This morning we were up early in preparation for the drive to Queenstown Airport to get our flight to Auckland.

We got to the dining room at about 8:00 am and enjoyed a nice breakfast.

Breakfast.
Breakfast.

We left the hotel a bit before 9:00 am and made the one-hour drive to Queenstown Airport. We arrived in plenty of time so we just relaxed while waiting for boarding to commence. We departed just after midday and had a pleasant flight up to Auckland.

On the way to Auckland.
On the way to Auckland.

When we landed in Auckland, we collected our bags and headed off to organise our rental car. Once this was done we headed back into the terminal to wait for our friends, Peter and Joy, who were flying in from Melbourne to meet us. They arrived late afternoon and we all then headed into Auckland (through unexpectedly heavy traffic!). We got to the hotel around 6:30 pm and checked in. The hotel is very nice and we have a lovely view out of our window.

The view from our hotel room.
The view from our hotel room.

After checking in we went to the bar for a pre-dinner drink and then we headed to the hotel restaurant to get dinner.

Dinner.
Dinner.

After an excellent meal, we headed back upstairs for the evening. Tomorrow we will be driving down to Taupo, a trip of about three hours from Auckland.