Auckland again – 2

Eggs benedict for breakfast…. YUMM. 🙂

I had planned to do some excursions this time. A lot of them are 12 or 13 hours and as interesting as they might be – too much. I went on a tour for the afternoon. First stopped at a nice bakery to get something to eat. The next stop was at the Arataki Visitor center from where we had a nice view over to Auckland. There was a nature trail where first of all we had to clean our shoes as there is currently danger to the kauri trees. I didn’t participate in the nature trail as it was downhill and uphill on the return and with cramps in my legs I preferred not to do that. In the wood at the viewpoint there were hand prints in the wood and that was supposed to be a sign that kids could put their hands on them to learn. So meaning it was a symbol for learning.

From there we drove over to Piha. First phantastic view from the hill to the lion mountain on the beach. We had great weather and once arrived at the beach the rest of the group did a longer walk but I was too focused on taking pics. The low tide was coming back in and that gave phantastic opportunities for reflections on the barely wet sand. I was VERY happy. Once I showed this to the others they started to take lots of pics as well. 😀

From there we went to the house of ‚Aunt Rose‘ for tea time. Only – Aunt Rose has died many years ago. 😉 But from her garden there is a phantastic view over Auckland. We actually did have our tea there. Our driver Chris was the tour guide as well and he told us a lot of things about New Zealand, the area etc. Once I was back at the hotel I was exhausted. 😉 But it was a great experience and I loved the beach in Piha.