Saturday, March 7 - Queenstown to Auckland

We woke to a beautiful mostly sunny day, had a leisurely morning, checked out of the hotel in Queenstown and made our way to the airport for our flight to Auckland. It was sad to say good-bye to Queenstown, but I know we’ll be back. After all, I didn’t get my chance to bungee jump!

We arrived in Auckland about 2:30 pm and caught a taxi to the bed & breakfast in which we are staying in Devonport. Devonport is across the water from down town Auckland, much like Sausalito is from San Francisco, and is very much like Sausalito. There is a ferry that connects Devonport to Auckland and all the islands around here. Tomorrow we’ll get out on the water one way or another (if the weather holds).

We didn’t arrive in Devonport until about 4:00 today, so we only had time to walk around town. They have a very nice water front with a park and sea wall, even a small swimming beach. The weather was great, mostly sunny and warm, about 75 degrees and humid.

We had dinner at a great Italian place, Buena Sera, run by a real Italian guy who makes all the pasta, sauces and everything himself. Ken and I agreed it was the best Italian dinner we’ve ever had. I had tortellini with a 4 cheese sauce and Ken had eggplant parmesan.

We have never stayed in a bed & breakfast before, so this is a new experience for us. This is a really cute Victorian house built in 1880 and overlooks the park along the water front. When we arrived we were greeted by Stanley, the very friendly yellow lab. Stanley appears to have greeted every guest for the last many years. Judy, our hostess, is from England and has kept up the entire front and back yard with beautiful gardens in which she takes great pride. Every square inch, including the front and back porches, has luscious greenery and flowers, and not a single weed. Our room is the one on the second floor front with the window open.