Auckland's Newest Tourist Atraction

…is the Waterview Connection TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) viewing point, at 110 Methuen Road. And its free. Well, the viewing is free, the tunnelling isn't but that is a whole different story. Now this is a really neat Kiwi thing. Here is a major road building project (explanation to follow) so what do they do: put up a viewing platform so the public can stand and watch. Brilliant! If things go true to form with the building of other new roads, the weekend before the tunnels open we will be able to walk through them. All 2.5km's - each way.

So why is this so important? Well first of all it explains all the signs we saw outside peoples houses when we first arrived in 2007: NO SH20 TUNNEL. At that time, and still today in fact, there is only one North-South motorway through Auckland - SH1 which goes over the Harbour Bridge (the one with the Nippon ClipOn). There was a bit of motorway, SH20, which ran from Hillsborough down to where it joined the SH20A which runs to the airport. However, if you continued South on the SH20, it got tangled up into the confusion of Manuaku, which is junction and road-wise to Auckland what Manchester is to England - and inconsistent nightmare. We discovered a little while after we arrived, that SH20 was being extended at both ends. At the Northern end it was extended to Stoddard Road, which is the junction nearest to us and why we can get to the airport so quickly. At the Southern end it was extended to join with SH1, which apart from the confusing signage was terrific. 

Now at this point we have to introduce SH16 into the story. This runs East-West, and when we arrived started in town and ended out west around Hobsonville. Bless their little cotton socks, while Claire was at University in Albany, they extended SH16 to meet up with the Upper Harbour Bridge which connects to SH1 north of the other Harbour Bridge. This is a great alternative route for those of us who live west-ish and want to go North and avoid the chaos of getting over the Harbour Bridge (though this has got a lot better since the opening of the Victoria Park Tunnel).

What the Waterview Connection does is extend SH20 from Stoddard Road to the Great North Road interchange with SH16. So once completed, there will be two North-South motorways through Auckland. That is why it is so important, and they have built the viewing area where the tunnel machine is starting. Just for good measure on the path that runs away from the view point, they have also built a pretty good Pooh Stick bridge. It is not quite wide enough but the stream underneath is going at about the right speed. There is a shortage of sticks in the vicinity but this can be overcome by the slightly adventurous. For those of you who don't know what a Pooh Stick bridge is, (a) why are you reading this, and (b) ask Mr Google.

So there you you go. We can now watch a tunnel being bored! If you want to know more there is a great wee video at http://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/waterviewconnection/ and if you need any more enticement, here are a couple of pictures:

But this has not been the only excitement for the week, oh no. On Thursday evening Nicky and I had dinner at the New Lynn twilight market. You may remember me mentioning this in past posts. Even though the day had started very wet it soon brightened up and in spite of the weather forecast we had a mainly sunny day. So we walked round from the library and did a quick tour of the offerings before choosing to buy from the Maori stall. Nicky had an open steak sandwich (BBQ steak, salad and dressing on a fried bread base) and I had a Taniwha burger (mussel omelette with a fried egg and salad in a bread bun the size of a large gap or a small loaf deepening on your terminology). Each cost $8 and were very tasty. We took our plates inside the Community Centre so that we could sit and eat at one of the tables. We then bought a steamed pudding for dessert from the same stall, and took it home and had a quarter each with custard and a cup of tea. Wonderful. We will return another Thursday to sample other delights.

Yesterday afternoon we went to a house auction just up the road. The selling agent thought that the house may well be the closest to the "heart of the Bay", and even if it isn't, it is very close to the shops and on top of the hill just before it drops down to the shore. So, what with the proximity to the local facilities and the expected views, I though it would be very popular and go for over a million dollars. However, when we had a look round the house we saw how dated all the internal fittings are and in need of replacement, and that the views, especially downstairs, are heavily compromised by the roof of the house next door, and the two main living area's are south facing so will get little sun. The auctioneer had a task to get the single bidder to start the bidding at $800K and then up their offer to $850 before not selling the property as the vendors reserve had not been met. We haven't seen this since April '11. Nicky has a chat with a couple of the agents afterwards and they confirmed her view that maybe the market is finally starting to turn.

The rest of the week has been very quiet for me, and as bust as ever for Nicky. I went to the GP first thing on Monday morning to find out what my body was up to, and he said I have a virus. Nothing he can give me, just rest and take lots of fluids. So, this I have done. I felt I was starting to come right by the end of the week and did a couple of Mac jobs which had been requested during the week. Neither were particularly arduous but I did them both on Friday and some other errands to and by the time I got home mid-afternoon I felt quite bad. It wasn't until this morning (Sunday) that I started to feel right again, so I don't think I am quite over it even though I am improving.

Nicky took Lilly into town for a meeting on Monday, and went of to prison prayer group in the evening as I had cancelled my modelling job. She took the last packet of biscuits with her so on Wednesday I made some peach and Weetbix muffins for her house group in the evening.

We have had some good sunshine so I been able to do lounge sunbathing, but the nights and the wind has been cold all week. Only last night did the roof temperature stay in double figures for the first time this week. It looks like we are in for a wet week from Tuesday onwards but hopefully summer isn't far away.

Bye for now.
Take care, Rick