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Published: June 10th 2013
Saturday, 27th April - Day Twenty-four.Another enjoyable Hotel breakfast but no later than 07:30 to be ready for the bus tour of Auckland City by 08:45. Sometime later, we stop for a fascinating tour of Kelly Tarlton’s sea world to see another replica of Scott’s Hut, penguins really up close and fish swimming freely over the top and by the side of us in a tunneled aquarium as we walk or travel on a moving pathway through the tunnel.
Our next stop is The War Memorial Museum, which is not just about the wars, - it’s also filled with wonderful New Zealand memorabilia and after our one hour guided trip there we wait around the dock for a cruise on a sailing yacht under Auckland Harbour Bridge. It’s one of those tours that we feel could have been excluded as it’s such a busy day already although none of the tours are obligatory. Anyway, we did set sail and some of us are even allowed to steer this huge wheel for a few moments. It’s a good thing we get back in the early afternoon to pack properly for the flight to Cairns - we daren’t be overweight on the
luggage with a strict 15 pounds only allowance for the carry-ons and not more than 50 lbs for one case each.
We’ll leave New Zealand with fond memories of a beautiful, green country with incredible scenery, schools where children still wear uniforms, gorse and pampas growing wild along the roadsides, deer farms, millions of sheep, many unusual birds, caves, mountains, lakes and glaciers, rain forests, great fish and chips, lovely pastries, outdoor adventures and spectacular thermal wonders. The people are also very proud of their country, very eco conscious (much recycling everywhere) and resourceful. I’m thinking of the brush-tailed possums brought over from Australia that have become such a pest and when caught, are used for their beautiful fur that’s mixed with merino wool to make very soft articles of clothing.
In the North Island, we covered over 1544 kms, about 960 miles although probably a few hundred more with side trips and the few times we missed our turns.
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