A, was for Adelaide, now for Auckland

Leaving Adelaide was an event in itself. Honestly, it was as hard getting out of Australia as it was to get in. We were subjected to several bag searches and x-ray checks—I’m still not entirely sure what they thought we were smuggling out. Finally, after confirming we were not running off with the Australian Crown Jewels, we were back in the sky.

Arriving in Auckland and finding our way to our temporary digs was an adventure driven by tiredness. A bus and train combo saw us arrive in the city close to 9.00pm. Tired, grumpy, and functioning purely on instinct, we pegged it straight toward the equivalent of a local Co-op to grab essentials before they closed at 10.

The word "essentials" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, because we discovered, to Helen’s immense dismay, that they had already locked up the beer and wine aisle. The search for restorative sustenance had failed.

Thursday morning arrived, bringing a banana, yogurt and toast breakfast, just my cuppa tea. Yesterday’s travelling brought a desperate need to stretch our legs. Mount Eden was on our radar.

The initial stroll up past Constitution Hill was pleasantly green and gave us our first real glimpse of Auckland's distinctive atmosphere.

Making our way through parkland toward the Mount, we couldn't help but reflect on our very own Weets Hill back home in Barnoldswick and were genuinely surprised to find that "Mount" Eden is only a third of the height.

It felt less like a strenuous climb and more like a pilgrimage given the historic background and its importance to the Māori culture. We passed sprawling sports fields and the Auckland stately grammar school with fabulous facilities, architecture from times gone by, supported by new contemporary builds and tree-lined avenues looking fabulous as spring blossom arched above.

Reaching the summit of Mount Eden, the pay-off was immediate: The sacred ground surrounding the crater was huge, created 28,000 years ago and the backdrop of Auckland was an incredible sight to take in.

The view, a 360-degree panorama of the city and its twin harbours, sparkling under the Kiwi sun, clouds never too far away.

The magnificent Eden Park stadium (the home of rugby and cricket) immediately brought back seeing New Zealand’s All Blacks in Cardiff so many years ago.

A swift stroll downhill brought us back just in time to get changed and rush off to our table in the sky. Fifty floors up in Auckland's Sky Tower, we were shown to a table that looked out across the harbour. As the light faded, what a view! Although the clouds gave us only a glimpse of a sunset that must be stunning, we enjoyed the moment immensely.

By the time we left the Tower, the temperature had dropped considerably. That saw us scuttling back to our accommodation as quickly as possible, where we reflected on the day over a glass of New Zealand red.