Devonport

                Devonport is a small seaside village about a 10 minute ferry ride away on the North Shore. It may not seem like much of an accomplishment that I went there since it’s so close and is basically just a small day trip, but it is. Sam and I always meant to go there when we studied abroad here, but never got around to it for various reasons: classes, homework, hangovers…..whatever. 

                We woke up and it was pretty foggy out and I was a little upset because I didn’t want to go on a day when you couldn’t see anything. Luckily, it cleared up and turned into a perfect day.  We got there around 12 and decided to not get a map and just wing it. Devonport has a lot of small specialty shops, galleries, and cafes so the first thing we did was go to a cute little chocolate shop called Devonport Chocolates because Sam wanted to look for a birthday present for her mom. We then had lunch at Mecca and both got Mediterranean salads which was delicious. We may or may not also have had a glass of wine with lunch. Not the smartest thing to do before climbing Mount Victoria but I couldn’t resist.

              

             Mount Victoria itself is an old volcano which is now basically a big hill. The amazing thing about it is you can basically get a 360 degree view of Auckland and surrounding islands once you get to the top. We walked up it and definitely took our time with a few breathers here and there. At the top, we sat on a bench and took in the absolutely beautiful view! It was very serene. We walked around, taking in all the different views. 

Sam and I pretending to fall off Mount Victoria - not too realistic but we tried

          The walk back down was a lot easier. We then walked around the town and popped into little shops here and there like second hand book stores and jewelry stores. We walked along the beach and put our feet in the water. There were one or two people actually swimming in the ocean, but it is definitely still too cold for me! My favorite part of the day was when we sat on a swing set near the ferry and just sat and swung looking out at the water. It was just a very simple, laidback day. It only took us two years to finally get there, but Devonport was definitely worth the wait.