We had an amazing thunderstorm last night and Totty was really frightened, it sounded as if the roof was coming down on top of us and Totty ended up sleeping on my chest until it had passed.
I took her to the kennels and Jon went into work for the morning. I pottered around packing and when Jon came home we had a quick lunch and set off. The drive to Auckland was good and we found the hotel with no problem.
After checking in we went for a walk around the basin behind the hotel, the tide was out so it didn't look particularly pretty but the walk around it was good, 3.2 km. We got back to the room and had a cup of tea and then got ready to go for dinner which we had in the hotel, I had fillet of beef and Jon had rack of lamb and we shared a cheeseboard which was far too much for one anyway.
After a good nights sleep and another thunderstorm we woke and went for breakfast which was OK but not the best I have ever had, only tinned fruit! Seems silly when they have so much fresh fruit about.
Jon went into the conference and I went in search of the railway station, Sylvia Park shopping centre, which I found after a 15 minute walk. I asked a lady where you buy your tickets as there was nothing on the platform and she told me on the train. The train arrived on time and was not full and very clean and comfortable. My ticket cost $3.80 for the half hour journey, mainly along the coast and very pretty. I got off in the centre of Auckland near the harbour and went for a coffee. I then went to the Maritime Museum which was very interesting. After that I had a walk around the harbour and saw some really beautiful sailing boats.
I then went for a walk around the centre and bought a sandwich for my lunch and ate it sitting on a bench in the street. There are some lovely shops in Auckland. I walked up to the university and saw the main building thee which is called the Clock Tower and is very old but you can't look around it. By this time I had had enough of walking so went and caught the train back to Sylvia Park. I walked back to the hotel and had a cup of tea and a rest.
I got ready for the evening reception and Jon came up at 6.00 had a quick shower and then we went down to the reception which was OK and I had a chat to a few people. The food they were serving for dinner didn't look very appetising and it was also a bit early to eat so we chose to eat later in the restaurant.
Friday morning - after packing the case, I gave breakfast a miss, and leaving it in reception I went off to have a look around Sylvia Park, Jon was due to finish at 1.00. It is a huge shopping area and I really enjoyed walking round the shops but only bought a cardigan.
I got back to the hotel at 1.00 and waited until Jon had finished and then we set off back to Tauranga. We arrived at the kennels to collect Totty at 5.15 which was good as they close at 5.30!
We had fish and chips for tea but Totty didn't get her usual little portion as we had a very small half scoop of chips this week!
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