Woke up around 08:00 to a miserable day, grey and cloudy, but since we were leaving it wasn’t a big deal. Had breakfast of toast and cereal then hit the road. 2 minutes later did a u turn to go the correct way. The drive was wet for most of the trip but varied between rain and sun. We stopped for a coffee and Song bought some fruit, then back on the road. Saw a sign for a beach and despite the weather trying to decide whether to rain or be sunny went to have a look. The weather made it look quite spectacular so I took some photos.
Carried on, then hit traffic outside of Auckland despite finding the first dual carriage way of our trip. Got off at the right exit but managed to miss the turning so had to drive around a bit before we found the motel. I think they should call Auckland the city of traffic lights.
The receptionist said a load of people had checked out so we were upgraded to a suite which had a big tv, a lounge and a spa.
Settled in and then went into town to visit the Air New Zealand office to try and get a refund again, which we did. Yay for us.
We decided to walk to a restaurant from Tripadvisor, number 2 in Auckland, about 40 minutes away. Walked around the park, then across a road, then along another road into the main part of the city. It was a bit muggy and sticky, and we carried on walking, up a steep hill. Then across more roads, up some hills, 50 minutes later and still going. Across some roads and finally saw the restaurant after an hour. I asked for a table for 2 – “Do you have a booking?” “No”. “Sorry, we’re full.” “Ok, thanks.”
Luckily there were lots of restaurants around, and Song chose a Japanese place. I had a beef teriyaki bento and Song had a Sashimi bento. It was really good, so the evening wasn’t completely ruined.
Decided we’d done enough walking so got a cab back to the motel.
Driving to Pahia and the Bay of Islands tomorrow.
