In praise of . . .

. . . Lonely Planet and Rough Guide.

Just before we left for New Zealand, I bought an updated version of the two guides. Quite an investment, but they have proved to be worth every penny.

Between them they have found us: tiny cafes in the middle of nowhere that have turned out to serve the most wonderful lunches; detours that have led us to bays and beaches we would never have thought of going to; the best coffee in towns we have not been to before; museums that have been well worth spending time in; motels when we left it to the last minute to find somewhere. The list goes on. When you are travelling independently, you need this little bit of insider information that takes you straight to the right places.

For example, here is a café, obviously well known to locals and serving lovely light meals in the most amiable way, but hidden behind other buildings and out of the way of the main centre it serves. We would never have found it without our trusty guides and it was there, just as we needed a lunch stop on our journey between the Bay of Islands and Auckland.

Mind you they are not infallible. We have not had a problem this trip, but we have found a serious error in the Lonely Planet. I am hoping that when I point it out to them, they will reward me well!


We are now in Auckland. Someone is going to the cricket tomorrow and it's not me!

Thank you so much for the wonderful response to my sunset in Russell. It was a magical evening and I was so pleased to be sharing it with you.