Bridge the Travel Gap

A week in Auckland

Time goes fast when your having fun. We have been a week in Auckland and have been flat out. In the first week we have visited Devonport and explored North Head Reserve, completed the 16km coast to coast walk which begins in Onehunga Harbour and finishes at the Auckland Viaduct and today we went fishing with my brother in his boat and caught 21 snapper in the Hauraki Gulf.

Waitangi Day

Waitangi day is a celebration of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the establishment of what was to become New Zealand. We started the day by visiting Barry Curtis Park in Flatbush where we watched some Maori dancing and enjoyed wandering around the different food stalls. Later, we drove over the Auckland Harbour Bridge to Devonport. Here we visited North Head Reserve, a park, where there was once a naval gun emplacement to protect Auckland. It is now a reserve where you can explore the tunnels and gun emplacements. There are also several movies provided by the Department of Conservation at two small theatres. Afterwards we just wandered around the tracks and enjoyed the free views of Rangitoto Island and Auckland’s city skyline. Devonport is easy to get to if you do not have a car with a ferry from downtown Auckland. From the ferry port it would take around half an hour or longer depending on your fitness.The evening finished with a trip to the Auckland Viaduct where we were treated by my brother and his wife to a show in a Spiegel Tent performed by Empire. The show was an amazing 90 minutes of acrobats, balancing and laughter.

Auckland Coast to Coast walk

The next day we decided to do the Auckland coast to coast 16 km walk from Onehunga situated in Manukau Harbour to the Auckland Viaduct. The track takes you across several beautiful parks where you can enjoy the gardens and views of Auckland. We started in Onehunga as this is less steep and the views are going towards Auckland city. The walk took us around 4 and a half hours going past One Tree Hill, Mt Eden and included lunch at the Auckland domain which is Auckland’s oldest park.

Fishing trip

We got up at 5am to drive to Kawakawa Bay where we launched the boat and headed towards Brown Island. It was a lovely morning and the sea was completely calm. After arriving at the chosen fishing spot within a few minutes I had caught my first snapper of the day. The next few hours flew by and in the end the four of us had caught 21 snapper. The quota for snapper caught each day is 7 per person. Within an hour we were home and the fish were filleted and the evening meal was delicious. A great way to finish the week and the upcoming one is another busy one with a visit to Tiritiri Matangi.

So ended a week in Auckland which was very busy and enjoyable.