Finding cheap flights online is the easy part; it’s finding a hotel at a reasonable cost, in the right location with the right facilities that can sometimes be a challenge.

Fortunately there are some excellent sites available to help you to choose the right hotel at the right price.

In October we are planning to travel to Auckland in New Zealand and then driving down to Queenstown in the South Island.

I intend to book only accommodation in both places and book as we go once we are there for the rest of the journey.

This is how Paula and I traveled around the West Coast of America just recently and found booking as we went to be a huge success as we weren’t locked into leaving an area if we wanted to stay on longer to enjoy the sights. Traveling like this also allowed us to take advantage of specials, such as the great deal we found to San Fransico through Priceline

And it is so easy nowadays to book online, I had a laptop so it was only a matter of going to Expedia.com or Hotels.com to check out the availability and costs of the various hotels. And I have now found another excellent website, Hotels Combined.com that allows me to check the prices of my chosen hotel with a number of travel websites, all at the same time. So that also saves me some time.

I am a bit of a fan of Holiday Inn  hotels as they are always comfortable, generally have free internet, complimentary breakfast and a laundry, which I find necessary when traveling light.

So the first step in planning my trip is to decide what I want to see. Well Auckland will be mainly spent visiting relatives, but I am also taking my granddaughter and as I want to show her around the many attraction in Auckland, I want to stay somewhere central.

I have previously stayed in the CityLife Hotel , because of its great location right in the heart of Auckland. It is close to the shopping in Queens Street, the Skywalk Tower, Kelly Tarltons Aquarium, the Casino, Museum, a great selection of restaurants on The Quay and the hotel itself is very comfortable with large rooms and all the facilities to make your stay enjoyable.

The rates  varied  from $150-$190 per night, quite a difference really. I actually found that going through Hotels Combined.com I  I could get a cheaper rate than going directly to some of the other travel sites. So keep that in mind when you are looking and be sure to check out all your options.

So now I am going to look for a hotel in Queenstown using the same process of checking each of my favorite travel websites plus my new found search partner, Hotels Combined.

Well I have finished my search on Expedia, Hotels Combined and Hotels.com and have decided on the Comfort Inn Melbourne Mtr Ldge as apart from being close to restaurants, shops and activities it is also reasonably priced at around $103 per night. It has all the amenities I am looking for and the reviews are positive.  Always make sure you read the reviews from people who have stayed in a hotel previously. But keep an open mind as some people are hard to please and find fault with any little thing. So read reviews objectively.

So there you are. I am all set with my accommodation and it took no time at all.

This is so fantastic for us as  all our photos were lost years ago and we have no photos of when we were young. This photo was taken at the arbor at the Auckland Domain.

Because of family reasons we were married in the Auckland Registry Office and our witnesses were Val’s nephew Roy and niece Marilyn.  No one attended from my family but a number of my friends from work came.

Val didn’t turn 21 until the following day so he had to have his parents authorisation to get married. We had a small family dinner that  night  and the next night at Val’s 21st, he introduced me as his wife.  We hadn’t told anyone that we were getting married, so it was a surprise for everyone. 

This photo was taken a couple of years later at Roy and Kays wedding.

Then off we go to Torbay to visit my stepfather Derek.  He has recently moved from Glen Innes to Torbay, much to everyones relief.  It took a bit of organising as he and Gwen had lived in the old place for a great many years.

So we head over the Auckland Harbour Bridge and onto the Northern Motorway. Of course we don’t have a map that goes out as far as Torbay so it will be a matter of winging it.  Never mind I tell Val there will be plenty of signs.  Ha, they don’t mention suburbs on the turnoffs only street names and as we had know idea of what the street names were to go to Torbay we were a little perplexed.

We do have a general idea of where to go and sure enough we find the main street after turning off at the suburb before.  A few enquiries at the Gas Station and we are heading towards Dereks street.

There is a pleasant surprise when we arrive as Gavin, my brother and his son Hayden, whom we haven’t seen since he was a toddler, are both visiting as well. 

Laura sells real estate for a living. Her eldest son Broden came to stay with me in Canberra a couple of years ago and he is thinking of going to work in the mines in Perth. Her other sons, Vaughan and Devon are still at school and are both really nice kids.

Broden has to bend down to fit in the picture as he is around 6′ 7″. Even bending down he towers over me.

There is a free shuttle bus every hour on the hour from 9am-4pm that leaves from just outside the Sky City entrance so we waited with a few others who were also going and sure enough the bus arrived on time to take us on a the pictuesque drive along the Auckland city waterfront.

Kelly Tarlton’s is only a  10 minute drive or six kilometres (3.7 miles) from downtown Auckland and is situated at 23 Tamaki Drive, Orakei.  If you choose to drive yourself there is free carparking is available both in the Kelly Tarlton’s carpark and on Tamaki DriveWe walk down the ramp and through the Antarctic Encounter, where  there is a life-sized replica hut of South Pole explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott.   The displays show exactly how the men lived in the bleak conditions in the Antartic.  Not being a fan of freezing weather I can only marvel at the fortitude of how these men existed in the icy conditions.There is lots of fascinating information about both Scott and men.  Scott spent 12 preparing for the journey to the South Pole only to find the his rival Amundsen had beaten him by a month.  Having not factored any margin for errors or delays into his plan meant that when the team sustained injuries, malnutrition, frostbite and exhaustion they were ill prepared for storms they encountered on the way back to base.  The team succumbed to the cold and perished 11 miles from the supply depot. 

There is nothing quite like strolling through gardens with the sound of running water and just taking in the beauty of the surroundings. The fine misty spray is cooling and refreshing as you walk under the ferns hanging in large baskets from the ceiling.

The oval pool between the hot house and the cool house has large multicoloured carp swimming lazily through the sun streaked water without a care in the world.

All too soon our visit comes to an end and off to Kelly Tarlto’s Antarctic Encounter at Orakei. We have had a lovely day taking our time and enjoying the experience.

The visit to the museum and the gardens is very reasonably priced, the entrance fee is a $5 donation and it only cost $23 for 2 adults plus the cultural show for 1 adult.

I have always loved Maori music and culture and when I was growing up I admired my Maori girlfriends their musical talent and dexterity with the poi.

So I booked my ticket and we filled in time by visiting the Polynesian, Maori and Early Childhood  exhibits.  The latter brought back many memories of school days.  When we were at school  in the 1950’s all children were given milk to drink at playtime.  The bottles of milk were delivered to the school in crates and sat in a large box structure until it was time to be given to the kids.  I hated milk and more so as it was generally warm, Val on the other hand loved milk and would often try to get more than his alloction of one bottle.

The school dental nurse was a free service provided for all children. The dental room was commonly referred to as “The Murder House” and the dental nurse that we had at Newton Central was none to gentle.  Everyone dreaded the time when they would be called up for a dental check up.

I am sure that she was simply practising because even if you didn’t have any problems you still ended up with a mouth full of dental amalgam which is  a silver colored material used to fill teeth that have cavities that is made up of equal parts of a powder containing silver, tin,copper, zinc and other metals and liquid mercury. 

Dental amalgam has been in use for  over a hundred years because not only is it strong and durable, it is also a relatively inexpensive material but there have been some concerns about its use and there is ongoing research into whether or not mercury fillings are a health hazard.

Once we left primary school we thought we were made. The dental clinic at Kowhai had an electric operated drill whereas the one at Newton Central had been  a pedal operated foot drill.  I was lucky my mother took me to a private dentist so I no longer had to endure the school dentist, and my wonderful dentist had all the very latest in equipment.

Enid Blyton was a popular author of childrens books although she has since fallen foul of the politically correct brigade.  Almost every child had a golliwog, another toy that has fallen from grace.  My father made me a golly out of sacking that he had hand knotted with in  wool.  it had a bright red waistcoat, blue pants and was stuffed with kapok to give a rounded shape. I treasured that golly which unfortunately was lost some years ago.  So it was with pleasure that we saw both the books and the golliwogs in the museum.

Here is another old time favourite, Little Black Sambo.

Once you left primary school and went to high school the girls had to wear the regulation gym slip with white blouse, school tie, black bloomers, black stockings and heavy black lace up shoes.

 Check out the size of those bloomers behind the cricket bat.

The boys wore the school uniform with a tie, knee high socks that had to be kept in place with an elastic band so they didn’t fall down and black lace up shoes.

The Moa was able to be hunted to extinction because it was flightless, this bird didn’t have any wings at all. The giant Moa’s grew to around 12 ft (3.6 metres) and weighed around 550 lbs (259kg), so they were a great meat source for the local tribes.

Everyone who has purchased a ticket to see the Maori cultural show is assembled in the foyer of the museum. A Maori maiden and warrior arrive and a conch shell is blown to grab everyones attention. We are ushered into the meeting place in the Maori display area and are advised that we may take photos and videos of the show.

I hand over my ticket to one of the fierce looking warriors and take my seat.

A young man explains what the show will be about and gives us some history about Auckland and the area where the museum is situated and then the show begins.

First there is a welcome song and then some demonstrations by the warriors on the use of various weaponry.

Maori Warriors looking fierce.

This lovely young Maori maiden was very informtative about the years of training that it takes to learn proper control of the poi.

And these two fierce warriors were more than happy to strike their scariest most threatening stance.

I have managed to get the timer off pat now so I am able to join the group for photos without too much trouble.  So from left to right at the back we have me, Vickie, Gilly, Gavin, Jackie and in the front is Val, Ralph and Derek. Missing from the photo are Ralph’s twin  Laura and our youngest sister Mandy, who is now living in Brisbane and has just had a baby girl on Thursday 13th.  I am looking forward to getting back to Oz to see her.

There is nothing quite like a family get together, reminiscing about the past, making plans to catch up in the future.

 Maraetai is part of the Pohutukawa coast and the name Maraetai in Maori means “meeting place by the sea”.

Maraetai was an early European settlement dating back to 1838. The beach is very safe and ideal for swimming fishing, having a picnic or relaxing on the grassed areas or just walking along the beach taking in the panoramic views stretching from Auckland city to the Coromandel Ranges.

Derek lives in an ideal position with his house so close to the beach and there is a boating ramp next to the Maraetai Beach Boating Club for when he gets the opportunity to go out fishing.

 Ralph and Vicky are planning  a trip to Australia in December (providing Ralph gets himself organised and arranges to get his passport).  The Oz family are all excited about catching up with them.

Big brother Gavin has recently been in Australia for a visit and hopefully he will come over again in the not too distant future. 

 Derek organised the barbie and Jackie dished out the most scrumptous carrot cake for dessert.  As the cooler evening set in we moved inside by the fire that Derek had lit earlier.  The nights tend to be cool in September although the days are  mostly lovely and warm. Fortunately the rain had stopped the day before so we were able to sit around on the patio in the sun.

All too soon it was time to go, so we followed Vicky and Ralph back to the motorway turnoff, as the route we had taken to Maraetai was through Brookby instead of taking the Redoubt Rd turnoff.   One thing I do find frustrating in NZ is that the motorway off ramp signs have street names rather than suburbs, so it you are looking for a particular suburb and don’t know the street names, you are pretty much at a loss. Still  for all thatwe managed to get around reasonably well.

An old time school room, very different from the school rooms of today. 

Reminiscent of Dr Who’s Tardis.  Telephone boxes were very distinctive looking but like everywhere today in the name of saving money, they are no longer found. Too bad if you don’t possess a mobile phone.

This old fashioned butchers shop even had sawdust on the floor. You don’t find that nowadays. Eash week when my mother and I went shopping  he always gave me a piece of rolled up luncheon sausage. I remember my mother telling me that on they day I started school she was very upset and tearful when she went shopping and the butcher sympathetically said to her “ Oh dear, so Wanda started school today!”   He then gave her a prime rib roast for free.  Now you wouldn’t get that sort of treatment today.

You don’t see prices like this anymore. 

After strolling through the old time car section we caught the tram  (similar to this one)  to Keith Hay Park to look at the aviation section.

Replica of Sir Keith Park’s Hurrican Aircraft..  Air Vice-Marshall Sir Keith Park was a New Zealander who joined the British Air force in World War Two. He helped organise the evacuation of Dunkirk. He returned to live in New Zealand in 1948 and MOTAT’s aviation collection is named in his honour.

There is just so much interesting information available so if you are coming to Auckland make sure you check out this fabulous interactive museum. 

 There is an impressive array of fire engines and vehicles from all over NZ.  This one is a Holden.  We had a similar car which was grey and pink automatic which was ideal when the kids were little.

The fire engine on the left is a Dennis and the one on the right is a Leyland.

This 1960 logging rig was the first truck in NZ able to haul loads of 100 tons of logs out of the Kiangaroa forest. The truck has a 400 hp Cummins Diesel engine and a 15 speed Road Ranger Gearbox. Not bad for an old timer.

Here is a photo of the K900, the first of 30 ‘K’ engines built between 1932 and 1936 at the New Zealand Railway workshops in the Hutt Valley.

Diesel buses - old and new.