Big City Big Weather

May 4th-9th-
I'm getting lazy with the blog. If I put off writing for one night, it gets out of control so I will begin where we left off in Auckland. The our first full day in the city was full of our normal errands. Our day off was spent dodging rain showers. The War Memorial Museum was featuring Edmond Hillary, the first man to climb Mt. Everest. Next was a tour through the botanical gardens. we found plants that would normally be annuals back home As well as those we had never seen before. On our way back to the hostel we came across a trendy alley that opened to a covered shopping area with tiny store ranging from antiques to vegan. In the middle was a great cafe serving brunch with a beautiful view of the sky tower building downtown. Dessert was a wonderful Moroccan orange cake and my favorite coffee, flat white.
In order to continue out of Auckland we needed to take a bus across the harbor bridge where pedestrians we not aloud. By the end of the day we finished in the rain and took a break at a bus stop for shelter. That bus stop happened to be the end of the line from the bus we road from Auckland city. We both looked at each other and shook our heads. Why didn't we just stay on the bus.
Our next stop was the historical little community of Puhoi. Just outside of the town was a cheese and ice cream shop. We stopped for lunch and a cone before heading back into the mountains.
Our break from the rain was short lived and from what we know now, it is common this time of year to be more wet with a constant change of weather patterns. We slipped into the trendy upscale town of Mantakata for lunch. The constant rain fall convinced us to see a matinee. The theater was amazing. Small, but with millions of yellow silk flowers hanging from the ceiling. One other lady joined us. Afterwards we began talking. This would lead to another unbelievable evening in New Zealand.



Auckland Gardens





7-legged starfish





Creamed-filled Kiwi!


Orewa


Waiwera


Country Mouse and Shadow