INDONESIA - SULAWESI - MANADO - 14 TO 16 FEBRUARY 2019

I stayed at the Swiss-Bel in Manado. The entrance foyer looks quite grand and the staff are good.

As far as cities go, I think Manado is pretty good. I stopped there on the way to and from Morotai. It was an easy place to get around either by walking , the mini vans or taxi. I preferred the walking as you can see/experience more. 

I had one long hike that went for hours through the streets and along the waterfront. I visited temples, churches, shops, malls and the seaside. I finished by having a great iced latte.

New Zealand - Gisborne - 5 to 7 January 2020

At Gisborne we stayed at the Waikanae Beach Holiday Park. It was close to the beach, town and waterfront.

Waikanae Beach is long and stretches off in a crescent shape for kilometres. The other end is the start of the port at Gisborne. I had an okay surf and body surf at Waikanae Beach.

The waterfront pathway passed along the river and seaport at Gisborne. There were ships doing their shipping thing and fisherman fishing and kids swimming. At one stage, a dolphin made its way quite visibly along the river pass the fishermen and swimmers. Thoughtfully, the fishermen withdrew their lines and the kids swam closer to shore.

New Zealand - Auckland - 30 december to 2 january 2010

First impressions of Auckland, is that it is very spread out but there is a concentration of activity around the waterfront.

We wandered along the coast and through the centre of the city. We ate at lots of good restaurants with different types of food.

 

The waterfront was the most amazing. In a short distance, there were ferries, moorings of huge boats and watertype industrial industries. This may seem not too ideal but it blends well together and it is very clean with hardly any litter.

 

We stayed at the mecure windsor hotel and were given dark noisy rooms. After the first two sleepless nights, they moved us to a better room but the air conditioning stopped working. Still, we enjoyed the city but were fairly tired most of the time.