TAURANGA IS A SMALL LITTLE TOWN,

nestled in the heart of the Bay of Plenty.Mount Maunganui, a volcanic cone that dominates the skyline, offers a 3 or so km walk to the top, but my sister and I chose a much easier option- a  stroll to the centre of the town and window shop.Quite lovely it was, too.

AUCKLAND WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM

stands on the Observatory Hill, the remains of a dormant volcano.The canoe is my favourite item there, the workmanship that went into building it is quite extraordinary.

We attended a Maori performance, was hoping for a Haka Haka, we got a lot of huffing and puffing, but it was all quite watchable.

I absolutely love Auckland.

It is clean. It is neat. Beautifully laid out.The shops are plentiful. The people wonderful. And the little convenience store on Queen Street had a little lined notebook I was trying to get in every port since 9th January.How wonderful is that.

Auckland is blessed. Parnell, the richest suburb, is blessed.

Auckland has a beautiful street where the houses date to 1900's. I do not remember the name and the internet is not much help, they  list 3 streets! So here are the lovely photos.

And a couple more of the lovely park  just outside the city.

The earlier post of Auckland  has disappeared, so I posted this,  but can see the lost post is not lost after all.

The loveliest part of Auckland, Parnell,

has this beautiful house.

Auckland also has a very old street, where the houses date to early 1900's, the name of which I cannot remember and the internet is not much help as it lists several such streets.
The houses are quite wonderful, aren't they?

We docked in Auckland on 22 February 2025.

In every port I looked for a lined thin notebook.No-one had it. In this little Queen street convenience store we bought some juice. The lovely assistant said-anything else?  Only if you have a little lined notebook, I replied.

Would this do? And he pulled from under the counter exactly what I was looking for!

As we were staying overnight our plan was to shop the first day and do the sightseeing the second day.And we did. The Queen street had everything we wanted - including  a pharmacy and Skechers.My sister wanted a white pair  of sneakers and a white t-shirt and got both. After lunch we went  back for sandals for both of us and picked up some gifts, too.

The most wonderful thing about Auckland is that we docked bang in the middle of the town, as if we were in someone's kitchen.

The locals are the nicest people, the service is quite something, nothing is too much trouble.