About Me

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I retired from the Auto Industry in the Detroit area and now make my home in sunny Arizona. I enjoy travel and photography. Although I often think of my photography as serendipitous; I really direct myself to places where those pleasant surprises are likely to occur. When I travel I call myself the "Happy Wanderer".

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Notes From New Zealand -- Day 7 -- April9

1. Rained on and off during the night and throughout the day today.  Started on the road about 8am.
 
2. Traffic was slow thru Auckland.  North of Auckland was a toll road, but the unusual thing was there was no toll booth.  What they do is take a photo of your license plate as you are driving through and then you are to contact the government through the internet or by phone and give your credit card info for them to charge the toll.  If you don't contact them in 3 days you receive a fine.  It was a pain but I charged my VISA through the internet for $2.
 
3. Went off the main highway to go along the ocean coast.  Stopped at several roadside parks.  The runoff from the rain along with low tide made for some interesting sights along the way.  Some of the coastal trees grew in an unusual manner -- the trunks grew almost horizontal from the edge of the road toward the ocean with some of the limbs growing downward into the sand.
 
4. Arrive in Whangerei around 2:30 pm.  Check-in at the hostel was not until 5pm, so I went to the harbor in town.  Traffic was very busy in town.
 
5. This YHA hostel was not to my liking.  It was cramped, had too few bathrooms, and not enough parking.

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