Air New Zealand and Brisbane Airport treated us amazingly well from the moment Tara dropped us off. We saw no sign of the much mentioned strike chaos as we made our way through security. We killed an hour poking around the airport shops, boarded our flight, watched a really good documentary about Tim Minchin and Matilda and found ourselves in Auckland. It really was that simple.
The first night was spent squeezed into an airport hotel (sadly, when you arrive at midnight there are precious few alternatives).
Today, Sunday, we had a short list that needed to be completed.
– Pick up the car
– Get something to eat
– Get a local mobile number and some data
– Head for Kerikeri
– Find our Airbnb accommodation
So we end the day five for five.
The journey from Auckland to Kerikeri was predictably picturesque. We stuck to the main roads with a couple of minor detours to break up the journey but about 4 hours after leaving, we pulled into 16a Cobham Court, our home for the next few nights.
This evening we walked down to the Stone Store (New Zealand’s oldest stone building 1836) before finding ourselves in Diablo’s eating Mexican food and drinking wine and beer.
Tomorrow, the Bay of Islands.
The Obligatory Blog 