Saturday - Auckland

This morning Mick was up fairly early and, with Robert's help, returned our trusted steed of the last 8 weeks. 

After breakfast we set off on a tour of Auckland and the area to the west of the city. First stop was the local viewpoint at St Heliers Bay. Then we drove round a few more bays before going to One Tree Hill, one of the many parks on volcanic remains in Auckland.

From the top of the hill (which no longer has a tree on top!) we had splendid views over the city in all directions. After a coffee we set off for our next stop.

At the Arataki visitor centre we posed in front of the view, before looking at the views towards the west. Because there are two large harbours on both coasts, with Auckland in the middle, there is a point where the mainland is only about 400m wide!

Lunch was at the railway cafe at Seddon enjoyed by all of us, and the local sparrow population.

Our next stop of the day was on the west coast at Muriwai Beach. Very interesting rocks and a gannet colony scattered over the cliffs.

We spent an enjoyable period of time watching the young birds getting ready to fly, standing at the very edge of the cliff and madly flapping their wings. Two birds took their maiden flights while we were there, disappearing into the distance.

We could also see surfers far out in the waves, mainly waiting for the 'perfect' wave.

Down at the beach we watched sand yachts, kite-surfing, paracending, kite-skateboarding and people generally enjoying themselves.

Finally we drove back to Auckland City and stopped briefly at the Savage Memorial, and watched the sun set over the high rise buildings of central downtown.