On holiday

This morning I slept in till about 6am. No pressure I guess. We got up a bit after 7 and finished the packing and then headed for breakfast. I collected a few more set of photos from a couple of the girls to add to the collection for the DVD.

About 9 they started loading the luggage on the truck and by 9-30 or so the buses were on their way. I had our room’s left over food as well as Janese and Betty’s. That together with my laptop made my sports bag pretty heavy. Even taking out the laptop once I’d arrived at the airport only helped a bit so hopefully that means it’s mostly the weight of the food.

The trip back was pleasant enough and I took numerous photos from the bus this time. The country side remains picturesque. We also go in the middle of some vintage car/hot rod rally and had these unusual cars passing us.

After collection the luggage and saying goodbye I headed for the bus to the city and after a short wait we headed off, arriving at my hotel about 1. I unpacked both the case and the sports bag and put on a load of washing, then went for a couple of short walks buying drinks and crackers. My lunch was avocado, ham, tomato and cheese on crackers.

I then booked a car for tomorrow and decided that my first stop would be Paihia in the Bay of Islands. The car people will collect me at 10 and it is supposed to be about 4 hours to drive.

I thought I’d better see something of Auckland, since I’m here so I wandered to the Sky Tower which is not that far away and basically saw a lot of Auckland. This is the highest tower in the Southern Hemisphere but if the facts are actually put out correctly, it is only the mast that is “tallest” the viewing height is lower than the AMP tower in Sydney. None the less it is plenty high enough and there are glass floors in the lift and at regular intervals around the viewing area. The lift ride to the top takes 40 secs and it is 382m high. I took lots of .photos.

I then walked down to the docks and then back to the hotel, several km I would think.

I had dinner at a chinse BBQ restuarant acroos the road from the hotel. Lots of chinese students there it seemed. My BBQ pork fried rice was only $9, so that could explain it. I had planned to go out later but fell asleep doing the cross word and woke up at 11-30. I was obviously in the wrong position as my back was sore again. Put on a final load of washing and then when to sleep again.