It was an early start for us all in Sydney. We were up at 5am and then into a taxi to the airport. Check in was easy, then a quick bite and coffee and we were on our Emirates A380 to Auckland. Being an A380 there was plenty of room and after watching Star Wars Ep VII we were landing in cloudy and wet Auckland.

We took the slow taxi into downtown Auckland. There is a lot of construction going on so a number of roads were closed. In any case we arrived at our hotel, City Life around 2 pm. We have a very nice 2 bed apartment which is great for the kids to have their own space. We dropped our bags and walked down Queen St for lunch. There seems to be either Mexican or burger places in Auckland - we found a food truck place Downtown (yummy).

We walked back to the hotel and the kids and I went for a swim while Leigh had a nap. It was a long day so we walked over to the Casino to Andy's Burger and Bar. It was a great burger and the kids got a kick out getting into the VIP room to go to the bathroom! Watching some fire breathers and then back to the hotel and to bed.

Next morning we watched the Masters golf in bed and slowly woke up. The two hour time difference still makes an impact so we slowly got ready and then went to the Depot for Bacon and egg sandwiches and beignets. The beignets were delicious (we'll have to make these at home!)

Auckland is not a very pretty city like Sydney - lots different designed buildings and the harbour front has industrial loading cranes. We jumped on the green link bus and took it up to Parnell to the Auckland Museum. What a great museum! We watched the Maori cultural performance first which was extremely well done - the kids got a kick out of the haka.

We then walked around the volcano section and then the Origins section to see the big stuffed Moa. We did the Virtual reality ride in the Air NZ exhibition and then walked through the sports grounds of the Domain to catch the bus to Ponsonby.

Ponsonby is a little like Paddington - lots of nice shops and restaurants. We went to Ponsonby Central first. This is a great collection of shops, fresh food and veg and restaurants. We went to the Chop Chop noodle shop which was great - a big bowl of noodles with brisket and pork belly. The kids had a Nutella and marshmallow crepe and then we walked along Ponsonby road.

Leigh wanted to check out Douglas and Bec shop. Kids were struggling at this stage so we bought some kids books and then caught the bus back to the hotel.

We had some downtime and then went for another swim. the kids wanted to eat in so I went to the grocery store and then cooked up a storm back at the hotel and watched movies and got Swannies updates on the web.

The next morning we walked up and down Queen St to kill some time until a ferry. In Aoteroa square there are some public use ping pong tables that beep and squeak at you while you play. The kids loved it so we played ping pong for a while. The weather was a bit iffy so we picked up our bags from the hotel and walked down Queen st to the Ferry wharf.

It was Japan Day (who knew) at the wharf so we had a quick look around before grabbing a toasted sandwich at a ferry cafe. It was now grey and raining as we boarded the 40min ferry ride to Waihecke island. It was a smooth trip on a fast catamaran and before we knew it we were tying up to the wharf at Mataitai bay on Waihecke island.

We were picked up our taxi and a quick drive later we were at our rented house at 78 Mako St. It's a lovely house - just the right size for a few days stay on the Island.