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This is our eighth day on the road in NZ; the sun is shining again after a couple of cloudy days and an evening storm. We spent three days travelling up the east coast as far as Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands. There was quite of lot of Maori history to take in, including the Waitanga Treaty grounds where relations between the British and the Maoris turned a corner in 1840. We came back via the hilly west coast marvelling at the huge Kauri trees. The logging activities in the 19th century destroyed most of these amazing giants, but there are now some reserves with the oldest tree said to be 2,000 years old with a 15-metre girth.
We are currently on the Coromandel Peninsula, a very mountainous and, in part, a surprisingly remote area of the country. We spent time with a telecope spotting birds (in their thousands) on the Seabird Coast. Have also done a bit of hiking (or 'tramping' as it's called over here) and eaten smoked mussels, a Peninsula speciality.
We've had a few 'church' experiences so far. We were Lutherans in LA, then Southern Sea Catholics in the Cook Islands (with hymns accompanied by a southern seas guitar); while last week we were Anglicans at the oldest church in NZ.
The plan now is to head to Rotorua and Mount Tongariro (or Mount Tarantino as Fran calls it). Unfortunately we haven't had a chance to upload any photos yet - hope to do so next week.
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