New Zealand #20 - We end our roadtrip in Auckland - North Island

We have a pleasant drive south from Russell, retracing our route on Highway 1, not much traffic. Again there are some stunning views near Waipu of Bream Bay and the Hen and Chickens group of islands, but also much road construction so we can't stop to get any photos.

Auckland, seen from the ferry quay in Devonport.

We arrive in Auckland early, our third time here if you count the flight connection en route from Tahiti to Sydney, and the overnight at the airport when we flew from Cairns to Queenstown! During our drive I try to find a place for brightonbonnie to get her nails maintained but no joy, so we head for the apartment we've rented in Mount Wellington, a southern suburb. For our last few nights 'on the road' we have decided to stay in the city and have a bit more luxury. The owners are very nice as is the well-appointed basement apartment with a walkout to a pool and hot tub. Their post on TripAdvisor called it an 'Oasis in the City" and it is, because it sits on a slope and the houses on the street behind are downhill and hidden by shrubs, so you don't realize you have anyone else nearby.

Oasis in the City.

Apparently getting brightonbonnie's nails done has become an urgent necessity so following our hosts' directions I take her to Sylvia Park shopping center, a wonderful North American-type indoor mall, not the 'shopping...' '...center' we found in Island Bay, Wellington. I return to the Oasis to unload everything and when I go back to pick her up we have late lunch/dinner in the food court.

Crossing to Devonport there are good views of the harbour and various vessels like this racer...

...and Devonport itself.

In the evening we get settled and use the hot tub around 8 under the stars! Very relaxing, leading to a good night’s sleep in more luxurious accommodation than we are used to.

At The Patriot, my favourite, seafood...

...and the British connection, Ploughman's Lunch.

The next day is sunny, 23 Celsius. Breakfast is espresso from the very nice coffee maker and slices of our host’s blueberry and lemon cake. The apartment is well-provisioned, not as much as our cottage in Island Bay, but enough that we could have taken all our meals in the apartment without having to shop. As it is we have run down our own supplies and when we leave donate most of what is left to the pantry.

A touching memorial in Devonport to those it has lost in war.

At 10 we walk to the train station and travel about 15 minutes to Britomart, the main Auckland transit station. A short walk from there we get the ferry to Devonport. The view of the harbour and city on the short crossing is wonderful, and the recommendation to visit Devonport from a friend of our daughter who was here on exchange from the Canadian Navy proves to be a good choice for the one day we have here to explore.

Looking into the crater of Maungarei volcano.

The town is very interesting, with some old architecture and the navy base, and lots of shops and cafes along Victoria Road. We both are taken with The Patriot, which looks like and turns out to be a British pub. There is a beer garden in the back and we have a nice lunch, with another fine bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough. I have scallops and king prawns, brightonbonnie a ploughman’s lunch, which leads to us discussing how Oz and New Zealand are so similar to Canada in many ways but also have retained much more of the British connection (Example: cricket, almost unknown in Canada. Can anyone explain the rules to me in less than 6 hours?).

View from Maungarei...

...and another.

The next day is sunny and hot again but we spend most of it doing laundry and repacking. I take a break and enter the park directly across the road to walk up the thankfully long-extinct Maungarei volcano, with some good views of Auckland and the surrounding bays. In the evening we invite our hosts down to our (their) place for drinks and snacks, then head off with them to a local restaurant, Frantalia, for a great meal, bouillabaisse for me and orange chicken for brightonbonnie, one of the best meals she’s had on our trip. We celebrate our last evening in New Zealand with a bottle of Oyster Bay Brut in the hot tub!

To remind us that this is New Zealand in the autumn our last day is cloudy and cooler, raining heavily at times. We have a quick breakfast, confirm our pack and tidy up the apartment. It's an easy drive to the airport. Our trip through North Island has covered 2,000 kilometers, so our New Zealand total is 3,350. When I drop the evil Mazda I tell the agent it's the worst car I've ever driven, mainly because it has all the bells and whistles, requiring about 2 days to study the manual, not practical for a rental vehicle when you have other things you'd like to do, like sight-see! After 2 weeks driving the vehicle there are still things I don't understand, or don't know how to do...

Since we had to check-out of the apartment early and have a long flight we book into a lounge at the airport and spend most of April 24, 2016, in pleasant surroundings, with wifi and meals. Our flight to Vancouver on Air New Zealand, 13 hours through the night, is absolutely fantastic. Much to my surprise our 2 hour (!) connection to Air Canada - including picking up bags, border checks, dropping off bags, and walking between gates - is flawless, and we are soon heading for Toronto and to our daughter's house. There, at 1 in the morning (not sure what day - is it today, yesterday, or tomorrow?), we say a brief hello to her and eldest grand-daughter, and fall quickly asleep. Our roadtrip is over!

PS - if you've enjoyed this post please check out my first 19 New Zealand posts, the previous 19 posts in my Australia series, and the 3 before that in Tahiti!

And please join us in my next post as I reflect on our 90 day roadtrip!

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You can find this, and other exciting adventures from some great travelling Steemians at Steemit Worldmap -

!steemitworldmap -36.862638 lat 174.792875 long Auckland New Zealand d3scr