We had a long drive ahead of us as Auckland was 360 Km away taking the scenic route. After about an hour we arrived at the Rawene ferry for a 10 minute crossing. We took a short stroll around the village and then continued to Tane Mahuta, the oldest Kauri tree in New Zealand estimated to be at least 1250 years old. A few kilometers further South on Highway 12 we made another stop and walked a few 100 meters into the forest where four large Kauri, the Four Sisters, are standing tall close together.
There were no more highlights on the road to Auckland so we just only stopped for a roadside picnic. When we approached Auckland from the North traffic got heavier, something we hadn’t seen during the last four weeks. We even had a 30 minute traffic jam because of an accident on the Auckland bridge.
After check in we went to dinner in a nearby Belgian bar & restaurant “De Post” where we finally got to taste the famous Green Lip Mussels.