Last Day in Auckland

Up until Thursday, January 24th, I had spent my time in Auckland exclusively on the North Shore. I was, however to spend my last day in New Zealand with my cousin Lynette, from the Tippett side of the family who lives in St Heliers. Cath drove me there in the afternoon and Lynette, husband Michael and daughter Georgia were all there to greet me. It was another glorious afternoon so after some general chat Lynette drove me and Georgia down to the waterfront. The tide was out, but the views of Rangitoto were still stunning.

We set off walking from Kohimarama in the direction of St Heliers and bade farewell to Georgia, who was off to meet a friend, and continued our walk in that direction. This was an area I once knew well, having stayed there frequently with a friend in my teenage years. I was impressed by the boardwalk, a new development, that now runs along most of the seashore.

As we walked I was delighted to see the New Zealand Kingfisher, a bird I had seen a number of times on this trip, but never in a good enough position to photograph. It was clearly hunting in the rock pools revealed by the very low tide,

We retraced our steps and continued on to Mission Bay where we sat for a while and chatted. There was a lot to catch up on, although Lynette had been following my blog, and had visited me in Chester in 2014. It was very pleasant indeed sitting there and watching all the birds hunting on the seashore. A container ship made a rather beautiful silhouette as it passed by.

A man sitting on the seat next to us had come to feed the birds and they came flocking to him, some even eating out of his hand.

After a very pleasant period in the shade; it was pretty hot in Auckland, we walked back to the car. When we returned to the house Daisy, their Labradoodle was there to greet me. Michael, Lynette’s husband said that he always took her to a park fairly early in the morning before it became too hot, so I said I would join him and walk around it. After a very convivial evening I retired to bed and was duly awake about 6am the following morning.

This was my last day in New Zealand and what a magnificent day it was. As soon as Michael was ready Daisy and I bundled into the car and drove the short distance to the park, which according to my photo is Madills Farm Recreation Reserve. Dogs are allowed on early in the morning. I had found that similar legislation had applied to beaches and other reserves, either early morning or late afternoon seemed to be doggy time, which, given how hot it was, was probably for the dogs’ benefit.

Daisy was clearly in heaven rushing round the park, but made a beeline for me when she saw me walking past.

After walking several laps of the park I made my way back up the hill which was a really Steep incline to their house. I had breakfast, did my last bit of packing, took some photos and then it was off to Auckland Airport. Lynette drove me through a number of streets that I had once known well and were little changed from my days at University, All too soon we were at the airport.

I left my cases at check-in and Lynette met me for a cup of coffee. We had one last chat then it was time to say goodbye to her and to New Zealand.

On the flight from Auckland to Singapore I was on the big 380 plane, with my pod in the upper deck. It was amazingly smooth on take off for such a large plane. My seat was wide enough for two people and the cabin crew were extremely attentive. I like the nice touches of Champagne before and after takeoff and the lovely white table cloth they put on your table in preparation for your meal. I had five hours to kill at Singapore so that was devoted to catching up with my blog. I had had the trip of a lifetime and it was really hard to leave all my New Zealand cousins and friends. Fortunately I am equally blessed with family and friends in Chester and England so that helped to dull the sorrow of leaving. One thing is for sure if I have the health and money to go again I most certainly will.

I hope my posts have given readers a good taste of New Zealand and thoughts for places to visit if they are able to go there. It is certainly a very exciting place with some real hidden gems. The architecture is distinctly different, but many places are modern towns and cities. The scenery is spectacular.

I hope to write some more blogs in April and May so watch this space.