Auckland

Well, the Parnell Inn where we are staying has proved to be completely adequate and comfortable and is conveniently located within this district. The area is surrounded by small cafés, boutiques and craft shops with narrow alleyways  leading off the main pavement into quaint, tree lined ares beyond hiding yet more specialised shops and eateries. Today, we left our accommodation and took the local bus into downtown Auckland in search of outdoor pursuit shops as both Dani and I were in need of a few extra bits.

Auckland has a population of one and a quarter million and is Polynesia´s largest city and by far the largest in New Zealand. It is home to almost one third of the population. It covers more than 500 square kilometers and is twice the size of London and almost the size of Los Angeles.

It is a city built on 50 volcanoes, some of which are not extinct with the last eruption, Rangitoto, being about 600 years ago. It is a city where you are never far from the water with local people owning more recreational boats than any other city in the world.

The Sky Tower located here in the city centre is a landmark that you will find hard to miss as it is visible from almost every part of the city. It is 328 metres high and is the tallest manmade structure in the southern hemisphere. We should be able to write a little bit more about this tomorrow as we plan to go up it and have a look around!

Our first impression of Auckland was that it was an extremely clean organised looking place with neat shop fronts and sparkling windows. We got off the bus in mid town to have a look around the area on foot and, to me personally, the houses seemed to look very colonialised. Timber framed with neat gardens and low fences with houses varying in shades of blues and greys. We headed on foot to an area called Ponosby where, according to the Lonely Planet Guide, is located one of the best food halls in the city. Unfortunately, we were a bit too early to try any of the numerous types of food there, including Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Mexican,  but on looking it seemed like a good option for those looking for a variation at lunchtimes or evenings . Instead, we headed into a local coffee shop which provided the necessary caffeine injection.  The area itself offers a large range of cafes and restaurants. From here we headed back downtown into the city which actually reminds me a lot of San Francisco with its sloping hillsides heading down towards the waters edge. The shops are, as to be expected in any major city, numerous with an array of major brand names and small, individual styled boutiques. There are several larger malls located in the city centre and we managed to find a couple of stores selling the hiking stuff that we needed and the prices were extremely reasonable. Mind you, with not being able to buy these sort of things on Lanzarote I guess anything would have seemed cheap

We had decided that after browsing around some of the shops to head down to the waterfront to take the ferry over to Devenport which offers great views back over to the city and is abundant in history.