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 down into it, however tempting it may seem!

Then onto Auckland Domain, and the museum. Ground floor: Pacific people - learnt a lot about the Maori people and way of life. M very interested in a flax weaving demonstration, & the kids loved the "wild child" exhibits - kids' toys from the past. First floor: Natural History - inevitably, dinosaur skeletons for J to wax lyrical about! Also a brilliant volcanoes section - including a simulation of an eruption of one of Auckland's volcanoes, complete with shaking house! Finally second floor: Scars on the Heart - rememebering the people of New Zealand who have fought in various conflicts. Detailed reconstruction of WW1 trenches, and both a Spitfire & Zero on display. The Spitfire's history included photos of it at Filton (Bristol) and Exeter airports.

Finally left at ~4.30pm, with the kids tired and hungry, so went back home to feed them a snack, before Gwyn cooked pork ribs (& apple sauce, much to the children's delight!) for us all, plus Caris & Sam.