One for new books and two for old……

Head over the Harbour Bridge, avoiding rush hour, and make your way to the Northern suburb of Milford. Set on the beach with views over to Rangitoto, Milford is a lovely spot to escape the central city. There’s a grassy park with a play area that’s shaded by Pohutukawa trees, a marina, a costal path to the next bay and a large population of friendly dogs who were very accepting of pats and scruffles (as I age I am becoming more and more like my grandmother who was incapable of passing any dog without saying hello). Once you’ve tired of the outdoors, there’s the high street to explore and we had a particularly good breakfast at Crop Cafe which sits on the intersection of Milford Road and Kitchener Road. Any cafe that allows me to combine bagels, halloumi, egg and avocado and does a good strong Allpress coffee gets my vote. Even better, just a little further along the road is The Booklover Bookshop. A place of sunny window seats and beautifully displayed books, this is the perfect spot to ponder the latest fiction and non-fiction releases. One of my favourite things about indie bookshops is the staff picks section and The Booklover had an entire corner dedicated to their book choices, each with a card explaining why you should take the book home with you. Run by Brea, Olivia and Rachel, all of their books are also available online and they run a book subscription service for booklovers of all ages from “Once Upon a Book” for children to “Fact over Fiction” a monthly non-fiction subscription service for adults. This is a bookshop that truly lives up to its name.

Heading out West by car or train from central Auckland brings you to the suburb of Glen Eden. Tucked around the corner from the main street, fittingly near the library and the Glen Eden Playhouse, is Glen Eden Book Exchange. This double fronted shop is a community hub that’s dedicated to sustainability. It encourages people to bring in their old books and exchange them for new reads, although you don’t have to exchange something in order to buy. There are corners to sit, bookshelves to browse and treasures to find. If you want to sink into a comfy seat and have a coffee, there’s a cafe where there is no extra charge for plant-based milks and, according to the board, kindness also comes free! I spent a happy hour eating a home-made Lamington with a Turkish apple tea and reading my new-found copy of Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. Children are welcome and there’s a particularly good section for teenage booklovers.

When I first found The Green Dolphin Bookshop, they had a small space in St. Kevins Arcade on Karangahape Road or K’Rd as it’s affectionately known. Books were piled up both inside and outside the shop, and now they their own beautiful space on Pitt Street where all stock is contained in the shop and there’s space to sit and read or think about your next purchase. Home to all kinds of secondhand books, there were oodles of Penguin tribands and heaps of Puffins when I was last in there. Their vintage children’s books are particularly good as are their selection of plays and LGBTQIA+ books. Once you’ve filled your boots and your book bags, head back round the coffee to K’Rd for a coffee or any sort of cuisine that you might fancy. I have two particular favourite foodie spots along here. The Pie Piper is a North American style bakery and if you press your nose to the window you can see deep-pan pies, wedges of cake and stacks of donuts. A little further along the road is Fort Greene. First thing in the morning, the bakers knead and shape their bread dough in the large picture window ready for the cafe and the bakery. They also happen to do the best gourmet fish finger sandwich I’ve ever eaten complete with mushy peas and tartare sauce.

Three very different bookshops in three different Auckland locations, but each one well worth making a detour to visit. Let me know if you have any other favourite book or foodie spots in Auckland that I should visit in the comments below!