City of Friendly Strangers if you don’t mind smiling first sometimes We booked online and were told our room at The Best Western Victoria would be in the annex. So having visualised a flat roofed extension out the back I was pleasantly surprised to find ‘the annex’ was another hotel, so perhaps ‘annex’ is not …

Returning home We had planned to spend a couple of days north of Whangarei in Russell where much early European immigrant history was made, while we still had Vicky, but then along came our buyers and their genuine enthusiasm and our need to part with our trusty car were perfectly matched. With three pre-school girls …

You know a fellow live aboard friend recently said to us “As cruising people we are second class citizens,” and when we languish in our hotel room with its king size bed, vast TV, spa bath, mains water, room service, plumbing and electricity and ultra-fast Wi-Fi I begin to agree with him. Despite Rob’s resistance …