Day 7: And there were tears.....

It takes a lot out of you crossing the world!  We both slept badly last night because, despite a downpour which lasted several hours, the heat was still intense.  Thankfully, the journey to the airport and dropping off the car went without a hitch and we were soon on our way towards Auckland.  Brisbane Airport was home to some amazing artwork including larger than life Aboriginal figures.

The final twenty minutes or so of the flight to Auckland were breathtaking as our plane tracked down the west coast of North Island, giving us spectacular views of the huge natural harbour at Kaipara.  Once on the ground time started going backwards.  Baggage reclaim took forever and then we had to empty out our bags to show the DOC staff our walking boots.  Thank goodness we had given them a really good scrubbing.  Out of the airport we had to wait for the courtesy transport from Wilderness, which arrived with Pietro at the wheel.

I was flagging by the time we started the van familiarisation and then we had to navigate through the city to Susan's house so, yes, there were tears en route!

What a good idea it was to track down Susan and then to find she lived so close to Auckland and in a beautiful spot on a peninsula south of the city.  She was very welcoming and settled us in to her guest room in her very beautiful home.  Later, son Tom arrived for dinner with us, a fine young man.  A very pleasant evening was passed catching up on families and discussing history and literature.