Auckland

 Good evening Dear Reader. We have been away on our jollies this week, up in Auckland. Claire was a member of an organising committee for this years’ NZLLA (NZ Law Librarians Association) Conference which was in Auckland. Nicky and I decided we would pop up to Auckland to see her and Nicky’s family as we hadn’t been up to Auckland since I had started working on the paddle steamer over three years ago.

We drove up on Tuesday, surprised by the lack of traffic on the roads for the majority of the journey. We arrived at Paul and Jenny’s a little after 5pm and had a good catch-up and lovely dinner.

Claire’s flight arrived in Auckland at 11.15am on Wednesday so we drove out to the airport to meet her (and a colleague) and take them to their accommodation in the CBD. After Claire had checked in, we went to the Art Gallery for a very enjoyable lunch, and then to see the Century of Modern Art exhibition. This was a bit of a curates egg, but we all enjoyed the Van Gogh and Monet paintings, it was just a shame there was only one of each. Claire had a meeting at 4pm and then a Meet and Greet from 5-7pm, so Nicky and I had an amble along the waterfront. Nicky couldn’t avoid a browse in Tiffany’s, and outside we enjoyed seeing the glass in the airbridges:

We waited for Claire in the foyer of the office block where she was meeting, watching the ferries come and go and the sun set:

Once Claire joined us we walked through the Britomart area to Sal’s for pizza, and enjoyed some of the lights:

The weather had been kind to us (it didn’t rain) but it did get quite cold in the evening. Thursday started cloudy but it didn’t rain while I had an amble down to the beach and through the village. A new coffee cart was parked in the beach car park so I bought a long black as the staff were looking a little forlorn. It was only their fourth day and I wished them well for the future.

We took Paul and Jenny to a local Thai restaurant for lunch and the heavens opened. Inside the food was lovely and the restaurant was quiet enough to hold a conversation without having to shout. As a result, we thoroughly enjoyed it. A few hands of Triomionos entertained us in the afternoon. Nicky joined Paul and Jenny at their church for the induction of their new vicar in the evening, which she enjoyed. I drove to Ormiston to meet Paul and Jason (ex-Blockhouse Bay residents) for a meal at the Moo Moo Smokehouse. It was good to catch up and the meat was very good. In the late evening the rain started to ease off.

On Friday morning after another relaxed breakfast with Paul and Jenny, we drove up to Stanmore Bay to have lunch with Clem, Pat and Shani. Shani is recovering well from her recent surgery and Clem and Pat were in good form as usual. Shani and Pat had made a delectable leek, potato and lemon soup. We absented ourselves mid-afternoon and had a walk and paddle on Stanmore Bay beach in the sunshine:

Google Maps indicated a nearby café (we were after a pot of tea) which turned out to be in the leisure centre. We enjoyed our cuppa and then drove into town to have dinner at James and Wendy’s flat. Maria also joined us and provided a stunning crisp, buffalo cheese and relish entree. Wendy had cooked moussaka on aubergine which was followed by a chocolate mousse dessert with toast hazelnuts, raspberries and blueberries and a smidge of cream created by James. We had a very good chat, catch-up and really enjoyed the evening.

Claire’s conference went really well, a testament to the organising committee’s hard work. We picked her up from her accommodation on Saturday morning and drove to the airport. There was time for morning tea and coffee with banana bread and a muffin before Claire’s flight. We really enjoyed our time with Claire. On her flight home she took this stunning picture of Mt Taranaki:

After leaving the airport we headed west to Henderson and collected Stella on our way to Mairangi Bay for a late family lunch at Montrose. The nine of us (Paul, Jenny, Clem, Pat, Stella, Nicky, myself, Steve and Ros) had celebrated my 60th and Steve’s 70th there just after the first Covid lockdown in 2019. Again we had a very enjoyable meal and a lovely time. We may be back there again in another 5 years. A light snack was all that was needed back and Paul and Jenny’s before retiring for our last night in their home.

Nicky was up early enough for the 7.30am church service in All Saints Howick this morning. Jenny did us proud with breakfast and a packed lunch, and we headed south about 9.20. We left the rain behind in Auckland but didn’t see much sun, arriving home just before 5pm after a quiet drive.

It has been a wonderful week of time with people and lovely food. Even though rain is forecast for tomorrow, I’m sure the washing machine will be pressed into service.

Take care, Rick and Nicky