Auckland

Auckland,

We left the rain and The Bay of Islands behind us and headed south to Auckland. It was nice and sunny and our first stop en-route was Wakawaka, where we detoured to see Hundertwasser’s world famous toilets. This was a fun, quirky little town. After visiting the toilets Jim needed to take a rest on the town sofa. Not that comfortable but definitely a designer, one of a kind.

From here we travelled on for a short distance, to Kawiti to the Glow Worm Caves. These were absolutely incredible. It was a small private Maori family operation and the caves were full of stalactites and stalagmites. In total darkness you looked up to the ceiling of the caves and it was like looking at the Milky Way but instead of stars they were living glow-worms. They hang from the ceiling and depending on how hungry they are, the brighter they glow. We had a private tour by a very knowledgeable young Maori man. Unfortunately due to the sensitive nocturnal nature of these incredible microscopic beings we were not allowed to take photos. However, after exiting the caves we returned over the top, through an untouched prehistoric forest ,albeit for the designated walkways. This was truly an amazing experience.

From here we headed further south, stopping at Sheepworld, in Warkworth, where we witnessed the shearing of a sheep by a true “New Zealander” who hailed from Bromley, Kent, UK. We spent quite some time talking with him after the demonstration and learnt much about how he trains his dogs, the breeds he uses and for which purposes and then as you can see Barbara tried to abscond with the cutest little lamb. “He fell in love with me, really, just look at the photo”

After being wrestled away from the new love in my life we travelled on to our destination in Auckland. The “Harbour Oaks” was down by the port where we docked whilst on board the ship and had amazing views from the balcony. It was very comfortable and being centrally located it was easy to get anywhere. We first visited Mission Bay, followed by Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium a truly amazing place where we saw penguins in their simulated habitat and got soaked by a stingray. From there we took in Parnell’s Rose Gardens, The Nancy Steen Garden and Judges Bay. The following day we went back to The Museum, which we had initially visited when we docked with the cruise ship. This time we went to the Winter Gardens and the park surrounding The Museum. In the afternoon we left the car at the hotel and took the ferry to Devonport, just across the water and a totally different way of life from the city.

The next morning we drove to Hamilton……………..