Finally, New Zealand

After flying into Auckland, the drive to Bay of Islands was a great introduction to the beautiful NZ scenery with lots of sheep and cattle along the way. The roadsides are lined with purple and white agapanthus, a beautiful flower that is as invasive here as purple loosestrife is at home. The area is hilly and we were impressed with the many roadside signs that prepare you for driving conditions ahead. They seem conscious of the fact that so many of the drivers are tourists and may not be familiar driving on the “other” side of the road.

Our visit to The Bay of Islands was three days long and we stayed at a small family owned lodge where our host, Peter, a former chef, prepared fabulous meals every night. We met some delightful guests from the UK, and all enjoyed much New Zealand wine! That's Penny, an ex-pat from the US, in the kitchen with Peter.

The day after we arrived, a cyclone(hurricane) swept across the North Island dumping 11 inches of rain during the night. In the morning we learned that mudslides and floods had washed out many of the roads and most activities were curtailed. We had scheduled a scenic flight to the northernmost part of the island, and it was delayed for a day and a half. When we finally did manage to go, we got a bird’s eye view of all the devastation that the storm caused and the massive flooding everywhere. We also enjoyed seeing well manicured farmland with acres of kiwi fruit and avocado as well as olives and vineyard. It is summer here and everything is lush and green.

The pictures are from the flight up the coast, along the 90-mile beach, to Cape Reinga where the Pacific Coast and the Tasmanian Sea converge.