Auckland Part 1

After listening to the wind and rain through the night in The Piha Motor Camp and with the forecast predicting winds of up to 120 kph we decided it would be wise to head into Auckland early and not risk the road being blocked by falling trees or being buffeted about too much on the road. This meant we didn't get to do any more of the nice walks in the area such as the one to the Kitekite Falls which is one of the tallest and most spectacular waterfalls in the Waitakere Ranges. With all the rain we have been having they should look amazing at the moment.
But that and all the other walks will have to wait for the next visit!

Piha's Lion Rock

In hindsight we could have stayed around for longer as the wind was no problem to the bus as we climbed up the steep hill and headed away from the beach through the bushclad regional park to the Tui Glen Reserve, Henderson, in the western suburbs of Auckland, where there is an NZMCA park. Not a very big site and with 4 vehicles there, one of which was a giant bus, there probably would have been room for only 1 or 2 smaller vehicles. It's a good safe overnight stop though for Auckland as the high gates to the parking area are well padlocked at all times and the the entrance to the park itself is locked at night as well. There were instructions on the wall for what to do if you had to get out in a hurry!
After arriving there we had a wander down to the Henderson shops, sheltering whenever we needed to from the squally rain showers. It was a freezing cold night but we layered up our clothes and, before dinner, had happy hour in the little communal lounge at the park enjoying the chat and the information we picked up for our onward travels from the other 2 couples that joined us - Malcolm and Julie from the Waiarapa who, like us, have rented their house out for a year and Brian and Roseanne from Rotorua who have lived in their big bus for about 4 years.

Henderson in the cold - no sweat!

Because I wanted to have handy bus access into Queen St on Saturday for an Acupuncture Seminar I had registered for we moved to the Remuera Motor Lodge and Inner City Campground on Friday. I love using my goldcard and getting all my bus rides free - such a bonus and such a shame that Len still has to pay for his fares! So on Friday we took the bus into the city, perused the shops which is pretty unusual for us, had lunch in the Asian foodcourt and enjoyed walking out along the waterfront past the Viaduct Basin and to the Seafood Market. Back at the campground it was nice to do some washing, get all our wet things dry and plug in our electric heater to get warm! We just need a bit more sun to dry out Len's golf bag.

Saturday morning I was at the bus stop at 7.30 in plenty of time for the bus into town and my seminar at the City Life Hotel on Queen St. It was a good day and Len was there to meet me at 5.00pm having spent the day doing lots of walking around the city and up Mount Hobson for great views out over the harbour. On the way back to camp on the bus we stopped at the Remuera shops for a lovely meal at the Thai Village restaurant there managing to keep dry under the umbrella afterwards for the final part of the walk back to Debussy.