Two kiwi expats
Who call Australia home
Touring by car with two Canadians
Auckland to Whangarei, New Years Day 2017
Day one of three sixty five dawns
Draws hues of pastel blues
Pale in shades in a white washed sky
Is artistically beautiful
Backdrops Rangitoto and hotel view of Auckland harbour
Toward Devonport, just a ferry ride across
Where Pohutukawa in flowered crimson
Straddle the shore in old sculptured stands
A shaded walking arcade
Of this national glory of the Northern land
Pohutakawa,
Lines the coast in quaint Devonport
New Zealand’s Christmas tree
This Pohutakawa
Features often
With love, in creative artwork
With jandals and marmite,
The humble combie with a surfboard aloft
Along with pukeko, the tui,
The threatened, nocturnal, iconic kiwi
National pride, sits alongside pavlova with kiwifruit,
Manuka honey, whitebait fritters, pipis, and paua
And, don’t forget, the mighty All Blacks
Of mountains and beautiful native bush
All unique to this Land of The Long White Cloud, Aoteoroa,
Kia Ora,
Haere mai, Welcome.
The rising dawn seeps warm Colour to accent
The New Year’s birth
In Auckland, where all is still
Last night’s party a drunken memory
Fireworks stilled post New Year’s revelry
Atop the Sky-tower, at midnight, a blazen glory
First in the world, to countdown, to herald, a New Year story
Auckland streets hummed
Alive with New Year’s spirit
Tourists and locals at one, to celebrate
The joy of hope, a new year’s promise.
We left early to journey north
Two kiwi expats who call Australia home
Touring with two Canadians
Auckland to Whangarei
Further up the coast, Orewa; sleepy,
Has concerns that ‘Another Gold Coast’
Could arise,
Rows of rising high rise
Transforming sheltered beach,
this beloved of havens.
‘Not so’, says the tourist blurb
‘Twould take “exporting the retirees”
And “importing the bikini clad!”‘
Meanwhile Mums and dads and little kids
Decorate the beach using buckets
And spades
Along the shore of gentle waves
Where strollers wade barefoot
In holiday mode, where little kids trail
The eternal weave of ‘beat the wave’ with screaming glee
Orewa, this little holiday town
Features cafes, shops and coffee, more than okay
Puhoi, ‘Historic’ the road sign says Nestles in a nook of a torquoise river
Weaving the landscape of rolling hills
The old hotel’s a treat, so too, The Stables
The Slow Water Trading Post
Eclectic with artifacts
Of North American Indian…
One wonders why, in New Zealand
‘Old Farts Corner’ assigns the bar
The walls, the ceilings, every inch a story
Of photos, of money and old country tools
The dining room adorned with Maori chiefs and Queen Victoria
Puhoi Valley Cheese, tasting cafe
Of blue and Rind, Brie triple and Goat
Generous in serving and varied in tastes
Must also try out their Tamarillo yoghurt
Warkworth features a New Year rodeo
Drawing streams of traffic, both ways, backed up kilometres long
The giant Kauri guarding Parry Kauri Park
Is worth noting and walking the walk
Waipu Higland Games draws queues and crowds
Cars parked in paddocks, in lanes stretched for miles
Great to see country towns are well supported
Though we didn’t stop, t’was too busy for us
Ruakaka’s next, for lunch on the beach
Scores of people play
Soaking sun, the surf, the summer holiday
With a backdrop of Whangarei Heads in a white washed sky
Whangarei is rich in a Cultural divide
The Maori, The Colonial and maritime story
The river walk plagues and thoughtful sculptures
Well display timelines and interweaving history
To complete the first day of 2017
A brilliant, beautiful, reflective sunset
Silhouettes the river boats moored
Thrilling the hearts of this travelling four.
-oOo-
Heading to Kerikeri where we reconnect and continue our walk of Te Araroa in the North Island.
Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone 
Beautiful photos Nancy. xx
Sent from Surface
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Thanks Trudie and John. 😃😘
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