Sunday 14 December 2008

Early Arrival at Auckland


Peter and Brian had joined forces to find accommodation for the 'extended family' in Regent Street, Narrow Neck, Auckland. A very spacious and 'architecturally interesting' detached house in the eastern suburbs near Devonport. Ideal in other words. The eagle-eyed amongst you may notice a paper chain on the balcony. This was made by Ted shortly before Christmas and will feature later.
And you could see the famous Harbour Bridge from ouside the front door!

Our arrival here on the 14th December and Ian and Nikki and the boys were not due to fly in until 22nd, so we had a week to wait, a chance to see a little of our local area.
The local beach.

The rugby pitch (during the off season).

We made a trip into Auckland primarily to collect wedding presents, but we also visited the Auckland Museum. It tells the story of New Zealand as a nation, natural history and cultural origins.

View from the collonades.

Locally, it was only a short drive (or a long walk) to the eastern shore from where the Auckland city waterfront is a wonderful sight and there are parks and fortification ruins.

Devonport is a lovely mixture of traditional and modern housing styles from modest cottages...

to much more opulent mansions.

An evening out for a meal yielded a preview of Christmas...

...and a view of Auckland's CBD by night.

The Advance Party's one week flew by very quickly, Brian and Carole were such good company but soon we were all looking forward to the arrival of 'the gang'.

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