36:50.31S 174:44.83E

We very much enjoyed spending time exploring the anchorages and hiking trails of Great Barrier Island and were able to top up our fresh food supplies at the surprisingly well-stocked shop in Port FitzRoy, but we were now wanting to experience the city life once again and were delighted to have perfect wind to take us to Auckland.  A third of the population of New Zealand live in and around Auckland, so we knew this would be a fun place to spend some time.

Suffice to say we’re really enjoying this vibrant and cosmopolitan city full of delightful cafés and eateries, galleries, theatres and cinemas, giving us the culture fix we were craving.  Armed with our HOP cards (which operate like the London Oyster card), we’ve been jumping on and off the busses and trains so have enjoyed spending time in some of the trendy outskirts such as Parnell and Ponsonby.

In addition we have on our doorstep excellent chandleries and boat services to cater for Macushla’s every need.  It’s going to be hard to pull ourselves away from here.

Awesome view from the cockpit:

Auckland’s Sky Tower:

Sights around the city:

Historic Tramline in the Wynyard area:

Auckland Art Gallery, the highlight of which were the Maori paintings by Gottfried Lindauer (photo taken of Auckland brochure as no photos allowed in the gallery):

Auckland’s War Memorial and Museum at The Domain: