Up, breakfasted & schoolwork done well before the Kiwis' appeared from their beds! Glorious sunny day - decided to stay in Auckland another day, and go to the Auckland Domain for the "Kiwi Day Out". Andy gave us a lift to the park. We saw some Maori & Polynesian music, as well as more contemporary stuff (a Finn brother!) & M got face painted as a butterfly - the queues were huge, so D&J went off in search of free ice creams & bought candy...

Breakfast, school work, then waited for the hire car to be delivered. An old, white (except for the rust), slightly battered Mazda! Cheap - thus perfect for our purposes! Quick drive round the block to get used to the car and fill up with petrol (~£1.10/L). Drove to Mount Eden Domain, and climbed to the top of the extinct volcano - great crater, ~50 m across, 30 m deep, with really steep sides! A sacred site (tapu) so it is requested that you don't climb do...

Lazy morning chatting to Gwyn & 2 visiting Aussies (John & Jenny): the parents in law of one of the Australian rugby team. Started to think about options re: travel in NZ - D phoned around for a good car hire deal. Weather predicted to be poor over the next few days (intermittent showers) so decided to do Auckland based things for a couple of days. Walked with Gwyn & Molly into Royal Oak for a look around the shops, then to One Tree Hill Domain, ...