The First Week

Today (Monday) I have been out by car for the third time. The first was to go into Sylvia Park mall. While the girls did food shopping I went into The Warehouse (Irene keeps calling it Wilko). I bought a bright blue pair of basket ball shorts. I noticed that the sizes on offer were small, medium. large and about 9 sizes of extra large. Apparently Samoans are big bodied.

After this outing we then had our first walk around the block. The objective was the play park at the primary school. Despite the holidays the school grounds are completely open and the playground is quite special. The four girls had the run of the place. Even Irene was caught climbing. 

The walk down the hill gave us our first view of Rangitoto.

The barbecue was lit.

To finish the day the girls took to the pool.

The second was to go with Sally to her dietician. I was allowed to witness the complex measurements and the consultation.

Then I was confined to three days in bed. Once quarantine was lifted and I felt well enough, Irene and I had a number of walks around the block until the final one on Sunday, when we walked far enough down the hill to be within striking distance of the sea. So, we struck off down and prepared to face the steep walk back.

So, the first real outing was on Auckland Day (a bank holiday). Out on the sea was the regatta and we aimed to cross over to Devonport. Ian drove around and the rest of us took the ferry. Our departure was heralded by three tugs in a triangle spinning rapidly and water cannons from another boat.

Once out on the sea there was a good view of the city and an amazing cruise liner.

Waiting outside the ferry terminal at Devonport was a wagon and horses. I wondered if the horses were the same ones as those we saw on our first trip in 2003. (How long do horses live?) The driver called out "Who wants a ride?" Irene and the girls were soon aboard.

The girls went to the play area with Sally and Ian. Irene and I headed into the town away from the bitter wind.

We all met up for lunch before departing. We gave up on sitting watching the regatta. I sat at the front of the ferry and took pictures of a yacht in full sail and another of a liner.

Our drive home took us through Mission Bay. It was quite congested as this is a favourite resort of Aucklanders. Irene got out of the car at the town centre to meet up with Sally and Zoe in order to explore a large craft fair. Back home I had a rest and later in the afternoon Irene and I went for another walk along Maskell Street to Glover Park before having our meal.

The house is going quieter and I sit next to a large screen showing a show called 'Australia Has Got Talent'. One recognisable member of the panel is Dawn French.

Joke of the Day

From the public address system comes the announcement, "We will now have a moment of silence for the school librarian". After a pause the announcer goes on to say, "She's not dead, just wants a moment of silence."

Easter Day and Easter Monday

This is our first Easter Day in New Zealand and it is a long time since children were part of our festivities.

Zoe and Emily were off to an early start. Being Sunday morning it was my shower time, but the girls could not wait and the table had been invaded before I could get my camera up stairs. It was a very exciting time as the girls examined numerous Easter Day treats.

Easter Table

Easter Basket

I'd better give granddad's egg a shake

Zoe's Bunny

Emily's Basket

Breakfast of eggs and sausages

Breakfast consisted of toast soldiers, boiled eggs and sausages. Sally had worked hard to make it a good occasion. The egg hunt followed, but the girls quite enjoyed hiding eggs themselves.

Find the eggs I've hidden

Irene and I went off to the local Presbyterian Church as it was the nearest and best suited our time table. Before Holy Communion, which we attended, there had been a family service involving an Easter egg hunt. The service was the usual joyful Easter one. The main feature of the service which proceeded Communion was to go to the front of the church and collect a flower to add to the large cross which already had some flowers on it.

At the end of the service some of the men carried the cross out of the church to place it on the street in the beautiful blue-sky, Easter Day.

When we got back Sally had prepared a traditional Sunday lunch of chicken and roast potatoes.

Zoe was picked up and taken to a farmland home of a friend that she had known since she was 2 years old.

Later on the 5 of us followed first of all stopping for an ice-creams from the 'Village Co-op' and consumed while sitting on a bench by the beach. The beach was very crowded here and all the way down Tamaki Drive. In fact it took some time to get to the city because of the heavy holiday traffic.

I managed to keep sight of Sally's car for the whole journey. Their friend's house was set in something of a small holding well off the main roads. 

The Tree House

The Rear of the House

Outdoor dining area with
full size horse statue

Outdoor Food Area

The Goat in the Back Garden

The girls on the trampoline

There was plenty for the girls to do. Zoe and her friend had been playing in a tree-house, but there was a trampoline and plenty of space to run around. We sat under a rustic shelter of the usual corrugated iron variety. There was already a lot of food about and more was arriving. Are hosts were very generous.

Suddenly there was an almighty bang. At first I thought children had pushed something large over, but when we headed for the gate and standing there was a white car, which had just turned off the road. Its windscreen was completely deformed and the front wing smashed in. Nearer the scene there was a red motor bike a metre or so from the side, smashed up and lying on its side.

Irene was quickly on the scene

I had my camera and took a couple
 of shots which I thought might help the
investigation if the vehicles were moved;
which they were

Then came the realisation that there must have been a rider and he was found about 6 metres on the other side of the car not far from the pylon behind. We thought that he was lucky to be alive. The only visible injury was a graze on his hand. His helmet and jacket were badly damaged, but probably contributed to him being alive.

We found out that his name was Sean and he was on his way home from a day out. Our host phoned for an ambulance and was told that they would send the next available one. The break down vehicle had already arrived and it seemed such a long time before help came for the injured man. At the time we did not know how badly injured he was. Sally did a sterling job of supporting the man's head on piece of rolled up cloth. His body was on flat grass, but his head was hanging down a small bank.

As we were talking about whether the police should be notified they arrived. The whole business of rescue and investigation took some time and it was very dark before the car was finally removed. Later in the evening Sean rang from the hospital to tell our host that he had sustained no serious injuries. Earlier Sean told us that he was not insured (being uninsured is legal here) and he was very concerned about his bike which he only bought 3 weeks ago. The lady in the car was not injured at all.


One of the young ladies said that she had been feeling bored. We agreed that next time we ever feel bored we should be pleased that we are. This was not the kind of excitement any of us wanted. 

The party restarted with a barbecue and followed on with the bonfire. It seems that the need to burn a good pile of stuff was a major reason for the party. The children enjoyed the fire, but by now it was getting late for the children so we left and got back about 8 o'clock.

Ian Helping Start the Fire
(Everyone moved back quickly after this shot)

Emily Getting Excited

This gave us time to see the second part of a Harry Potter film in our quest to complete viewing the series.

Easter Monday

We divided in to three groups. Sally and Emily went off to Sky Tower, Ian and Zoe went off to play mini-golf and Irene and I went off to find the Parnell Rose Garden. 


It was just off the Tamaki Drive near the port and was in full colour with a large variety of specimens.

There were two smaller gardens. One was a bushland path with plants having an interesting pattern of leaf scars.

The other garden was after the style of a notable local artist and rose grower.

From the gardens we walked down to Judges Bay. A group which looked to be mainly Maoris had occupied the public barbecue area for a party.

We went on along the bottom of the cliffs to the Parnell Baths.

To reach the chapel we climbed flights of steps to a bridge across to the top of the cliff. From the top we had a different view to our usual one of the main railway line running on earthwork across the mouth of a bay.

The chapel was of particular interest to us as we came across the headstone of a lady who died in 1866 having been an immigrant from Southwell near Nottingham. Another headstone was sadder because the three men had died in their early twenties. One had drowned in the harbour.

After lunch in the local cafe I decided to follow my nose and drove through Parnell and Newmarket until I reached Cornwall Park. It was too busy to park so we headed for Mount Wellington.


We had been to this hill on an earlier trip when some houses were being built in the quarry below. (See earlier blog) The area is now known as Stone Fields. Many building have been completed and the work continues.

I made the ascent to the top and this time walked all around the rim of the crater. There are good views from here.

The ever visible Rangitoto

John 3:16 Ferry leaving Half Moon Bay

After tea we started the next part of the Harry Potter marathon.

Week Beginning 6th February

 Monday 6th

The day started by using the bubble blowers that had been bought for the girls at the lantern festival. They work really well and are fun except for the monotonous tune they play.

Nanny is not really teasing Emily.
The bubble machine had to be held up.

Nanny is not really drinking the
 bubble liquid.

Sally, Irene and Zoe set off in search of strawberries. Zoe wanted to do a PYO and thought that we had done it when we here last. She had remembered the time when we flew down to Napier and did picking there.

The plan was for Ian and me to take Emily to Kelly Tarlton’s (That is the sea aquarium on the way to the city. However, Emily did not want to go and she occupied the morning playing by herself, while Ian and I talked some ‘toot’.

After lunch I decided to walk down into St Helier’s to see if there were any Waitangi celebrations. The grass edge all along the beach was crowded with various camping/picnicking paraphernalia and the beaches were crowded. On a corner of the green a table had been set up by the organisers and groups of people were playing team games in various places.

One of the old trees that line the beach.
Rangitoto is in the background.

Collecting shells on Kohi beach

Kohi Treasures

A wader on the beach

Just as I got to Kohimarama Irene rang to say that they were back, but that the PYO was unsuccessful. I waited for her to come and join me at Kohi and we walked further on. 


Firstly, we found ice-creams in a shop in the town. We had a tub each of delicious chocolate, honey comb ice-cream. We walked a little further into Mission Bay before returning for tea.

Tuesday 7th

Today Emily was going to have a scan following an infection which had now cleared up. This meant that Ian took Sally to work, so that we could take Emily to the clinic.

After taking the girls to school and kindergarten we used the car to take ourselves down to the spit. The spit is one of our favourite places. It is not far away and is a beach that swings out across the Tamaki River. It is always quiet and peaceful. This time we went through the nature reserve which brought us out on to the spit. We walked along before stopping for lunch and drinking our $1 fizzy drink that we had bought from the Superette at the start of the walk. We needed to be back in time to take Emily,  so we had to leave the walk to be completed at another time.

The Spit curving out across the Tamaki River
John 3:16 Ferry Building is just visible

The clinic is in a place called Remuera. All along the street are various clinics. The one we went to specialises in scans of various kinds. It has a garden with its own small car park. The scan would cost something like $400. This would be claimed back on medical insurance. Emily was an angel and no problems were found.

My last driving task was to pick up Sally from her place of work.

Wednesday 8th

Again we have to be back quite early to look after Emily while Bree (the Nanny) takes Zoe to Brownies.

After doing a few thing around the house we set off down to the beach. The aim was to get to the Michael Savage Memorial Park. Michael Joseph Savage (23 March 1872 – 27 March 1940) was the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand. He is commonly known as the architect of the welfare state and is constantly regarded as one of New Zealand's greatest and most revered Prime Ministers. He was given the title New Zealander of the Century by the New Zealand Herald in 1999.

Our route there was to be through the three bay towns, and then turn left alongside the park and find a pathway through. It was a steep climb, but the views were worth it. We found a place well away from the Joseph Savage memorial. It was a collection of Maori statues in remembrance of a five year old girl who died in 1977 during the historic land occupation of Bastion Point.

Bastion Point Memorial

Here we had our lunch and sat to do our sketches of the view.

Rangitoto from our picnic area

White Clouds Over Browns Island.
Picture taken on our way back.

On the way back we stopped in Kohi. This time for a honey comb ice-cream and a raspberry sorbet (guess who had which.)

We had a bit of a dash back in time to look after Emily.

Sally and Ian went out to the school open evening for a talk from the principal and to meet the teachers. As I write we are sitting quietly and the girls are in their rooms hopefully asleep.

Thursday – Rangitoto Day

This is it; the one day Irene has been especially looking forward to. We are going to climb Rangitoto. 

For anyone not in the know Rangitoto is a volcanic shaped island which sits in the Hauraki Gulf and looms over the city and the bays. http://www.rangitoto.org/ Basically, Rangitoto emerged from the sea around 700 years ago. The event was observed by the fairly recently arrived Maoris. Up till the mid 1800s it appears to have been largely barren. One early explorer wrote of taking 3 hours to climb it with blocks of solidified lava tumbling down. Most of the island is now covered in vegetation although there are significant, bare volcanic patches; mostly near the base. It is a study of ecological development with lower order vegetation breaking down the rocks until even trees can be supported. Apart from its causeway connection to the neighbouring island it is relatively isolated and should only be populated by insects and birds. Unfortunately, Europeans introduced the possum to the neighbouring island. There is now some concern about the appearance of hunting rats; hence the many traps that are visible.

In the 1920 there was a period of bach building around the shore. During the wars an observation point was built at the top and the island was taken over by the military. However, it was necessary to give the bach owners limited access. (Would this have been allowed if it was occupied by the UK military?)

Our own journey was very blessed. The weather improved throughout the day. This was in marked contrast to our 2009 adventure when rain started out of a clear blue sky as soon as we were on the boat; stopped to let us get some way up the path and soaked us as we tried to get down for shelter. Even then, by the time the ferry arrived we were well sun dried.

Not only was the weather on our side, but we managed to catch the earlier bus which meant that we caught the first ferry of the day. I am not sure I like being identified as ‘seniors’, but it does have the advantage of keeping the cost of the fare down. The journey on a powerful catamaran took only 25 minutes. That is £1 a minute for two seniors. There was time for breakfast tea and coffee on board.

The ascent up the volcano took just over one hour. At the top is a significant area of board-walk and look outs over  very remarkable and beautiful scenery. For the whole of the adventure, ‘beautiful’ was Irene’s favourite word. With a little time to spare we thought that we would  detour to the volcanic caves. It was a tough walk of 15 minutes. We think that we found them, but looking into the mouth was as much climbing as we prepared to do. The guide said that a torch was necessary for the rest of the cave walk. We are adventurous, but not that much.

Nearby Islands

Mouth of the Tamaki.
The Spit across is visible.

Auckland City

Looking into the Crater

The Harbour Bridge from the crater rim

Going down from the top

Looking back at the summit with part
 of a lava field showing

Part way down the main path we stopped for our lunch at a lookout and then made our way down. Near the bottom a young Australian lad came over to talk to me about my camera. He had a brand new Canon and did not know much about what to do. I noticed that his camera was set to manual. To use this setting you need an exposure meter and need to set the aperture and shutter speed separately. I explained to him about the programmed setting which would automatically match aperture and shutter speed. I think that he was grateful for the advice. I recommended that he reads his manual thoroughly when he can.

I rejoined a bored wife and we sat with sketch pads and pencils as we waited for the boat. A lady approached us. It turned out that she worked in the Cumberland Pencil factory. Perhaps she was more interested in our pencils than our drawings.

There was a sudden dash for the pier, which we joined. This gave us a chance to be on the upper, open deck. The speed across to Devonport would have blown my hat off if I  had not been sitting on it. There was little wind as we did the final few minutes to Auckland.

Our final treat was tea and coffee at Britomart before catching the bus home.

Auckland Ferry Building - The now dwarfed sandy coloured building

Friday10th

We are having a day at home. Emily is also off and we have had a happy morning with her. Bree has now gone off with her and later in the afternoon Zoe and her mum will be off to the Brownie camp for a night or perhaps two.

The builders who have been working under the decking for most of the week are just leaving and have given the all clear for the pool to be used again.