01/10/2014 We 're on the road again

01/10/2014 Arrival in Auckland and onwards to Bay of Islands by bus.

2014-10-03 click for more photo's

Well! We are off again for another adventure on our bicycles. It doesn't seem that long ago since we returned from our South America trip and part of me wonders if this is a wise move. Can it be as truly amazing as our last trip? I guess it is a very tall order. In every way our journey through S.A. will be very hard to beat. Can any scenery be as stunning as cycling through the Andes? The cultural experience can't be as rewarding surely? And what about the weather? We hardly had any rain just brilliant blue skies and sunshine. The whole S.A experience will be hard to beat BUT just about everyone says that NZ is an amazing place to visit and we have never been there and most importantly it is currently home to Janneke and we really want to see it for ourselves and get a feel for the place. Since we are retired folks now we have time on our hands and we both love exploring by bicycle with some bus journeys and boat crossings thrown in as well.
The aim is to journey from Cape Reinga on the northern shores of North Island to the Bluff on the south coast of South Island. We shall see. If we are not enjoying it we will make a different plan.
We flew with Malaysia Airlines from Heathrow to Auckland and all went well. The airfare was considerably cheaper then any other airline. The journey time the shortest and transporting bicycles was free so we overcame any irrational fears of flying with them. It took us over two hours to get out of the airport because rightly so, NZ is very careful about introducing unwanted 'species' so our walking boots, tent etc had to be scanned which all took time.
Auckland is huge and I don't think we got the best out of it. Neither Malc or I are big city dwellers. We don't quite know what to do with ourselves there is just too much choice and we can't cope. Where do you eat when there are thirty places to choose from? So we boarded the bus to Paihia in the Bay of Islands and we feel much more at home in this small town. The coastline is very beautiful when the sun comes out in between heavy showers. It is the equivalent of April after all! We are looking forward to getting on our bikes tomorrow. All will be well.

Arrival in Bay of Islands