Saturday was a busy day. It started by taking the hire car back to the city. From here we went to Pakuranga shopping centre. The main street is called Aylesbury Street. The main claim to fame is that it has a British shop. However, our main mission was shoes for Sally and Zoe. Then it was a dash to Zoe's ballet class. From here we went back to Sylvia Park. The show issue was not resolved and we were birthday present buying. This shopping trip turned out to be extensive and we returned home with a short time before the banquet.
Karen arrived about 6 pm to baby sit and ian drove us in to Mission Bay. Having arrived a little early we had beers at the Belgium Bar. From here we moved on to the Tai restaurant. Sally had booked a window table overlooking Selwyn Domain, the sea and, of course, Rangitoto.
The food and the wine were excellent and we hope that the were a good treat from us to Ian and Sally at the start of our final week here.
On Sunday Sally, Ian and Zoe went off to swimming lessons. We took Emily off to the beach, but our time was cut short by the arrival of spots of rain and the returning family.
After a short time home I drove Mum and Zoe out to Glenbrook Vintage Railway. It was Thomas weekend.
Mum and Zoe on Thomas
It was very busy. The ladies rode Thomas in an open carriage. We found lunch on the platform where we purchased tickets for a longer run down the line in proper coaches. The presentation of the engines was excellent. They all had names and their faces were properly moulded and fixed to the front. It was an amature thing, but well done.
Today Ian, Zoe and I set off to find Thomas near a winery in Luddenham.
