Advertisement
Published: January 9th 2008
Having a Whale of a Time
Glynn models a kind of symbolic whale sculpture. Is it just me or does it actually look more like a giant rake?Jetlag. It's a funny business. Imagine having no sleep for 36 hours and then being told you need to stay awake for another 14 hours. That's a total of 50 hours without so much as 40 winks. I can't say I would want to do it too often but bless Liz and Allard for trying to keep us going so our body clocks could adjust to New Zealand time.
We settled in at their lovely house in Takanini in the southern suburbs of Auckland and managed to avoid the lure of the very comfy looking bed in our room. Instead, we spent a few hours catching up on news and divulging our loose plans for survival. When fatigue threatened to zap us once again, we decided a bit of a walk in the open air would do us good.
We drove down to the botanical gardens at Huakaiwaka and basked in the warm sun as we wandered through the well-tended gardens and around some seriously quirky sculptures. There seemed to a be a bit of a dog theme going on with some of the bigger sculptures making us think of Buster and Diesel back in Birmingham, although some other
Sun Girl
Can you spot Jude amongst these giant sunflowers? She's definitely in there somewhere! statues were quite eye-catching too. My favourite had to be the big metal seashell with words cut out in spirals but I was also quite fond of the ceramic tile boat. I love the idea of making something out of totally impractical materials!
After a leisurely stroll, we ventured back home by way of an ice cream shop and later endulged in Hokey Pokey ice cream (vanilla with honeycombe bits in it) with some giant tasty strawberries, just like the ones I remember from our first visit top New Zealand. In the evening, after I succumbed to a couple of hours' sleep before we went out for another lovely walk, this time by the river/seaside in Takaini.
It was a gorgeous evening with a golden sunset as we wandered through the mangroves on a wooden walkway to a nearby beach. On the way, we were befriended by a tabby cat with two different coloured eyes. He followed us all the way to the beach but then was frightened off by a bouncy labrador playing in the sand. As the sun sank lazily to the horizon, it was easy to see why Liz and Allard have lived in Takanini
Name that Sculpture
Is it a dog? Is it a big stick? You decide! for so many years. Imagine having the beach, mangroves, rolling hills, golden sunsets and sea all on your doorstep? I have to admit, I could see myself and Glynn settling down here if all goes well. Watch this space - you never know what might come true!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.085s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 11; qc: 29; dbt: 0.06s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
