Monday – October 22, 2018
It was a long Labor Day Weekend in New Zealand and our last few days in Auckland, so we wanted to make the best of it. The weather was gorgeous so we took a Harbor Cruise and visited the town of Devonport across the bay. There are many islands in the bay and a multitude of ferries to visit them.
The ferry dock in Auckland:
On Saturday, we explored La Cigale French Market in Britomart and had brunch at L’Assiette Cafe.
Auckland comes to life after dark. Rugby is the national game of New Zealand and there was a big game between the All Blacks, (New Zealand’s national team) and a team from Tonga. The All Blacks won, but everyone celebrated!
One afternoon, we took a “Wilderness Tour” with a company called Bush & Beach. Our first stop was the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. The Arataki Center:
Our tour guide, Dawn, drove us out to the Tasman Sea to see the black sand beaches of the western coast. We stopped for tea and cookies and photos at Pihe Beach:
Lion Rock:
Auckland is a multi-cultural city populated with people from all over the world. A large number of Maori people live in the city and there are many young people from Asia. We had a good farewell dinner at a Belgian restaurant called The Occidental.
Labor Day Monday was a beautiful, warm sunny day, and our last day in Auckland, so we took a 40 minute ferry ride to Waiheke Island. The island was advertised as a “winery island” because of its many vineyards, but we discovered that it was much more. There were gorgeous beaches, a pretty town and beautiful scenery. We took a Hop On – Hop Off Bus to explore the island and visited two spectacular beaches. Waiheke would be a great place to live.
We had a wonderful time in Auckland! It made our list of ‘world’s favorite cities’ and we’re sorry it’s not closer to home so we could visit again soon. But we’re on our way to see more of New Zealand and Australia!!
