DAY 6

We have arrived at the Bay of Islands- very beautiful and the weather is holding nicely. We drove via the Kauri Museum - the Kauri tree and its resin have been used for everything - it was very interesting and the whole thing has been set up as a village so there was alot to see. The trees are enormous and ancient. We saw two earlier - mere stripplings 0nly 800 & 600 years old. This afternoon we have been to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and seen the Treaty House, the Maori Meeting House the 35 metre long Maori canoe. Tonight we go to a Maori culture evening! Don't look for pictures- they are taking too long to upload - and I'm paying by the minute. Next blog on Friday- tomorrow is a free day.

Day 5

Auckland is hot & busy and we've had a good day with a bus tour of the town this morning which took us to the Domain and around the harbour as well as down town where the waterfront as very interesting. There were literally thousands of boats - it seems that every 4 people here have access to their own boat and there were two cruise liners berthed. We then crossed the North Harbour bridge and visited Devonport. This afternoon we wentwith 4 others to the latest visitor attraction an underwater world and antartic encounter with a moving walkway through the fish tanks with sting rays and sharks swimming around. A snowmobile took us in amongst live penguins living in their proper conditions. Tomorrow we leave for the Bay of Islands. Lots of beautiful summer flowers around too.

Days 4-5

Sunday after a short walk to Orchard Road we took a boat ride along the river Singapore. Lots to see. In the afternoon we were being picked up for the airport and our flight to Sydney. Unfortunately there was a delay on the incoming flight and we were told that we would not make the connection to Auckland - so we were rerouted via Air New Zealand. But we are here, the weather is lovely and the tour starts tomorrow. Blog 3a has a couple of the pictures.

Day 3

This really feels like day 1! We travelled safely to Singapore even it did seem a little odd to spend the night sitting up watching films etc fortunately there was a wide choice. But really the most interesting thing was to follow the progress of the airoplane and see just how many different countries we flew over. As we stepped out of the airport the heat and humidity hit us. Air conditioning in every vehicle seems to be the norm.Singapore at first sight looked like a cleaner brighter London - but today we spent the morning on a tour of the city and saw just how diverse a place it is. Everything is built skywards - and 70+ floors seem to be the aim of developers. In between there are areas like Chinatown with temples and little shrines & Little India - a bazaar with numerous stalls with jewellery and saris etc. We also saw the national orchid collection at the Botanical Gardens. This afternoon we visited Raffles Hotel and partook of tea- that I think is the word- it was an experience! The hotel is a wonderful left over of colonial architecture - low with numerous wings and balconies together with commissionaires in Bengali uniform and a very up market shopping centre. More on Moday- travelling tomorrow.

pre holiday info

Hi everyone We shall be leaving for our dream holiday in 3 weeks. Watch this space for information. Carol and Nigel