More NZ Pics

All righty then... when I put up the previous post, it just made me wish I could go back to New Zealand, especially now that it is spring, and take in more of the beautiful scenery.

Here's a shot looking DOWN the Whangarei Falls. The drop is at least the height of a three story building.

One of the things that made this waterfall so unique is that it's right in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. We were surprised to turn into what appeared to be a typical city park and heard the roar of the falls. We walked over a small rise and there was the river roaring over the side of the hill!

This is the clearest picture I got of the Tutukaka coast, not far from Whangarei (a couple of hours north of Auckland). Unfortunately it was rainy and windy the day we took this spectacular drive along the water and this photo does not begin to do the place justice. If you have been on seen pictures of the road to Hana on Maui, this area is very similar. Oh, and so is the road!

The only real 'freeways' we encountered were in Auckland and Wellington. Everything else was narrow, two-lane roads.

Here is a shot of the Sky Tower in downtown Auckland. No we didn't go up. However, they have a very similar structure in downtown Sydney that we did go up when we were in Australia. Also, we've been up to the observation deck of the CN Tower in Toronto, which is the tallest structure in North America. It looks almost exactly like this tower, too.

And speaking of Wellington, here's a shot of the capitol city and a bit of the very beautiful harbor. Maybe because we were there on a Sunday, Wellington felt like a much more easily managed city than Auckland. I know which of the two I'd prefer to live in...

Of course, if I decided to move all the way to New Zealand, I would rather live someplace where I had a view like THIS -- a quiet cove on the Bay of Plenty!

Do you have a dream hideaway where you'd like to live? Is it near the ocean? In the mountains? In a city? Please share the details with Aunty!