Day 3

Auckland.

Today we spent the day wandering around the city. We went to beaches, hill top viewing, volcanic craters, parks and into the city centre.  Again the motor way gave us the freedom to move around smoothly and quickly. Our accommodation is north of the city centre by 12Km  but only a short time to be in the city. The beach exploration started near where we stay. It revealed small beaches with sand or shale beaches and shops or fine homes around them. Long bay, Torbay, Browns bay on down to Campbells bay, Castor bay and below, so many wonderful bays. To see mums and dads with their children swimming and enjoying the beaches is so good. The weather has been overcast today so patches of sun shine then cloudy but always warm.

In to the city and along the Quay. There are two cruise ships in the harbour so we find lots of people around the harbour area. Road works in the area make getting around difficult so we head away from the harbour up through the city proper. Up Queen street past the shops and people going about their daily business. We go on to the Mt Eden Domain to view the city from a high vantage point and look at an extinct volcanic crater. Well worth the trip. Poor sign posting made it difficult to find it but Pamela’s navigation won over.

Lunch of fish and chips from what turned out to be an award winning chippy we took to Cornwall Park.

From here up to the One Tree Hill memorial. Another chance to look over the city and learn a little about the history of Auckland.

From here to St Heliers Bay and a walk on the beach. Another beach being enjoyed by families. We see in the back ground one of the cruise ships leaving harbour. It looked large up close but in the bay not so large.

Along Tamaki Drive back into the city then onto the motorway and across the bridge to the northern suburbs. We get of the motor way and head towards Island bay. People fishing on a small jetty, not a fish in site so one for the fish, none for the fishermen. From there we catch up with a friend then home to plan our outing tomorrow. A good day and very pleasant.