We stopped off first in Kerikeri, where we saw the oldest stone building and oldest wooden building in NZ. Funnily enough, they're right next to each other. Lilly also had us trek up a hill to see a Mauri fortress. What our guidebook didn't tell us is that this is a hill where you can see the outline of where the fortress used to be. Ah well.
We also stopped very briefly at the beach at Mangawhai Heads, which was lovely, and at Goat Island, which was scenic but lacking in its promised fish - this is now a nature reserve and allegedly if you wade into the sea up to your knees, you'll be surrounded by loads of fish. Lilly waded a bit further than this - nothing. Nobody else there had seen any either. Oh well!
Goat Island
We also stopped to use the public toilets in Kawakawa - designed by famous Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, this is one of the most bizarre public toilets ever. As a treat for the ladies, here's the part you wouldn't normally get to see...
Kawakawa's only tourist attraction
We stayed a bit more centrally on our return to Auckland so managed to have a good wander round. Seems a reasonably nice place. Set around a bay, most of the city is on the south side but you're never far from the coast. Generally fairly low rise apart from one small area - the suburbs especially are houses with no high rises in sight.
The only art we saw was Auckland Art Gallery's exhibition on food and art. This was a refreshingly eclectic mix from Dylan Horrocks (comic book art) to Hiroshige II (ukiyo-e) to Bruegel to a giant crocheted octopus to Korean model foods (as used in Japanese restaurants).
Auckland is a fairly cosmopolitan place - in particular, lots of Japanese restaurants for some reason - but also plenty to do in town even before you get out of town to natural attractions.
We notched another cinema catch-up, Up In The Air (a concept looking for a film but has its moments so fairly enjoyable).
We had a great dinner at the Occidental Belgian Beer Cafe - Lilly had huge mussels (presumably not actually from Brussels) and the Flemish stew was excellent - it appeared to contain only beef, but very tasty.
We also went up the Sky Tower, the tallest freestanding building in the southern hemisphere. The view is very good but it's expensive. The smart thing to do would be to have dinner in the restaurant up there (min $30) to save the $25 entrance fee. Sadly that would have required advance booking...
Just lean back and enjoy the view...
Finally, on the way out of town we climbed - ok, drove up - one of the many volcanic cones in and around Auckland, Mount Eden. There's a big, grass-filled crater which is apparently holy so you're not allowed in it. Tell that to the guy who arranged stones at the bottom into his initials! Great views again.
Really enjoyed the north of NZ's North Island. Could have happily spent longer everywhere we went. Hope it keeps this up!
* Just pretend you're in Mars Attacks.
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