On My Way to Wellington, NZ

Greetings,

   It is Friday in my world, but Thursday in yours.  Such is life as one in constant motion.  My day in the Bay of Islands was fantastic.  It is beautiful, peaceful, quiet and very friendly.  The people are wonderful.  I visited a craft fair that was filled with magnificent hand crafted goods, from wooden bowls, knitted scarfs, hand crafted jewelry, a significant amount hand made glass jewelry and beautiful dishes.  The harbor is the inside of a volcano, with one wall gone thus filling it with water.  This has created a magnificent harbor surrounded by mountains.  The countryside is so green and lush with vegetation.  There are sheep everywhere.  The area is rich in history around the Maori people, who greeted the European settlers.  Lots of battles until peace was reached in the 1840's.  NZ claims to be only 150 years old as a country,  There are only 4 million living in the country on two islands, the north and the south.  All my travels will be in the north - Bay of Islands, Auckland and Wellington the national capitol.

  Yesterday I was in Auckland .  The largest city in NZ.  There is a population of about 1.3 million in the immediate area.  What a city, with the tallest building in the country.  Hopefully there will be a picture of the tower forthcoming.  I escorted a group for a tour around the city, with a stop in their War Memorial Museum