Auckland Airport
37°0′17″ S 174°46′58″ E

We were up early to take the shuttle back to the airport to pick up our rental car. Catherine came prepared with some high tech apparel to help her manage her anxiety while I was driving on the “wrong” side of the road & she had no steering wheel.

This new kit limited her vision & allowed her to hyperventilate in comfort & without embarrassment.

With all equipment in place & our destination programmed into the GPS we headed off confidently & promptly took a wrong turn coming out of the car rental parking lot. Not a great start – we were on a dead end road that was off limits to the general public but were able to turn around & make our escape without any further stress.

Thankfully the rest of the 3 1/2 hour drive to Paihia went off without incident. Although once we were out of the greater Auckland area the route was over very hilly & winding roads.

We arrived in Paihia around 1:00 & were very pleased to see the beautiful setting that our motel (BreakWater Motel) was in. We had a really clean & comfortable housekeeping unit with a great view of the bay.

We had a brief rest & then went for a walk along the harbourfront commercial area. Shortly after we got back to our room we were lucky enough to spot the Fa’afaite, a Maori double-hulled sailing canoe pass through the harbour.

This boat was sailed from Tahiti by a Maori woman & crew with no modern navigation aids as part of the Tuia 250 Celebrations. It has joined a flotilla of tall ships that are currently circumnavigating New Zealand.

You can read more about Tuia 250 by following this link to the official website: https://mch.govt.nz/tuia250

We hope to catch up with the tall ships tomorrow.

Cheers!