Back in Auckland

Firstly, apologies for the old blog from 2008, which suddenly made its appearance.


We start again in Auckland. It is Zoe's last day of the Summer holiday. She has opted to make another visit to Rainbows End. This time it is with her dad and Irene. I am left 'holding the baby'. In this case it is a delightful four year old.


She has been dropped off at Kindergarten and my first task will be to collect her at 11.45. I now have a couple of hours which I use to, empty the dishwasher, do a general clear up and complete the Rotorua blog.


I am now steeling myself up to start the child minding bit. I leave at 11.30 and arrive four minutes later; in time to hang about round the kindergarten with parents and other child minders. I get confused as I have to sign out for Emily. She has already been signed for. I look again; another Emily has already been collected. The door open. I say 'Now for the scary bit'. A lady next to me says that she will help me if I help her as it is her first time. With Emily collected we walk home. The lady introduces me to her husband. It turns out that the are also UK grandparents, staying for some time.


Back home we have a bit of lunch together and she is happy to watch tv and potter while I work on my old negatives.


The trio arrive back having had a great time. Zoe has again been on the log flume. The three had a round of golf and now Emily chooses to have a dressing up time.

This is followed by a pool time. I am reluctantly persuaded to join in. The games seem to centre around me and consist of find the treasure with Zoe, drag Emily around the pool and aim a ring to land around granddad's neck.

The evening consists of getting Zoe's things ready for school. There is a huge amount of stuff to take. It is hard to calculate the cost of the stuff they have to take which includes pencils to make a class set, board markers and personal stationary. They also need to take $75 for trips and swimming. A further 'voluntary' contribution of $400 will be requested later. No one seems to mind as in poorer areas the state provide more funding.


We watch up the latest images on the big screen and then time for bed.

Sky Tower Revisited

Sky Tower is a must no matter how many times you come to Auckland.

Today Zoe went off to a friend to play and so we had Emily on her own and this was the one thing she wanted to which Zoe was not bothered about.


Sally drove us off to the car park below the tower. At the main level Emily was happy to sit through a whole movie on the history of Auckland.


It is a quick smooth journey to the top.


I could not see any major changes to the city, but the views are stunning. One addition that has been made was on the viewing platform. They have installed little viewing tubes that point to features around the city.

Rear: Rangitoto Island
Middle: North Head at end of a peninsula with Devonport to the left

Harbour Bridge

Auckland Town Hall and 'Occupy' Camp

Emily on Viewing Platform

 I made the round with my normal lens and then with the telephoto. When we saw them later Zoe wanted to know how I had managed to take close ups. I thought that this showed quite some maturity.


On the tower Emily was thrilled by the sky divers, but disappointed that most did not stop in front of us before making the descent. She showed a lot of patience waiting for the three minute count down and was rewarded by a hovering jumper.

We had coffee on the tower. This was lunch time and we had delicious savoury croissants which I followed by a rocky road slice.

Emily in the Atrium

From here we made our way down the motorway to an area known as Botany. We went there so that Grandma could see the specialist tea shop and purchase a 'red bush' type tea. First their was the tasting. A glass tea pot was used. I have to say that I appreciated the aroma. Sally bought Grandma a one pot speciality tea pot and tea.

Grandma and part of tea collection

Emily Daydreaming

Then we popped across to the pet shop with a collection of fish which kept Emily enraptured. There were also kittens and puppies in spacious glass areas and bunnies etc.

28 degs is too cold

Back at the house the temperature of the pool was up to 28 degs. Someone had to watch Emily in the pool. I now think that 28 degs is too cold.

Zoe Having a Granddad Ride

In the mean time Grandma and Emily were in the garden.

Emily and Grandma Gardening

Just before tea I was sent out to buy Nachos, sour cream and grated cheese. It is some time since I have driven an automatic. It was not until I arrived at the dairy when I remembered that you only use the right foot; and the Honda Accord is a big estate. I have now remembered and should enjoy driving it whenever necessary.


It was a good tea of nachos, beans, stewed meat and sour cream.

Emily's Shot of Me

After tea we played some of my images on the TV. Emily should have been asleep, but managed to catch a glimpse of herself on the tele. (Exciting.)

Tourists or Travellers

Getting there is common to both tourists and travellers. Arrangements have to be made and flights booked. From here on the itinerary of the traveller are freer and the objectives are broader. I began to figure this out more clearly in the short time that we spent in LA and concluded that our trips to the 'upside down peoples on the islands near to Australia' came more in the category of travels than tours. Not that it really matters.

Our flight through the night started on Tuesday evening in Auckland and ended on Tuesday afternoon in LA. When we left it was Autumn. When we arrived it was Spring. We travelled with the New Zealand cycle team, whose coach took our window seat and rooted himself in it for the 12 hour flight. They were a quiet and pleasant bunch, unlike the Argentinian rugby squad that we had shared the airport with.

We had our evening meal in a grill which served meat with unlimited salads. My starter was the clam chowder, which is really delicious and I washed the meal down with root beer. A big guy armed to the teeth entered the restaurant. His badge said that he was a probation officer. Imagine that in the UK. In the morning we had our pancakes and American coffee in a diner. Was more a uniformed, armed officer came in for his meal. I can't imagine uniformed officers sitting down for food in the UK, let alone carrying guns. There presence in UK restaurants might make the staff and the diners feel more comfortable, but I can't help wondering if a high public display of weaponry is in some ways counter-productive.


We had made a decision that in LA we would avoid the booked tourist journeys into 'Unreal Land' and travel into the real city. To do this we took public transport in the form of the 'Metro'. We needed a little help with this from the hotel staff. But, from then it became a piece of cake. The nearest Metro station was ten minutes walk away at Maripossa and Nash.

The LA Metro is generally above ground, using unmanned stations, with a day fare of £2.50. The layout around the city is easy with lines denoted by colour. I made a mistake of getting on to a carriage whose only occupant was a 'hoody', but soon more people got on. (The guide books tell you not to travel alone or at night). For most of the journey we were the only white people on the train and all announcements and signs were in English and Mexican.

The rail journey took us down the middle of eight lane carriageways, sometimes above ground and sometime along streets which were sometimes depressed and sometimes pleasant suburbia. One of our intersections was Union Station. This was built in the 30's in the Art Deco style and was the arrival point of many 'Stars'. We took an opportunity to look out and see the station. It is impressive. Some unused areas are cathedral like and the main concourse more like a grand hotel.

From here we took the Metro to its furthest point. This being Sierra Madre, near the 'Foothills', with our objective being to reach them. The Metro bridge took us over an eight lane motorway. The noise was appalling, but once over we set off out of town. The road was wide, there were less cars and no pedestrians. The heat beat us and after finding no refreshments, having glimpsed the 'Foothills' we turned back to civilisation. To be honest we did not really want to pay golf club prices. We knew that the bars near the station would be cheaper.

Mum had wanted to go into a park and so we got off at a stop called 'Memorial Park'. All of this journeying had actually been in Pasadena.


Having paid homage to a 'Yanky' soldier we set off back to the station and spotted a magnificent building. This turned out to be Pasadena Town Hall.

We had noticed that each station somehow reflected the area. We happened to be in a arty area and I decided to photograph the platform. It was here that we met the real America. That very morning the US government were talking about a $9,000,000,000,000 bail out. But here we met a man whose needs were more pressing. He was a black man and he engaged me in a conversation about my photograph. He had a large holdall. He explained that he was bag-at-a-time moving his belonging from what was his Pasadena home to a 'Project' (council) home in a more affordable part of LA. He seemed to be neither begging, boasting or complaining, but telling it as it is. He was not the only one we met on two continents for whom the recession is a reality.

Next we went to China Town. It is a real home to the Chinese people of the city and they go about their lives and play Mahjong on street corners.

I must do something about the pose.

Our final stop was to be in Downtown LA itself where we purchased 'Smoothies' and sat on a wall amongst the people in the busy city.

A view from the Smoothies.

The return was through busy rush hour. It is a bit scary to be challenged by a fully armed 'Sheriff' ticket collector.

We had a morning before flying home. The bright sun of the previous day was LA smog. We did the half hour walk to the beach the El Segundo town. The beach has beautiful sand, but is delightfully adorned by the petroleum plant and the LA water works.

Some final photos.

The Beach at El Segundo


Grand Avenue, El Segundo (Note the smogged out buildings)

California Poppies (The pretty bits)

Conclusion
After the 28 hour journey back from LA I would conclude that we return as travellers. We had

1. Suffered some deprivations
2. Experienced some risks
3. Had close personal encounters
4. We hope that we are somewhat different because of our experiences.

We had experienced the friendliness of other peoples and shared in some of their the difficulties that this current recession is bringing. We have seen people apparently unaffected by the problems confronting us all, but we have also felt the spirit of resilience and determination that seems to be common to everyone that we met in both NZ and US societies.

Our travels abroad end for the time being, but we are determined to continue to be travellers wherever are journey now takes us.

Note
There was some sadness in our homecoming. Our friend Arthur died in his sleep on the day before we got home. We have been welcomed by all his family and feel that we almost belong with them, especially at this time.
Arthur has left me his railway stuff.

Oriwa and the Hibiscus Coast

Sally took the day off on Wednesday. This is becoming standard practice for her to have a special day with us just before we leave.

This time we chose to go to Oriwa.This is a holiday town just north of Auckland. It has a huge clean beach and a few shops. We walked most of the beach. Their were many beautiful shells which mum enjoyed and collected some. We had morning coffee with cheese cake and headed back via the Hybiscus Coast. This a long peninsula with one road in and out. It can get conjested in rush hour and holiday times. We passed through an area which was a settlement for the wealthy centred on the Gulf Golf course. The open is player here. It is a strange place. At the end of the peninsula is a headland. It mainly belongs to the army, but there is a short path which allowed us to 'go bush'.

Another strange part is called Manly and there is a sign saying 'Manly' and 'Ladies Mile'. Work it out.

We stopped at one more bay. It was small, but almost within wading distance was an almost pyramid shaped island.

On the way back to Auckland we stopped off at a shop called 'Spotlight'. It is a 'Hobby Craft' plus kitchen and bedroom wares.

Today we have had Zoe home with a cold. I took Sally to work then Emily to childcare, then Zoe shopping, then to 'Placemakers'. I have added a new downpipe to the car porch.

A little while ago Sally called. I went off to pick her up and on route home we took Emily in to the doctors. She will be home tomorrow. Zoe will be in daycare sharing a Dora and Diago cake.

Tonight we are baby sitting while Sally and Ian visit Churchill Park School as a possible palce for Zoe quite soon.

I will not be posting pictures until I get home.

Monterey Park

On Friday we had warning of a severe tropical storm. Auckland residents were advised to tie down trampolines and not drive unless absolutely necessary. We concluded that the large trampoline would go no where, but decided to put the small trampoline and the paddling pool into the garage.

The storm hit in the night. The wind was strong and the rain lashed down. In the morning it was still windy and raining, but not sufficient to prevent Ian driving Zoe and myself over to 'Farmers' to see Diago and Dora. These are character on a childrens TV and are very popular out here. The characters proved to daunting for Zoe and after a brief photo session and coffee we returned home.

Dora

After lunch the storm had changed to intermittent drizzle and Ian decided to take Zoe, Mum and I to Monterey Park - Motor Museum and Model World. The park is a reasonably large area of land on the other side of the harbour bridge. In the centre of the park is a good sized pond. Around it is a walkway and a miniature railway track. Spread around the area were buildings housing different model exhibits. First we went into the car museum. Zoe was interested in the cars with side raising doors like the DeLorean DMC-12 (Back to the Future).

From here we went to the model railway pavillion. This was a fantastic HO gauge railway, divided into seasons. It can only be described as elegant.

Next followed a trip on the miniature railway. The carriages were particularly good and the 'jouney' was made interesting. There were automatic barriers across the paths.

We walked on to the outside model village. Their were Auckland building which we recognised, such as the Ferry Building and the Domain Museum.


The last building was particularly clever. It had pool in the centre connected to the outside pond through a large doorway. Boats were on the pool and could easliy be sailed out on to the pond. The top gallery had an O-guage railway running around most of the edge. In some places it went through tunnels. Its speed was computer controlled at different places and it had turning loops at each end.


After this we left in search of pies. NZ makes lovely pies and like most NZ things has cheese in.

On the way back I notices elliptical marks on the side windows of the car. In the UK you breath on to a cold surface and it causes the warm moist are to condense on the inside of the glass. Here the opposite was true. The air con in the car cooled the glass and the warm moist are condensed on the outside of the glass, despite our speed of 100kph (80mph).

Overlander

A very early start to catch the 7:20 am Overlander to Britomart, Auckland.

The trains here are narrow guage and the coaches seem to dangerously overhang the track. Book in for this service was almost airline style. Baggage was checked in and etickets checked at the desk. There were only three passanger carriages. One contained the dining area. Up front, behind the baggage car was an open observation platform and at the rear a closed one.

From the open area you easily get a feeling of speed.


Our journey took us through miles of open countryside, over gorges, with a stop in the National Park.

The train stops at the town of Ohakune. At this stop you can either buy food in the buffet car or at the station cafe. We chose to buy our food in the buffet car and eat it sitting at the picnic tables along side the track.

At this spot the Tongariro volcanic peaks are visble. There is little snow near the summit.


From here its pretty much down hill with the engineering feature being the Raurimu Spiral. It was declared a 'wonder of the world' when it was completed in 1908. It has three horse shoe curves, a complete circle and two tunnels.

Sally and Zoe met as at Britomart, a little later than expected; our south of North Island complete.

Monday and Tuesday

At last the rain has come. However, it is even muggier and definitely hot at night.

The began at the end of Monday. Irene spent the day on house work and I replaced a 3 m long curtain rail whose brackets just pinged in a row.

Today it is very muggy. We walked down to shop in St Heliers. I have at last got my loaded disk to connect to the network and am busy setting it up. We are preparing for our departure from this place tomorrow.

No, we are not coming home. Tomorrow we all fly to Napier. Ian has rented a house there. He has rented a car for his family. We have rented one for ourselves. On Friday Ian and family will return home and we will drive down to for a few days. We will leave the car and return to Auckland by a train that will take 12 hours.

We are looking forward to this adventure.

Crystal Mountain and Botanic Gardens

Today we went our separate ways.

Mum, Sally and Emily went off to the Botanic Gardens and Ian, Zoe and myself went off to Crystal Mountain.

The range of charges was daunting.

Crystal Mountain is an area some distance away in Auckland. It is trying to be a theme park for adults and children, but it fails in being a theme park and children friendly. It has number of activities for children, but these are hourly and children just won't wait. There is a roller coaster which Zoe went on, a tractor train, which we had to give up on, pony rides, crystal panning. There was also a display of crystals and a well stocked crystal jewellry shop.

We regrouped at the house and had a leisurely afternoon. It was too hot to be out for long. UV burn times, with blocker, were extremely small.

In the evening Sally and Ian went for a meal in Parnell while we baby sat. When Sally got back we sat and watched the first episode of 'Boston Legal' - strange but enjoyable, with William Shatner playing a comic part as an aging head of a law firm.

It is now Sunday morning, the day is starting, the sun is starting to blaze and we are promised temperatures near to 40 C with burn times of 3 minutes. Keeping cool and out of the sun is the priority. There is no actual air conditioning, but the heat exchanger between the roof space and the house is on and I expect all the fans will soon be buzzing.

Mount Wellington - Plumbers World

Today, Weds, we had the car, so having done some work around the house we decided to have lunch on the top of Mount Wellington before visiting 'Plumbing World' as investigators for Lawrence.

Mt Wellington is landmark for this area. If you do not have a SAT NAV and are lost you head for Mt W and find a road from there. Mt W is a regular route marker for shopping and Sally's office. Although Mt W is not difficult to see, the entrance point is more difficult to find, even with a SAT NAV. We drove through gates up one way road that was light an upwards helter-skelter and just below the summit we pulled up into the car park. This was a favourite spot for workers to pull into for lunch. There were picnic benches where we had our lunch. We were glad that we had once more boosted the country's suntan lotion economy. There was no shade. From where we sat we could see Rangitoto and the housing development in the quarry below.

It is a strange development for NZ. The ground is totally flat, the roads are very grid like. The few occupied house exactly the same in shape and grey colour. From our vantage point we could see executive style detached houses, but at the back of their gardens their was a row of grey terraced homes. Very strange.

The crater of the volcano had been partly levelled and a fence added to prevent falls into the cone a good way below. I would seem that this filling in and earth work was carried out by Maoris to create a hill fort.

I made it to to the summit, but mum found the rugged path beyond the steps too difficult to walk on. From the top can be seen the usual city view, but to the south is the entrance of the Tamaki River flowing into the Panmure Basin. This area was very nearly chosen as the starting point for building Auckland and the current industrial use gives a good idea why that idea came up.

We returned via 'Plumbing World'. This a large store. The front has displays of all the elegant products used here, but through the back is a vast array of plumbing components. In the front were elegant ladies chosing the latest bathroom look and in back were rougher plmbers buying the fitments to make dreams come true. All the components that Lawrence gave me are compatible with components in NZ. But, sorry Lawrence, your boiler catalogue amused the hardened experts. One of the plumbers, a cutomer, looked at the catalogue and immediately said, "That's Pommie stuff". I replied "Yer, right". They most certainly do not do central heating, I asked about water heating. He pointed to a tall shiny cylinder. I asked how it works. He said that there was a 3 Kw element inside. (They do gas too.) Electricity is generally hydro or thermal and therefore relatively cheap here.

After lunch I did some woodwork. I left the glue to dry and when I returned a strange, alien like insect was on it.

Emily Gets Jabs

On Wednesday I had the delight of seeing Emily vacinated, one in each leg. She was obviously good about the first one. But, a bit more wise about the second one. After waiting for any reactions and having coffee. (The surgery has a very good coffee shop.) The car park bays are marked 'For the use of customers'. Being a customer rather than a patient is a double-edged thing. As a paying costumer of the doctor you can expect (even demand) a better level of service than in the UK. However, the doctor is free to carry out whatever treatments they might want to, and charge for it. Childhood immunisations can be expensive, but Kiwis balance it against the possible cost of the parent being off work.

Did I say that I lost my spectacles (glasses). I confused the Kiwis over this. I had rung the Museum on Tuesday and a kind lady described my missing glasses/spectacles that had been found. After a long discussion during which she took my name (the discussion was prolonged because we could not get the terminology of kiosk of foyer right; it turned out to be cloak room it was agreed that I should collect them on Wednesday. So, after returning from the doctors to collect Irene and take Emily back to daycare and Sally to her office, where we were served more coffee (Sally does sell it) Irene and I motored off to the Auckland Museum. I presented myself at the 'place' and announced my business. I was presented with an number of 'things'. What had happened to the glasses labelled Norwood. A tad of panic set and suddenly they appeared at the left side of the counter, amongst many other unlabelled things. I told the attendant that I really loved her and Irene and set off for a visit to the Winter Garden and I took more photographs. Among them was this beautiful lily.

Purple Lily

We had planned to repeat the Mt Eden visit, but in the confusion of the morning I did not have my tripod. I decided instead to do some boat watching. In the 'City of Sails' it can be hard to get near any sails. I looked at the map and thought that Hamer Road would get us near the main sailing harbour. I set the sat nav. It took us into dockland amongst large fuel tanks and other industrial plants. However, we could part in one spot for free. When we reached the top of this small peninsular we found that it was an excellent view point for the harbour bridge and sailing boats. Indeed we found it to be a point on the coach tours of Auckland, with one coach after another putting down and picking up tourists. Tourists can be a nuisance, but I was able to do some photography. (Us tourists?)

Auckland Harbour Bridge

Sailing by the Harbour Bridge

We made our journey back along the Tamaki drive, but stopped off at Okahu marina. This area is full of cruisers which must be worth many times more than our house.

Cruisers in Okahu Marina