This weekend I've been saving up to do a tour of the Auckland City with the LINK bus. My flatmate and I were going on a trip! It didn't end up being a real bus tour, really, because we started off walking the bus route instead.

LINK is a bright green bus that is relatively new compared to the other buses, air conditioned and clean, that goes around the varous parts of Auckland City, largely Parnell, Newmarket, Britomart, Sky tower, Ponsonby, K Road, Grafton, and Uni.

This is the inside of a LINK bus:
We walked to Parnell from our apartment for brunch. Parnell is known for its cafés, and art galleries. It was a beautiful morning, so we searched for an outside seating area, where we found one in Vintage Café, with its grape vines and soft music playing in the breeze. The area was secluded and as a result deserted, but it was a pretty little place, which served all of breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We ordered a seafood chowder, a gypsy toast, and a flat white each.

The meals were okay, I liked my spongy toast breads with bacon and mushrooms that were filling, but the coffee was way too milky, even if they came in NZ made chinas which the owner was kind enough to inform us.

Vintage Café is a European café and sells a small collection of imports. We each bought a white and blue ceramic candle holder and a tiny tea cup and holder from Holland.

Next stop, still walking, led us to Newmarket, the fashion shopping district of Auckland City. We looked at a few shops, Flatmate bought a cute retro-looking, red cape-type top with buttons running down the back that really suited her. I wanted to try my luck on K' Road, the vintage shopping part of the City. So for the first time of the day we finally got on the bus, but actually did a detour through the parts we came, because we caught the bus on the wrong side of the street.

No matter. It just meant that we were going the long way, arriving on K' Rd through Ponsonby. Ponsonby is another surburb with hip boutiques and today especially seemed to be a celebrative day for this part of town, which red and white balloons on the poles along the street, and many buskers performing in the streets dotted along the way. Plus many bargain sales. Perhaps we should have started at Ponsonby, instead. Next time, we decided.

K' Road was a bit of a disappointment, partly because we were now tired from all the previous stops and the long bus journey, and the weather was turning gloomy and us too, from the cold and the growing hunger. So we only half-mindedly sifted through the racks quickly on our way back home, with the rain threatening in the skies above us.

A good day's walk for us both.

Next week I am hoping to visit two of our uni's art galleries, provided that I get all my assignments and things under way and under control. I may even ask my BF to accompany me, if he can hopefully tear himself away from all the mountainous amount of work he seems to be dealing with at the mo.