Auckland

My last night in New Zealand was spent in Auckland in the company of family: my cousin Shirley, her husband Dos and (briefly) their children Daniella and Graeme, who I'd last seen as infants back in Zimbabwe, and who are now freshly married and freshly graduated respectively.

It's always interesting to see how people react and adapt to new conditions. Shirley and Dos live in a two-storey house in North Shore, on the dge of urban Auckland (which sprawls out into a giant hour-glass, constained by water on two sides). They are different to the way I remember them: they've taken up cycling, swimming and running; take part in protests (open up the Auckland bridge to cyclists!) and in general seem to be loving their new environment. And there is a lot to love: calm sandy bays and forrested hills close by, cheese farms and old bars, good restaurants and a lot of outdoors stretching to the north.

On my last night they took me into the centre of the city, up Mnt. Eden (one of the highest of a cluster of old volcanic cones which dot the city) to show me the 360 degree dusk views and the skyscrapers and giant tower (flushed pink for breast cancer week) of the sklyine; we had a good Indian meal on the bay and coffee in the Viaduct, a waterfront development dominated by a giant yacht suspended in the air. Its the one which won the America cup which has had so much influence on the recent development of the city. Fuzzy photo; I took it without a tripod: