Still, that did not hinder me as I was looking for some adventure (I've ruled out Queenstown and Taupo for the time being - save some action for Spring or as Summer approaches).
The Bay of Islands is on the north-east coast of Northland, which according to my interpretation is the land to the north of Auckland. I'm not joking around. It's that simple :P
There seems to be quite a lot to do if you know where to go. Let's just say I had an inkling of how to make my way around - got myself plenty of maps (even one to get out of the city and on to the highway), no accommodations booked, some food on the go, and a full tank of gas. Traits of a typical roadtrip I guess!
Here's the map showing Point A to Point B:
I had already ruled out a bus trip (as it was gonna be a long 200+ kilometers of travelling) and a flight to KeriKeri (too expensive and where's the fun in that?).
I eventually made my way from Auckland at around 1pm, hiring my car from Bargain Rentals:
A Toyota Vitz, an engine that I was somewhat familiar with, a more compact version of the Yaris, this was to be my mode of transportation. $40 a day (there might be cheaper ones out there but may be less convenient or less worthy cars).
Upon entering the Northland region (which was only about 10-20km from Auckland), I found myself tuning into Times FM 89.9. Pretty fantastic music they have on this station. Quite apt to hear New Zealand's very own Neil Finn singing "everywhere you go, always take the weather with you"...
After driving for an hour I realized that all the map brochures and google map directions I brought along were of very little use and only served the purpose of renewing confidence in my road sense. All I had to do was stick to the Auckland Northern Motorway up till Highway 1, and the road signs were just peachy! But I also had to know which major town I'll be stopping by next; Whangarei was that place.
Upon getting out of the major highway, I was still wondering where to pay the toll. It turns out that the fellas over here have an automated toll collection scheme, whereby you call a toll-free number or visit their weybsite to settle.
Oh, there's also the queueing up method, but I was kinda lucky finding this machine as it wasn't really my intention at that point of time.
Machine was meant for those heading back south, so I paid for my round-trip toll fees.
Shortly after, I was driving on mostly unpaved road - meaning that it was kinda noisy and I was pretty comfortable driving at 90kph and no more. Ok, I'm kidding. I'm a Malaysian. There's always an itch to nudge me up 5-10kph above the speed limit..
Speaking of speed limits, lemme tell you a little something something about the speed limits here.
- You get 100kph even on single lanes [I could settle with that]
- There's speed limits on corner signs as well [One-up to NZ!]
- Speed limits vary from 80kph to 30kph to 70kph. Within a 50 meter distance. [FAIL]
By this time, some of you may be asking/demanding - Where's the sheep? Where's the beautiful scenery? More pictures, MORE!
I was driving, so it would be an awful thing to be snapping photos and driving at the same time. There wasn't a lotta places where you could just stop by the side of the road and take pictures. The roads at Northland are mostly single lanes with some overtaking lanes every 5-10km.
But that doesn't mean I didn't take any pictures. Weather was cloudy so I didn't get the best of pictures, so here's one ... just to give you an idea of how it was:
The green plains just stretch for miles and miles. It is an amazingly green country. Dare I say it is greener than Malaysia? It probably is. I see herds of cows and sheep grazing the grassy plains and hillside, consumed in serenity, machinery at work in producing the Anchor milk I drink.
Where's the sheep?
Well here they are.
Why? I don't know. That's just how I found them. There are probably just about as many cows as there are sheeps from my viewpoint, but since almost everyone whom I spoken to before my NZ trip had yakked away about sheep... :) well here they are ladies and gentlemen :)
Private Viewing Party Anyone?
Yeah, there's where I found them coloured sheep - SheepWorld. 24 dollahs to watch sheeps here. No way Jose. My Chinahman instincts took over pretty darn quick, so no paying but just snapping shots from the distance.
Shady Sheep.
From an even more distant distance:
See ya later sheeps.
The whole driving experience to the Bay of Islands reminded me of a trip to Kota Bahru, blended with some sharp Genting-like turnings. Not too steep but there were certainly some hills to climb.
Straight road to Somewhere.
After many stops and getting slightly lost, I eventually made my way to Whangarei, KawaKawa and finally to Paihia. I couldn't really remember the rest of the small towns - I think there was a Hikurangi, and the Kawiti Glowworms cave stop. I'm gonna opt for Waitomo instead.
Next up?
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