Auckland
Auckland, the city of Sails, was our stop on the way to Christchurch, and we got to meet up with Sally while getting over our jetlag. Lucky her!
We didn’t have to wait long before Sally got back from school before we were whisked off for fish and chips in Mareitai (that’s near m’left eye, apparently), and sitting by the beach in the sun was a perfect first meal. Unfortunately the jetlag had started to hit, and I kept falling asleep mid-conversation. The girls blamed the jetlag, I blame the conversations…
Saturday was Sally’s tour day, going out to Musick Point, past her school and round for lunch in Mission Bay (for the largest mussels I have ever witnessed), up for some lovely panoramic views around the harbour then up to One Tree Hill. Thankfully the rain started to come down in bucketloads, and meant that we saw absolute bugger-all from the top. It wasn’t helped by Sally’s steam-generating car, which lead to some hairy moments on the roads – nothing a good towel couldn’t fix!
Saturday evening we had a barbecue at Sally’s friends Kate, meeting lots of her friends (although I think she had paid some to be there), before setting off in the morning for Tarwharanui (near Goat Island). The weather started off pretty gray, but the gale force winds helped to give us a little bit of sun. Not enough for my Daniel Craig shorts to make an appearance unfortunately.
Monday we took a drive out to Hunua Falls which was lovely, before driving round the coastline exploring. Weather was rubbish though. Monday evening we went for another lovely barbie at Sally’s friends Rhonda and Nick. I don’t think I have eaten as much steak in my previous 30 years as I have done this week. It might make me start going to the supermarket barefoot like some of these crazy Kiwis…
Tuesday was the day of our flight, but we weren’t going until late in the afternoon. The weather had turned decidedly gorgeous so we took a trip out to Piha for some ozone-layer free sunbathing. Finally my skin felt the glowing radiation, and the shorts came out. No piccies I’m afraid!
Then a quick goodbye to Sally and a hop on the plane to Christchurch. The only excitement on the journey down was being sat next to a lady doing some needlework who said “I can’t believe they let me on the plane with this needle, I mean - I could stab you in the heart, couldn’t I?”. That made my heart skip a beat!
Oh yeah, this is more for me to remember, but if you fancy some kiwi radio, George FM was pretty cool to listen to.
And obviously, there are tons of photos here. And plenty more to come!