Rain and shine

• 

• 

Towards the end of the walk was Alberton House, which belonged to Allen Kerry Taylor, one of several brothers of Scottish descent who inherited money from their father, a colonel in the British Army stationed in India. The house is now owned by Heritage New Zealand, the equivalent of our National Trust, which has a reciprocal agreement to allow members in free. Before leaving England I had cancelled renewal of my NT membership but heard from a friend that members could get in free in NZ and Australia so kept it going.

I loved the house and was welcomed initially by Randall, the manager, and given an introduction by an elderly volunteer called Bet, with whom I had a long conversation. The house had a really nice old smell to it, the like of which I’d never experienced, and 18 rooms. Mr Taylor had had a large family, 10 children, several of whom died young and was very much the local squire, holding lavish garden parties and dances. Randall told me to look out for the BBC dramatisation of ‘The Luminaries’ (a book I’m reading at time of writing) which won the Booker Prize in 2013 for its author, Eleanor Catton born in Canada but brought up in New Zealand. It’s to be shown next March and the ballroom in the house was used as a bar in Dunedin. Apparently Griff Rhys Jones was also filming there a month ago as part of a series he’s doing travelling round NZ, so that will be worth looking out for too.

I happened to be the last person in the house and to top off a lovely afternoon Randall offered me a cup of Earl Grey tea and biscuits and I sat on the verandah with him and Bet chatting for a while as the sun started to sink. Another perfect afternoon.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Wimbledon has been on since before I left home and, by chance, I’d been waking in the middle of the night so watched some on TV from bed. The highlight was waking at 0420 during the men’s final at 2:1 to Djokovic v Federer in the 5th set. It was worth missing some sleep for the outstanding tennis from both players.

Monday 15th lent itself really well to another scenic drive and it turned out to be t-shirt weather. Piha was the first stop, another beautiful beach. However, it has wild surf and strong undercurrents with its own reality TV show called ‘Piha Rescue’. There was a nice walk over the clifftop to a good vantage point and I watched as people chanced their luck walking on rocks near the crashing waves as if daring them not to drag them in. Why are there always people who feel they’re invincible?

• 

• 

• 

• 

Next was another beach called Karekare, not as scenic as Piha and in 1825 it was the site of a massacre of the local Maori tribe by an invading one. It’s one of the most dangerous beaches in the country and not the best place for a swim. It has featured in several films, perhaps the most famous being ‘The Piano’.

• 

• 

Then I made it to Titirangi which sounded charming but was nothing to write home about. However, I called into the Te Uru Waitekere Contemporary Art Gallery which was worthwhile.

Tuesday 16th I spent cleaning, packing and making soup for the family’s return from Bali, whose flight was due at 0400 arriving home just before 0500. I got up and after welcoming the family home and a chat, Paul drove me to the station to get a commuter train just before 0700 to Britomart, the end of the line in the city centre. I’d booked 2 nights in the Ibis Budget hotel which was just a short walk from the station. After checking in and some breakfast in the nice little Sunflower Cafe, which I visited the next two mornings, I went to the Auckland Art Gallery.

Most of the museums in Auckland are free to residents, donation requested of other New Zealanders and generally a fee of $20 for everyone else. On this occasion there was also an exhibition of an artist called Frances Hodgkins, who I’d never heard of, a New Zealander who left for Europe aged 32 where most of her art (and prolific it is) was done. She lived in England, particularly Cornwall, for quite some time but loved France and Morocco and moved around very regularly. So I stumped up an extra $8 to include that exhibition too. Her work is very colourful – mainly landscapes and still life. I liked it and think she must have been quite an interesting woman.

I came across the work of two of New Zealand’s famous 19th century artists, Gottfried Lindauer and Charles Goldie who both painted portraits of Maori people and scenes. I absolutely loved their work. One of them even showed tattooing in progress using those lethal tools I’d seen in the Museum – interesting!

I took advantage of a free private guided tour around some of the highlights of the gallery with a volunteer called Pleasance who went well over her normal allotted time as I kept asking questions. A nice experience followed by a shorter free talk on a few of Frances Hodgkins’ paintings. The gallery was a nice mix of old and new New Zealand art, some European art – one of my favourites being ‘For of such is the kingdom of heaven’ by an English painter called Frank Bramley (1857-1915). I also learnt about a movement called ‘The Guerilla Girls’ – a. group of women who wore guerilla masks while protesting in the ‘80s about the fact there were so few female artists represented in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The gallery had been refurbished 5 years ago and, I understand, is a vast improvement on the original.

Later I took a bus to meet Sarah and Michael, homeowners of my next sit in the West Mere area of Auckland and their two Brussels Griffon dogs, Ted and Spike.

Thursday 18th turned out to be mainly glorious with the odd spit of rain. I got an 11am ferry to Devonport, on the North Shore, a mere 10 minute journey for the amazing cost of $4.90 (approx £2.65). In fact, at this juncture I must just say how very impressed I am with public transport in Auckland, not just for the cheapness but the variety, cleanliness and, in the main, its punctuality. When I’ve mentioned this to local people they’ve looked at me as if I’m crazy – I guess they haven’t experienced the London equivalent. Of course, this doesn’t extend to the rest of the mainland where to explore in any depth a car is vital. There’s a very good bus service between cities and some trains but not much else. That’s why, for me, it’s been much appreciated when the use of a car has been thrown in at housesits.

As soon as I got to Devonport I meandered east along King Edward Parade which afforded some lovely views across the water with the Sky Tower, as ever, dominating the skyline. I couldn’t help but marvel at some of the amazing homes that were overlooking the sea and Auckland’s CBD (central business district). It also struck me how very peaceful the place was. What a great place to live, and how wonderful to commute by ferry, which runs from very early until late at night 7 days a week. Do they know how lucky they are, I wondered?

• 

• 

• 

• 

At the end of the Parade was Torpedo Bay and its Navy Museum, Devonport being the home of the Royal New Zealand Navy. For once, entry was free to all and although I thought I’d find it boring it really wasn’t. It was a fascinating place and explored NZ’s naval contribution to the two World Wars and all conflicts the country involved itself in afterwards. It catered very well for children too as most museums do nowadays.

Just around the corner was the entrance to North Head Historic Reserve or, to give it its Maori name, Maungauika (Uika’s mountain) one of the oldest volcanic cones in the Auckland volcanic field and one of three in Devonport. It is considered the most significant coastal defence site in the country. It was a lovely walk round and up to the summit with great views of some of the Hauraki Gulf islands such as Rangitoto, Waiheke and Brown island and even to the Coromandel Peninsular . There were a lot of military tunnels to explore, connecting bunkers, empty gun emplacements and lookouts.

• 

• 

• 

• 

After an enjoyable amble I walked to Cheltenham Beach along Cheltenham Road having been told by a lady (who took a not too good a picture of me by the road sign) that this was a must see. Well, it wouldn’t rate in the top 10 of NZ’s beaches but, obviously, I had to go there! I walked the length of the sandy beach, again looking in wonderment at the houses located right on the beach, and then on the rocky outcrop around the headland until access ended. On the way I saw a couple of wading birds with long red beaks and tried to get closer to take a pic, not having invested in a zoomier lens (mainly because of its weight) than the one that came with my camera. Having looked them up later online I discovered they were Oystercatchers! Well my knowledge of birds is mainly limited to robins, blackbirds, sparrows and magpies back home and I’ve always had a hopeless capacity for including more!

By this time, having skipped lunch, I rather fancied afternoon tea but the cafe I stumbled upon, although offering a cream tea, had a strong smell of fried food emanating from it which I decided would remove the pleasure of a cup of Earl Grey and a scone. So they missed out on my patronage!

The other main volcanic cone in Devonport is Mount Victoria, another ‘must visit/climb’ for the views. I did, but by this time it was getting cloudy so the views weren’t as good as earlier. Back down to the main road, Victoria Road, very Victorian and Art Deco with, allegedly, Australiasia’s oldest purpose built cinema, the Victoria, built in 1912 and, after the longed for cup of Earl Grey tea and a nice cake, I went to see the enchanting ‘The Lion King’ film there before catching an 8.15pm ferry back and a microwave dinner in my hotel room!

• 

• 

•