Devonport, New Zealand
Just a 15-minute ferry journey from Auckland lies the tiny island of Devonport, where huge canopies of evergreen pohutukawa trees frame Victorian wooden villas and yachts dot the water. This chilled maritime outpost, founded in 1840, is an easy daytrip from the City of Sails and home to some of New Zealand's most varied shopping.
Begin your spree on Victoria Road, dipping into the rare and second-hand books that line the walls of two-storey Evergreen Books (15 Victoria Road, tel: 64 9445 2960). With sections on Maori history and the South Pacific, there's enough here to keep any travelling bookworm happy and informed. If it's lighter fiction you're after, head to Paradox Books (26 Victoria Road, tel: 64 9445 0023), which specialises in modern novels and offers a tempting art and design section.
For something a little less cerebral there's House of Toys (29 Victoria Road, tel: 64 9445 3563). This playhouse has arts and crafts for little hands, dressing-up outfits to scare the neighbours and stacks of toys, some almost surreal in their originality. Your little ones are sure to have fun with the Bath Buddies Frog (NZ$17/HK$91) and the colourful collection of bath hippopotamuses that whistle as they float (NZ$30). What more could a child want?
Not too far away is Riva (23 Victoria Road, tel: 64 9445 2325), which is alight with candles. The huge blue globe lantern burns a vanilla scent for 30 hours and costs NZ$159. The pyramid dolphin candles, in blues and greens, send out delicious fig, violet and melon scents to spice up your home. They are more affordable, at NZ$21.95.
If you're looking for fashionable clothes to match your stylish lighting accessories then veer off Victoria Road towards Caroline Sills' designer outlet shop. With the emphasis on luxurious fabrics in easy-to-wear designs livened up by silk trims and glass beading, Caroline Sills' (26 Clarence Street, tel: 64 9445 3356) is the place to go.
From Clarence Street follow your nose for five minutes until you reach Devonport Chocolates (17 Wynyard Street, tel: 0800 00 2462). It's a small shop with some big flavours. Try 100 grams of Tropical Bites (NZ$14.50; white chocolate, papaya, mango and coconut) for some Pacific sweetness or a box of Devonport truffles (NZ$24.90/200 grams). For true indulgence, try a Wynyard gift box (NZ$89.90) packed with chocolate-covered Brazil nuts, Russian fudge, apricot bites and creamy truffles.
Packed gallery Art of the Sea (left; 30 King Edward Parade, tel: 64 9445 6665), overlooking Waitemata Harbour, is a showcase for New Zealand art. Any one of the moody half-lit oil paintings of Auckland and Hauraki by Derek March will inflame the drabbest of surroundings but will also stoke the embers of your bank account, with prices ranging from NZ$4,000 to NZ$15,000. For more affordable reminders of Auckland, see ceramicist Peter Collis' range of vases in bold, bright colours, which starts at NZ$45.
