Anniversary celebrations and onto Auckland

The anniversary celebrations went off perfectly and we’re sure Anne and Greg will reflect in this time with very fond memories. The family organised for a personal song to be created to the background of a slideshow of Anne and Greg through the years. This was received with much emotion and is a wonderful tribute for them to keep and share. Drinks and photos were held on the beautiful viewing deck before we were fed by the catering couple in our accommodation. 

The evening ended with some dancing to Mr Music Darryl’s  playlist created especially for the occasion. The next day was the actual anniversary, but was a much quieter day! We all travelled a little further north to the very picturesque Whangaroa Harbour which really looks like a huge lake as it’s very sheltered. We all enjoyed a lunch at the bistro there before visiting Coopers Beach where we enjoyed an icecream and I even put my feet in the water as the beach looked so inviting!

Sadly, the Duck family had to leave early Friday morning for their long trek back to Darwin. We also packed up and left the beautiful Te Koha resort to our next accommodation in Auckland. We stopped along the way at Whangarei and really loved the walk around the spectacular falls before lunching at a quaint restaurant on the waters edge in The Basin.

We were fascinated by this mechanical clock - unfortunately the photo doesn’t do it justice as we could have watched it for ages. However, we had to push on and once more found the Highway 1 very busy - but with lovely scenery and the agapanthus. 

It was a bit tricky getting to our apartment on the wharf, as the key had to be picked up and complicated directions we’re given to access the car park - but we managed it and were delighted with what we found! Anne’s research paid off again and we have lovely views of the harbour and are very lucky to be on the water front where there is an abundance of places to enjoy a drink or two and a meal. 

We took the ferry across the bay to Devonport (not in Tasmania) and found it to be a very trendy popular tourist destination. It wasn’t hard to find a spot for a bite of lunch and beverage, before heading back to our area. We had to have a drink at ‘Andrew Andrew’ and at the Hilton which is opposite us, before Andrew had to leave us to fly home to Brisbane.

Whilst at the Hilton we saw snippets of a lavish Indian wedding and wish we had video of the groom arriving to the beat of a drum and much dancing and singing - and the bride being escorted by a flower pagoda  carried by 4 men. Now we are on our last night in Auckland - Narelle flies back to Melbourne tomorrow and we 4 will head south to see more of this lovely country. We can’t believe how fortunate we’ve been with the weather as every day has been perfect! We hope this continues. We trust all readers are well and send our love to everyone. ❌❌❌