Auckland, Tauranga, Rotorua and the North Island of New Zealand Nov 6-14

Auckland, Tauranga, Rotorua and the North Island of New Zealand Nov 6-14

We flew to Auckland today which is a 3.5 hour flight and we lost another 4 hours in time zone as we are now 20 hours ahead of Calgary. We rented a van from Omega instead of Avis and for about $500 NZ and headed to our Auckland Hotel. We are staying overnight in the City of Sails because it was too late to drive to Tauranga tonight which is about 4 hours away on the east coast New Zealand. The hotel is no great shakes but it is clean and on the way. We will have a pizza and movie night in the rooms and get a good start.
Its morning and we are on our way. If you have never been to New Zealand, you would find it to be one of the most green places on earth. Everything is so lush and fresh. The temperature here is about 12 degrees colder than Australia and is a cool 12-14 degrees Celsius. The kids are whining about it and then I reminded them how cold it was back in Calgary at the moment and silence befell them. On the way from Auckland to Tauranga, we past about 5 little towns each with about 5 bakery /eateries lining their main streets. We decided to stop at one and we were amazed at the baking and variety of food. We ordered a bunch of stuff and spent the next hour sampling and drinking coffee. The food in New Zealand is truly notable and amazing.
We arrived at Welcome Bay and were pleased to see that the home we rented was right on the seaside. It was low tide and the bay was beginning to empty. In front of our house were the mud flats where the kids decided to go clam digging.
Tracie found us this furnished home on the water in the City of Tauranga Welcome Bay. It has 3 large bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, large kitchen and a deck which surrounds the home and juts out into the bay. It has a hot tub on the back deck overlooking Welcome Bay and a carport. Perhaps the only disappointment is that there is no internet connection and we are going to have to find another NZ broadband. When we opened the home we found a welcome fruit basket complete with wine and sweets. Not a bad start to the New Zealand trek I would say.