Paihia to Thames - October 5th
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| Our balcony at the Retreat |
A big tourist draw up here is at Waitangi,
just up the road from Pahia. It's where the Treaty between the Maoris and the Crown was
signed. It is a bit pricey for visitors at $35 each so we gave it a miss.
It is free for Kiwi's but, unfortunately, we did not find anyone nearby to
temporarily adopt us. Maybe I'll wear an All Black shirt and Jandals
next time.
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| Great views at the Retreat |
Pahia gets really busy in the peak season which means there are lots
of parking restrictions. We struggled to find a free park until someone let us on to the big local secret that there is no warden! No worries, as they say. Russell would probably
be a nicer place to stay. Not loads of
accommodation though, apparently the sewage system is a limiting factor. Pahia is very much a tourist town and it was much better, for us anyway, staying just out of town at The Retreat.
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| The Retreat our room |
Three
days is really not long enough to do justice to the Bay of Islands and
the North but our time was up and it was time to head south via
Auckland to Thames at the bottom of the Coromandel Peninsula, our next
base. The road south winds its way through hilly country and we made
things even worse by diverting off Highway One towards the East coast past Waipu Cove. We enjoyed the detour and TW got to drive on an unsealed road for the first
time. We were on the road for over six hours all told which was a bit too long! We were Ready for
Dinner and a trip to the food store in Thames. NZ
has very good Supermarkets with masses of choice and long opening
hours. This is one of the
biggest changes since my last visit. The Pak'nSave in Thames is huge.
Fish and veggies are particularly good. The spinach is awesome! Thames on Thames looks a nice town, going to like it.
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