Kiwi Farewell

Couldn’t complete my diary of a visit to New Zealand without a shot of their iconic kiwi. Sadly not a live one, as they are mostly nocturnal, but a very pretty brown and cream variety in the Auckland Museum, which we visited today on our city tour.

Hand on heart, I have to say that modern Auckland didn’t impress us at all. So many ugly concrete square blocks and all crammed in to a small area, each architect trying to outdo the other in idiotic design! The older part of the city was so much nicer, with beautiful wooden houses and stone public buildings built at a time when quality overcame commercialism. A story repeated in many cities around the world.

Our tour also took us over the Auckland Bridge and round the huge marina, with its thousands of yachts. No shortage of money here,-). We drove on to the west coast and looked over the Pacific Ocean and the fabulous beaches and gannet colonies along this coast.

Back at the hotel now and about to get ready for the Farewell Dinner, as we will be leaving tomorrow for our flights home. Not likely to be able to blip en route, so will see you all again when we get home.

Many thanks to those who have followed our journey and left lovely comments and I intend to catch up with everyone on our return. Just don’t hold your breath,-)