Eleanor’s house was lovely and the views were amazing. It’s an easy drive from the airport. Parking was convenient although the signage is different than in the directions (it says “park on this side” instead of “guest parking”) and there is also street parking. Eleanor (and team) were very quick in response to our questions! We found a mall called Pakuranga Mall nearby with lots of cafes and a grocery store and the most amazing massage place called Huawei Massage that’s really cheap too. If we had stayed longer we would have walked there on the board walk. It is a convenient location to take an Uber downtown Auckland to get dinner or drinks, there was this amazing restaurant on the water called White and Wong's. Note that if you do that, Auckland is an early night city and most kitchens close by 10 pm. We drove to Hot Water Beach from and that was a lovely day trip and very scenic drive.