Slept a little bit better tonight but was still awake at 4 in the morning. Today was going to be a dry day, so the plan was breakfast at Remedy and then to use the Auckland Explorer bus to take us to several of the sites in Auckland, including a ferry trip to Devonport.
This started well, we walked to Remedy, tables were available. We ordered coffee and the breakfast platter. The breakfast platter consists of muesli, yogurt & fruit in a glass, and toasted sour dough bread with refried beans, avocado and sausage. This went down a treat and we decided we would do the same the next day.
We walked across the road and waited for the bus. We waited and waited, other buses came and went. I decided to check the website and saw the news. One half of the service was cancelled for the day and the other half was curtailed because of some event which was occurring on the route.
R and I decided not to wait for the bus instead back walking down to the Ferry terminus where we bought tickets to Devonport. The trip to Devonport is quick and fast. It takes about 10 minutes. Once there we headed towards the North Point, walking along the coast road, admiring some nice houses. R, apparently, fancies a veranda.
At North Head on the road is a Naval Museum on Torpedo Bay with free entry. The bay is named Torpedo because of the torpedos kept there in the 1800s during the Russian expansionism of the period. The museum is definitely worth a visit, and a friendly older volunteer custodian explained to us the history of the location, the fortifications and the torpedo boats which guarded Auckland in the 1840s. The museum also had information about the New Zealand navy during the 1st and 2nd world wars detailing the battles which New Zealanders were involved with.
Our museum custodian saw us again and mentioned Brexit. He just could not understand why we were doing what we were doing. Then he compared Brexit with the referendum on the New Zealand flag saying that the older generation had a nostalgia for the ‘good old days’!
After the museum we headed up North Head hill to see the old guns which protected the channel. The big guns had tunnels underneath which was used to house ammunition and personnel. We were able to walk through these and appear underneath the big gun.
On the paths around the head we came across a White-Faced Heron. This bird like most of the wild birds we have seen in New Zealand was unafraid of us. It only took avoiding action when I was within 2 meters.
Onwards and downwards to Cheltenham Beach, apparently the best kept secret beach of Auckland, as you can see from the pictures, a kite surfing heaven. Back now to the harbour to catch the ferry back, though were tempted by the bar (The Platter) where we had a couple of beers to refresh us.
In the evening we went out for dinner at a Thai restaurant called the Grasshopper.
