The builders arrived earlier than we had expected.
Fortunately, we were already up and dressed because this was Zoe’s first day
back to school. Both Sally and Ian had to go with her to deal with admin things
and so we had the pleasure of taking Emily to Kindergarten. We arrived at the time when the class was just beginning. All the children and teachers stood to attention on the mat and sang the NZ national anthem; first in Maori and then in English. I think that this is a good reinforcement of national unity that we could all learn from; except that the UK is not bilingual.
It is not only in the UK that it rains on the first morning
of the first term. I remember this only too well. The shiny, clean school is
suddenly changed by wet boots and bodies. And it is only the staff that notice.
We had use of the car and had planned an excursion but the
rain put paid to this. So, with socks, shoes, trousers and pac-a-macs of we set for the bus to Auckland. We had a
wait and so Irene popped around the corner to post postcards, mostly for our
non-Facebook friends. Before this a bus had arrived as we had and I jumped on it and asked the driver for a ticket. He said that he was going to Point Chev. I have enough difficulty with their English language, but when I read the stop sign 'Point Chevalier made more sense.
Once on the bus this turned out to be the first time that our senior citizens card did not work. But the sympathetic driver let us have a two for one.
We alighted at Britomart. This has been an Auckland transport hub for time immemorial and from here tickets can be purchased for buses, trains and ferry boats. The building is very modern inside, but the elegant old exterior has been retained.
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| Btitomart Railway Station |
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| Kiwi Coffee Art |
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| Exterior |
Coffee was well served; being well presented and speedily delivered. We then made our way up Queen Street which is the Auckland version of Oxford Street. After a short walk I saw a camera shop and having lost my lens cap in Rotorua, decided to purchase a new one; this time with a tie to anchor it to the lens.
Just to out do me Irene found a clothes shop. (She is looking for a top to go with the bottom she has.) Again she had no luck. We continued on up the street to Wellesley Street where we found the art gallery.
The gallery is a splendid building. You enter into a thoroughly modern area. Outside is a pool on which has been placed (artistically) an artificial, red blossomed tree. In the main entrance is a wonderful, hanging lamp. It takes the form of huge colourful flowers. The flowers open and close.
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| Auckland Art Gallery |
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| Artificial Tree |
The first galleries are of contemporary art and their are other galleries of NZ art. Their are galleries of European art including one of the few Lowery's that did not form part of a major exhibition in Nottingham University which had many Lowery's from most other parts of the world.
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| An Icon of New Zealand |
Behind the gallery we spied that Albert gardens was once again home to a Chinese Lantern display. This was neither for the Chinese year of the Dragon, nor for Witangi Day, but was to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations between NZ and China. Ten per cent of Aucklanders are of Chinese descent.
Before visiting the Park we went off to find a MacDonalds. This meant another trip up and down Queen Street. On route I saw another camera shop. This was a branch of the one that I had seen on the web, so I thought that I would see if they had the filter that I needed. They did not, but the assistant reserved me one on their Ponsonby Store. Ponsonby is smart area of the city.
Once again Irene went into the same shop. I sat on a bench near a man who I had misjudged by appearances. He moved towards me start a conversation starting with saying it was better sitting outside than watching wives spend money. As part of his visit to his daughter in Australia he and his wife were on a cruise of NZ. They would then go back to Australia for another few days and the on to Hawaii before going home to Nova Scotia. He was proud of his stated of health and was happy to open his shirt and show me the long scar from his recent heart operation.
His wife came out and we were introduced. Irene came out; again with no purchase and me made our way back to Britomart and home. Not before seeing the oldest buskers in the world (a couple who must have been in their 40s and a young man with a double base.
