Half Moon Bay to Queens Street and back

And happy birthday Mumsie!!  Alison treated us to a royal breakfast of cereal and yoghurt followed by fried egg on toast, sausages,  tomato and mushrooms for breakfast!  Think we might extend our stay in Auckland and linger around Mellons Bay Road a bit :)   Left around 9 am to catch the ferry from Half Moon Bay to the CBD.  I had no idea such an option was available - who would have thought that the waterways were an available transport option, but it makes sense!!  I was relieved to be off the hook for the drive into town to see the Sky Tower.  Instead, a 35 minute sailing brought us to the lower end of Queen Street, from where we walked the few blocks to Sky City.  Mom simply refused to go up (Nick and I had been texting during the morning and he said to tell Mom that there would be dire consequences if she didn't go up...her reply was that there would be dire consequences if she did!).   This was really another highlight for Dad though and his main reason for seeing Auckland.  We fell right into the marketing ploy of the 'free demo' photo with the green screen background - I think Dad will have much amusement in showing it off when they return to SA. 

 Dad had no problem standing on the 37mm thick glass...I still couldn't do it.

Bought a pizza for lunch which we we thoroughly enjoyed seated on a bench on Queen Street which is the major commercial thoroughfare in Auckland and really the place to be (and also the most expensive square on the NZ monopoly board). We had an hour to kill after lunch so I left Mom and Dad to wander slowly down to the quay and popped in and out of shops.  We met up again in time to catch the 3.30 return ferry; Mom couldn't wait to see the last of Queen Street!  Alison had a birthday cake and pressie waiting for Mom when we arrived back at their place - isn't she lovely!!  After a cup of tea and slice of the fluffiest cake you could imagine, we set off on a short walk to Howick Village, the main shopping street and CBD of the suburb.

After tea at the Lange Smiths we abandoned our hosts and took a drive to Eastern Beach and Bucklands Beach past some very flash houses - but who would want to live on such a busy beach where there is constant traffic and noise? Around 8 pm we called in at Joy and Ken (my cousin and my mom's niece) as they live about five minutes away from our place of abode.  Had a most excellent visit, really glad we could meet up after missing them in December.