Auckland

Auckland’s Sky Tower is 328 meters high, observatory deck is at 220 meters above ground level and offers a great view over the city.

Auckland was built upon volcanoes: the Auckland Volcanic Field counts 48 (dormant) volcanoes. Why not climb on some of them?

We took the ferry to Devonport and walked on Mount Victoria which is fortunately only 87 meters high, but providing a good view on Auckland’s skyline.

Next one was Mount Eden with its very obvious crater.

After a Mexican dinner we enjoyed the sunset and a light show from Sky Tower (again).

Both “The Lord of the Rings”- and “The Hobbit” trilogies have been filmed entirely in New Zealand. “Hobbiton” is a movie set with guided walking tours. It was amazing to see the original film sets used in the film and to get some background information about the tricks used in the film.

The tour ended with a nice brew in “The Green Dragon” inn.

Not surprisingly, we had to watch “The Hobbit” that evening. It was also the last day with our campervan, which we returned in Auckland, before doing a quick stroll through the city and watching the end of the Superbowl LIII (the New England Patriots won).