Getting through Auckland was very easy, no roundabouts and no traffic lights, Hamilton though was a bit more complicated. It seemed like we changed direction from north to west and then back to north about five times, went through 13 to 15 roundabouts and a few sets of lights. Our friend, whom lives north of Auckland and drove truck here for twenty plus years, says Hamilton is a nightmare even for Kiwis to get through, but it is well signed and we really had no problems.
Going through Auckland, the motorway just goes from a one lane to a three lane freeway through the city. Speed limit of 100kms and every one including big trucks travel at that speed. I stayed in the middle lane and stayed up to the vehicle in front of me. The drive did have its moments. The lanes are narrower here than at home and at one point Loreen was leaning over so far her head was almost on my knee, now I was used to her doing that on the mountain roads, but not on the motorways. A semi was passing us in the left lane and when she recovered she said "Oh my God, I could have reached out and touched that truck, it was so close". Then a bit later she said to me, "What a pretty view, no don't look I will just describe it to you"! At that point we were going past the marina and the sail boat masts where in the hundreds, which is why Auckland is called the city of sails.
Auckland, has large bays on both sides of the city and it is only a very small piece of land between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. There are numerous marinas and the highest amount of sailboats per capita of any city in the world.
Surprisingly, 30kms north of Auckland we were back down to one lane motorways and almost immediately back into the mountain and sea shore roads.
Again, we were taken in by the scenery and the beaches.
We went to Waipu on Bream Bay with sand beaches forever and no one on them. We were there Thursday and Friday and on Friday a few families and some surfer dudes showed up, but pretty vacant compared to the beaches on the west coast of North America.
We spent most of Saturday in Managawhai where our Kiwi friends live and they hosted a barbecue for us and the neighbors. It was very nice, good food and great people. It was here that I kind of got my head around Kiwi's and their beaches. One of the neighbors was a Brit who had moved to NZ in the seventies and he said, "We have so many miles of nice beaches here that we just take them for granted, not like Europe or other parts of the world. No matter where you live in NZ you can be on a pristine sand beach in a few hours".
So our Kiwi adventure draws to a close, and we have missed so much. We seen a lot and never stayed in any one place more than three nights, but there is just so much more to see here. This is a "return to country", but would need to come for a few months to see it all.
Samoa here we come!
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