Sightseeing on the 28th

We didn't spend much time in the Auckland area, as we're planning on doing so when we return towards the end of our trip.

After finally getting the car situation handled, phone still wasn't, it was early afternoon, so we headed for the west coast to Muriwai Beach to see the gannets. Gannets are sea birds which always return to these specific rocks to have their babies. Apparently, a male and female will mate and then always return to mate with the same one again; they separate for the winter and then return to the same nest. The eggs began hatching in November, but there were still lots of chicks, almost as large as the parents at this point, still fluffy with down, without feathers yet, there on three cliffs. We had great views as they've set up an area above two of the sites, one is more out to sea but still quite visible. The parents were flying around, some feeding their chicks, and others were showing the chicks how to use their wings. While a few of the chicks mimicked their parents with their wings; it was wonderful to see.

After we left there, we headed to the east coast area, north of Auckland, to Devonport. We were staying north of Auckland and both these stops were north of the main city. Devonport is a ferry ride away from downtown, but we drove; it's only about 15 minutes from where we were staying. It took an hour to get there from Muriwai Beach. We first went to Mt Victoria, the highest point there, with a 360 degree view of downtown, the harbour, and other islands. It was beautiful and windy, so cool. The harbour is huge. Unfortunately, there was a group of 4 men, early 20s who were sitting around near their car with the music very loud and it was rap, which sort of spoiled the tranquility of the summit. However, after a bit, I was able to block it out.

We want to go downtown, but took a wrong turn, so we ended up a bit outside of the center. How fortunate that was, as we passed a gallery and parked. It was closed, but that didn't matter, as there was a small jewelry store two stores down. It is owned by Roley McIntyre, the jeweler. Her work was lovely, but even better than that, I had to use the head. So, Art started talking with her, which was fortuitous, as she was a fount of information about out of the way places and things to see or do. We're hoping to connect up with her and her partner when we travel up to Northland at the top of North Island. They have a home there and will be there around the time we will. Her partner is a photographer and does beautiful work.

After we left them, we drove downtown and had a bite of dinner at a Malaysian Restaurant, where they accommodated my needs - delicious. Then, back to our hosts for more input on what to do. It was a really lovely stay with Meryl and Michael.