Leaving the North

Today we have to cope with the longest day stage of our tour through New Zealand. It is a farewell with rain, the weather gets better though with every mile towards the South. The mist still hovering in the valleys along the road creates a charming landscape of its own.

As we promised Elizabeth we are stopping for a break in Whangaparaoa. She coddles us with fresh scones and a cup of tea and won’t let as go without further tips for our tour to Rotorua.

One part of the highway to Auckland is liable to charges. Armed with the 2,20 NZD needed we tackle the highway. And pass the route before you can count to ten. Where should we have paid, we didn’t see a tollbooth or anything similar?! Unfortunately at the end of this road cameras are installed above to register each vehicle passing. We fear to get a ticket. Later on Gernot luckily succeeds in paying our debts to the New Zealand government via internet. They really had a bill open with the licence number of our rented car from that very day.

Somewhere between Hamilton and Rotorua the mood gets huffy. We are no more used to be able to choose from so many possible roads and cannot agree on which is the right one to take. After travelling 8,5 hours we finally reach our aim happily and tired, “Little Ohau Fishing Lodge” in Mourea. This cottage by far hasn’t got the standard of “Oceandreaming” but: We can take a shower whenever we want, even several times a day, we may serve ourselves in the vegetable garden, free-range eggs are brought to the door and … WiFi at last! We will be fine for the next four nights to come.

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