Week 16 ORR

After getting back from Auckland yesterday it was back to the car again to drive back down to West Auckland to pick up Jonny. He was ready and waiting for me and we were soon on the way back north. We stopped off in Warkworth to pick up a couple of dvd's for him and were back home before 5pm. Rob came in after work and had a meal with us.
On Saturday we went into Warkworth to do some shopping at New World and in the afternoon we walked down to the estuary. Rob came after work and stayed overnight. After Rob had put Jonny to bed with one of his dvd's I was soon in bed, with a good book, as I was feeling pretty shattered. After a while I got up to go to the loo and found that Jonny had sneaked back upstairs and was sitting on Rob's knee watching a fishing show on my laptop. It was so sweet to see them sharing time together.

Rob took Jonny back next morning and we had a very lazy day after the last week. In fact we had a lazy week altogether. We went for a walk at Whangateau harbour one day and the rest of the week we just took it easy.
So, as there isn't a lot to say about the week, I thought that I would post some photos of the flowers that we still have here despite the fact that we are now into winter. It doesnt seem like winter although we have had some cold mornings but still a lot of sunshine. When the sun is shining it floods into our accomodation and because of the huge windows it soon gets warm indoors. We are now lighting the fire each evening and some mornings but during the day it isn't necessary. The view from the house doewn't look at all wintery as most of the trees are evergreen so there are not many bare trees to be seen.

                                                         Kauri Trees

                                                         View from the deck.
There are banks of New Guinea impatiens still in flower. In the UK this is an annual but here it is perennial and it grows into large shrubs and seems to flower all year round.

On the terrace overlooking the estuary are two  Banksia (Australian Honeysuckle trees) that are producing large, yellow flower spikes each made up of several hundred small flowers. The Tuis love these flower spikes and I have watched them sucking the nectar from them. The Tui spend a lot of time in these trees and their melodious song can always be heard as they call to each other from the two trees.

                                                                      Banksia Tree

                                                                    Bansia flower spike.
Not far from the Banksia is a Glory bush or Princess flower. An evergreen bush with many bright purple blooms that seems to flower all year round.

Hiding in the shade is a small shrub that seems to be part of the Azalea family with shiny, green leaves and  bright orange flowers.

Shading the Azalea is a Cassia - Buttercup tree whose bright yellow flowers lit up this shady area from early autumn to winter.

There is a fried egg tree - Gordonia Axillaris which is a member of the camellia family flowering next to a deciduous magnolia which has just come into flower.

                                                              Fried egg plant

                                                               Deciduous Magnolia.

So, although it may now be winter here we still have lots of colour and interest in the garden and the surrounding landscape.

Week 15 ORR and Auckland.

We had an early start on Friday morning as Rob and Donna were landing at Auckland International at 6am. We were up at 4am and left home an hour later. I was surprised how many cars were on the road at that time of day! Surprisingly we made it to the airport without getting lost, I had never driven there before but the route was well signposted once we left State Highway 1. The airport is in South Auckland so it means crossing the bridge and the city to get there. Rob and Donna came out of customs and immigration about 6.40am, it was strange to be meeting someone at the airport all the times that I have been there it has been me arriving or departing.

It was good to see them again and of course we were all busy chatting as we set off for the return journey. Chatting too much as I must have missed our exit from the airport motorway and soon realised that we were lost! Although I don't know the area that well I did realise that we seemed to be going to West Auckland which was definitely not the way we should be going. Despite directions from my "navigator" (!) who told me to turn left I turned right which I felt was the way back to the city centre. Eventually after queuing for some time to get on a motorway I realised that I had a good idea of where we were and halleluja we soon saw the welcome sign for State Highway 1 and north. Once over the harbour bridge it was time to relax  for the rest of the journey back.

We stopped off in Warkworth for a welcome breakfast before coming back home to ORR. We were all feeling pretty shattered so after a welcome cuppa and chat Rob and Donna retired to the house to catch up on some sleep and we had a few restful hours. In the evening I cooked one of the Kahawai that we had caught and frozen. Thankfully it turned out OK, I'm still experimenting with all the fish cookery! A good evening with good food, red wine and lots of chat.

On Saturday morning we all felt much more awake and went into Matakana to have a look round the market there before going to the Matakan country park to look round the market and art gallery. Rob was overjoyed to be able to buy a dozen oysters at the roadside hut for 15nzd (about £7.50). He said that they were the biggest oysters that he had ever seen and had half of them, accompanied by a couple of glasses of champagne, for lunch!

                                                    Riverside, Matakana.

                                                         Band at Matakana Market.

                                                              Oysters and Champagne.

                                                    Rob and Donna

                                                     There's always a stunning view here.

In the afternoon we went for a walk on the beach at Goat Island. Rob was happy to take lots of photos of this beautiful beach. The cormorants that we had seen a couple of weeks previously had nested and produced young that we could hear chirping away in the nests high in the Pohutakawa trees that line the cliff top. A dangerous place to rear young as we saw one of the fledgings, dead, on the beach after it had fallen out of the nest. We were surprised that they nested at this time of year, almost mid winter here, but apparently they will nest all year round if their is an abundance of food. An abundance of food there must be if the number of snapper that we have caught on our fishing trips is anything to go by.

It had been a good day showing our friends some of the local beauty spots and they seemed pleased to have had the opportunity to see this part of the world. Rob managed to finish off his oysters and champagne whilst I cooked our evening meal! As we had guests in the house tonight they slept over here.
On Sunday after a late, lazy breakfast, we went over to Omaha and Point Wells before returning home for a late lunch. Rob and Julie were coming over for Sunday dinner so I set about preparing the meal with some help, potato peeling, from our guests. As we were to be 6 we decided to eat over at the house so the "boys" went out to chop wood and light the fire over there. Rob and Julie arrived about 6pm and we had a very pleasant evening chatting over our roast dinner.

On Monday Rob had the day off, the weather was good and so the "boys" went fishing. We were over there by 9.30 and soon they werre ready to go. They set off with the boat and Donna and I followed on to watch them launch the boat and set off from Scotts Landing. After waving them off and wishing them good fishing we went back to Rob and Julie's and had a relaxing morning beofre going to the Salty Dog for lunch. The weather had deteriorated a bit and the wind had got up and there were a few squally showers. The boys were back about 3pm and they had had a good day. Aussie Rob had caught the biggest snapper of the day and Rob had caught a John Dory.

After Rob had filleted the fish, Julie arrived home and we sat around and chatted for a while. We then left, with our snapper fillets, picked up some chips at the take away in Matakana and cae back home to enjoy our fish and chip supper.

On Tuesday Rob and Donna packed their cases, loaded them in the car and we set off for Auckland. We were all booked in at the Rendezvous hotel in the city centre.
http://www.rendezvoushotels.com/auckland/guestrooms-en.html
 Rob and Donna for just the one night and us for 2 nights. Rob and Donna had an early flight next morning for Brisbane and then on to Hayman Island where they are to spend 10 days. We found the hotel, more by luck than management, and N and I were able to check in early but Rob and Donna's room wasn't ready until later. We parked the car in the adjacent car park and left the luggage in our room. We wallked down through Aotea Square and into Queen Street. We had lunch at one of the Asian food courts in Queen Street before walking down to the ferry terminal and harbour. Rob went into the Harbourside restaurant to book a table for the evening. They then wanted to go back to the hotel to check into their room and Nigel walked back with them. I wanted to explore a bit further and arranged to meet them all back at the hotel. I spent a happy hour or so exploring the harbour and the shops on my way back to the hotel.

                                                               Aotea Square

                                                          Rob and Donna in Aotea Square

                                                            Aotea Square

                                                             Harbour and Ferry Terminal.

Back at the hotel I decided to go for a swim in the hotel pool. It is a good sized pool and there was no one else in it so I really enjoyed myself for half an hour or so. It wasn't as warm as I had expected but once in the water it was fine. The pool had 2 sets of double doors out on to a patio which would be really pleasant in the summer. The double doors had been opened which made the whole area somewhat chilly.
We met up with Rob and Donna in the lobby and went to the hotel's hospitality room for our pre dinner drinks and nibbles before taking a taxi down to the harbour and the restaurant overlooking it. The restaurant was on the first floor so we had a good view of the harbour. The menu was mainly fishy. I had sushimi for starters, raw kingfish, salmon and snapper, which I really enjoyed. I decided then that I had had enough fish this week so went for the rib of beef which I am sad to say that I was unable to finish! It was very good but rather too much of it. I rounded off the meal with a brandy and when we left I opted to walk back to the hotel rather than take a taxi back with the others. I just felt that I needed to walk off some of the calories and really enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere of the city at night on my way back to the hotel. Back at the hotel we said goodbye to Rob and Donna as they will be leaving for the airport at 4.30am. Sad to say good bye to them but we hope that they will be visiting us, in France, next year.

Rob had inadvertenly booked a room with breakfast and as they had left early we were able to take advantage of their breakfast! We then walked to the Auckland art gallery and spent a couple of hours looking around it. It's a very good gallery and it would have been easy to spend much longer there.

We had a late lunch lunch in the Asian food court again but this time we shared a meal as we had found, yesterday, that the portions were so large before walking up to the sky tower and sky city.
http://www.skycityauckland.co.nz/index.html
Sky city is built next to the sky tower and is an entertainment complex with hotels, restaurants and a huge casino. We went and had a look in the casino and sat, people watching, with a coffee in the bar area. Although it was only mid afternoon there were many people - mainly Chinese- gambling at the tables and playing many of the huge array of slot machines.

                                                               Inside Sky City

As we left, to walk back to our hotel, we were stopped by a group of young people. They explained that they had to complete several challenges as part of their work training (I think that they were in the tourist industry) and one of their challenges was to video them  helping an elderly person across the road!! Nigel had been selected to video them helping me (am I really elderly!!) across the road. Now I wouldn't have minded their help on some of the very busy roads that we had crossed earlier in the day but the road we were on was a narrow service road with very little traffic. Anyway we agreed to their request and, 2 youngsters at each side, I hunched myself up and hobbled across the road with them supportin me.
Back at the hotel I had another dip in the pool before getting ready to go out for a meal. We were disappointed to find that there are not many decent restaurants, not that we could find, in the city centre. Lots of take away Asian and Kebab shops and although Nigel said that he fancied a kebab I was certainly not going to have a takeaway ! After spending more than an hour wandering aimlessly around we finally found a nice Thai restaurant where we were able to have a good meal before going  back to our hotel.

We checked out after breakfast next morning , retrieved the car and drove a short distance to the Auckland War Memorial and Museum.
http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/159/history-of-the-museum
The museum which has been on its present site since 1929 is built in the neo classical design and is situated in the Auckland Domain, a large park overlooking the town. Housed in one of the country's finest heritage buildings, the Museum's three floors tell the story of New Zealand. From the great Polynesian voyages which first brought people to Aotearoa, to the the remarkable flora, fauna and geography of our unique islands to the the story of New Zealand's involvement in wars from the New Zealand Wars to East Timor. We spent a fascinating few hours there and could indeed have spent much longer had we had the time and the energy.

We then made our way back home, via Orewa where we stopped for a late lunch. It was a beautiful day and we were able to sit at a table outside the restaurant and admire the view of the beach and the sea. A good end to our brief stay in Auckland.

Week 14 ORR

Down to Auckland again on Friday to pick up Danni and her friend Keri. As it is a holiday weekend - Queens Birthday weekend which is always a public holiday here - the traffic going North was very heavy. I decided to come back up the west coast via Helensville and the west coast road into Warkworth. It took half an hour longer but I did miss all the traffic on the motorway. Just before we got back home Rob called to say that he had broken down on the motorway so wouldn't be calling in on his way home from work.
The house was booked, by a couple, for the weekend and they had already made themselves at home when we got back.
We had tea and then the girls disappeared, giggling, down stairs and amused themselves with music and dancing before finally going to bed.
Saturday was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. In the morning I took the girls into Matakana and we had a wander around the market which was packed with people due to it being a holiday weekend. Lots of tempting albeit expensive things to buy but I wasn't tempted as there were queues at every stall. Then we went to Matakana country park where we watched someone practising her dressage in the arena, I had a look around the market and the girls went for a carriage ride.
After lunch we went into Warkworth to get a couple of dvd's and the onto the riding school. Danni didn't have her lesson after all as Shannon wasn't there. She did though try out another pony, Lenora , that she had been told was a good ride. I was, as usual, riding Girlie and Keri had Sam again. The 3 of us plus our guide set off at a fair trot and then canter, downhill, to catch up with the rest of our group and Danni fell off. I think that it was probably the first time that she had cantered downhill! Thankfully she was OK and we continued our ride with a fair few fast canters up the hills. Back in the paddock Danni did a couple of jumps before we returned to the stables. Both girls spent quite a time untacking and grooming their respective mounts.

We got back home shortly before Rob arrived to spend the evening with us and I made a toad in the hole which goes down very well with everyone! Rob then left for home and the girls retired to their room to watch a dvd.
Rob came to pick up the girls at 8.30 am and I went with them. After dropping the girls off I went on to Rob's work where I picked up one of his second hand cars, which he is going to sell from home, and drove it back here.
I had invited Rob, Julie and Danny (Julie's son) for Sunday roast so I spent the afternoon preparing and cooking roast pork, apple sauce, stuffing, roast potatoes, carrots and broccoli as well as a tiramisu for pudding. The meal seemed to go down well and they left about 8pm.
Monday was a day of rest!
Tuesday we had rain. Rob rang in the morning and asked if we wanted to meet up with him and Julie at Hum, the new restaurant in Matakana. It's Rob's day off and Julie has this week off. We were all disappointed with the restaurant. The food was passable but the service was dreadful. I don't understand why, when they were not busy, we couldn't have all got our meal at the same time. After lunch Rob and Julie went to the cinema and N and I went into Warkworth to get a new battery fixed in Jess'  car.
We are picking up Rob and Donna, our friends from Perth, on Friday and Jill has said that it is OK for them to sleep over at the house whilst they are here apart from Saturday night when there is just one couple booked in. I went over and got their rooms ready on Wednesday. Thursday I went into Warkworth and shopped in readiness for the weekend.

Week 13 ORR

Back to Auckland on Friday to pick up Dannielle. Called in at New World, Warkworth to shop for supplies for the weekend. Danni does a paper round after school so we didn't leave her place until 4.30. I had been a bit concerned that the traffic would be heavy at that time but we were soon on state highway 1 returning north. We were home by 5.45 just before Rob arrived. The house was booked for the weekend and soon after we got back the guests, 6 adults and 6 children, arrived. They seemed pleased with the house so after welcoming them I left them to it.

I cooked chicken thighs, roast potatoes and stuffing balls for tea, Danni had never had stuffing before and really enjoyed it! After that I produced a belated birthday cake with candles. I was quite proud of the cake, a chocolate one, as cake making is not an attribute of mine. It was an easy recipe and had risen and turned out very moist. After all that food Danni then asked if she could have a couple of pieces of toast!!
Rob left at 8.30 and Danni settled in her room with a dvd before finishing off the day with Milo and biscuits!
On Saturday afternoon Danni and I went into Warkworth to get a couple of dvd's before going riding. Shannon advised Danni to try a different pony, Peppermint, as she has found Buzz rather lazy. Peppermint certainly was more forward going and we enjoyed several canters in the hills before arriving back in the paddock. Danni was keen to try some jumping and Shannon, who is a very good teacher spent time helping her. Unfortunately Danni fell off twice but didn't get hurt and was eager to get back on again. Shannon advised her to have a lesson next time to help her with her position and to do some more jumping. We made a reservation for Danni to have a lesson next Saturday and I will go out on the ride whilst she works in the paddock.  Bless her, she asked me if I would be OK on my own!
Rob was here when we arrived back and we had a pleasant evening and lots of laughs with Danni jumping around and singing "Peanut butter and Jelly" whatever that means. We were all in stitches!
Rob stayed overnight and took Danni, after a breakfast of cereal and pancakes, back home.
Later that morning I took Jess into Warkworth to do some shopping.
Monday was wet and miserable so we went to the cinema, in Matakana, in the afternoon to see a French film, The Kid on the Bicycle. A good film with subtitles but I was pleased that I still understood most of it despite not hearing or speaking French since we left home.
We had better weather on Tuesday so in the afternoon we went for a walk at Whangateau harbour just a couple of miles from home. The tide was in and it was so beautiful. On the way back we took the side road to Big Omaha Wharf, a road that I have driven past many times but never explored before. The old wharf has been renovated and the only other building there is the public toilets, a rather incongruous juxtaposition!

                                                    Whangateau Harbour

                                                       View to Ti Point

                                                                Oyster Catchers

                                                   Pohutakawa Tree

                                                   Big Omaha Wharf, toilets and our transport.

On Wednesday afternoon we went to Goat Island again. This time we walked up the cliff path, past the marine research laboratories of Auckland University, for a stunning view out to sea. Back down on the shore again we watched the oyster catchers bathing in the stream. It was was high tide and we watched the waves crashing against the beach and the rocks. Goat island is a very popular beach in the summer but today we were almost alone. I say almost as a young woman ran down from the university buildings dressed in a wet suit and carrying a surfboard. She ran along the beach and then into the sea. I don't know whether she was courageous or foolhardy surfing on a deserted beach but I did envy her.