The past week's been a bit of a whirlwind, and internet connections have been few and far between (and, hopefully understandably, finding one hasn't exactly been high on my agenda), hence the lack of posting. Looking at the coming couple of days, this post won't get published until I'm home.
Anyway, this is the start of our last night in Auckland, and I'm in the Hilton apartments on the quayside typing this quickly whilst the Kiwi and her sister are off exploring. Apparently there's a wedding somewhere in the hotel and they've gone to do whatever women do when in the proximity of one of those.
Following the last post, the wedding was lovely, the rain didn't let up until the late evening, and the Sunday was brilliant sunshine all day. We even managed to wander down to the beach for a swim, and fired up the barbeque in the afternoon, and a perfect day was rounded off by some of the biggest mosquitos I've seen coming out of hiding and getting themselves a piece of me. Those bites have been with me now for almost a week.
On the Monday we drove down to Hamilton, stayed with the sister that night and then carried on down to Hawke's Bay to stay a night with Nana. This was ace for a number of reasons: the drive from Taupo to Hastings has to rate as one of the best in the world, Hawke's Bay is proper wine country so we stopped in at the Black Barn for some of their excellent Pinot Gris, and I discovered Napier, which styles itself 'The Art Deco City', and mostly lives up to the name, particularly up on Bluff Hill, one of the prettiest residential bits of New Zealand I've seen.
Wednesday meant the drive back up to Hamilton, and another night with the sister featuring visiting a friend for their birthday, then Thursday we were back up in Auckland in a hotel. That day we drove around, lots, getting a feel for what each of the 'burbs are like and picking up the property press. Depressing stuff alright, but at least some of it's within what we expect will be our price range, unlike London, where absolutely none of it is.
Last night, Friday, we drove up to the north shore and had a look at some of the beaches up there, warm seas and soft sandy beaches, gorgeous stuff and only 30 mins out of the city.We spent the night with M&G in Titirangi, to the south and west of the city, almost on the southern coast. My favourite suburb to date, it was originally built up by a largely hippie-ish community, who helpfully didn't completely clear the land to build on, which means each house is nestled in the bush and the whole place, despite being quite close in, feels very secluded and quiet. Big old houses too, and not generally that pricey - the downsides unfortunately are 5 minutes too far out of the city and possibly a bit too secluded for some. Lots of hills mean you have to pick your house carefully or you'll end up with one with no sun - not good.
Anyway, this evening we'll be spending with Kiwi No 3 and her chap. She's been in hospital this week, poor thing, having fallen off her bike about 5 weeks ago and cut her knee, which developed into an infection up her whole leg. Hopefully the surgery will have sorted it. Kiwi No 2 is staying here with us too. The past few weeks have been nonstop weddings / babies / houses so tonight will be a nice respite from it, none of us having any of the above.
No comments:
Post a Comment