[lettie]

After Coromandel, I took the Firth of Thames coastal road and headed back to Auckland for the weekend, I'd promised my nephew video and chocolate night, and as I hadn't seen him for nearly 2 years it was the least I could do. On the Sunday, I then set off north to the beautiful Bay of Islands. There was a christmas parade taking place in Auckland city centre that day, so I set off at the crack of dawn in order to miss the city traffic crossing the harbour bridge. There are only motorways through major cities here and they are awful to drive on. Exits in Auckland can come off the left and right lanes, undertaking is acceptable, road rage common and if there is a space between you and the car in front, someone will cut in at 100kph. My only advice is, if you are ever travelling through Auckland to go up north stick to the middle lanes. These lanes will take you through the city and straight over the bridge without incident. I was given this advice by just about every New Zealander I met. Once out of the city, the road suddenly becomes dual carriage way, then one track roads with passing places. Well signposted and lovely to drive on, barely any traffic. After about 3 1/2 hours I arrived in Paihia. The first thing I did was go to the wharf and booked a boat trip. It's the best way to see the Bay of Islands. There are well over 100 small islands here, the locals reckon 144 islands, but some guide books say 150, so who knows?? The first photo is of Cape Brett, taken from the bay end, as you round the Cape, there is a massive hole in the rock, big enough to get the boat through. Unfortunately, as we went through the rock, my camera film ran out. Some of these Islands have lovely beaches, which are all public beaches. some islands are privately owned, but NZ law states that beaches have to be public, so even on the private islands, you can moor your boat and use the beach. Some views of the islands, and Pilot Whales playing in the area are in the pics.