Woke early and jumped on a bus that circled Auckland giving us a more complete picture of this city which is home to half the New Zealanders. High rise living right down town is everywhere and we were told, people love it! Rent even in the suburb can run $350 & up...a week!! After two days, we were ready to head out and see the countryside. For about 3 hours we traveled in a nice bus (no chicken buses here) on a smooth expressway southeast and for about 45 minutes we passed modest and small homes on tiny lots. Then the houses became sparse and the cows took over the land. Pasture fields and piles of round bales covered the wide valley between two mountain ranges. Eventually, the cows and our bus was roaming the hills. We arrived at our stop, Paeroa where our hostess, Frances was waiting for us. In a few minutes, she was showing us around her home...our home for the next two days...our first Air B&B experience! It's a darling cottage style & we were surprised to learn it was 100 years old though totally and tastefully remodeled. A short time later, she volunteered to take us to the beach...off we went. Surfers and children were enjoying the huge waves. Frances was a well of information telling us NZers love the water and go to the beach all year...if only to walk the miles of beaches and feel the ocean air. She was proud of the people running the country calling them very smart with a desire to improve NZ. We stopped by a quaint restaurant hidden away in the mountains and enjoyed some unique appetizers and tasty, spicy pizza. It's great having a personal tour guide! Next morning we were treated to a lovely breakfast and then headed to the bike shop where Rog had reserved two motorized bikes. By 9 a.m., we were on the Hauraki Rail trail only recently opened and touted as "undoubtedly one the the most picturesque rides in NZ." In late 1800's, this area was a booming gold mine town where in today's value they produced $5 billion of gold and $575 million of silver. We rode through the remains of the factories and rails...skeletons of gigantic steels pieces and cement foundations. We biked through a 1 km mountain tunnel...dark, cool & wet. At the center of the spectacular Karangahake Gorge, we locked up our bikes and hiked back on a trail that hugged the steep cliffs where some of the mining rails remained. It took us into a dark...the dark where you can't see your hand in front of your face dark...tunnel where green fluorescent glow worms dotted the ceiling. I think it was 10 miles long...ok maybe not that long. Back on our bikes, we headed to Waihi following the river winding through the hills that so reminded me of the Austrian hills...think of Sound of Music...couldn't help belting out a few lines of "The hills are alive..." Do those cows know how lucky they are to hang out there all day?? At times the trail led us through narrow openings between two granite slabs covered with vegetation and other times we squeezed between tall fern trees which made us feel like we were back in Jurassic time. We were ready to eat lunch when we got to Waihi and then we headed back viewing all from a different angle. In all we traveled about 50 km...and were very glad we had that button that kicked in the motor whenever we wanted! Think we'll rest well tonight!!
