Thursday 21st, Friday 22nd & Saturday 23rd Raglan & Auckland

So, Today was our last day in Raglan and we were going to enjoy the prospect of spending our time here. We awoke at 7.15 to the sounds of a group of lads who were packing their two tents and belongings, I was highly amused to see them simply lift their fridge and put it in the boot of one of their cars. We walked into town and had coffee and eggs on toast and enjoyed talking to the cafe owners. All the shops are independents, (even the mini market), artisan, goods are made: clothes, shoes, jewellery, and artisan bakery to name a few. Basically the town's ethos is: Shop local, buy local and enjoy local. A town run by the town for the town. We came across a skateboarding Santa and his Elf, who were inviting folk to take a Christmas Cracker, not to be rude, I did just that on the assurance that everyone contained a prize. Ha! Every cracker contained a business card and voucher for their bespoke skateboards! We mooched around and relaxed by the jetty, watching youngsters diving and enjoying the outdoors, before returning to shower, do the final washing and pack.

The following day it was the day to return to Auckland to return the camper van and meet up with our son and daughter in law.
We were up to find a damp and rainy morning and were away by 9.00. The camper's SatNav failed to work and on the outskirts of Auckland we followed the airport signs and then stopped at a Shell garage for directions for the Camper Hire place. After all the checks and paperwork ere completed it was off by taxi to the AirBnB where we had arranged to meet. The taxi diver told us that he was originally from Fiji  who had left some 15 years ago due to the unrest. He was a

scientist who worked at the Uni, but was quite philosophical about his 84 year old Dad who was still in Fiji.  A taxi driver can be very interesting and it's always good to learn about lifestyles, not only that you can usually find out so much about the country/city that you are visiting.
After unpacking we wandered down to the harbour area and ate at Portofino Italian Restaurant, how noisy and bustling it all seemed after a fairly tranquil twelve nights in New Zealand.

On Saturday morning we awoke at 10.50!! Unheard of normally. We had a quick breakfast with random items that had been supplied in the fridge: sandwiches, fruit and yogurts. Basically, the room was booked for four people, but the food which was supplied didn't equate to provide for that number of guests.
We showered and wandered down to the Sky Tower where we had lunch at the top level in the revolving restaurant. A new experience for us. At one point we passed a person who was just leaving a platform to Sky Dive off it. Our son and his wife walked on to collect the hire car which we had ordered. (Opp the rear of the hotel where we stayed on our arrival in Auckland). We continued to the central area to check out the shops on Queen Street. A lot of designer shops and upmarket shops are situated here and it was noticeable that there were big queues outside of them - mainly oriental people.
We all met up later in the afternoon at The Occidental Belgium pub. A welcome relief to sit in the warm sunshine and relax. Later we "mooched" around the harbour area before ambling back to the hotel.

We packed once more in readiness for our move to Waiheke Island for Christmas.