February 19 to 21
Gisborne to Auckland
February 19
Gisborne to Auckland
Another poor night's sleep, mainly because it was so hot until the wind and rained cooled things in the early hours. It was very still and almost dry as I waited for the taxi.
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This was a few minutes late bit it took me to the airport quickly and efficiently and I waited in the tiny building for boarding.
I soon realised that the plane sitting on the tarmac wasn't mine when a second one arrived. The first one should have flown to Auckland at 07.20 but it felt poorly so stayed at home. My plane came in, unloaded its passengers and took me and 49 others aboard. The flight was a bit bumpy but we landed in Auckland on time with no fuss.
The main difficulty from there was that we landed at the extreme far end of the terminal and had a very long hike to the baggage hall. Mine arrived safely and I went outside into the hot sunshine and waited 20 minutes for the bus.I boarded and sat on it for 15 minutes, walked onto the station and was collected by a train three minutes later. Only slightly more than an hour after collecting my bag, I was in John's car. |
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After the exertions of yesterday, I was happy to spend the rest of the day eating lunch, sitting in the garden and then eating dinner. We ate lots and drank lots and eventually crawled to bed.
February 20
Auckland
I continued coughing overnight but without a cold developing. Very odd. We had a late start, breakfasting in the garden in very warm conditions. I took photos of butterflies and flowers and then John drove me up the road to add some cash onto my HOP card. |
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Just after 11, we drove North West into the countryside on the North side of the Manukau Harbour. Small houses peered out from between the trees and there were beautiful views across the harbour. We had lunch at the Huia Store, a small but busy café. We squeezed in with lots of others, including a trainee guide dog. |
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From there, we drove a couple of miles along the coast to Little Huia, looked at the sea, the trees and the ducks, and had a relaxing time.
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The Museum was lovely, a fairly typical collection of agricultural stuff, which was beautifully labelled and maintained. There was a special section on the sinking of the HMS Orpheus in 1863. with the loss of 189 of the crew. It was the greatest loss of life in a New Zealand waters.We had lengthy chats with the lady who was running the front desk and one of her colleagues, who arrived during our visit. He was a retired politician and was enthusiastic about everything. Both had very strong local connections. The museum did them both credit. |
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We retraced our steps into Auckland, stopping off at Mandy & Peter's. It was extremely hot, far too hot for Juma, the aging guard dog.
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We returned home and relaxed in front of cricket on the TV, then drove down to the beach for a good dinner in one of the local cafes.
February 21
Auckland
Slightly cloudy this morning but still warm. We drove a long way through a mix of urban and rural roads until we reached Clevedon, about an hour's drive.
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The Farmer's Market was at a large riding school. There were lots of stalls, lots of people and lots of dogs. We wandered around, ate bits and pieces and I bought some supplies for later in the week. It was fun but the food for sale wasn't as varied as at my local farmer's markets. It seemed more aimed at sources of lunch and there was a lot of good street food on offer.
We returned to Auckland by way of some lovely coastal scenery. There were new developments offering magnificent views but they were too far out of town for me to want to live there - except as luxurious weekend cottages.
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Once at home, we sat around doing as little as possible. At 6pm we drove the mile or so down to St Helier. I took photos of the beach and we had a good meal at the bistro. Back at home, we sat outside until the violent attention of the local mosquitoes drove us indoors.