Our Journey to the Bay of Islands
This entry was posted on 12/7/2006 4:52 AM and is filed under New Zealand.
It was a 4.5 hour drive north from Auckland to the Bay
of Islands, still driving on the wrong side of the road. It was
called Highway 1, and was similar to the Highway 1 that we know in
Northern California. This one was also very narrow and had only
two lanes with the occasional passing lane. It was scenic with
more cows than sheep.
We drove past a little store that had a
sign posted that read "Last Cheese for Miles", so of course we had to
stop. It was in the city of Kaiwaka and you can see why Mindy
fell in love with it. It featured two of her favorite
things...cheese and licorice.
They must have had 20 kinds of licorice: salty, sweet, hard, soft, etc.
I wouldn't let Mindy sample these chips...way too weird.
Nor these....
Our
Lodge at Bay of Islands reminded us of a small scale Ventana or Post
Ranch in Big Sur. We found it on the Internet. Only 4 rooms,
each with its own balcony overlooking the magnificent Bay. And
there are only two rooms occupied during our visit. Peter, the
owner, cooks breakfast and dinner for the guests at his two Lodges every
day either up here or at their other Lodge closer to the Bay. He
and his wife Glennis Meier owned a restaurant for several years before
switching their profession to lodge keepers.
Here's a view of the place from just up the road. It sits atop the hill with magnificent views...
The balcony outside our room...
View of the Bay of Islands
