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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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Later, while stopped once on a dirt road, a
lady in a passing pickup asked if I needed directions or help. People were
friendly, the scenery was gorgeous, and it was something I could never get
taking the coastal highway back. I cannot stress enough to anyone planning
a trip up to the Bay of Islands from Auckland, to leave some time and take
the small inland country roads. If I had taken the coastal route, the drive
would have been 2.5 hours (without holiday traffic). Instead, I leisurely
enjoyed a beautiful 6 hours, and didn't get back into Auckland until 9:45pm.
Since I would be spending the next day in Auckland, and would have no
need of a car, I drove to the Auckland airport that night, and returned the
car back to Avis at around 10:15pm. Getting airport transportation back
into the city though, wasn't easy. They have shuttle buses (NZ$15) but they
only run when the planes get in, in order to fill them up. The shuttle bus
driver said I'd have to wait 45-60 minutes for the next flight, or take a
taxi for NZ$35. Finally, one of the taxi drivers said he'd take me back to
town for NZ$25 (US$18), so I took him up on the offer. An interesting taxi
driver to say the least, he kept offering to both get me a girl for the
night, and drive me all the way down to Rotorua (an famous hot springs area
in the south that's a long trip by car). Finally, I reached the "hotel" I'd
be staying at, a nice little dive called "Chateau Maples" that was much like
the Sydney hotels -- old, small private rooms with shared baths at NZ$48
(US$34.50) a night. It was clean and quiet though, and I stayed there for
two nights.
The next morning, I noticed a sign on the front of Chateau Maples saying
that it was to be torn down in a few months. I asked the man at the counter
about it, and he said yes, the ...

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