NEW ZEALAND 6

Today was out last day here in Auckland and we decide to take it easy, sleeping in, having a late breakfast and then just ambling around the City and then making our way to the airport for our afternoon flight to Melbourne. The weather was extremely pleasant, warm and sunny and the Aucklanders were out in full force, making the most of the last shopping day of 2008.

We walked up towards Albert Park and had a wander through the pathways and lawns, making our way up to the University of Auckland. This is New Zealand's pre-eminent research-led University. Established in 1883, it has grown into an international centre of learning and academic excellence and is New Zealand's largest university. Its mission is to be an internationally recognised, research-led university, known for the excellence of its teaching, research, and service to its local, national and international communities. It aims to be a vibrant and intellectually challenging place of learning, nurturing a community of scholars who share a passion for discovery, the advance of knowledge and human progress.

The signature building of the University is the Clock Tower, which is a wonderful Victorian confection in white, reminding one of a wedding cake bedecked in icing sugar filigree decorations. The campus is quite extensive and is an agglomeration of modern and Victorian buildings, beautiful parks, gardens, roads and pathways.

We went back to Albert Park and walked back towards the Queens St, finding the Auckland City Public Library. This is a beautiful new multistoried building which as well as containing an extensive book collection, there are a couple of galleries in which exhibitions are organised. We visited the gallery which had the “Once Upon a Time” exhibition. This was a marvellous exhibition of fairy tale books for children, from the 18th century to the present time. The illustrations were fantastic and the range of books presented truly amazing. Well worth visiting!

We made our way back to the hotel making our farewells to the fair city of Auckland. IT was an excellent break, very relaxing and filled with some novelty although we had visited here once before some years ago. Now at the airport we are awaiting the boarding call for our flight, which has been delayed coming in and hence delayed going out. Hopefully, we’ll be at home for New Year’s Eve tonight…