Throw Another Shrimp on the Barbie, Mate

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We started today with no plans. The weather hadn't improved much and it was still pretty overcast outside but at least it was dry. Before we had a chance to ponder the day's activities, we had a phonecall on our new pay-as-you-go mobile phone from Jokie, another of my mum's friends living here in Auckland. Would we like to come for lunch? It sounded like a gret idea to us, so we walked down to the Britomart transport hub in downtown and boarded a bus to Albany, a suburb in the north of Auckland. The bus tickets were much more expensive than we had been used to paying in Asia, costing NZ$5 each for a one way ticket but the standard and cleanliness of the bus was second to none.

We arrived at the brand spanking new Albany Park and Ride and were met a few minutes later by Syd, Jokie's partner. When he stepped out of the car wearing a Bob Marley-esque 'Weeding the garden' t-shirt, we knew he was our kind of people from the off. He whizzed us round the local area briefly, proudly showing us the new soccer stadium as he is one of the few Kiwis who prefers English style football to the national obsession of rugby. Arriving at his home, we were greeted by a smiling Jokie who looked just as she did the last time I ever saw her when I was no more than 9 or 10 years old. It felt like seeing a long lost friend and we were made to feel very welcome indeed. Minutes after we arrived, Jokie's eldest son, Shawn, turned up to collect his 13 month old son who had spent the night at his grandma's house. Now I remember playing with Shawn on many an occasion when I was a kid so I was excited to see how he looked these days. It turned out the poor bloke had a monster hangover and wasn't feeling desperately chatty but it was nevertheless good to see another blast from the past, so to speak, and I sympathised with the hangover, being a bit of a beer monster myself ;-)

It was a lovely afternoon and we spent hours chatting on all manner of things while Syd plied us with beers and tended to a big old barbecue. We ate well (no steak or sausages for me though!) and had a fab time. As the afternoon melted into the evening, we found ourselves invited to stay for dinner too and I happily accepted a nice glass of Bailey's to wash it all down with. We had so much fun, it was hard to believe Jokie and Syd hadn't been our friends all along and not just friends of my mum. Just in case you're wondering how they know each other, Jokie met my mum in England when I was little and Shawn and I were attending the same middle school in Chertsey, Surrey. Jokie emigrated a number of times, finally settling in NZ a good few years ago now.

Syd kindly drove us the long journey back to the hostel, stopping along the way to show us interesting sights, more great views and taking us along the dockside to show us where he had spent 35 years of his working life until being made redundant earlier this year. Back at the hostel, We found we were half cut from all the beer and Bailey's and it wasn't long before we were snoozing away for the first non-stop nigh's sleep since we arrived.

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Photos

Syd & Jokie
Our excellent hosts for the day, Syd and Jokie.