Thursday 26th February
Auckland
Overnight we have sailed to Auckland. With two of our table companions we took the ferry over to Devonport. We visited here two years ago and really loved the area. There are beautiful houses here, mostly wooden, built at the end of the 19th century. It is a lovely area to walk in and we took a circular walk along the water's edge and then inland around Mount Victoria. Along the way we saw the huge tree in the photo. I'm not sure what type of tree it is but it had roots going from the branches down to the ground. Some of these roots were completely vertical and as thick as the trunks of some trees. It needed these roots to support the huge branches. We returned to Auckland on the ferry and later on took a leisurely walk along to the Viaduct Harbour area where there are lots of yachts berthed as well as restaurants and bars. To allow yachts to leave the harbour there is a pedestrian bridge that is raised so you often have to wait for this to come down before you can walk over it to the far end of the marina. They were busy preparing the harbour for a big sailing event starting here tomorrow. It is part of an around the world sailing race. Before we returned to the ship we stopped in one of the waterside bars to sample the wine.