Whangarei

When we first got up this morning we thought there was no chance we would be driving north to Whangarei today. However, as the morning progressed the rain eased.  We had to take a slightly longer, more winding route, though, as SH1 was blocked by a fallen tree/slip. By the time we arrived in Whangarei, having stopped for lunch at The Long Black Café in Wellsford, the sun was shining. Bizarre, especially as more wind, rain and snow is forecast, mostly in the South Island.

Our hotel is directly across the river from the new Hundertwasser Art Centre, which is the main reason we’ve come, so today’s blip is the glimpse we have of the Hundertwasser through the masts of boats in the marina on the river.

There are 11,548 new community cases today, and the seven-day rolling average is 9,550 compared to 7,246 last Monday. The number of people in hospital is 710, including 17 in ICU. Today another 19 deaths have been reported, bringing the total number of deaths to 1,707 and the seven-day rolling average to 17.