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NZ TRAVEL TIPS: Banking and Foreign Exchange....
All major credit cards are accepted for the purchase of goods and services. Travellers' cheques are accepted at hotels, banks and some stores.
Bank hours are from 9.30am - 4.30pm Monday to Friday. International credit cards encoded with a PIN number may be used to withdraw cash from automatic teller machines (ATMs), widely available in the main shopping. Banks will give cash advances on Visa and MasterCard, but for American Express card transactions you must go to an American Express office.
Most airports and hotels have currency exchange facilities. The currencies of Australia, the UK, USA, Canada, Germany and Japan are all easily changed in New Zealand.
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Rich in history and culture, Northland’s sub-tropical coastline features kilometres
of golden beaches, giant sand dunes, tranquil harbours, a myriad of islands and
large tracts of ancient kauri forest to explore. The birthplace of the nation, it
was the landing place of the great Maori adventurer Kupe, the seat of NZ’s first
government, and where NZ’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed
in 1840. The three-day journey, with the optional one-day excursion to Cape Reinga,
begins in Auckland. We travel the Twin Coast Highway to Paihia, take part in a traditional
Maori ceremony, savour Kerikeri’s gastronomic delights, take a cruise through the
Bay of Islands, explore historical Russell, collect mussels from rocks in Mitimiti,
and walk amongst giant kauri trees in the Waipoua Forest.
day one: auckland to paihia
Key
- Destinations
- Apex Locations
Following the Twin Coast Highway, we head north. It’s a route I know well, but as
this is the first of many journeys, I’m hoping that my travelling companion, Bob,
will shape up to become a worthy co-pilot. As we leave Auckland’s sprawl at Orewa,
uncertainty sets in. “What’s with Pie-hire?” he says jabbing his finger hopefully
at Paihia, on what (in less than an hour) has fast become a crumpled page. I laugh
outright; skilled navigator or otherwise, at least – if nothing else – he’s a man
after my own heart when it comes to food! And so we stop in Warkworth, where life
is as mellow as the river upon which it was built. On a sunny terrace we breakfast
upon eggs with vivid-yellow yolks. “Do you think they add dye?” asks Bob, sipping
on his latte.
We leave town driving on through Wellsford and Kaiwaka where the concrete turrets
of café Utopia signal that we’ve entered quirkier climes. At the top of the Brynderwyns,
Northland’s scenery begins to unfold with the fabulous panorama of Bream Bay from
the jagged silhouette of Whangarei Heads to the dramatic peaks of the Hen and Chicken
Islands. Bob’s still agog as we glide past Waipu and on to Ruakaka’s broad sweep
of sand, dominated by Marsden Point Oil Refinery’s chimneystack.
A quick stretch of the legs - Bob deposits shells and a mottled crab’s claw into
the glovebox - and we drive to Longview Vineyard, where eighty-five-year old Milly
Vuletich presses a tasting glass into our hands. The Vuletich family set up a self-sufficient
winery in 1964, and Milly’s son, Mario, crafts its estate-grown wines and ports.
At Whangarei’s Town Basin, situated on a dock overlooking the marina, seafood chowder,
full of fish and cream, is the order of the day. Later we wander past the NZ Fudge
Farm’s gooey treats, a host of galleries and artists’ studios and stop outside Burning
Issues to watch glass being blown.
Next we call into the spectacular Whangarei Falls, which plunge some 25 metres into
a tranquil, bush-fringed pool. It’s a leisurely 20-minute hike around the falls
before we rejoin SH1 and drive to Kawakawa, where we stop to bask in the sun outside
the Trainspotting Café. There are no trains to speak of (even though the tracks
run the entire length of the main street) and so we watch passers-by, who seem to
be milling around the public loos. Our waitress, following Bob’s gaze as she sets
down our teapot, kindly explains that they are the last works of renowned Austrian-born
artist, Friedrich Hundertwasser. Commissioned in 1997, Hundertwasser, who made NZ
his home in the 1970s, encouraged locals to take part: students crafted tiles and
the windows were made from old bottles found in the neighbourhood. Intrigued, Bob
photographs its mosaics while I queue with camera-toting tourists for a far more
prosaic purpose! We leave and drive along Paihia’s waterfront, past families building
castles in the sand, to the village proper where couples stroll hand in hand, and
the squawking of gulls blends with laughter from its many cafés and bars...
please click the link to download the full
Auckland to Bay of Islands scenic drive, courtesy of apex car rentals
new zealand... the kiwi way
to read more extracts from our driving holiday's guidebook please click on any of
the following links:
north island scenic drives
south island scenic drives
purchase new zealand driving holidays online
If you would like to purchase a copy of this stunning nz pictorial guidebook online
please click here (RRP $24.95 plus postage)
view today's best deals for auckland to bay of islands rental cars
With apex rental cars the longer you hire the lower the daily rate. Please click
the link to view today's best auckland to bay of islands car
deal.
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