Auckland Explorer Bus Day 1

We have accepted the parking situation. Every morning we need to go to the parking garage before eight and pay $15 for the night park. Then we drive out and drive in again, taking a new ticket and park again as an early bird (6am to 10am) and it is valid for twelve hours. At six in the evening we do the same thing to get the night rate (between 4pm and 10pm, valid till morning.)

Yesterday morning we decided to head for our hop on hop off bus tour straight from the parking lot. My instructions said it departs from the Civic Theater but it is on a corner and nobody could tell us exactly where the stop was. meanwhile we had cappuccino in a little cafe and got brochures from the Civic.

It was raining but we had put aside two days in Auckland to do the tour and we jolly well had to go. Across the road from the cafe we saw people crossing the road huddled under their umbrellas.

When we saw our bus drive past us, turn the corner and stop half way down the block, we ran to get it but were too late. At least we knew where to wait and the bus stop did have a roof, although the seat was wet. We caught the next one.

The first stop was the Sky Tower which was lost in the mist.

Having read how expensive it is to go up the tower, we didn't hop off but went instead to the next stop, the Waterfront (Princess Wharf.) Our tickets included a ferry trip to Davenport which seemed like a good idea because at least the ferry was covered.

by the time we got to Davenport, the rain had stopped and we got to walk around.

Some of the lintels of public buildings have Mauri carvings decorating them.

 We walked along Victoria St, passing quaint shops and eateries.

We bought delicious ice cream in cones. Mine had chunks of fudge in. We were heading for Mount Victoria where we would see lovely views from the top but the rain decided to return and although we were both wearing rain jackets, our pants got thoroughly wet. It didn't last long though. We sheltered in a Hospice charity shop and managed to walk back to the ferry.

On the way back we saw a great view of the Auckland skyline.

Back at the Waterfront we explored.

by now the rain had stopped and blue sky was visible.

Something that is totally new to us are the Lime 5 Electric riders. They are motorised scooters that you pay to hire via an app. They are parked all over town and you just pick one up, pay via the app, use it, the park it anywhere within a set area for somebody else to use. Totally alien to South Africans. when you see men in suits, sometimes carrying laptops, scooting around like teenagers, it is really rather strange.

Back on the bus we stopped off at Bastion point, renowned for its garden, reflecting pool and view of some of the many islands (ancient volcanoes) We decided to eat our packed lunch in the calm and tranquil setting.

Our next stop was the Parnell Rose gardens where we saw a huge variety of roses with exciting names like friendship and ballerina.

After all this activity (we walked more than ten kilometers) we didn't have the energy to do our next stop, Holy Trinity Cathedral, and decided to do it together with the blue tour today.