I don’t normally mention our accommodation, but we landed super lucky with an Air B&B in the Wellington suburb of Auckland, which was very close to an easy train journey straight to the centre, whilst being an oasis out of the centre within a city. It even had a pool and hot tub, and hosts that made us cake!!
Mt Wellington
So this mound was literally opposite our house so I popped up it one morning with Evie and we had a cracking view over the whole of Auckland
Auckland Wharf
Straight off the train in the central Britomart station, and we headed towards a very modern part of this city around the marina. Apart from boat spotting, there were many many bars and cafes….
…. but also nice chill out areas and a big paddling pool
Devonport Ferry
From the main ferry terminal, for not much money (it is a commuter ferry), a trip over to the older town of Devonport gives a really good view back to the city
Devonport itself was a charming historical town, 
with an amazing massive tree!
And a good playground
Buskers Festival
We happened to land in Auckland when the 4 day buskers festival was on. Which were high quality street performers. We spent a bit of time watching them and their impressive tricks
I don’t know if it was part of the weekend, but within what I imagine to be an exhibition hall, it was set up full of different sports, chess etc and lots of people enjoying dancing salsa in the middle of the day, which was lovely to see.
The moving marina bridge
Not exactly a highlight, but it was quite cool to watch the marina bridge go up
One Tree Hill
Finishing our time in Auckland, we walked the short distance up One Tree Hill.
Topped by a monument important to the Maori
One Tree Hill also has superb views over the whole region
Descending back to the car, moving on again. There was definitely more we could have explored around Auckland and another couple of days could have been well filled.
Around the world with Evie Bean 