NORTHERN ESCAPE

s we drive to the Far North in early January the roads are very busy out of Auckland. We are in the holiday traffic, and once we complete the section of motorway through the tunnel at Pūhoi the pace slows to a crawl. Patience wanes after a series of slow stop–starts through Warkworth and a long 50km section through Dome Valley. Parts of the highway are pretty rough, and having not travelled north for a number of years I am surprised how bad this section of road is. But there are plans underway for the construction of a motorway bypassing Warkworth, Dome Valley and Wellsford. Improvement is long overdue and will certainly help