We arrived back in Opua on Friday afternoon. The boat is in good shape and we now will start another phase -- getting ready for our next passage -- to Tonga this time.

We got a good view of a tui. Note the puff balls at his neck.

Our last stop on our New Zealand tour was the Auckland War Memorial / Museum. It is is a large part in downtown Auckland. There are many Maori exhibits and some informaiton about volcanos and animals. The uper floor is devoted to military.

There was an exhibit of items from the Buried Village from the 1886 volcanic eeruption. It made us think we should have looked at the buried villiage. Next time.

Again there was information about how scientists think the Polynesian migration happened. It pretty much is the same as most of the others we saw except in the Marquesas.

As we came to Auckland we stopped in Howick.

We had learned about "fencibles" at The Elms in Tauranga. They came at the invitation of the British government to protect (make Auckland de"fencible") in the 1850s. They were ex British soldiers and families who could no longer serve military duties. They came "just in case" they were needed -- and never were. They got their pay for marching every Sunday. There wer four camps of these "fencibles" near Auckland and Howick ws the larges.

They have some of the orgiginal cottages provided these soldiers. It was pointed out that they did not get the cottages right away and had to live in raupo huts until they were built -- for at least a year. That was an upgrade from the tents they had to use when they arrived (shall we say the government had not prepared for them before they arrived). The maoris had to help.

When the cottages were built -- see building in background -- each family got two rooms and attic. The buildings are "duplexes".

From Karangahake we drive up the east coast of the Firth of Thames -- on the east of Auckland. The city does not come this far -- thankfully. The beach has shallow water and shorebirds wade and feed. Some are long distance migratory birds.

From Tauranga we continued up the coast to Wahi Beach in the southern Coromondel. What a pretty beach town and seemingly off the beaten track. From there we started back to Auckland and Opua and ran into Karangahake
Gorge. We took a walk there and enjoyed the gold miner relics and walked through a train tunnel about a km long. We crossed four swing bridges.

This fascinating walk follows an old railway line through the mine workings at Karangahake and along the Ohinemuri River. At the far end of the track you can explore the remains of the impressive Victoria Battery complex.