Day 5

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Today we had a trip to Devonport. Devonport is a pleasant little suburb of Auckland and home of the New Zealand Navy. You can actually see it from our window, but it's some distance by road, as you have to cross the Waitemata Harbour Bridge to get there. The easiest way to get there is by ferry from the Auckland waterfront. They run every half hour or so, and it takes about 10 minutes to get across.

Devonport has a distinctive shape, it's a sort of peninsula, with two volcanic mounds, Mount Victoria at one end, and North Head at the other, jutting out into the gulf like a giant brassiere. (Trust him to think of that, I hear you say, but that really is the best way to describe it!)

Once there, it's like a different planet, after the hustle and bustle of Auckland. As you get off the ferry, a short walk takes you into the town, which is itself busy, but in a much smaller way to Auckland. The main street is lined with restaurants and there seem to be rather a lot of antique shops and second-hand bookshops, which makes sense as once you get into the quiet suburban streets, you start to think that maybe there's not much else to do here but read and polish your ornaments. You can climb the volcanoes if you want the superb views of Auckland City, but we'd done that several times before and our legs were stiff from the previous day's activities, so we just had lunch at Manuka's and then strolled the streets, looking at the stylish houses and indulging in a bit of daydreaming. If you ever go to live in Auckland, this is the place to be (or Paratai Drive, more about that another day). But you would need quite a bit of money!

Round the other side is a really idyllic beach, called Cheltenham Beach, with more superb housing facing out across to the volcanic island of Rangitoto. We lingered there a while, trying to imagine what it must have been like when Rangitoto pushed its way out of the sea. Then we dragged ourselves away via the supermarket and caught the return ferry in time for tea.

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Photos

The Moreton Bay Fig Tree
Planted in 1883

Devonport
One of the colonial-style houses

Devonport
More pohutakawa trees

Comments

[Dearst Daughter]

Looks a bit cloudy, I thought you said it was summer!