Rob's World Tour

New Zealand -Bay of Islands to Auckland

New Plymouth 6 Jan 2005 After another visit to Wellington we drove north , traffic jams due to floods, coast side town. Russell 9th Jan to 11 Jan 2005 After a few stop offs we made it up to the Bay of Islands and the highlight of our New Zealand jaunt. We stayed in a lovely little town called Russell, enjoying a few sun sets, wine & mussels. After a few nights there we booked a 24 hour cruise on a ship called 'The Rock' - wasn't too sure if they meant 'steady as a rock' or 'sinks like a rock' - but we boarded regardless. The following 24 hours were great & involved - amongst other things - night kayaking, fishing (I did catch a fish - but my official photographer was too busy talking to take down the evidence!), walking up hills, sitting on secluded beaches, eating freshly caught mussels and drinking cold beer watching the sun set - it was a winner from start to finish.




Auckland 13 Jan to 17 Jan 2005 Return to the city to sell Henry (sob), met friends and prepare for next country... We headed back to Auckland to sell Henry the Hi Ace. We gave him a scrub, cleaned him out and drove him into the Backpackers Car Mart to meet some new friends. After a couple of nibbles we managed to sell him to an English couple for $4000. We paid $4400 for him 2 months ago (and drove 6,000kms) & he needed $500 of repairs, so we were very happy. So by 3pm that day we had pockets bulging with cash and headed to a hostel. Some people had been there for 4 days, so we were lucky to get out of there. We spent our last few days enjoying sunny Auckland, did the sky tower, harbours etc and had a good couple of nights out with a very nice couple we met on 'The Rock' >>> Drinks, food & comedy club action were done - Chris even let me win 1 game of pool.


So - To Australia !