Whew. After 2084 Km in our car plus another 220 Km with friends in their car, it’s good to be home. We saw some great sights and had good times with friends. We ate good food and excellent food. We’ve come home with an idea for the porch we’ve long thought about adding to our house. ✅

@JeremyWxBaker Far too much, even shared between the two of us. Next time we head for the Far North I think we should fly to Whangarei then hire a car. Unfortunately two of Deb's closest friends live up in those parts.

That’s a lot of driving! In my experience, sights and sounds keep reemerging long after my initial trip, so the driving part will mostly be forgotten, but the other (positive) experiences will be with us. A porch sounds like a great idea!

@maique It was successful. Visited with friends and saw a couple of sights. Too much driving though…

@odd I find as I age I can't drive (or be driven) for too many hours each day so we broke up the 12 hour trip (each way) with a couple of overnight stops. It's just a shame it's so far to visit these particular friends. Next time I think flying up would be a better idea, then rent a car to get around.

Yes, I can relate to that. It used to be I was used to travel by train 17h two times a month, on three different trains, and while it was tiresome, I could do it. Now it must me a life or death situation if I should do it.

when we plan a road trip I limit the driving to about 6 hours a day. 3 in the morning, lunch, three in the afternoon. Or maybe an early start and all done by one or two. I can’t handle more than that anymore.

@mbkriegh We noticed the difference road quality makes too. I must say, the new Expressways with at least two lanes in each direction and separated directions are way easier to drive on than our good old longstanding State Highways which are generally one lane each direction with only a painted line to separate directions. Maybe I should blog about our roads…