NZ Holiday - Bay of Islands - Waiheke to Paihia

North to the Bay of Islands - 2nd October 2012
Leaving Waiheke -Approaching the City of Auckland
The Retreat near Paihia - Our view from the  balcony
Back on the Fullers Ferry for the 35 minute ride to Auckland. Picked up a hire car from Budget and headed North on Highway One for about 3.5 hrs to the Bay of Islands. Getting out of Auckland and across the bridge to the North Shore was pretty straightforward. There is a short toll section about 40 mins into the journey. You buy your toll vouchers at a machine in the BP filling station a few minutes to the South. They use number plate recognition so you input your registration and buy the required number of toll vouchers at $2.20 each. There is an old road you can take if you are a tight wad. Unusually, we opted for the Toll Road.
Is it a UFO, or a Mine? 
Or maybe my Steak is cooked
Once the Motorway ran out we undulated and wound our way past Whangerei to our destination between Paihia and Ohua. Our little Apartment at The Retreat had excellent sea views from its hilltop location amongst the bush. It was a bit rustic and the owners Kevin and Jan were very friendly and we liked it there. Jan recommended we eat at the RSA, bit like the British Legion, in Paihia. There are not so many Returned Servicemen these days so they open their doors more widely. Because of the military connections we went on a reconnoitre and checked out the menu. The barman was a jolly sort, he wanted to know who had sent us and said they would be in trouble for causing him more work. When asked if we need to book he responded with 'Jeez we are not that bloody popular'. We took that as a 'no' and headed back in the evening for a nice Mixed Grill with salad bar and coffee for $22 each. Had my first Pint of DB (Dominion Bitter) of the trip. They keep staffing to a minimum so there is an element of self service. You choose your beer glass from a chiller and take it to the bar. Also the kitchen give you a mini UFO pager which you put on your  table and it starts to buzz and flash when your meal is ready to collect.  Cunning these military types! Nice evening anyway. Paihia is a tourist town so it was nice to go somewhere that was 'proper Kiwi'.
Location: Paihia, New Zealand

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