After greeting Annie, Bath homeowner, back from her hols and sharing dinner with her I spent two nights at Helen and Richard’s sorting out my baggage for NZ and saying a final goodbye over a dinner of Waitrose Indian food and a few glasses of Prosecco. Then it was four nights at Margaret and Paul’s, enjoying drinks and food in their lovely garden and a trip to the Cranleigh Country Show, a particular highlight. Margaret was happy to drive me to the airport but I decided to take the train from Farnham to Woking and from there a National Express coach to Heathrow.
I flew with Thai Airways via Bangkok where there was a 4 hour wait. I’d left Heathrow at 2200 on Tuesday 2 July and arrived into Auckland at 1130 on Thursday 4 July. A pre-booked Sky Bus into the centre, inner city link bus to the Ponsonby area and a short walk got me to the Great Ponsonby Arthotel, which I’d booked for two nights and looked quirkier online that it actually was. I had arrived in the rain which only got heavier as the afternoon progressed into evening. I felt ok until I laid down, waking up at 2100! Too tired and wet outside to bother going out for dinner, I showered and went to bed only to keep waking up through the night.
At 1030, after my first, delicious, kiwi breakfast, I was picked up by Kerry, houseowner of my first housesit in NZ located in Swanson, western suburb of Auckland. She told me it was unfortunate I’d arrived on the “crappiest” day weather-wise! I liked her immediately and knew I’d hit the jackpot when she showed me round the family’s executive home – a huge bungalow. I met the four cats, all rescued, and the quirks of the home and cats’ routine was explained.
I took the Metro back into the centre as Kerry had a lot to do before leaving with the family the next morning. Swanson is the end of the western metro line, just under an hour from the centre, and the station a 10 minute walk from the housesit. I spent the rest of the day orientating myself in the centre, walking back to the guesthouse and eating dinner in an Italian restaurant .
Next morning, Saturday 6 July, I got up at 0630 arriving at Kerry’s just after 0900. I met her husband Paul (a Croatian who used to play cricket for his country) and their delightful children Ryan (15), Troy (13) and daughter Taylor (10). I had a lovely conversation with Ryan who’s really into history and researching his and the family’s ancestry. They left by taxis at 1000 but I had to call them back as one big suitcase had been left behind! Good job they had a housesitter to notice!
The home has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a huge kitchen/diner and pool. I could fit my downstairs into their garage! How lucky am I?
I had been loaned their Toyota Highlander so drove it very carefully to Pak ‘n’ Save, the NZ equivalent of Aldi/Lidl to get some groceries.
Next day, Sunday 7th, was forecast sunny so I packed a sandwich and drove to Muriwai Beach, 28 km from the house on the west coast. There’s no public transport there so I was grateful of the car and impressed there was no parking charge at the car park. The beach (black volcanic sand) had a few dog walkers, brave surfers in the sea and hang gliders leaping off the hilltop. The area is well known for its clifftop gannet colonies although busiest from August and I took a walk along the marked route to see them, then found a lovely bench made from two wooden surfboards in memory of Adam Strange, a surfer who died aged 48.
Monday 8th turned out to be rainy so I went to the Auckland Memorial Museum to be educated a little. The ground floor concentrated on Maori and Pacific Island cultures, the first floor natural history with a fantastic section on volcanoes and the top floor dedicated to the two World Wars. There was also an interesting exhibition: ‘Carried Away:Bags Unpacked’ with over 150 different bags. I thought that my friend Caroline Hartley would have found this particularly fascinating. I know that the huge Maori Court should have been the highlight but I was fascinated, nay repelled, by some Samoan tattooing implements:
Today, 9th, was another dull day so I decided to stay around the house to do some writing and planning. I had my first visitor, a chap from Auckland Council with the grand title of ‘Swimming Pool Fence Assessor’. He’d immigrated from England over four years ago with his teacher wife so we had a nice chat. His job: to check the ‘fencing’ around the pool (actually glass) was in order. He found that the gate to the pool was faulty as it didn’t self close! This seemed quite bizarre to me, and health and safety gone mad, but it seems the owners have 4 weeks to put it right then have to send a video of it to the council with a fee of $65!
Joy of joys, I discovered I could access Wimbledon via TVNZ on my iPad free. Only thing is it starts at 11.15pm! I envisage doing night duty for the semis and finals!
Feeling in need of some fresh air, I took myself off for a fairly uninteresting four mile walk in the local area.
Things I’ve learnt so far on this journey:
Auckland is very hilly, not surprisingly given that it was formed by volcanoes. I’m reminded a little of San Francisco.
An AT Hop card is Auckland’s equivalent of London’s Oyster Card and you must ‘Tag on’ and ‘Tag off’ before and after each journey. It can be used for trains, buses and some ferries.
The Skytower is the main landmark in the centre of Auckland and can be seen from miles away.
You can get ‘Marmite’ here after all but it’s called ‘My Mate’!
And ladies, if you need your vagina tightened then Bangkok is the place to go! (I know, trust me!)
NeverSayNeverNomad 