Day 65. Auckland. Guns and Poses

Took the ferry across the Harbour so Matt and Paul could show us around their old stomping ground Devonport.

A lovely, tree-lined neighbourhood right on the waterfront, it's now a place where only the very well heeled can afford to invest (along with a sizable Brit community who've cashed in their chips back home realising you get a lot more brick for your buck in NZ).

Devonport was central to New Zealand's strategic plans for confounding a Russian armed invasion in the late 1800's. So convinced was the government that an attack was imminent, that they constructed a huge battery containing several cannons on the Northern heads and strung a collosal iron chain right across the Harbour.



Quite why they thought the Ruskies would be so fixated with invading a far flung land with little in the way of valuable mineral resources is unclear, and of course, there never was any conflict, but to this day they remain endearingly proud of their gun emplacements.

And anyway, their efforts weren't totally in vain, because these derelict battlements provide superb views and photo backdrops for us tourists.