The quest for the Auckland Shield

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Today it's pouring down again but undeterred, Ray and I headed off to the city to search for the Auckland Shield. Sounds like an Xbox game admittedly, but this is what we're doing.

What is the Auckland Shield, I hear you cry? Well I'm glad you asked.

Once upon a time, many moons ago, my Dad was at sea (on water as opposed to all at sea). He was a Radio Officer - a man with a morse key and the ability to talk to the world using a series of dots and dashes. Kids today would ask why he just didn't pick up a phone...

Anyway, he sailed with the New Zealand Shipping Company and during these years, there was an inter-ship football competition for a shield named after the location where the games were played - Auckland. Said-shield has been rumoured to be in the Maritime Museum in town and seeing as my Dad won it on one occasion, and my great uncle won it a couple of years before that, I wanted to find it.

We started looking around the museum first. So much island memorabilia and history as well as plenty of history on the NZ Shipping Company. I managed to grab a few photos but Ray 'doesn't do museums' so we weren't in the exhibitions part all that long. Not to worry, I thought - we'll go to the office to find out some more information.

In the office, a very helpful lady started her mission to track down the shield. She started searching records, but could find no trace. We explained that we'd heard from a 'Vicky Spalding' that the shield was there. Vicky apparently left the museum 5 years ago. That was the end of that line of enquiry.

Suddenly a volunteer at the museum, Barry Parsons, turned up. He too had sailed with the NZ Shipping Company around the same time as Dad and recognised his name (who could ever forget my Dad eh?!). He remembered the shield, that the games were played on Mount Albert in the city, and that he has a picture of the shield at home. He also said he had a picture painted by a man named Hartley who was onboard the ship with him. Uncle Walter was indeed a very good artist so he may well have a piece of our family's artwork on his wall at home. How small a world it is...

Sadly though, no shield, but now armed with a lot of reference numbers, we could have headed off to the Library but instead, we went to the golf club for lunch! Pakuranga looks like a beautiful course, which Dad would love. We then headed off to Ray's daughter's house for a glass of wine. Adrienne and David live not far away so we got there and had a fantastic afternoon laughing and chatting. I managed to pay my way for the day by not drinking and instead, driving Ray's car home after the one glass of wine turned into an afternoon of it! Really lovely to meet everyone as we have a party round there for Adrienne and David's son, Max, on Saturday afternoon so I won't feel so nervous at remembering names now.

Tomorrow I'm off to Janine's house to see her, Dave and little Joe their son. I haven't seen Janine for so long - we worked together at TP for what feels like years but what was infact a couple of months! In that time we packed in roadtrips to Cornwall, Ireland and other places with fellow TP employees who I've also met up with on this trip (Linds in Perth, Andy when I get to Toronto). I can't wait to see her - we've got so much catching up to do. Plus, I'm sure Ray could do with a day off from being dragged around a wet and miserable Auckland by me....

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