Ellie’s alarm didnt go off at 8.30 but instead she turned it off in her sleep this morning and then punched me in the arm to wake me up from my blissfully deep sleep under that lovely big fluffy duvet at 9.20am. Ten minutes until breakfast was due to be served! Greeeeeat. I love wake up calls like that.... (she’s not in charge of the alarm tomorrow).

Such a great night sleep last night, it was so bizzare going to sleep with not one sound in the background. Not a bird or ghekko or a motorbike, no sound of air con or a fan. It was literally like being at home! Silence :)

Cooked breakfast this morning, poached eggs cooked to perfection and a piece of pork bacon medallion, mushrooms baked beans and the tin tomatoes. Yummmy!

Ash and Amy dropped us off in Onehunga on the west coast of the Auckland city island. Now we had to walk to the other side of the island!

Through the housing estates it was very much like America in a way but also the UK with the hills.

We got to the one tree hill park, although no tree on the top of the hill because protesters saw it down. So now the U2 song doesn’t mean anything...
we walked up and over, into the Cromwell park which was so pretty with all the cherry blossom trees!
It’s the last day of winter holidays for New Zealand so everyone was out in the park enjoying picnics (doing it properly like the movies with bottles of wine and croissants).
Next park we walked straight into was the Campbell park which again was lovely and clean, pruned trees and bushes, relaxed... everything is so very different to Asia! We aren’t used to this, and the smell! No smell of eggs or sewer just clean fresh air!

We navigated our way to mount Eden next, Auckland is built on so many “mountains” they’re just collapsed or haven’t erupted in a few hundred or thousand of years. They just keep building on top of them. (That’s not gunna be a pretty site if they erupt again!).

Mount Eden gave us a 360 degree view around Auckland suburbs, sea and city and has a crazy weird look to it in the middle where the grass has grown over he volcanic stone and ash.

Next up through a very sleepy Sunday city and into another park, through a university campus and found the kiwi experience office to sort out our plan and ask all the questions. After half hour we managed to fix all our bus dates so that we have a better idea of where we are going and when, and actually trying to fit everything in because we actually have less time to do everything than we thought!

Finally at the end of the 17km walk once we got around the corner to the harbour. It was a beautiful day! The sun was out, the water was crystal turquoise all the way up to the ferry port. So it would be very rude to not sit in that beautiful sun and drink a glass of that lovely white New Zealand wine overlooking the gorgeous turquoise waters don’t you think? Well indeed it would jimbob! Okay.... let’s have a drink!

Only one though, because we actually aren’t made of money and we had to get a train back to Panure for Amy to pick us up in time for roast dinner!! I’m so excited, first one in ten months!

And boy was it delicious! Cauliflower cheese with leeks, beef gravy, homemade Yorkshire puddings! Yummy yummy yummy!

We got the two bottles of wine to say thank you for letting us stop there, so they opened one at dinner and we watched the welsh match afterwards with some naughty New Zealand Whittaker’s chocolate.

Another accidentally late night before our 5.30am wake up call tomorrow for the ride into Auckland with Ash for the bus to Paiha!