I have just returned home from a looooong weekend in Auckland, New Zealand. It only takes a few hours to drive up there from home, so it’s perfect for a quick break away and a change of scenery. It’s also good for proving that I can spend time away from home without breaking down, before I try any longer trips further away. I left home after lunch on Thursday and drove up to stay with my lovely Aunt (and her husband, child, and pets).
Friday
On Friday, I spent most of the day in town with one of my friends from high-school (let’s call her Pam – not her real name). I haven’t seen her in four and a half years and it was really nice to catch-up with her. She is in her final year of study at the University of Auckland.
I took the train into Britomart and spent the next 20 minutes wandering Central Auckland, trying to get my bearings and find the place we had agreed to meet. Once Pam found me, we had lunch at a lovely little restaurant called Ortolana. The food was great (I had some sort of kumara gnocchi with lamb, mint, and yoghurt), the service was superb, and the dining area was comfortable. My only complaint would be how loud it got inside; it was hard to hear myself think.
After lunch, we went to several shops that my friend wanted to show me. We bought macrons at Milse, tasted (and bought) fancy tea at T2, and smelled skin conditioners at Lush. We also browsed a clothing store and shared a hot drink before I took the train back to Aunty’s.
Saturday
Saturday had a lazy start. I spent the morning working on blog posts and watching my ten-year-old cousin play Fortnite on the PlayStation. After lunch, I went with my Aunt as she took my cousin to a karate practice (he has an international tournament coming up). I spent two hours watching kumite and kata (I think those are the right words), talking to some of the parents, and flicking through a book I had taken to occupy myself.
On the way home we stopped for ice cream at Casa Del Gelato in Parnell, but the shop was closed for a couple of weeks due to the owner’s father having had an operation. Apparently (according to a ten-year-old boy) it’s the best ice cream shop in the world. I will have to try it another time.
Sunday
My cousin had a karate practice tournament on Sunday morning. It was rubbish. He did well, but a couple of kids arrived late so the organisers rearranged the schedule around the kids that weren’t there so that the others didn’t have enough breaks. Then one of his kumite matches was against a girl whose mother was judging (so biased) and didn’t give my cousin two points that he earned right at the end so that the girl would win. Also, there was a boy there who did MMA and was using moves from other practices, not just karate; he was a bit rough with his opponents, leading to a few injuries.
We had homemade pizza for lunch, topped with left-over from dinner on Saturday night. The afternoon was spent relaxing, playing Fortnite, and working on laptops. To top off the evening, we watched the new Captain Marvel movie on the big screen TV, having already watched Mary Poppins Returns.
Monday
Monday was a public holiday. In the morning, the four of us went to Botany and watched ‘Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion’ at the Hoyts Movie Theatre. The chairs at the theatre were all soft recliners (very nice and comfy). However, it was freezing; I didn’t move my legs for the whole movie because the rest of the footrest was too cold.
After the movie, we looked through some of the shops looking for a new eggo machine (the old one had stopped tweeting) and glass tumblers, until we got hungry. We then had lunch at Denny’s Manukau. I had a lamb burger with curly fries (Denny’s has the best curly fries).
Tuesday
I finished reading the book I took with me on Tuesday morning (No more book to read!!!!! Disaster!!!!!). In the morning, I took the dog for a long walk, then had a shower and watched lunch in front of the TV (there is nothing worth watching in the middle of the day).
FYI: the book I finished was The Genesis Secret by Tom Knox – RTC
My Aunt had a couple of errands she asked me to run (just some groceries and a visit to the post office). I found the supermarket with little issue (there’s a closed supermarket building down the road that gave me a bit of panic). However, I just couldn’t find a post office; I drove around Papakura and Takanini for nearly an hour looking. I saw plenty of NZ Post vans, and some PO Boxes, but nowhere that I could actually post a parcel.
Conclusion
I returned home on Wednesday morning; the weather was forecasted to worsen in the afternoon and remain bad for the next couple of days, and I wanted to get home before the weather made the roads dangerous.
Overall, the trip was a success. I returned refreshed and ready to get back into life, and proved that I could spend time away from home (a go without mid-day naps) without breaking down.
