Day 2 - Sat 13 Oct

A very slow start .. Cameron just made the 9:30 breakfast deadline .. Emma didn't come close! Time to spend a little time figuring out where we are going to go, and how. Decided to start via Camper Van the next day and gave Britz a call. No Britz or Maui campers available .. only Backpackers .. their retirement home for broken down old crates that they don't want driving round with Britz logos any more! Well, if that's all you have ... and at least it is 1/3 cheaper. Finally made it out of the B&B at 1 PM. But things got more active from here ...

Spot the volcanic rocks

Walked up the road to the Mount Eden, the tallest of 50 volcanic cones dotted around Auckland. After about 20 mins hiking, you get to enjoy the panoramic views from the top. Can see everything from the city, Sky Tower, Harbour Bridge, One-Tree Hill (now treeless) and several other volcanos. You can also walk down into the crater of Mount Eden .. certainly the first time we've been down inside a volcano.

Caught the bus into town then walked into the Auckland Domain. The bus guys last night had told us we should visit the Winter Gardens which turned out to be two large hothouse buildings, one full of flowers and the other with more tropical foliage plants. At the back was a lush, damp fernery - a shaded outdoors area. Nice to visit if you're city-bound, but not a patch on the areas we'd see in the forests later.

We walked from there over to Parnell, another area with lots of restaurants and cafes. There's also a cute village of restored shops connected by narrow alleyways, courtyards and boardwalks. Lots of places that either were or should have been called Ye Olde Whatever Shoppe. Disappointed to find a Starbucks taking up one end (one of about 6 we saw in Auckland). Stopped for afternoon tea in a Chocolate Boutique with the rather dated boast that "President" and Chelsea Clinton stopped there for tea and coffee.

From there we walked into the city proper. Stopped in a travel agency and took out our insurance, which was a relief. Not that we expect to need it, but I just didn't want to be hiking and afraid to twist an ankle for fear of medical bills. The up the Sky Tower.

Sky Tower at night Sky Tower Factoids

• The Sky Tower is not quite as tall as the CN Tower in Toronto, but is taller than the AMP / Centerpoint Tower in Sydney (but the observation floors on the AMP tower are higher).
• The Sky Tower is a member of theFederation Des Grandes Tours Du Monde (World Federation of Great Towers).
• The Sky Tower weighs as much as 6000 elephants (or as Emma said, 6002 while we were there :-) )
• It was pink this week for Breast Cancer Awareness Week.

Skytower sunset

It's a fantastic view of Auckland and the surrounding area. And we'd timed it pretty well, being there through a couple of rain showers, a rainbow, sunset and the lights coming up. Down on earth again, we wandered around Queen and High Streets before settling on Cino in High St for dinner. Had a very nice Chicken, Bacon and Banana salad, with Orange Vinaigrette. Not as weird as it sounds. I'll have to remember that one.

Happily the bus ride home was fast and direct.