Tuesday 8th March

Caught flight up from Christchurch on a bright day so got some great views of North Island coming into land in Auckland. Picked up the hire car at the airport. Noticed the difference from Christchurch straight away as we sat in traffic jams for 30 minutes on our way to the hotel. Sky City Hotel is part of the Sky City Casino complex in the middle of Auckland. Got unpacked and went for the normal walk about to orientate ourselves. Again different from Christchurch lots of people around and lots of bars and restaurants to chose from.

Lesley wanted Pasta so we looked around and found one at Elliott's Stables, nice choice and a nice bottle of Pinot. This is a restaurant complex with French, Italian, Mexican, Japenese and lo and behold a Tapas place that serves Estrella, so Bob was happy. Sat enjoying the pasta and watching the world go by. Lesley wants to go back to have the Duck and Bob noticed a bottle from Bruno Metyard in the wine cooler, one of our friends from Beaujolais so we will do that. Couple of beers in Bellota, a Tapas bar at the hotel and then bed.

Wednesday 9th Morning exploring Auckland and its Harbour and Quays along with a walk around Auckland Fish Market. Then caught the City Link bus back. In Auckland there are three circular bus routes you can join, City Link $1, Inner Link $4 and Outer Link $6 NZ that do a circular route and any journey is cost as indicated. Another great example of how the antipodeans have transport sorted. Lunch was a quick Subway then it was a trip up Sky Tower to see Auckland from 220Metres up. Some fascinating views of the city and the various old volcanoes that are a big part of the City. Just in case you wondered they say that the Tower, the tallest man made structure in New Zealand, could withstand an 8.0 Earthquake with 20KM of it!!! Thanks but I do not want to be the Test Dummy ;-).

Thursday 10th March. Off to Hobbiton for a Lord of the Rings Day Out and what a day out. Set off at 8am and drove down the M1 towards Hamilton and then took the M2 to Matamata. The scenery is absolutely beautiful with the Coramandel Ranges and Penisular providing a beautiful back drop during the drive. At around 9am stopped off at the Native Tree Cafe for Breakfast. Enchanting place and really peaceful. Set off again for Matamata and arrived at Hobbiton around 1020am. Really expected to see a lot more tourists and coach tours, glad we did not. We went into the ticket office to check in for the 1130 tour and were asked did we want to go on the 1045, "Yes Please" so off we went with Becky our guide. If you are a Lord of the Rings or Hobbit fan and suffer any form of envy, be warned do not read on or look at the pictures. This place , as a fan of Tolkein, is just fantastic. We saw Bag End, The Green Dragon, The Water Mill, The Party Field and Tree, and the Hobbit Houses of Lobelia Sackville Baggins, Samwise Gamgee and his family, my hero I think, the gardens and much more. In the 5 weeks we have been away this is our best experience. We appreciate if you are not a Lord of the Rings Fan it may not be for you. Becky imparted a lot of information during our walk around,which I am happy to share with those that are interested. We ended our walk with a mug of refreshing ale at the Green Dragon.Two very happy hobbits 

Friday 11th March. Got up to a showery Auckland, first time we have seen rain on this trip. So laundry seemed a good idea. Managed to find a local laundrette, so "Laundry Boy" went to put the washing on whilst Lesley found a breakfast cafe. Two bacon sarnie' s later and tumble drier session completed the job. Looked like it might brighten up so we jumped on a bus out towards One Tree Memorial and Cornwall Park. When we got there it was still drizzling, so Lesley made a wise decision, Tea in the Park Cafe, whilst Bob joined the other mountain goats in climbing the 600ft Hill to get a very misty view from the top. On completion a bus back into town, $10NZ Mexican lunch at the Mexican Cafe, great value, then back to the hotel. On our way to Cornwall Park the bus driver gave us a complimentary ride, just $9 coming back so overall great value.

Up early in the morning 0445 for our flight via Sydney to Bali. Last blog from here and now looking forward to 10 days lazing on the beach.