Tourism Auckland
And so we reach the end of July. Nicky has had another full and busy week at work, but a quieter social week, just going out on Monday night to her church outreach prayer group. Claire has been getting into full swing with her studies, and with her new position at Whitcoulls. Both of them have continued to battle with their colds and are improving but still not 100% Claire had a bit of a set back on Friday as I encouraged her to go to the doctor to get her chest listened too and he (? I think) felt that the infection may have triggered her asthma again. She has been free of this for about 7 years so it is a disappointment. We don't have a long term prognosis yet.
The bulk of my activity this week has been as Tour Guide for John, which has been good fun. The weather wasn't brilliant on Monday (cold and wet), and John was still feeling challenged with his cold, so it was the afternoon before we ventured into town on the bus. We walked down Queen Street and then onto the Maritime Museum on the waterfront. I had not visited this museum before and was very impressed. Not only are locals (ie: Auckland rate-payers) allowed in for free, but the exhibitions were wide ranging, informative and entertaining. I found the immigration gallery particularly poignant. There is a re-creation of the ships' accommodation that immigrants in the 1850's and 1950's would have experienced (complete with gentle rolling motion). I imagine the 1950's cabin to be similar to that which Nicky's parents would have experienced on their journey, and it was austere, to say the least, by current standards.
The weather started to improve on Tuesday. I spent the morning working and then we headed out west to Bethalls so that John could experience a black sand beach. We both had a paddle and I found the wind and walk refreshing. We were starting to get more sunshine by Wednesday so took a bus to Mt Eden and walked up the volcano and round the crater, taking in the views and enjoying the air. We then walked to Galbraith's, a pub which brews it's own fine beer and serves good food. We met Claire there and she joined us for lunch. The fish and chips and bangers and mash were excellent, and they do lunch portions so that you don't feel too stuffed for work afterwards. Claire then drove us to Mission Bay. We parked and walked along Tamaki Drive to Kohimarama and back again, finishing the trip with an ice cream each from Ginellis. Somehow I managed to chocolate ice cream onto various parts of my white rugby shirt so that went into the wash when we got home. We had planned to go for a quiz night and dinner at the Black Salt bar in New Lynn, but when we got there they were fully booked for the quiz but could do dinner if we were finished by 7, which was fine. Nicky and I both had stone-grilled meals, a new experience for both of us. This is where the meat part of the dish is served raw on a very hot stone. You cut slices of meat off to cook them to your liking on the stone. I really enjoyed my Surf and Turf but Nicky was disappointed not to get the promised sauce with her pork.
We bused back into town again on Thursday morning and took advantage of the sunshine to go up Sky Tower. We took in the views from both the main observation deck and the upper deck, before having our lunch on the main deck watching mad people "sky jump" while attached to a rope. We then caught a bus to Kelly Tarltons, went on the penguin viewing ride twice, watched the sharks being fed by two divers, and the sting ray encounter which I again found fascinating. It is something to do with the way the rays move. We bused it back into town and then got a train back to New Lynn to give John a bit of variety of transport and met up with Claire as she collected Nicky from work.
Friday we had planned in advanced: The Food Show at the ASB Showgrounds in Epsom. We caught buses to Epsom and walked down Green Lane to the show. It opened at 10 and even though it was only about 10.40 as we were arriving, the car parks were all full and the overflow car park was running out of space. We had booked in advance to save money on the admission fee and walked straight in to the three hall exhibition. Not having been to the show before I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be very good. It is primarily aimed at consumers, and most of the products are things which are fairly easily available in most supermarkets and food shops, but at the show you get to try them and buy them at lower prices. I hadn't intended to spend anything, but just go for the free samples (of which we had loads), but I ended up buying smoked cheese, tea, wine, lemon cake, yoghurt, pie and liquid smoke. The later is an interesting product. The chap burns Manuka wood and condenses the smoke, removes the tar and heavies and bottles the extract. It can be added to food while cooking to give it a smoked flavour. He was giving out recipes for smoked baked beans, which I just have to try. He also sells smoked hens eggs - they are still raw but have been smoked, and taste it! We managed about 4 hours at the show and stuffed like turkeys on Christmas morning left to walk to St Lukes to meet Claire and collect the car.
All this gadding about with John has reminded me of two things: I am really lucky to live in a place of such natural beauty; and I don't take my fill of it as often as I should. The pleasure I get from walking along a beach or up a volcano is still very noticeable, and it is free. The only cost is getting there and back, and I think Mt Roskill might be within walking distance.
We were up early again on Saturday morning as John was off to Wellington on the Overlander and had to be at the station in town by 7am. Nicky and I drove him into town and waited until he was on the bus (they were picking the train up further south) before returning home for our breakfast. We spent the morning pottering around with household chores, and I went to see the computer of one of Nicky's work colleagues. We ate some of the pie which I bought at the show for dinner which I prepared while we Skyped with Katharine. She is in good fettle and pregnant!!!! Yea!!!! We chatted for about an hour which went very quickly, but it was really good. We then drove up to Parakai for a wallow in the hot pools. We had a wee problem when we got there. The car park was very full but there is a grass "overspill" area. I approached this with caution as usual, and got instantly stuck in a very soggy bit. However, with Nicky's help pushing and using what I had learnt from watching the Top Gear Polar Expedition we were out and parked on the road in a few minutes. Much of the soggy mud was stuck to Lilly, but we still enjoyed our wallow in the water.
We were greeted with blue skies and warm sun this morning, so when Nicky had gone off to church I gave Lilly a good wash, which she had been need for awhile anyway. Claire, Ryan and I had got tickets to see "Senna" at the Film Festival, a documentary about the F1 racing career and death of Ayrton Senna. It was very well done, and very moving. In addition, the Civic Theatre was a stunning venue. Claire and I loved the stars on the ceiling of the auditorium.
So that has been the week, but we have a couple of anniversaries to close with. Being July 31st it is Harry Potter's 31st birthday, and four years since I sold WKDS to the lovely and talented Keith. Doesn't time fly?
Take care,
Rick
The bulk of my activity this week has been as Tour Guide for John, which has been good fun. The weather wasn't brilliant on Monday (cold and wet), and John was still feeling challenged with his cold, so it was the afternoon before we ventured into town on the bus. We walked down Queen Street and then onto the Maritime Museum on the waterfront. I had not visited this museum before and was very impressed. Not only are locals (ie: Auckland rate-payers) allowed in for free, but the exhibitions were wide ranging, informative and entertaining. I found the immigration gallery particularly poignant. There is a re-creation of the ships' accommodation that immigrants in the 1850's and 1950's would have experienced (complete with gentle rolling motion). I imagine the 1950's cabin to be similar to that which Nicky's parents would have experienced on their journey, and it was austere, to say the least, by current standards.
The weather started to improve on Tuesday. I spent the morning working and then we headed out west to Bethalls so that John could experience a black sand beach. We both had a paddle and I found the wind and walk refreshing. We were starting to get more sunshine by Wednesday so took a bus to Mt Eden and walked up the volcano and round the crater, taking in the views and enjoying the air. We then walked to Galbraith's, a pub which brews it's own fine beer and serves good food. We met Claire there and she joined us for lunch. The fish and chips and bangers and mash were excellent, and they do lunch portions so that you don't feel too stuffed for work afterwards. Claire then drove us to Mission Bay. We parked and walked along Tamaki Drive to Kohimarama and back again, finishing the trip with an ice cream each from Ginellis. Somehow I managed to chocolate ice cream onto various parts of my white rugby shirt so that went into the wash when we got home. We had planned to go for a quiz night and dinner at the Black Salt bar in New Lynn, but when we got there they were fully booked for the quiz but could do dinner if we were finished by 7, which was fine. Nicky and I both had stone-grilled meals, a new experience for both of us. This is where the meat part of the dish is served raw on a very hot stone. You cut slices of meat off to cook them to your liking on the stone. I really enjoyed my Surf and Turf but Nicky was disappointed not to get the promised sauce with her pork.
We bused back into town again on Thursday morning and took advantage of the sunshine to go up Sky Tower. We took in the views from both the main observation deck and the upper deck, before having our lunch on the main deck watching mad people "sky jump" while attached to a rope. We then caught a bus to Kelly Tarltons, went on the penguin viewing ride twice, watched the sharks being fed by two divers, and the sting ray encounter which I again found fascinating. It is something to do with the way the rays move. We bused it back into town and then got a train back to New Lynn to give John a bit of variety of transport and met up with Claire as she collected Nicky from work.
Friday we had planned in advanced: The Food Show at the ASB Showgrounds in Epsom. We caught buses to Epsom and walked down Green Lane to the show. It opened at 10 and even though it was only about 10.40 as we were arriving, the car parks were all full and the overflow car park was running out of space. We had booked in advance to save money on the admission fee and walked straight in to the three hall exhibition. Not having been to the show before I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be very good. It is primarily aimed at consumers, and most of the products are things which are fairly easily available in most supermarkets and food shops, but at the show you get to try them and buy them at lower prices. I hadn't intended to spend anything, but just go for the free samples (of which we had loads), but I ended up buying smoked cheese, tea, wine, lemon cake, yoghurt, pie and liquid smoke. The later is an interesting product. The chap burns Manuka wood and condenses the smoke, removes the tar and heavies and bottles the extract. It can be added to food while cooking to give it a smoked flavour. He was giving out recipes for smoked baked beans, which I just have to try. He also sells smoked hens eggs - they are still raw but have been smoked, and taste it! We managed about 4 hours at the show and stuffed like turkeys on Christmas morning left to walk to St Lukes to meet Claire and collect the car.
All this gadding about with John has reminded me of two things: I am really lucky to live in a place of such natural beauty; and I don't take my fill of it as often as I should. The pleasure I get from walking along a beach or up a volcano is still very noticeable, and it is free. The only cost is getting there and back, and I think Mt Roskill might be within walking distance.
We were up early again on Saturday morning as John was off to Wellington on the Overlander and had to be at the station in town by 7am. Nicky and I drove him into town and waited until he was on the bus (they were picking the train up further south) before returning home for our breakfast. We spent the morning pottering around with household chores, and I went to see the computer of one of Nicky's work colleagues. We ate some of the pie which I bought at the show for dinner which I prepared while we Skyped with Katharine. She is in good fettle and pregnant!!!! Yea!!!! We chatted for about an hour which went very quickly, but it was really good. We then drove up to Parakai for a wallow in the hot pools. We had a wee problem when we got there. The car park was very full but there is a grass "overspill" area. I approached this with caution as usual, and got instantly stuck in a very soggy bit. However, with Nicky's help pushing and using what I had learnt from watching the Top Gear Polar Expedition we were out and parked on the road in a few minutes. Much of the soggy mud was stuck to Lilly, but we still enjoyed our wallow in the water.
We were greeted with blue skies and warm sun this morning, so when Nicky had gone off to church I gave Lilly a good wash, which she had been need for awhile anyway. Claire, Ryan and I had got tickets to see "Senna" at the Film Festival, a documentary about the F1 racing career and death of Ayrton Senna. It was very well done, and very moving. In addition, the Civic Theatre was a stunning venue. Claire and I loved the stars on the ceiling of the auditorium.
So that has been the week, but we have a couple of anniversaries to close with. Being July 31st it is Harry Potter's 31st birthday, and four years since I sold WKDS to the lovely and talented Keith. Doesn't time fly?
Take care,
Rick
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