20th- 24th March Auckland

20th
Today was our main route planning day. We highlighted our camper van routes and we were really excited about the plans. We also had a walk into Browns Bay again and enjoyed a nice afternoon walking around some shops. Again we took it easy - we sound so lazy by now but it's been so nice to take it easy here and we have been spoilt here with lovely homely food and good company especially lots of laughs!!

21st
We were really lucky that today Karel and Erna didn't have to go to work so we decided to go on a little trip. We drove to the west coast and stopped at a few lovely shops on the way.  We went to a such a picturesque beach on the west coast. The sand was as black as coal and we walked up the cliffs to a ganet colony. Even though it was not breeding season there were so many and the smell was over powering. It was lovely and was a great day with the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky.

We slowly meandered home and stopped at a winery on the way back. Although we weren't greated by a very energetic wine taster we tried a few nice wines. A lovely day enjoying the west coast of north west New Zealand!

22nd
Today we started the weekend with a nice lay in and Karel had planned a pizza evening in their pizza oven with some friends. Karel spent the morning prepping the oven because it takes so long to reach it's temperature. We went shopping and took Karel's 1937 Damiler. It was fantastic and we did a few laps of the town to show off the car!!

The guests came around 5 and we enjoyed a lovely evening filled with Muscles, pizza and wine. It was great! The pizza oven was a little hot but we each made our own pizza and felt like real Italians with all the gear!! It was a late evening but it was good. Rob struggled a little with all the afrikaans but soon caught the gist of it all.

23rd
Today we had a lazy day, especially after the late evening and in the afternoon we went on another outing.  We drove to mount Eden which is just outside Auckland city and saw some great views of the whole city. Almost as good as our Sky Tower view. We then drove back through the city stopping at the harbour.  We walked along the water front and looked at all the lovely boats - some very fancy and expensive boats!! We also had a look at some markets there and just had a leisurely stroll along the water front and got involved with the energetic environment and the hustle and bustle of a Sunday afternoon by the harbour. We had a great afternoon seeing more of Auckland city (this time a little less walking). Rob started feeling poorly this weekend and although we had some plans for a possible boat trip this weekend we thought it better to give it a miss.

24th
Rob is still not feeling well today and after a very bad nights sleep from both of us we tried to have a lay in.  Karel came home early from work and so we ventured out on another trip with him. We drove around the suburbs where they live and went to pick Erna up from work. Another relaxed day and after being very well fed we are going to wind down and get an early night hoping Rob feels better before our flight on Wednesday morning.

Lots of love Rob and Katrien xxx