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After a frenzied Air New Zealand Fashion Week, I was desperate for my chosen forms of relaxation: shopping and pigging out. The lovely and amazing Carlee, who was my VIP host for the event, managed to coax me out of my ‘Heavenly Bed’ at the Westin Hotel (no, really, that’s what it’s called) to tour Ponsonby Road, a quaint, yet hip stretch of shops, bars and restaurants. My highlights are as follows – although, for the ultimate post-show stress relief, you could always make like another journalist I met and bungee jump off the Sky Tower.

RESTAURANTS: -GPK Restaurant: We stopped here for brunch, where we indulged in the puffiest stacks of pancakes and Eggs Benedict known to man. (262 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland, p: 09 360 1113) -Prego: According to several in-the-know Aucklanders, this is THE restaurant of the moment. I never made it, thanks to an (admittedly tacky) preference for free champagne and canapés – but totally trust their judgment. (226 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland 1011, p: 09 376 3095)

BARS:
-Bonita: This rustic wine and tapas bar is my idea of perfection: small, intimate, oozing with Spanish charm (but sadly, no Spanish boys). (242 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland, p: 09 376 5670)

SHOPPING: -Miss Crabb: While the offerings on the runways veered towards the commercial, Miss Crabb is a deliciously avant-garde breath of fresh air with a brash London edge. (41 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland, p: 09 361 3322) -Zambesi: Not only does the shop carry its namesake line, but also those of Nom*D, Martin Margiela and Rick Owens. (169 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland, p: 09 360 7391)

HOTELS:
-Mollie’s Hotel: A bit further afield from Ponsonby, another international journalist took a room here after the shows – it’s a romantic, yet ultra stylish boutique hotel. (6 Tweed Street, St. Mary’s Bay, Auckland, p: 09 376 3489)

— Erin Magner