We awoke much refreshed after eleven hours of sleep. James made me a very welcome coffee and brought it to me in bed. After checking out of the hotel we set off into the morning sunshine to explore more of Auckland. First of all we went up the Skytower, which is right outside the hotel. Us Andersons just love to get to the highest point of anywhere and it did not disappoint! The 360 degree views of Auckland were spectacular and we were able to pick out the route that we walked yesterday. We then went back down to the harbour and this time we walked along to the left; it's a really lovely port with lots of yachts, cafés and a roped off area for swimming. It's the school winter break here so there were lots of families with children using their scooters and bikes, as well as joggers and older people, which made for a happy, vibrant atmosphere. We had lunch in a great wee seafood restaurant called "Jack Tar" right on the wharf, where we could see a wee seaplane landing and taking off.
We left Auckland mid afternoon, after obtaining our hire car with some difficulty. It was supposed to be dropped off at the hotel (which was stated clearly on our confirmation) but due to a mix up we had to take a taxi to their office. I was annoyed not so much by the mix up as by the delay, because we had a three hour drive ahead of us. Finally we set off although we had to stop shortly thereafter to work out how to switch off the parking brake. James heroically drive the whole way. It was interesting to see a bit of the New Zealand countryside; it was quite like that of Scotland- and yet somehow not - the only reason we could think of is that the hills seem sharper edged as if they are less weathered. Also the vegetation was very lush for wintertime. By the time we got to Rotorua it was dark, so we will start to explore the area tomorrow.
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