Northland

Working hard!
So me and the yellow submarine have been hitting the road! From Auckland I headed north, to what sounded like peace, tranquility, beaches, cliffs, few people and few cars. Well, this is New Zealand. Leaving Auckland on a 3 lane motorway, it took about 5 minutes for it to turn to a 2 lane highway and then another 5 minutes to be a normal road, leaving people, habitation, and other cars behind. And turn off this main road and you could drive for miles without seeing another soul - though if you drive for too many miles the road turns to dirt track and you fall into the ocean. The roads do not skirt the ocean as closely as I would have liked but it doesn't take much to turn off a road and head down to a secluded bay, a rocky out crop or a surf beach where, whatever time of day or day of the week there always seems to be someone surfing. The scenery is very 'British' - think Peak district, meets Lake district, meets Scotland meets Cornwall - and if you are not from the UK then it is just very green and hilly. Unlike the UK however there really are not many people around, in a stretch from Auckland, north to 150 -200 miles there is only one city, that is more like a big town and then just small towns or villages and farms. Not so many sheep up here but they are around, along with cattle and vineyards and crops. It is strawberry season so I am eating strawberries for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is also avocado season but I'm not fond of those so they can stay on the tree. I am travelling with a bottle of New Zealand Merlot and when I am comfortably settled in my campsite for the night I sit and look at the scenery and sample a glass of the NZ nectar.