After breakfast we packed up and said goodbye once again to the Sky City Grand. We drove across the harbour bridge but instead of turning right to Devonport we turned left and found the Beach Road which took us right along the coast through many beautiful little bays and beaches including Milford beach, Mairangi Bay and Brown's Bay. We came to a bit of a dead end at Long Bay regional park. It is a huge nature reserve and we drove in thinking that we might find a ...

Finals day dawned, and as we left the hotel in the morning we noticed the French team outside the hotel opposite, just setting out for a last training session. They looked very relaxed as they paused for photos and to chat to supporters and finally boarded their coach to a rousing chorus of the French national anthem. Stirring stuff! We went down to the water front and caught a ferry over to Waiheke island. The island was much bigger than we imagined! We had ass...

After a leisurely morning we drove across the harbour bridge and over to Devonport. There are some lovely houses here and plenty more historic buildings but it was much chillier today and we were grateful to slip inside a nice warm cafe for a spot of lunch. Amanda had those green-lipped mussels again, yummy!! In the evening our friends, Gordon and Gwen, picked us up from the hotel and took us over to Mission Bay along the water front on Tamaki Drive. We walked b...

We left Mike and Gay's place after breakfast and drove into Auckland. It was a lovely, sunny day and too early to check into the hotel so we decided to go and see the view from Mount Eden which we had been told is well worth seeing. The sat nav threw a bit of a wobbly and took us round the same area 3 times without actually taking us to Mount Eden itself. When we were passing the prison for the 3rd time we decided to go it alone and find our own way. We eventuall...

After a great sleep on a very comfortable bed we woke up to a beautiful day on 'the farm'. Mike had already fed the chooks and was up to his elbows sorting out a mis-behaving septic tank. Luckily he was able to use his great skill and ingenuity to fix it or we dread to think what the result might have been!! After breakfast we all set off out, including Wendy the dog, for a bit of an outing. First stop was the Matua winery where we tasted a couple of very good w...