Day 3 we left booking our car till this morning and used a company not in the big leagues (hertz etc).
We were picked up at 10.45 and taken to pick up the car. It is an 8yr old lancer. So far it is good and it cost less than $400aus  for 3 weeks hire.
We got Jane working, our gps and headed for the coromandel area. It was raining in Auckland when we left but cleared as we drove away from the area.
Stopped at Thames to pick up some bits to make dinner and then went another 14km to our accomodation. It was c lean and  very tired but right on the water.

Day4   we drove the Coromandel  through small quaint villages and it was also A very winding road so lots of concentration for Owen. Stopped at Whitianga  for lunch and watched the ferry going back and forth.
Drove on back through Thames, did some shopping and went back to cook dinner.

Day 5  today we headed for Waihai to a quilt shop i wanted to visit. I spent some time looking and chatting to the ladies at Cushla's Village shop. Owen sat in the car under a tree. And of course i did buy a couple of things.
We then travelled on to Tauranga for lunch then on to Te Puke to a kiwi Fruit farm. We tripped around in a little train and had the guide to ourselves. It was very interesting.

Then on to Rotoroua . So far the smell isn't too bad, just smells like I opened some egg  sandwiches.
Our accommodation is quite nice and we will stay here for 3 days.

New Zealand

Hello from the land of the long white cloud. NEW ZEALAND
We stayed Friday night at the Mantra Close to the airport and were up at 5am to get ready to catch the shuttle bus. We were at the airport and checked our luggage in by 6.30 so went off to have some breakfast. We had another breakfast on the plane.

We touched down at 1.30pm( NZ time)Sat 27th October and I declared some biscuits and nuts so got to go through straight away  but Owen had a  British passport and had to go through the long queue. Didn't matter in the end as the cases took ages to come out.
We went and got a couple  of sim  cards, one for the phone and one for the ipad, then got the shuttle bus to our  accommodation. It is good although a front unit so gets road noise although not too bad.
Went for a walk to Sky City and went up the tower to see the great view and an overall pic of the city. Found an Italian place for dinner which was nice And strolled back to our accommodation ready for bed.

Day 2 we went back to Sky City to pick up the hop on hop off bus. Unfortunately clashed with the city marathon so couldn't get down to the wharf area and the Sun Princess has arrived early that morning. It looked quite large against the buildings.
Stopped and got off at the museum and did a very quick look as we wanted to catch the satellite  bus to do a different circuit.
 That took an hour then back onto the double decker  and by this stage we were able to get off at the wharf area. Walked around there, had some lunch and then walked around till was time for an early dinner.