Yesterday, Wednesday, we drove from Mission Bay along Tamaki Drive into Auckland and across the harbour bridge to Devonport. This is a very pleasant little place, just a mile or two across the water from Auckland centre. Everything here is very English and on the sea-front there is a splendid hotel called The Esplanade. We walked up Mount Victoria and looked at some old gun emplacements and took in the fantastic views of Auckland and the islands. It rained a bit while we were here, so we sat in a seaside café and listened to Abba on the wireless, what could be more English?

Added by Anne. We did have some difficulty finding our way through Auckland to Devonport, and back again to Mission Bay, partly because of my poor navigation and partly because the Auckland road signage is not very good. I’m sure it will get easier! Another beautiful day today, but showery. I’ve already learned never to go anywhere without sunscreen, sun glasses, and raingear, and we needed all of them today. No-one ever told me about the intensity of the light here – I suppose with all this water I should have known, but it has taken me by surprise. I burned in about five minutes on a not particularly nice day. Everything seems amazingly cheap here to us, we are constantly gasping at the prices, but in a good way!