaty Grounds, but we're able to see their large historic canoes from a distance (we also watched a number of our shipmates as they learned to paddle these large double canoes in the river :).

After the tender trip, we continue with the shuttle down to town to take the ferry to Russell, which was the first British settlement and first New Zealand capital. It's a small, very attractive town with a number of historic colonial buildings. During our return on the ferry, were able to sit on the top deck and enjoy the views of the sail boats and small communities that dot the many islands in the area.

Overall, it was a really nice day to relax and just enjoy another part of beautiful New Zealand. After leaving the bay, we had to continue north for quite a long ways before heading west into the notorious Tasman Sea toward Australia.

See Stan's blog below.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bStWwJ2x3PZFlmcDNLR01CYUE/view?usp=sharing