From the menu at De Fontein I ordered a bottle of Duvel top-fermented beer, very strong, 8.5 per cent alcohol. ‘Oh, just off the shelf please, not from the chiller’ I told the barmaid. You know what’s coming next; they only do their beers chilled. Never mind, I managed to warm it up a bit with my hands and I’ll investigate the possibility of getting the management to leave a couple of bottles out on the shelf in future. In the meanwhile, a beautiful Finnish barmaid is convinced that I am a dangerous lunatic (which indeed I shall become if I have to continue to drink cold Belgian beer).

Yesterday we walked out along the seafront to St Heliers and then on to Achilles Point. The view from here is spectacular, Auckland, Rangitoto Island and lots of other islands. In the far distance it was possible to see what I think must have been the northern end of the Coromandel Peninsula, but I’m not sure about this. Near to Achilles Point we walked down to a little beach at Ladies Bay, which was warm and we both caught the sun. St Heliers is a pretty little place, with some decent shops, including a real, old-style hardware shop (I’m sure you could still buy nails by the pound here).

In the afternoon we walked up to the Savage Memorial, which is in a park overlooking Mission Bay. Savage was the first Labour prime minister of New Zealand, he died, if memory serves, in 1940. From here there are good views of Auckland centre, the harbour, Devonport and the islands.