Another new city, so today we organised a customary walking tour to get to know Auckland and some of its history.

Our guide was Darcy, a local to the city who introduced us to the sights and sounds of the downtown area.

The city has a strong LGBTQ community and we came across a number of urban designs recognising their contributions to the Auckland scene.

As we meandered the streets, Darcy introduced us to other graffiti, one relating to the strong cycling fraternity, along with one detailing the history of the country with reference to the Kiwi bird, silver ferns and the volcano’s that exist across the country. It transpires that Auckland is in fact built on 50 extinct volcanoes – a slightly unsettling fact, but when you understand that the country experiences over 30,000 earthquakes each year, you realise that this is just something the locals have grown to live with.

Our next stop was a visit to the home of the first bar in Auckland, where the first beer was pulled and to this day it’s still a popular drinking spot with a number of bars in the short pedestrianised section.

Interesting fact, New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote in 1893. T

he suffregate community proved so successful that the leader moved to the UK to assist the fight for voting rights for women which came in 1918.

We then moved to Albert Park and discovered the numerous tree species which have been donated from various countries in the world to demonstrate their bond to Auckland and New Zealand. We came across the English Oak along with the Canadian maple to name just a few.

As the tour came to an end, we returned to the centre of Auckland and stood under the rainbow bridges that created a stream of coloured light in the sunshine…sadly this was in short supply when we walked past.

After an informative 2.5hr mornings tour, we said our goodbye’s to the 20 strong group of fellow travellers (one couple from Oxford who live only a few streets from us back in Jericho) and made our way to an important lunch stop and the Kiwi delicacy, the meat pie!

After over 8mths in Asia, this was our first pie in all this time and it tasted great.

After an enjoyable feast of pie, coffee and cake, we made our way to the Auckland Museum of Art. It’s free to get into and had a great selection of work on display, notably a large collection from an American, Julian Robertson who donated over $100m of art including works by Picasso, Cezanne and Dali.

The other collections on display comprised over 15,000 artworks with a focus around New Zealand & Pacific artists.

After a very informative couple of hours taking in the Auckland Art Gallery works, we returned to Albert Park and enjoyed a leisurely walk around the city.

We then made a swift return to our Airbnb, for a quick change and some much needed extra layers before walking the couple of miles to Eden Park, to watch Coldplay in the evening.

Getting tickets to see Coldplay at such short notice was a real result, and it proved to be one of the best concerts we have ever seen.

Despite the light rain early on, the clouds lifted when Coldplay came on stage at 8.15pm and started their set to an array of lights.

Before Coldplay made it to the stage we watched a group of Māori’s do the haka. We’ve never seen it live before and we can definitely confirm it leaves a mark an indelible mark on you.

And then the most magical performance started. Whilst we ‘like’ Coldplay we aren’t massive fans, but the concert has definitely converted us to Chris Martin and his three merry men. The music was incredible, so many hits, such a great performance and the atmosphere was electric. We had big smiles on our faces throughout, we absolutely loved it.

For the next couple of hours it was one ‘anthem’ after the next and intermingled Chris Martin was able to personalise the whole event. It seems a very sincere and grounded guy, despite his successes and years at the top of the music business. He spoke to the crowd on numerous occasions and made us feel a part of something very special. It will live long in the memory.

What a great day and night. Loving Auckland and New Zealand already.

Tomorrow we head off to Waiheke Island by ferry for some beach walks and wine tasting!