Day 2. We meet our tour

At 7am we met our 8 other fellow travelers at Arrivals and headed north toward the Bay of Isles on this very comfortable coach.



First stop Orewa Beach for a beach walk and a cappuccino.
Our OAT Tour Guide is Bob Wilkinson, a native NZer seen in the picture on the left.


Early morning! Margie is so happy to see that there are coffee shops all over NZ. Wonderful cappuccinos!


On the way we stopped for our first sighting of a Kauri tree. Many of these majestic trees have been destroyed by logging or now the brush-tailed possum imported from Australia. Few stands exist. The tree lives thousands of years and can have an 8m diameter. The one in the picture is several thousand years old.



We stopped in the lovely town of Whangarei for lunch at a delightful marina. (Note "wh" in Maori is pronounced like the "f" in fun! A real challenge to say for us!)


Al is standing in front of a huge sundial--part of the clock museum.

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