Weather not so good today but as we have been travelling for most of the time it hasn't mattered too much. We left Whitianga just before 9am and it had already rained there.

We got to Thames, at the bottom of the Coromandel Peninsula, in good time for a coffee! We had stopped at a nice garden centre cafe there last time and it was still there and just as nice this time! We also got sandwiches for lunch.

The first part of the journey had been very scenic but from Thames to Auckland it became much flatter and the roads straighter. Once you reach highway 1 a strange thing happens - you are on a motorway! As far as we know this is the only bit of motorway in NZ apart from a few miles near Dunedin that we went on! Further on another strange thing happened - we got in a traffic jam! That doesn't happen much in NZ either!

Of course, all this happened around Auckland, which is NZs biggest city. We didn't stop and just drove through, crossing the harbour bridge as we did so. While we were doing all this we had had several heavy showers, though nothing too long.

Once north of Auckland we came off the motorway, found a place to stop overlooking the sea and ate lunch. The weather continued to rain on and off but we were entertained by two families launching their motor boats off a nearby ramp.

Pohutukawa trees we think, seen everywhere

After lunch we went a little further on and found a regional park in which to have a walk. Initially we were staggered by the number of vehicles coming out of the car park but soon realised there was some event that had just finished. We still aren't sure exactly what was happening but it seemed to involve children and parents and the children were muddy, wet and barefooted! It also seemed to involve the sea or at least the mudflats where the sea had been! We also aren't sure why it was happening today - a school day! We don't think it was another public holiday! These kids are never at school!!

Sea view from the regional park

Well we had a pleasant walk around a headland and then returned to our journey. Today has been our longest day of travelling - 348km which is about 220 miles and not much of that was on the motorway. Tomorrow we make up for that with a much shorter drive.

A pukeko in the regional park

For one night only we are in Whangarei, which we visited for longer last time. It is the only place of any size north of Auckland. We have been into town to have a meal at The Fat Camel - an Israeli restaurant! Can't say we've been to one before but it was very good - basically middle-eastern flavours. We decided to sit outside as it was warm and we were in a narrow alley type of street. This was fine till it started to rain - nothing much to start with and we were under an umbrella but as it went on the umbrella started to drip at the edges. In the end it was a race as to who would win but I'm pleased to say we did and we are now home and dry!

Tomorrow we do not have any WiFi for the first time this holiday so will not be able to post our blog till Sunday. Sorry about that to you avid readers! However you should get a double dose then!