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Detailed travelogue on Australia and New Zealand

Detailed Travelogue on Australia and New Zealand

Larry
2006-05-27 03:23:16

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privately owned, and
we actually made a few stops to drop off some mail and supplies.
At mid-day, we stopped for an hour on the one island where Fullers was
allowed to build a concession (a small snack bar/restaurant). There's a
short 15-minute hike up the top of the hill, and the view from the top is
absolutely beautiful. A lot of people were camping and swimming on the
island, as it was the only public island with facilities (food, power,
toilets, etc.) The other public islands have no facilities (you must use
the facilities on your boat). There was even a broken payphone, but the guy
working the snackbar let me use their cordless phone to make a call.
After the stop, we continued onto more of the various islands, seeing
some penguins and seals along the way. We arrived back into Paihia by
3:30pm, and the trip was worth every cent.

It was time to drive back to Auckland, and since it was mid-summer, I
still had a good five hours of daylight left. Instead of returning via the
main coastal route, I decided to go inland, and take some of the beautiful
country roads that I had seen a bit of while driving up. I did so, and
drove through some beautiful farmland, with miles and miles of rolling green
hills. While still keeping my general direction south, I'd just wander a
bit on one road, then decide to take another, then get off onto yet another
to look around. I took a lot of dirt back roads as well, passing sheep farm
after sheep farm in the bright afternoon -- probably the only tourist to
take these roads, stopping now and then to get out and look around.
The people I met along the way were more than friendly. I stopped once
at a small country Shell station to ask about the area, and the owner took
out a large, detailed map of all the roads (dirt and sealed) that were, of
course, not on any regular map. ...

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