This week was filled with early morning rises and plenty of kung-fu baby kicks. A good week all round, with lots getting done on both the job front and the getting out and about front. I spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at job interviews. One of which I have already got a job offer from, the other two I am waiting on a response, but I won’t hear till later next week so I’m not worried – I think that all of the interviews went well.
On Tuesday night I took Suzy to the Carpark pub which is at the Viaduct, just off the Auckland Quay. I went there earlier with Joey and it seemed like a nice place to go and have a relaxing drink, plus it’s got a happy hour from 4 to 7pm, five bucks a drink (around £2.40 a beer) is more like a reasonable price to pay for a beer. On Tuesday it was pub quiz night and although we started very poorly, we came a respectable fourth at the end of the night. I thank my dad for installing knowledge of Gustav Holst in me from a young age, as I don’t think there was anybody else who knew that answer in the bar but me. Hurrah for Mars, the bringer of war (oh I’m such a geek)!
By the time Thursday rolled along, I was in good sprits from the successes of the last three days interviewing, but it was nice to relax. We went to the Auckland Art Gallery up on the high street which was nice. I am now limited to taking Suzy places that have public toilets now as she has to go every fifteen minutes. I have become very accustomed to browsing through gift shops and newsagents whilst Suzy takes a toilet stop! I walked through some of Aucklands more refined streets and I swear I could have been in Venice or some quaint Italian town as the streets off the High street gave way to small courtyards with fountains and other features, the roads turned to cobbled grounds and opened up into pedestrian-only walkways. Gone were the 20th century rules that stated that all modern towns must be created straight, small vennels and courtyards appeared and quaint continental bars, bistros and brasseries appeared at every turn, all with smiling waiters and waitresses welcoming you to their establishments. I wish I took the camera, but I guess you would have to be there to truly appreciate it. Perhaps I’ll get some photos some time soon. A note to Jeanette: I have already marked out a rough tour for you on a nice summers day when you arrive, every time I saw a quaint coffee shop, or Suzy shouted out ‘There is so and so shop, mum loves that shop!’ (it happens a lot!), I thought of how much you would enjoy it here, so depending upon when you get here I really hope that we will be able to manage at least one day for ‘Jeanettes Auckland Tour’
We rounded off the afternoon with a wiener from a lovely wiener stand down at the Quayside and I got talking to the proprietor of the stand, a lovely chatty woman from, of all places, Edinburgh! We walked home and got settled in for some serious TV watching, of course, my favourite show, Police 10-7 and Motorway Patrol
Friday signaled some pretty awful weather, the rain came on and off all day long and there was a little chill in the air, so for the first time in a long time I almost reminisced about Scotland, after all, when it rains here it’s usually warm rain, and it goes off within five minutes or so. I know which rain I prefer!
On Saturday, I woke up early, as I had been all week, so hopefully my body clock has now accustomed it’s self to waking up at pre-9am now, which is a good thing if I am to start back at work! I phoned Symon around 11.30ish as he had suggested we meet up again on the weekend. The weather was beautiful but in my earnest desire to get out and about, I hadn’t appreciated that other people like to sleep in on a Saturday, Symon included. I woke him up with the phone call (sorry!), and after a bit of umming-and-awwing about what we would do, I plucked for a day out at MOTAT, Auckland Museum of Transport and Technology which is just off the Great North Road. Suzy was over the moon at this too because it provided copious toilet stops and she is also a secret train spotter (hahah). Symon, who is also a Mechanical Engineer like Suzy, works for Air New Zealand and he relishes any opportunity to see planes. I like the transport museum in Glasgow so if this was anything similar, I knew I’d like it as well. When we got there, I could tell I was instantly going to like it, because it’s about ten times the size of the Glasgow one and is situated over two sites (with the Auckland Zoo in between them). You get between the sites via a free (and fairly lengthy) old-fashioned tram ride which all adds to the experience. There were tons of things to see and do there, from getting up close to some old cars, trains, planes and agricultural equipment to seeing all the previous entrepreneurial spirit of this small
nation. I particularly enjoyed the Telephone room, you got to sit in a telephone exchange and watch the rotary arms select numbers and lines from the old mechanical exchange equipment as it rang another actual telephone. To think that these systems were in place even in the UK from the 1950s right up until the late ’80s was pretty funny as they looked so archaic. Going further back in time, there were the old switchboards, complete with plug-in cables, flashing lights, buttons and dials. Entry to the museum was free for the entire month if you were an Aucklander, so for the price of the bus fare out there, it was a pretty full day of fun. We finished up around 4pm and Symon very generously offered to take us out for another trip to the Waitakere Ranges. This time we visited the Arataki Visitor Centre, unfortunately by the time we got there the weather had drawn in as it had been forecast for some rain later on in the day so the photos you will see are somewhat overcast. It did not, however subtract from the fact that the views there were absolutely stunning and remains a perfect reminder that you really are in sub-tropical climbs. The ground below was matted by a bed of palm, fern and fauna that I had never seen before. I can’t wait to get up there again towards the summer and take a sunnier photo, hopefully I’ll have a decent camera by then as well! If you haven’t been to the visitor centre, or visited the ranges before, I strongly recommend it if you can get out there.
With all the fresh air, I started to get pretty sleepy come five o’clock, but we pressed on and headed out with Symon to a Mexican Restaurant called Mexican Cafe which is in the city centre, just over the road from the Sky Tower. We arrived about half an hour before the end of happy hour, so we got $4 drinks until we could be seated – the place was crammed. It seems like everyone else in Auckland had the idea to come to this place. We could soon see why; the food was inexpensive but first rate. I had tacos and Suzy and Symon had a ‘fat bastard’ plate (well, I think that was the Spanish to English translation!). Their plate contained Two chicken or beef enchiladas as well as a large Taco, refried beans, rice and a salad. Don’t forget that we started the meal off with a massive plate of beef nachos which were de-vine! Not bad for $40 per head including 3 drinks each (about £18). Whilst I was there Symon and I pushed aside the gay-ness factor and plumped for two passionfruit margaritas alongside our beers. Boy-oh-boy, were they girly, but man they were tasty!
By 8pm I was feeling shattered. I mean properly shattered, so I headed home and by 9.15 I was tucked up in bed and fast asleep. What a saddo (or as Symon says, I fagged out!). Symon did not share my tiredness and although he admitted just 15 minutes prior that he couldn’t eat another morsel after the Tex-mex, he was busy ordering donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts whilst he waited on his bus home. A feat even I couldn’t achieve. I hope your consolation for not having a late night out was worthy enough!
Well, that about sums up this week. See you all next time!



























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