Auckland, New Zealand

Wednesday 11th March
Short flight to Auckland New Zealand - only 3 hrs! Greeted at the airport by Auntie Pauline & Uncle David. Great to be back in New Zealand and especially to see the family.
Thursday 12th March
Have a nice tour around Auckland courtesy of Pauline & Dave, which included, the City centre, Harbour, Mount Eden, Mission Bay (really good fish & chips we sat and ate by the beach).
In the evening we had a family gathering at Auntie Pauline & Uncle Dave’s - my cousins Guy & Karen, Megan, Mathew, Jason, Aimee & Tara all turned up and we had a superb meal – thanks Auntie Pauline and really good to catch up with you all.
Friday 13th March
We have been kindly lent Uncle Dave’s car (very brave as it’s Friday 13th) – we also get the Sat Nav thrown in and head off to Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter and Underwater World. We had a great time watching and feeding the stingrays, dolphins and turtles and penguins – all really close up – it has an excellent aquarium. The Antarctic exhibition is really interesting – over all we’re really impressed. We have another nice lunch at Mission Bay before getting back to Block House Bay .
Saturday 14TH March
We are invited to an Auckland Agricultural show at Kumeu. A really interesting day out. As you would expect, we see a lot of live stock and food produce on display. My Cousin’s 8 year old boy Matthew entered the giant pumpkin competition – an absolute whopper – I’m hoping he can send a photo for the blog – and let us know how you did Mathew? Andrew enjoyed the woodcutting competition whilst I did a bit of retail therapy. The kids had a ball on the fairground.
We then decided to drive up the road to Helensville – known for it’s natural hot spa pools and geothermal complex and we took the kids for spa pool experience – very pleasant (and very hot) it was too.
Sunday 15th March
Had a day with cousins and really pleased to see my cousin Martin – we walked the kids to the local park and met an old friend of my parents (Shirl) – great to see you Shirl.
Monday 16th March
We hijack the car (& Sat Nav) and take off to the Coromandel Peninsula. A bit of a beachy paradise on the eastern shores of the North Island. A mixture of lush native rainforest, beautiful coves, crystal clear waters and white sand beaches. It’s a fabulous drive - panoramic views at every turn. Sorry my photos don’t do it justice.
We stop in Coromandel town for lunch and then head for Hot Water Beach – where you make your own spa by digging a hole in the sand two hours either side of high tide, and then just sit in it and relax as hot spring water fills it up. We saw very little traffic until we got to the beach and by coincidence we were there just before high tide – as were another 200 people! You really have to choose your spot carefully – otherwise you only get a cold water pool. We did take a shovel but ended up just dipping our toes in other peoples' pools – the kids we’re not impressed by the tide coming in and we were forced back to safer shores! We had a quick look at Cathedral cove (thanks to Simon Schofield’s recommendation). Could have easily spent a couple more days here.
Tuesday 17th March
We decide we need to see more of Auckland by boat – we are after all in the city of sails. Uncle Dave also thinks we should take a trip over the Harbour Bridge. So the plan is to drive over to Devonport, catch a ferry to Auckland – sight see – and ferry back – plus saves trying to park in central Auckland City.
We get to Auckland easy enough and book onto full cruise of the harbour at hugely discounted price, which is really very good. We also have a quick tour of the Harbour courtesy of local 3-wheeler bike, before going to the Maritime Museum. We get the ferry back to Devonport but when we arrive we can’t find the car – and actually I don’t even recognise the harbour. After a bit of detective work, it turns out we set off from Bayswater Not Devonport. By now the ferry back to Auckland has gone so we catch a bus to Belmont – and start a 40-min walk with kids back to the car. A local mum takes pity on us and very kindly invites me & kids into her home for drinks whilst Andrew fetches the car – what a hero! However, it does now mean we have a big rush to get to the restaurant for my Cousins joint wedding anniversary and birthday party. All ends well – we get there just in time and have a very interesting DIY stir fry – which basically entails selecting your own meat & veg etc and asking the chef to cook it to your liking – great fun.
Wednesday 18th March
Uncle Dave, Andrew & the kids go to the MOTAT (Museum of Transport & Technology), whilst Auntie Pauline and I go shopping. Lots of aircraft (including a Lancaster) at MOTAT together with a wide range of steam power and other gizmo's including a flight simulator.
We go and see Cousin Darren and wife Julie. Great to see you both and sorry we couldn't have spent more time with you. You’ll have to get yourselves to England. Really pleased that Jason popped in to see us too.
For a treat Pauline & Dave offer to baby-sit, whilst Andrew and I go out for the night. We book a table at the Orbit Restaurant which is at the top of the Sky Tower in centre of Auckland City. The Sky Tower dominates the Auckland city skyline and is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. You can actually do a jump from the tower at 630ft - tempting? Apparently you fall at 85kph in just 12 seconds. We get to see great views of Auckland from our revolving restaurant (one full turn an hour) and have a very good meal.
Thursday 19th March
Our last day in Auckland. We pick up the Motor-Home late morning. Uncle Dave kindly lends us his Sat Nav – which is great as Andrew and I haven’t had one argument all holiday (re directions that is!).
We say our goodbyes – we have been thoroughly spoilt by Auntie Pauline and Uncle Dave and we are very grateful for their very kind hospitality. Thank you both and we look forward to seeing you in June.