Harour cruise

Today we decided to use the local bus and ferry system as it would save us some money. We purchased an Auckland Pass for $11 each. This gave us unlimited use of the buses and inner city ferries. We caught the bus for the harbour, did some shopping and boarded the ferry for the very pleasant village of Devonport. The ferry ride is just 15 minutes to the other side of the harbour. Once there we took the 1 hr self guided walking tour, had lunch and poked our heads into a few stores. We then headed back to the main terminal and caught another ferry that took us under the Harbour Bridge, this took about 1 hr for the round trip. We then caught the bus home. All this for only $11. The ferry to Devonport is $9 by itself. If you have a day or two in Auckland then I recommend a ferry trip to Devonport.

Auckland is composed of a number of inactive volcanoes. I was once told that there are two kind of volcanoes, active and inactive. From Mt Eden you can get a great view of Auckland and the surrounding areas. This is worth the drive up the mountain to see the view.

There is one driving tip that I neglected to put into the tip booklet for NZ. It is a little peculiar so please note this if you plan on driving in this country.

"When turning left, give way to traffic travelling straight through, and to traffic turning right into the road you wish to take." Kiwis treat the fellow turning right the same as someone coming straight through. This rule takes a little getting use to so be on the look out for the other fellow.

In pubs, beer is served in pints and half pints. The pints start at $5 for local beer and go up from there to about $7 or $8 for imported beer. A half pint is half the price of a pint.

Today we had clear skies and a high of 25.