Weather - overcast with showers predicted 18-25 C
Up bright & early, showered & luggage outside door about 7am. Then off to breakfast & back to room for final last minute packing. We leave Auckland this morning at 8am.
After checking out we board the coach (by now it is pouring rain) and head off at 8am as planned. The coach is almost full, however some passengers are on the end of their NZ tour & will depart when we return to Auckland, others are coming on in Auckland to do both islands and a few will be leaving in Wellington after completing the North Island. As I said last night we have a mix of mostly Australian & UK passengers with a few others from NZ and Europe. The age average appears to be 50-60 with just a few young ones and a few maybe 70 +.
Our coach driver is Mark and tour guide Lu, until we return to Auckland then we have Phil as our tour guide. After about 2 hours we stopped for coffee (can't remember where as these Maori names trip me up every time) then on the road again until we stopped for lunch and a look around Whangarei. We found a supermarket (they all sell alcohol here) & purchased a bottle of wine and some cider. Just as well because I just checked the wine list here at the hotel and a bottle of the cheapest Jacobs Creek wine is $43! We paid $14 for a good quality NZ Sav Blanc.
After a brief stop in Paihia to organise optional tours we arrived at our hotel, Copthorne, Hotel & Resort, Bay of Islands around 3.30pm. We will be spending 2 nights here, leaving for Auckland on New Years Day. The resort is quite nice with all rooms opening out onto a lovely tropical garden area. Birds everywhere and ducks wandering the grounds give it a nice feel. After a brief rest and putting the old feet up, we sat outside with a cider. The showers keep coming, then the next moment we have sunshine. It is very steamy though with high humidity.
I haven't been able to get any mobile reception here, nor is there any obvious free Internet, however I will check when we go for dinner to see what can be done. Otherwise it will be a communication free New Year!
Not many photos taken today which is a shame, because the countryside was just gorgeous and so green, but because of the rain visibility was low and when I take photos from within the coach they come out very poor quality because of the reflection.
The weather cleared around 6pm and by the time we finished dinner around 7.30 it was beautiful outside. Clear blue skies & a nice cool breeze. We took a walk around the resort and along the waterfront, walking through the water at the beach. This really is a beautiful spot, more so if you are into swimming as there is the beach and several shaded pools. We came back to our room about 8.30 & sat outside with a glass of wine watching the wildlife. Within in a period of 30 mins we saw ducks, rabbits, quail, parrots plus some other bird varieties I can't name. I will add a few pics below.
Tomorrow is a free day so weather permitting I should get some nice photos of the bay.
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