Today we caught the hop on, hop off bus and toured the city. Auckland is based around 2 large harbours, is a major city in the north of New Zealand’s North Island. It has a population of 1.614 million. In the centre, the iconic Sky Tower has views of Viaduct Harbour, which is full of superyachts and lined with bars and cafes. Auckland Domain, the city’s oldest park, is based around an extinct volcano and home to the formal Wintergardens. Near Downtown, Mission Bay Beach has a seaside promenade. We saw Eden Park (home of the Allblacks), it was huge, Auckland Museum, Zoo and Eden Garden. We then caught the ferry to Devonport (a 15 minute ferry ride) where we wandered the streets and had a nice lunch and caught the ferry back to the mainland. Sky Tower is about the same height as Centrepoint Tower and the Effiel Tower in Paris. You can walk around the top and/or bungy jump off it to the ground (we didn't do this #abitscared). We settled for an early evening drink in the bar, overlooking the city skyline.
We were lucky with nice weather again today and spent most of the day exploring Auckland City.
We have thoroughly enjoyed New Zealand and we are now homeward bound. We have been very fortunate to see some beautiful scenery, enjoy time with our local friends, visit local towns, fishing villages and sailed into some beautiful bays, fjords and islands. They have beautiful wines here and we have enjoyed a glass or 2 and visit some picturesque vineyards. Everyone is very friendly and some things remind us of Australia. Real estate is quiet expensive and it seems to be similar with Australia. Fuel is expensive here about $2.20 a litre. They export a lot of timber (pine trees) growing here in 1/2 the time (20 years) than say Canada (40 years) making it one of their biggest exports. There are 4.7 million people in New Zealand, 5 million dairy cows, 23 million sheep and trout fish (smoked is really nice) is in abundance. They export a lot of cheese, wine, wool and lamb.
Our highlights were, visiting our friends Ian and Michelle in Christchurch and being shown around the area by them. Milford Sound on a clear day (doesn't happen often and we were lucky to experience it) was a spectacular site and far better than we expected. We had great health which is always a bonus!
Michelle Walden
2019-03-13
Fancy getting a mention in your blog Kylie! We loved spending time with you both and showing you around. Thanks for visiting xxx
Suzy
2019-03-14
Wow, Auckland (where I was born) is very much like Sydney particularly the skyline! Looks beautiful. No wonder everyone loves it.