The Viaduct and Ponsonby areas of Auckland

We headed off this morning without a plan. I popped into Pandora and bought a cute little Kiwi charm for my travel bracelet and then we just walked. We headed down to the wharf area where there was a huge cruise liner in port. The extremely close proximity of the dock to Auckland city must bring in lots of tourist dollars. The streets and dock area were jam packed with American tourists and most of them had a shopping bag or two in their hands. We then headed west and made our way along the waterfront. It was interesting how the Sky Tower dominates the city skyline. It can literally be seen from everywhere. While the skies were grey it was far from cold. The temperature was about 21 degrees and the breeze warm. When we reached the end we hailed a taxi and headed to the trendy suburb of Ponsonby. The timber houses in the beautiful tree lined streets were quaint, but I would imagine very expensive. We found the Ponsonby Centre which is renown for its great restaurants and cafes and enjoyed lunch at Bird on the Wire. As the name suggests it was all about the chicken. I had chicken schnitzel. It was so moist and tasty and served with a delicious caper sauce and lemon. Stephen also enjoyed his chicken burger. After lunch we made our way back to the city and visited the large and well known department store Smith + Caughey. I browsed while Stephen sought out a man chair. Late in the afternoon we returned to our very comfortable little hotel to catch up on some internet and to get ready for our move to Owen River Lodge early tomorrow.