New Zealand: Auckland to Waitangi

We arrived in Auckland about 5 in the morning. I didn't think that would be so bad, but I kind of forgot the time difference.  :-/  So in reality we were in the car and off at our body clock time of 3am. So yes, a wee bit tired.

We drove past Auckland city, and the sky tower was glowing a warm red in the early morning darkness.

Up the highway we stopped at a servo to get a toll ticket, and a cappuccino and was asked cinnamon or chocolate. Huh?  Umm, I'm not quite sure about that...

We pulled over at a roadside stop just short of Whengarai (yeah, it aint pronounced the way it is spelt) and had an hours sleep before driving on into town for breakkie at the Essence Cafe.

It was bucketing down rain most of the day.

We arrived at Paihai early afternoon and walked around Waitangi in the short gap between showers.

We checked into the Appledore Cottage in the afternoon, which was a really nice B&B on the Waitangi River.  Our hosts greeted us with drinks and a warm chat and before we settled in.

Dinner was at the 35 Degrees South overlooking the Bay of Islands, which was still beautiful even with grey skies.

 See some more pics from Day 1