national children's day

Yesterday was national children's day in New Zealand. Devonport celebrated by having a treasure hunt. We decided we didn't have enough time before naps and then church to participate in the hunt but the kids still enjoyed the ride on toys that had also been brought out for the festivities. Maya's favorite ride on toy is a small roller coaster.

Devonport has a several great park areas, our favorite is on Windsor Reserve, located between the library and the ferry. There are lots of trees for shade, an big climbing playground (which is also very safe for little ones) and a see-saw.

If you look in the background of the photos you can also see the ocean on the far side of the grassy areas.

Thankfully the kids are much more interested in the toys than the water. Maya is much easier to photograph at the park, Max runs almost everywhere he goes.

This photo, while not especially pretty give you an idea of how close we are to the city. You can see the SkyCity needle in the distance.

ferry ride

We took the Devonport Ferry over to Auckland on Saturday. The weather was a little gray in the morning. Lonnie usually takes the Stanley Bay ferry to work every morning but it only runs on weekdays. Devonport is a 5 min drive. It is where we go for most of our play groups, library time and grocery shopping.

The ferry ride from Devonport to Auckland is only about 10 mins long.


The view of Stanley Point from the ferry. We are very close to the ocean, but actually about 60 feet above sea level.

The Auckland Marina, with kids playing in the rain.