Black Prince Explorer

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Today I went and booked with the magic bus company my ticket which is a hop on hop off service running from Auckland to Christchurch.You can get off anywhere on route and jump on the next bus to resume the trip. I am setting off tomorrow (Tuesday) with either taking a stop at Hamilton or going through to Routria, depending on hostel availability.

Following the booking I took the explore bus which goes around the main sites of Auckland. The journey went from the sky tower to the markets then to the harbour then the ferry terminal, from there it went to Baiston point I disembarked from the bus and had a look at the views then walked down to Misson Bay beach which is a very nice beach on the way back I could see why it was called Misson bay due to the steep climb. Boarded the next bus and went round to the Auckland Museum via Kelly Tartons waterworld, Rose Park Gardens which are in the same area as the Hostel Lantana Lodge, and then past the Holy Trinity Cathedral where there was a funeral in progress as there was about 250 people outside.
At the museum I again disembarked and took the satellite bus for an hours trip which went to Eden Gardens then to Mount Eden an extent volcano which is grass covered then past the home of the All blacks Eden Park then past Aucklands largest shopping centre then a transport museum.
On returning to the Museum I returned to the explorer bus which then went to Parnell and I got off here and walked down to the hostel.

There were two points that I found funny today and they were both to do with the buses.
1) The double decker explore bus was a Routemaster which at one staged belonged to the Morley based bus company Black Prince as the name and address of the yard was still on the side by the front doors.

2) The satellite bus was an optare minibus made in Leeds.

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