Well no kiwis last night but we enjoyed our stay near Okiato Point and tonight we have another equally lovely place to stay in Cable Bay.

We took the car ferry from just below where we stayed last night across to Opua on the opposite coast and were soon speeding northwards through Paihia and Waitangi. We thought we would stop briefly at Mount Bledisloe - a viewpoint we went to last time - but try as we might we couldn't get to it without a good deal of walking and we decided against it. It is strange because last time we know we were able to park up fairly near the viewpoint and we must have followed signs for it. We can only assume either that Mount Bledisloe has moved or the powers that be do not want people to go there any more!

Instead of following the main road north we took the scenic route through Matauri Bay and Whangaroa. This promised more in the guide book than it delivered but maybe we are just suffering from scenic overload! Even the coffee stop was a bit below par and usually coffee is great everywhere in NZ. We did find a nice little beach at Tauranga Bay but didn't stay very long.
This Tauranga is a different one from the much bigger city further south for those of you who know NZ.

The beach at Tauranga Bay

We got to Manganui by lunch time and found a lovely cafe for some food, which restored our spirits! Manganui is also a pleasant place, with several restaurants which may be useful in the next few days. We walked the length of the seafront and found the information office helpful.

Cable Bay is just a few km further on from Manganui and rather more sizeable than we had thought. It is another lovely place and our accommodation gives us yet another great view! It has obviously paid off to come a little out of season and for three days as we have been upgraded from a studio to a 2 bedroomed apartment. This is over two floors so we have the view twice over! We do have a spare room if anyone is interested! Our facilities are excellent too with our own laundry room and a dishwasher! We have a shower head that I have never seen the like of before so will let you know how that works out!

Cable Bay from our bedroom

We are now pretty far north in North Island. There is only the very top narrow bit to go and we are hoping to get right up there to Cape Reinga in the next few days. Other than that we are hoping to chill out! Not that its cold though - even on a rather cloudy day it has been pleasantly warm.

Our accommodation from Cable Bay beach