Time to Go Home

After almost five months we decided to head for home. Now mid-winter in NZ it remains respectably warm but raining long and hard. Having had a great time in NZ, all avenues for further travel remain closed so we have decided to call a halt and head for home. Sadly, by the time you read this we will be travelling to the UK, Covid style.

Sightseeing for the last couple of weeks has been centred around the Auckland area. It's pleasant enough, for a city, but undergoing major development work so resembling a building site at almost every street corner and not looking its best. 

That said the harbour area was lovely with huge marinas and some spectacular yachts for the ultra-rich.

The ferry system is really efficient so it was easy for us to take day trips to Devonport and islands in the Hauraki Gulf. Some of the remote islands have cleared the predators, so that native birds are recovering and we had some lovely sightings on Tiritiri Island.

After 2 weeks we had 'done' Auckland so took 3 days to see Waiheke Island, a classy community offshore with some nice beaches and of course plenty of vineyards that needed checking out. Being the most northerly wine area we visited we found some nice reds, certainly much improved on the relative disappointment of Hawkes Bay.

The final travel leg was to rent a car and make a short tour of Coromandel, a peninsula on the east coast. Unfortunately the weather was pretty grim but we did get to see the famous Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach where, as the name suggests, 60C water permeates up through the sand at low tide enabling a hot spa on the beach. Despite the wind and rain there were a few mad Kiwis lounging in their private bath !

So, to wrap up, we are about to fly home on Singapore Airlines. As NZ remains Covid free we have been shielded from many of the restrictions being felt elsewhere but are about to join the oddities of the 'new world'. As a result of a 2 hour stop in Singapore to change planes we will need to self-isolate, effectively quarantine, when we get home. So, if you see us confined to the garden please don't feel too smug about your freedom!

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the pictures and look forward to seeing the British contingent soon.