Finn de siecle (Oops we did it again!)

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On Wednesday morning, we packed up and decided to drive to Auckland via the long way (i.e. anti-clockwise around the Coromandel Peninsula). This gave us the chance to revisit Kuaotunu where we had spent Em's birthday last year, and also revisit Coromandel Town. This gave us the opportunity to chill out and have (vegetarian) breakfast at Tim's favourite cafe in the whole of NZ the Driving Creek Cafe .

Afterwards, we drove south, along the stunning Coromandel west coast, with views over to Auckland in the distance, picked up lunch from Pak'N'Save in Thames before leaving the Peninsula and deciding to drive the long way via Miranda along the 'Seabird coast' and find a lunch stop somewhere along the way.

We arrived in Auckland, late afternoon, and checked in to our backpackers in Mount Eden which is a suburb just south of the CDB and dominated by the volcano of the same name.

We were in Auckland for a reason...Neil Finn (of Crowded House fame) and friends were playing the last of three nights of "Seven Worlds Collide 2" at the Powerstation (an intimate venue in Mount Eden). This is a project that Neil first ran in 2001 when he invited several international musicians to come to NZ, spend some time on the beach and rehearse for a series of charity concerts. This time, they had been recording an album for Oxfam, and were premiering some of the new material at the shows. We felt very lucky to have secured tickets.

So after a quick change and shower, we headed out to find the gig. Following a map and Em's innate sense of direction we found Mount Eden village quickly, grabbed a burger and set off again to find the venue. We had an hour and roughly a 1km walk ahead of us... Let's just say, after two kilometres walking south and away from the city there was no sign of the Powerstation. Despite Tim's protests we finally gave in an asked someone directions, to be told we'd walked in the exact wrong direction. It was only a few minutes to open doors and we were in trouble.

The pertinent fact, and one that we had under-estimated was the "Radiohead curse". You see, two members of Radiohead (Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway) were part of the Seven Worlds Collide band. And we don't have much luck with Radiohead - one of Tim's favourite groups. The first time we went to see them (in Warrington in the UK of all places) our trusty car died. We limped the last mile to the gig on 21/2 cylinders and the AA had to tow us home...the second time we had tickets to see them in Manchester and we both got very very bad flu - so bad that at the last minute we had to cancel - the only time we have had tickets for a show and not been able to attend!

So determined to make it 'third time lucky' we hiked back up the hill we had come down, and luckily found a bus stop and a friendly bus driver who knew where we were going (it was on his route) and had the bus to take us there!

The gig was excellent and included KT Tunstall (on her honeymoon), Eddie Raynor (Split Enz), Johnny Marr (The Smiths), Neil's sons Liam (now a major NZ recording artist) and Elroy, members of the American band Wilco, NZ's Norah Jones Bic Runga and, of course, the boys from Radiohead amongst others.

After the show, we asked one of the security team where the stage door was - and were told the usual - there is no stage door, they will have left the building already, it is impossible to meet members of bands after shows etc. etc. So instead, we left the theatre and were faced with the choice left or right. Tim said left, Em said right...so we went right.

Bizarrely, in a dark alley around the back of the theatre, and before we even found the stage door we walked straight into Neil Finn (Em's favourite musician in the whole world) trying to make a hasty exit with a beer in his hand! This is the equivalent of Tim meeting Axl Rose (which has not happened yet).

This time, we were prepared with questions (to avoid the blabbering and gibbering experienced the last time we bumped into him on Byron Bay beach in Australia in 2005 - you may recall the blog!) so we didn't ask for autographs or photos we just had a quick chat. He remembered signing our travel journal in 2005 and told us a little about the seven worlds collide project amongst other things. We told him we were living in NZ now, and next time he gets a group of international musicians together Tim is expecting his call.

It was the perfect end to a perfect night!

The next morning, we packed up and drove to the top of the Mount Eden volcano for stunning views of the city and the other volcanic cones that just seem to co-exist with the buildings and streets, before heading south for the last major destination of our trip...

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Photos

Coromandel Pohutakawas
Stunning at this time of the year

Driving Creek Cafe
Tim's favourite NZ cafe

Miranda shore
NZ seabird coast

Eden Park
Home of NZ rugby