Thursday 15 July 2010

Out and About in Auckland


Piha and the vast black sand beaches provided a final dose of wild country west of Auckland before we hit the motorway and arrived in Orewa at the start of a week long high pressure weather system. This enabled us to enjoy lunch in the garden, walks in to town and along the beach and a bike ride round the estuary.

Staying in the house was quite a novelty and we made good use of the usual comforts to chase up the Australian transfer and address some of the tasks we will face when we return home in 6 weeks time.

Tuesday saw us drop the van in to Continental Car Services for a change of timing belt and water pump leaving us the day to catch a train to the Museum of Transport and Technology where an impressive collection of planes, trains and automobiles filled the day. The display of Ed Hillary's crossing of Antarctica using three Ferguson tractors was particularly impressive.

On Thursday we parked up at Devonport to catch the ferry across to Central Auckland enjoying the fabulous panorama of the waterfront shining in the bright sunshine. The Skytower was well worth a visit particularly on such a clear day with a few intrepid souls braving the jump - amazing.

The Maritime Museum rounded off the day with its extensive galleries and exhibits - a sister steam crane to the one moored down at Wellington and modern yachts vied for space with traditional Maori canoes, sailing dinghies and artefacts from the heyday of New Zealand shipping before the road network was improved and cheap flights arrived.

This weekend Sue and Danny return after their trip to Europe and we head north on Monday for our final leg - click here for pics.

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