Another Weekend Away
The water really is this incredible colour. Driving along Highway 12 last weekend we came across this stunning scene when we looked back after passing through Opononi. It is the entrance to the Hokianga Harbour and an area I'd like to go back and explore in more detail.
Here's a few places we visited with our friends Greg and Judy who I met here .
We stayed overnight in the lovely little seaside hamlet of Russell in the Bay of Islands.
We dropped in to visit the Mahoe Cheese outlet and after buying several cheeses Bob kindly gave us a packet of mozzarella to take away. When I mentioned we had the beginnings of a Caprese Salad he then gave us some basil. All we needed to find was a road stall selling tomatoes, which we did as we drove through Keri Keri .
We sampled wine at Longview Estate and where we bought some of their Boundary Block Riesling. Our money went into this very old cash register.
On the way back to Auckland we drove through the Waipoua Forrest . This is what a 2000 year old tree looks like.
A visit to the Bay of Islands is not complete without seeing the Hundertwasser designed local loos.
You're so lucky to have had such beautiful weather! It has been rather indecisive lately :)
I love hundertwasser...his art is truly beautiful.
Good to see you having such a wonderful time!
Posted by: gisele | October 13, 2006 at 11:49 AM
Gisele - we stopped at Matakana Patisserie on the way north. If we'd had your phone number we would have called and invited you to meet us there.
Posted by: barbara | October 13, 2006 at 12:59 PM
Fanstastic day. I want to go to Opononi and make fresh caprese!
Posted by: roger | October 13, 2006 at 04:18 PM
Stunning, makes me want to visit New Zealand even more!
Posted by: beccy | October 13, 2006 at 05:18 PM
We have a Hundertwasser here in Osaka, it is the garbage incinerator facility. What a beautiful get-away.
Posted by: Kat | October 13, 2006 at 06:17 PM
Absolutely amazing - I did a double take when I saw that first picture, I couldn't believe what I saw. As the NZ trip of my girlfriends draws close, I've passed a link to this post to them, hopefully they'll make it through the area and those locations when they're there in December :)
Posted by: Ellie | October 13, 2006 at 07:36 PM
We had a great weekend, thanks Barbara and Bryan, you showed us lots of things we would have missed if we had just been relying on our travel guide.
Perfect weather, company, food & wine. It doesn't get any better than that!
Posted by: Judy | October 13, 2006 at 07:39 PM
Roger ..and I'd like to go to Provence and eat anything.
Beccy - The best scenery is in the South Island but there are some beautiful spots in the north also.
Hat - Hundertwasser certainly exhibits in some strange places.
Ellie - what a pity you aren't coming to NZ also. Have your friends email me if they want any help.
Judy - next time we'll do the Barossa or McLaren maybe.
Posted by: barbara | October 14, 2006 at 06:25 AM
Barbara, This brings back tons of memories. We stayed 3 days around Russell in Feb this year. Nice nice!
Posted by: Bea at La Tartine Gourmande | October 15, 2006 at 09:26 PM
How very nice! Thanks for sharing your photos with us!
Paz
Posted by: Paz | October 16, 2006 at 12:50 AM
Barbara - Drop me an email and I'd be more than happy to give you my number and meet you the next time your north of the bridge or round the Orewa area :)
Posted by: gisele | October 16, 2006 at 09:36 AM
Sounds like you've been having a great time of it recently. Lovely photos! We really must take a few more day / overnight trips ourselves, especially now the weather is warmer. We seem to get stuck at home doing chores around the farm most weekends... sigh!
Posted by: Bron | October 17, 2006 at 08:36 AM
Bea - Ahipira is planned for our next trip.
Paz - your welcome.
Gisele - will do.
Bron - we didn't get to take many trips when the boys were little.
Posted by: barbara | October 17, 2006 at 11:42 AM
Beautiful, wonderful photos and that place I cannot pronounce!!You are lucky!!With our kids, only vacation spots we have are Orlando,FL and plenty of museums!!:)))
Enjoy!!
Posted by: Asha | October 17, 2006 at 11:22 PM
Beautiful photos I have always wanted to visit NZ. Might make it one day as we have friends and my husband has cousins living there.
Posted by: Chris B | October 23, 2006 at 12:06 AM
Asha - I love museums and we have hardly any.
Chris - I hope you get to visit someday. We'll meet up if you do.
Posted by: barbara | October 23, 2006 at 12:41 PM