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Our last day and awoke to beautiful sunshine over Orewa beach. Really pleasant beach side walk into town and brekkie in a cafe. Strolled back before the big pack up and departure preparation. A young Aussie couple next to us were just embarking on a 12 month NZ adventure and were cleaning out the van they had purchased in preparation. They were extremely grateful to receive our bits and pieces that would otherwise have been thrown away.
Our original plan to drive into Auckland then ferry across to Waiheke Island for lunch in reality proved too impractical due to traffic and time restraints. Instead we drove the 38kms into the city and found a parking area quite easily down near Viaduct Harbour. We didn't have high expectations but on such a warm sunny Saturday, with a cruise ship in dock, the whole precinct was bustling. We wandered Princes Wharf, Hobson Wharf and across the raiseable bridge (which did have to raise to allow craft through before we could proceed) to Wynyard Quarter. Definitely Auckland's version of Darling Harbour. Much roadwork and construction is taking place but it's a fabulous area of bars, cafes and restaurants.
Then it was back to the van for a quick change before setting the GPS for the Britz depot. All went smoothly with drop
off and shuttle to the airport, arriving with plenty of time to spare (thankfully) for a couple of wind down drinks before boarding.
So our adventure to "Aotearoa" has come to a close. The "Land of the long white cloud" was frequently the long, wet rain cloud - but certainly did not affect what we were able to achieve and our immense level of enjoyment! We covered over 2700 kms of the North Island in our 15 days - witnessing incredible scenery, meeting interesting people and enjoying amazing food and wine! NZ we will return!
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