Awesome Auckland

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It was yet another long drive to get down to Auckland but first of all to get the best view across to the city we popped along the North Shore peninsula to 'delightful Devonport'. And yes it was delightful. Deserted white beaches, an oldy worldy feel and a smart looking selection of shops and restaurants. Oh, and the most incredible view across the bay to Auckland. We decided that Devonport would be a perfect place to live.

Next: Parnell, our base for the night. Another very livable suburb with a village feel, smart bars, enough restaurants to shake many a stick at, galleries, boutiques and grand apartments.

So it was a slightly sad goodbye to the Jucy Cruiza and a warm welcome to a hotel room and our own bathroom! Actually, it was way too hot, no air con and we didn't sleep anything like as well as we had in the van...

A few days back we had checked out a few restaurants on good old tripadvisor and based on rave reviews booked ahead for Iguacu in Parnell (voted best restaurant in New Zealand two years running and best restaurant in Auckland each of the last three). We were expecting good things and we were not disappointed. We were spoilt for choice but went for six tempura oysters to start and then kangaroo loin and a lamb dish for mains. The kangaroo was delicious. A bit like steak but so much more delicate and lean. Wow, this was up there with one of the best meals we have had. We were obviously not the only ones to think this - it's a good job we booked.

Our flight to Hong Kong was not until 11.45pm so we had the whole next day to do Auckland. A massive park (Auckland Domain) lies between Parnell and Auckland centre, so we forced ourselves out for a jog around it first thing. Then we spent the rest of the day in the city centre, starting off at the Sky Tower and Sky City complex complete with casino (incredible how many people, mostly Chinese/Japanese were playing roulette and slot machines at 10am), and 18 restaurants. After trawling through the file of restaurant menus we decided the thing to do would be to go to the grand seafood buffet at the top of the sky tower building. We got all excited and went to book only to find that they were closed for lunch and could only fit us in at 9pm, meaning we would miss our flight. Gutted!

We soon got over our disappointment when we headed down to the viaduct harbour and found that it was a lovely sunny patch lined with dozens of restaurants, which continued along to Princes Quay. Of course we checked out all the menus and settled on Mecca for another seafood platter - the hot and sour squid were the highlight - with a rocket and parmesan salad.

Auckland was lovely and far more of a proper city than Christchurch or Wellington yet still with a laid back feel and plenty of space and parks. Uncharacteristically we actually visited an art gallery in the afternoon (although admittedly only because the title of the exhibition was Taste). It was very odd - chocolate fish spelling fish in Maori, plastic foods, a knitted octopus and a lump of margarine reprenting the butter mountain. Hmmm...

After a couple of hours catching our final few rays in Albert Park we headed back to the viaduct for a bread and dip selection and chicken and mango asian salad and then it was off to the airport. Hong Kong here we come!

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