Have spent loads of time in the air and now in the car. We had champagne which was corked on oz flight from Brisbane to Auckland - a new one on me. Great hotel location in Auckland on the quay at the Sebel. Motel which had all the facilities we required and was right on the quay. We were able to walk out onto the quay and choose our restaurant. Very busy and pleasant, but walking, thru town to change rental car, the rest of Auckland did not seem to be so great. We spent two nights in Auckland. On the first morning we went shopping, Peggy spent some considerable time in the chemist where the lady assistant was extremely helpful discussing each item of purchase in great detail -seemed to take longer but to buy 3 items took half an hour!! They both swopped experiences on ailments and operations! Peggy also bought a small back pack to make day trips easier. We spent the rest of the day by in the afternoon taking the ferry across to Devonport. On our return the ferry was very busy as we confronted as we waited to board the commuters returning home from the city, including people dressed for city jobs with bikes, scooter and roller skates! We left Auckland in the sunshine with the promise of rain. En route we diverted off the main route and after stopping in Paiha at a very pleasant place for lunch(Sahara). Our journey then took us to to the Kauri museum. It does not sound very exciting, a museum with the subject of wood, but the set up with models of the previous inhabitants, the photos and examples of homes, working conditions and machinery made a very interesting tour- very well worth the detour. Our journey then took us more by mistake on the old road to Russell, which was a great journey up and down winding roads with occasional glimpses of the sea on our right and very wooded trees ( for lumber) along the way on the left. We eventually arrived in Russell, which is a pleasant quiet small bay town and our hotel (Duke of Marlboro) was right on the bay front at Russell overlooking the landing stage. We found a small museum of printing which showed how the original clergy 200 years ago translated and printed books in Maori. Peggy found this particularly of interest as her father did book binding as a hobby. We caught the ferry over to Paihai and walked to Waitangi. Waitangi is the founding national day for NZ (Feb 6th) and the area has the original treaty house and other exhibits which helped us understand the history of NZ. What surprised me was how even handed the new UK people those 200 plus years ago were, whilst they could have fought the Maori, they worked with them to set up a mutually beneficial society.

The best resto we found in Russell was the Gables - a few minutes walk which did great fish dishes.

Bryan's bit - we did shopping in Singapore and Auckland- for small luggage bags, shoes and waterproof. Bet we do some more !!! Shopping that is.