Sunburst

Or so it seemed, as the sun appeared above the horizon, moving from this first glimpse to fully above the clouds over Kawau Island, in just over two minutes. 

I chose to watch the sunrise from the cliff edge point rather than head elsewhere, and was pleased with what I got. S endorsed this as her favourite.

Later in the morning I went to the mudflats and "hunted" birds. Ducks, herons, kuaka (godwit), poaka (pied stilt), taranui (Caspian Tern) in flight, tuturiwhatu (dotterel), toreapango (variable oystercatcher) and of course the omnipresent red-billed and black-backed gulls. 

This evening I walked around Viaduct Harbour with the boys while S graced the chair of our dentist (from which chair there is a magnificent view of the Waitemata Harbour). The boats in Auckland for the stopover appear to be hidden from public view, and anyway the boys were supremely disinterested. They did like it when the bridge opened up to let an old fashioned wooden yacht motor quietly out of the inner harbour.