Updating northwards, briefly

The sun's in the north - of course - and so in the last few days of our time here that's the way for us to head. I say "of course" but it's still easy to forget that fact when calculating directions - say, where west is, judging from the sun's position at about 5 p.m. (oh yes, the sun sets in the south-west in summer so ...) - and apparently the early Australians built their houses facing south, out of habit. It was even harder to navigate in Indonesia by the sun: was it to the north (no, not now) or to the south?

From the Eastern Cape we first went west (via Tauranga) then north into the Coromandel Peninsula (see pic from Tairua, taken from the top of a small relic volcano in the harbour mouth) and then through Auckland to the Bay of Islands (see other pics below. The second of the images below is from a nearby town where the public loos were designed by a man (suitably named Hundertswasser) who seems to have been inspired partly by Gaudi, partly by Mondrian perhaps, partly by Klimt, maybe others - but anyway providing a delightfully relieving experience!

Warmer, even more changeable, but some sun to be seen: compare the first two images - on arrival in the Coromandel and the next day . We hope to take an overnight boat trip tomorrow night - kayaks, dolphins, swimming, phosphorescence, fishing are promised: it's a hard life being a genuine tourist!