As we did not have a car for this first day in Auckland and as we knew we would be doing lots of driving in the coming weeks we decided to start with things that were close to Ascot Parnell Bed and Breakfast that we could easily walk to. Our first stop was the Auckland Museum. The weather was warm but cloudy and all day the rain sprinkled every once in a while. The Auckland Museum is set in the grounds of Auckland Domain with many gardens and walking trails. There is a great deal to do both inside and outside the museum and a full day could certainly be planned here. The Auckland Museum is internationally renowned for its collection of Maori and South Pacific artifacts. It is a great place to begin a tour of New Zealand because it offers an in depth overview of the Maori culture and history. There is also a Maori culture show offered at the Museum that is well worth the visit in itself. It is a one hour show featuring traditional Maori songs and dances and the participants are very excited to be sharing a part of their culture with people from other countries. We were anxious to know more about this country after spending some time at the museum. Unfortunately, we did not have a full day to spend here although we wished we had more time to explore the three floors. The top floor was devoted to the New Zealand involvement in the World Wars which I was interested to see as New Zealand lost a great deal of its young men in the first World War and I had done some reading on this subject. There is a nice tea room in the museum serving Devonshire teas and many other snacks so refreshment was no problem.

We left the museum much too quickly and hurried to our next adventure which was the Lionzone beer experience. This takes place at the Lion Brewery on Khyber Pass Road and is an easy walk from the Auckland Museum. This tour had only been running for two weeks when we visited and still had some glitches to be worked out but we found it very enjoyable. An observation my husband has made is that the beer in New Zealand is wonderful and he has not tried one yet that he does not enjoy. Lion Brewery exports their Steinlager to the United States and it is one of the few New Zealand beers that is available for export. The brewery tour cost over $4 million to set up and is an interactive and entertaining experience. It starts with a history of beer making using a hologram of one of the founders of the brewery and talking statues of different figures in history and continues with an interesting presentation on video of the actual process of beer making from the beers point of view! A visit to the bottling and boxing floor is included and the use of machinery to speed the process is amazing. The best part of the tour of course, is the Brewfloor Bar where product is sampled and the visitors are taught how to pour the perfect beer. Mary was an excellent tour guide and we enjoyed our visit very much. Also, the tour worked because since then we have been buying Lion Red at every opportunity!

There were many more things we wanted to see but we decided to return to Ascot Parnell Bed and Breakfast for a while before tackling the downtown area. Unfortunately, that ended up being the extent of our visit to Auckland! We were so tired from jet lag when we got back that we decided to take some time to relax. After a "takeaway" dinner, which was what they call takeout here, we spent a very enjoyable hour talking with Therese regarding her opinions of life in New Zealand and then retired early to finish packing for our next adventure in New Zealand.

There is a great deal more to see in Auckland than we were able to visit in one day. It would be possible to spend a few days exploring the Auckland area if the time was available. Kelly Tarlton's is definitely worth a visit and we did visit that the next day and I will be writing about it in the next travelogue. The harbor area is beautiful and, of course, Auckland is the home of the America's Cup at the moment. The American Express Viaduct Harbor where the race originates from is in the downtown area. There are many waterfront restaurants and shops in this area as well as a boardwalk along the harbor. Water taxis are available for tours around the superyacht marina and they will supply details on the preparations for the next America's Cup race to be held in October 2002.

The village of Devonport is a short ferry ride across the harbor. Devonport is known for its antique and art shops. There are many restaurants and cafes to enjoy some with views over the harbor. A climb up Mount Victoria or North Head will offer beautiful views across the harbor and city.

The very adventurous can "Sky Jump" from the outdoor observation deck of the Sky Tower. The Sky Tower is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere and the jump is the world's highest tower based jump available to the public. The jump is 192 metres and takes 20 seconds. We cannot tell you how great it is because we are not adventurous enough to try it! However, we did see a news reporter make the jump live on television and he looked very shook up when he reached the ground!

Heading for more tame pursuits, the Auckland Zoo gives a good overview of the native birds, animals and flowers and fauna. There are also day trips available to tour the local winerys and beach and bush walks or to visit Mount Eden.