Day 22 - Auckland

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So we fell asleep last night to a wet, windy, and rainy Auckland. We woke this morning to that same Auckland so decided to have a low-key laundry day.

After dropping off our laundry at a nearby laundry service, we walked around the central business district a bit and the K’Road area. This is a bar area of Auckland complete with some interesting shops. We popped into an army surplus store and wondered how many militias existed in the area as the clientele was interesting.

We spoke with some of the locals and got a recommendation for dinner. This proved to be the highlight of the day. After picking up our laundry and getting showered up, we ventured to Ponsby neighborhood for dinner at SPQR. We started with an appetizer of prosciutto with truffle oil and goat cheese stuffed porcini peppers. Frank had the seafood linguini as his entrée while Kip had the pomegranate grilled chicken. We also enjoyed a nice local bottle of pinot gris with dinner. After dinner we were strongly encouraged to try the sticky date dessert and we were in absolute heaven as we savored this sweet treat. We nearly drank all of the caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream that came with it! Kip wanted to lick the bowls clean, but since this was a more high-class establishment, he was content turning his empty bowl over to the staff at the conclusion of the meal.

After dinner we strolled back to the hotel and retired for the evening. This was probably the least desirable weather during the entire trip, but we were still able to make it a productive day.

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Photos

Frank embraces the Christmas spirit
It's hard to celebrate Christmas when its summer!

Night picture
Notice the clouds...but no rain when the picture was taken!

Comments

[Mom]

Happy Thanksgiving (tomorrow)!
Just wanted to wish you both a Happy Thanksgiving! Probably not a celebration over there. Hope you can find some turkey! I want to hear more about the date dessert!