Day 5: Auckland: Rainy solo adventures

We kicked off the day by walking Madeleine and Elliott to school.

After that, the four of us explored the old military base at North Head in Devonport while taking in the excellent views of Auckland.

We had lunch in town and discovered tomato sauce (ketchup) comes in a can (at least in larger quantities). We also learned that some hamburger patties here are packed with other ingredients like onions, making them more like meatloaf and less like something Nicholas would be willing to eat.

We wrapped up our time in Devonport picking up some allergy medicine for Rob (spring allergies for the second time this year), watched the foot ferry depart for Auckland, and saw a car carrying ship arrive in port.

Jamie is the sister of Rob’s high school friend Eric and moved to Auckland 8 years ago. We hadn’t seen her in 13 years, so it was wonderful to get to catch up over dinner and meet her daughter, Amy.

There was a “write a letter to Santa” station at the mall, so we couldn’t resist the chance to hear from the New Zealand Santa too.