Maritime Museum - our Last Day

Sunday September 29th, 2013

Weather: Low 20's, overcast & sunny!

All good things must come to an end, and as our flight was not leaving until early in the evening, we had plenty of time to visit the Maritime Museum in Auckland.  I really enjoy visiting museums - not just because of the interesting artifacts that are on display, but learning about the history related to a specific location.  Coming from the UK - our history is well known to me - Kings & Queens, castles, industrial revolution etc.  Now living in Canada, our museums have lots of great information about the First Nations and then the European settlers.  Sydney's Maritime Museum taught us about the Aboriginal people, and then the settlers, so we were interested to lean more about the Maori People and New Zealand - the Auckland Maritime Museum did not fail to produce.  The surprising thing to learn is that New Zealand was settled relatively recently by the Maoris, and they are of Polynesian descent.  I would imagine that this is something that school children learn at an early age, but for us visitors - it was interesting.

So here are a few pics from the museum:

Did you notice the name in the background of the last photo?  It is the Northern Steamship Company - the same name as the pub that we had lunch at the day before (with the lamps hanging from the ceiling!)  It turns out that the pub is actually in the HQ of the Northern Steamship Company - what a connection!

As New Zealand just lost the Americas Cup (not named after the US as I had always thought, but after the name of boat that first won the race.  Learning.  Always learning!!) to the USA, I really enjoyed the Sir Peter Blake exhibition at the Museum.  He led the team that won the Americas cup in 1992 and his boat was there - it is HUGE!  I passed on buying his last book that was actually a collection of his log book entries right up until the day he was tragically killed.  I then spent the rest of the day trying to buy it at a book shop (without success) so I feel an order to Amazon coming on!!

Here are a few pics from that exhibition - including the 'shirt off his back'!

And that was the end of the trip.  Phew, what a trip it has been.  Just one more wrap up post - and a few more pics that didn't fit into the other posts, as well as final thoughts on a fabulous journey!

Auckland - as Seen by a Tourist

Saturday September 28th, 2013

Weather:  cooler - low 20's.  Sunny/patchy cloud

Having spent most of our holiday 'doing' things, our last couple of days were spent chilling out in Auckland.  On Saturday we wandered around the shopping area and the quay:

And we had a fabulous meal at this restaurant - loved the interior decorating!

What we did not realise at the time of our meal, was the significance of this pub . . . . . all will be revealed tomorrow!

Auckland is a great city - right next to the sea, and the fabulous countryside.  It has a lovely quay and some fabulous eateries and shops.  But boy, it is hilly!  And our hotel was at the top of one of those hills!  Great for going out in the morning, but the walk back at the end of the day was not so good!

Waiheke

Thursday September 26th 

Weather: Glorious!

After such a late bedtime (or was it early as it was after midnight -  I never really know!), this morning seemed to come round really quickly and by 11am we were on the ferry from Auckland to Waiheke, a sub-tropical island situated in the straits in-between North and South Island.  The weather was overcast, pretty windy and with a hint of rain, it did not look promising.  Until we set sail that was, and out came the sunshine!   

Our trip included a bus tour around the island.  I have never been on a bus tour before, I never really understood them – why not drive yourself around, at your own pace and stop off when and where you fancy?  So my hopes were not particularly high.  And guess what.  It was really rather good!  

Our driver was really informative and after having a good look round, and stopping at some lovely beauty spots, we chose to get off at the largest village, Oneroa, had a great lunch . . . . and then down to the beach to collect shells and paddle in the ocean.  Fabulous!  

My fully dressed Ursula Andress inpression (ok, and without the white bikini!!)

There were seashells EVERYWHERE!  Lots of happy gulls!

This bench had my name on it . . . .

Loved the name of this company (Pu Bear Power) and the owner had a huge Pooh Bear in the passenger seat.  Apparantly he picked up a lot of business due to the bear - good for him!!

The island is stunning – very lush (at this time of the year, although apparently last year it did not rain for around 4 months and a lot of the vegetation died off) with over 100 beaches.  We visited just 2 of them, and they were quite lovely.  Lots of sand between the ol’ toes and a great time was had by all.  Tomorrow is our trip to Hobbiton – but look what I found . . . . 

Au Revoir Australia and Hello New Zealand!

Well, it is 0230hrs in the morning, the wind is howling outside my hotel window, so what better time than to update the blog?!

Today is Wednesday September 25^th and it is my Wedding Anniversary.  Sadly I am away from my loved one (missing you honey xx), but have been treated by my family who are here with me in New Zealand – ah yes, shopping time in Pandora!! 

So today was also quite a big day, we left Geelong (after meeting Lina’s lovely Mum, Nona B) and drove to Melbourne for our flight to Auckland, New Zealand. Unfortunately we did not get to see Melbourne, but I did get some great pics of Geelong . . . . 

And once at the airport, we saw these characters . . . . . 

On Sunday, the Hawthorn Hawks take on the Fremantle Dockers in the final of the Aussie Rules footy.  We quite got into the footy whilst in Australia, and decided to choose a team each.  Using a random number generator, I got the Hawks, and Dad got the Dockers.  Sunday’s flight could be very long depending upon the result.  Incidentally, Hawthorns colours – brown and amber, are exactly the same as my old school colours at Devonport High Schoolfor Girls in Plymouth, Devon (UK).  How bizarre!

Finally, a HUGE thank-you to John, Lina and Jack - Sharon's brother and family, who so kindly looked after us during our time in Australia.  Without them, we would not have been able to do all that we did - they have been fantastic hosts, and we look forward to repaying their kindness when they come to visit us in Canada!