this is NZ calling

New Zealand – day one

Arrived into NZ on Wednesday morning after an express flight from Hong Kong. Just over 10 hours, which meant that we landed at Auckland airport at around 10.30 and went through the ‘are you bringing UK mud to NZ on your shoes routine’ which we had expected, but in reality was just as demoralising as entering USA.
Having reported to the car rental company that we’d arrived, a shuttle bus arrived and took us to an off site lot and obtained our allocated Nissan Bluebird, which had almost 125,000 km on the clock, which we quickly installed out road Sat Nav (GPS) to the windscreen and headed north to the voice of Billy Connolly asking us to switch lanes at strategic points along the motorway as we circumnavigated our way around Auckland.

A short break at a service station then had us driving the 3hr journey to Paihia, although not without some concerns as we saw signs for a road toll charge of $2, but then found there were no indications as to where we could pay our money. (more on this later)

We arrived at the Heartlands Hotel (Motel) and greeted by a smiling Canadian receptionist who proceeded to explain basic routines of the hotel. It felt early season, as we entered our room which on 2 sides were completely windowed overlooking the bay of islands. (5 star views)
But sleep was more important than views at this moment. It was about 4.30 and sleep deprivation was kicking in. We collapsed onto the bed and I switched off soundly for around 2 hours.
Showered and changed it was time to explore the small fishing village (maybe town) of Paihia and walked the small wharf where we saw the Ferry arrive from across the bay at Russell.
We found a Pizza (Le scalata) restaurant and devoured a 12in Julius Ceasar Pizza. Although the waitress responded with the quote of the day when I was feeling smug and proud that I had eaten it by saying, “it took you a while though” 
Beer consumed – Speights Dark Ale x 2
Advice on tipping – as much or as little as you like, (or can afford)
Cost - £12 each

Caroline drove the 5 min back to the hotel as we were uncertain about the drink/drive law. We had asked the waitress for her knowledge on the topic, to which she responded with “I feel alright to drive after 1 drink” which wasn’t that clear, as the strengths of none of the alcohol was marked on the menu.

On the topic of alcohol, the sister hotel to the one we are staying at, have a bar that offer a ‘happy hour’ period. However you can chose whenever you want it to start. So I suppose you can never be late for happy hour there.

Anyway, we’ve had a relatively good nights sleep, and now ready to explore the local shops and some tourist attractions, after a hearty cooked breakfast.