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Published: January 14th 2007
Auckland; Where's Me Mam ?!
Auckland Sky Tower; 08.01.07Sunday 7th January to Tuesday 9th January 2007.
The journey from Sydney to Auckland couldn't have passed by any smoother. Alarm at 8am, 8.20 shuttle to the airport, 11.40 flight on which I'd been granted my request for an exit seat with extra leg room though for which I'd received a strict whispered lecture followed by a wink from the Asian lady at the check in desk along the lines of 'if you're going to go doing this regularily don't go saying you've got a gammy knee because you have to be fully fit and able bodied' etc etc and on which two hours flew by watching a movie with Russell Crowe give an impressive and comical performance as an english yuppie followed by a forty minute bus ride to the city. I was dropped at the hostel at 6pm, checked in, threw my bag onto my bunk and immediately set off to track down a slightly eccentric sixty nine year old English lady.
My mother Margaret had bravely decided some time ago to travel half way around the globe to spend her 70th birthday on January 17th with her youngest son. I was honoured and as I strode
Auckland; Where's Me Mam ?!
Margy silhouetted against Auckland harbour. up Grays Avenue to The Duxton Hotel I was smiling to myself just thinking about her. I asked the guy at reception if they had a Margaret Roberts staying there and was slightly surprised that he had to even check on his computer, she'd arrived a day earlier than me and I half expected all the staff to already be aware of her existence. He passed me the phone as it connected and I heard her voice answer. "Happy New Year Darlin'" I replied. I went up to her room on the 9th floor and gave her a big kiss and a hug as her head appeared curiously around the opening door.
She was staying in the lap of luxury for the three nights that we were in Auckland although I suspected that my budget restrictions would soon end that once we left the city. Her room had views over the City, cooking facilities, luckily for me a washing machine, TV with satellite and a huge king sized bed. We chatted for an hour or so before heading downtown for a browse around, but not until after we'd both spent five minutes trying to find the money that she'd
Auckland; Where's Me Mam ?!
Found her ! Outside Government Building in Auckland. hidden somewhere within the confines of her own room, a little bit similar to a welcome hide and seek only where the neither of us had a clue where to seek. Mum asked me on more than one occasion if I was glad she was there, almost as if she felt she was intruding on my journey, and I had to reassure her that I was, it was truly lovely to see her again.
It was Sunday and in comparison to Melbourne and Sydney where I'd spent the previous two weeks it was like a ghost town, barely any traffic and few people either. By this time we were both starving hungry and we trawled the downtown streets hunting for a place to eat. Most we found were little more than coffee houses and any restaurants we did find were ridiculously expensive in comparison to what I'd become accustomed. After an hour or so we would have settled for anything and we eventually conceded and went into a Denny's Diner which, much as expected was over priced crap. After the meal Marg was understandably bushed and I walked her home to her hotel by 10am agreeing to return the
Auckland; Where's Me Mam ?!
Meg Ryan eat your heart out ! Margy fakes it on the hostels in house orgasmic chair. following morning.
I woke early as a result of some loud mouthed American in the next room whose booming voice had also kept me awake the previous night and was running around the harbour at 8am. I called on Margy at 10am and discovered the poor thing had hardly slept a wink, a result of either jet lag or strange bed, maybe both. I'd picked up a free entry flyer for the Auckland Tower, the cities tallest structure, from the hostel reception and after a light lunch we headed there. I handed the pass to the young man on the desk who looked at it with absolutely no clue as to what it was for. I had to explain where I'd got it and, despite it being clearly written on what it was, that it was effectively a free pass (worth 25 dollars) to allow me access to the observation level. I told him we wanted to pay for one admission and use the pass for the other which clearly didn't register because he handed over two tickets and I was pleased that Margy clicked on as quick as me that he was a complete idiot. We were in
Auckland; Where's me mam ?!
Don't look down Marg. Walking the Auckland Harbour bridge. the elevators before you could blink. Fifty bucks of freebie, nice one.
Once at the observation deck the views were spectacular and we were able to see clearly both our temporary homes as well as numerous other city landmarks. Afterwards we walked through Albert Park, a fairly nearby city park that we'd spotted from the tower. Auckland contains many steep hills and as we entered the park up a steep incline I sensed mum wasn't alongside me and turned to check her whereabouts. She was five yards behind and walking backwards at a snails pace. "It's a lot easier on your knees if you go backwards" she said and I suddenly realised that for the next two weeks at least I was going to have to slow down. I'm forever forgetting that she is nearly seventy, she certainly doesn't look or act it and after a 36 hour journey and two hours sleep she must have been shot.
We returned to my hostel to book a car and when we were waiting we noticed a couple of leather massage chairs in the corner. I suggested she waited there whilst I sorted the car out and had a massage
Auckland; Where's Me Mam ?!
Jimmy, who later was in fits at ma's misfortune, swings. to which she agreed and as she lay back to the almost vertical I inserted her two bucks in the slot. At first she was quiet but as the machine warmed up we (myself and the hostel's chilling area which was occupied by about fifteen twenty somethings lounging around recovering from a days walking as well as the adjacent travel desk staff and customers) were treated to a cocophony of howls, gasps, groans, screams and chuckles. The last time I'd heard something similar was from Meg Ryan in 'Sleepless in Seattle' and I was relieved when a travel agent became available and I was able to leave her to it. When we parted she assured me she knew the seven and a half minute route to her hotel and before she left we went over it one final time.
We'd agreed to have a night in that night and I took a bottle of wine and a pizza (again free courtesy of a kind girl on the travel desk at the hostel) to her hotel for 8pm. When I arrived she told me it had taken her 45 minutes to get back ! With the full range of Sky
Auckland; Where's Me Mam ?!
Marg 'n me on the bridge, cold and wet. Movies I was pleased to see they were showing the excellent 'Man of Fire' with Denzel Washington and we settled down to watch it. Marg, propped up by the pillows on her bed, struggled manfully to keep her eyes open throughout but bravely made it to the end, just.
Day two in Auckland was another freebie, a bus tour of Auckland and it's surrounding areas including a walk up the Harbour Bridge which alone would have cost 35 dollars and which was again courtesy of a flyer in the hostel. I'd arranged to meet Marg in the hostel reception at 10am having left a map with her the previous evening marked with a large cross showing my whereabouts. I felt no concern as it is only three streets away but was starting to get worried when, at 10.15 she still hadn't shown. The bus was picking up at 10.20. As forecast it was raining hard in Auckland and suddenly she appeared around the corner, sodden wet but appearing to not have a care in the world. She'd got lost. !
Dan, the fun but excessively loud Maori driver with a penchance for the word cool explained that the lousey weather would scupper some of his proposed plans for us and we headed for the bridge climb first. We were supplied with harnesses worn around the waist with clips that attached to the steel wire running the length of the walk and headed off for the short trek to the bridge. The walk up was at a gradual incline on a grated steel walkway about two feet wide with steel hand rails on either side and with the steel harness wire attached to the handrail every thirty metres or so and as we got higher and higher the winds and rain seemed to blow harder. I thought the climb was going to be similar to the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb which involves actually walking up and over the arches of the structure and I have to admit I was quite relieved when we were ushered into a large pod immediately under the roadway and told that that was where our walk ended. A couple of guys were going to bungy the forty or so metres from the pod over the swirling waters below so Marg and I climbed down to the open air observation deck to watch and once they'd finished we started our descent.
On the walk up the clips connecting the harness had occasionally snagged slightly against the brackets holding it to the handrail. Half way down Marg was building up quite a pace and had just turned and commented over her shoulder to me that it was funny how it seemed much easier on the way down when all of a sudden the cable snagged and she was snatched back like a fleeing, frightened calf brought to it's knees by a pursuing cowboy's lassoe. All the way up she'd said she had concerns over dropping her specs into the waters below as I had about my camera and as her white knuckled hands clung to the rails for balance her glasses were in a similar position to mine on the open topped bus ride of two days earlier. I was laughing so hard I was having trouble walking and even Jimmy, the long haired bearded young man decending behind me who'd just completed his maiden bungey jump and who up until this stage was looking pale and who hadn't whispered a word being still in a state of shock, laughed hard too. I'm still not sure if it was at the mother's misfortune or her sons mirth at witnessing it. It was a good two minutes before my eyes had dried and I could talk again.
After that Dan took us to the North Shore town of Davenport where we dined on the nicest fish and chips you've ever tasted and a local market before we returned to the city. It was still raining as Marg was dropped at her hotel and I spent the rest of the afternoon in the five levels of Borders around the corner from the Hostel.
That night I called up to The Duxton again and we planned the first few days of our trek around the country due to start the following morning.
PS: Unfortunately photos are a bit spars at the moment. I was unaware how backward NZ in it's connection to the worldwide web. I'll stick some more up when I find somewhere that'll upload at a decent speed.
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waymo
non-member comment
I see your still riding your luck with the free stuff. Poor madge is gonna be knackered!