Day 4

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Lots of walking today. First thing, we walked down to the supermarket, Foodtown. Simple enough , you might think, the map shows a straightforward walk down Symonds Street. We reckoned without the Auckland road works. "Road works today means our roads work tomorrow" says the slogan. Halfway down this very busy road, the footpath is blocked off and a temporary sign leads you into the University. Not just into the campus, but into the buildings, right past the office of the Dean of Science. Started to panic, as I didn't have my 'O' level GCE Maths and English certificates with me, and we were starting to get really strange looks from the milling students, looking like two extremely mature (or should that be senile?) students, as we strolled through in our stumpies and jandals (see, we're picking up the terminology!). Eventually we had to ask some intellectual-looking woman the way. "Which department were you after?"
"Well....actually, Foodtown". A few raised eyebrows later, we were on our way. On the way back, we realised that all we had needed to do was walk down the right-hand footpath instead of the left and we would have been OK. C'est la vie! (I think I've said that before).

Shopping safely stashed away, we had a quick lunch and then went for a stroll down Karangahape Road, locals call it K-road, because the buses in Auckland aren't wide enough to get the full name on the destination boards. K-road has the most eclectic set of shops you will ever see anywhere, ranging from kebab houses to boutiques to sex shops to furniture shops.

From there, we turned right into Ponsonby Road, from where we turned into a park called Western Park, which had the inviting prospect of a ladies' loo. (inviting for Phyl, that is). After that we realised we could see the Sky Tower, so thought it would be a bright idea to use the tower as a navigation aid and head back to the City Centre. Impeccable logic, except that we didn't take account of the six-lane motorway between us and the City Centre, with no way across. Our escape route took us up the 1-in-4 hill past the Auckland Girls' Grammar School, who had kindly provided us with a bench outside the gates where we could get our breath back. This we did very quickly, as hanging around outside a girls' school with one's tongue hanging out doesn't do a lot for the image.

Next, it was down to the waterfront, where it turned out to be happy hour, so a drink or two later we hauled ourselves back up the hill to our apartment, to prepare ourselves for dinner with a very hungry Matthew. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose! (I think that's a maori saying)

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Photos

Queen Street
Santa Claus! One local councillor has complained because he beckons with his finger and winks! Can you believe it?

Waterfront
I think this is called "Pride of New Zealand"

Waterfront
Ships rolling in and out - a la "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay - wasting time"

Comments

[Pat H]

Eating and drinking!
Hi John - just joined your blog! Wondered why I got my Christmas card early! You stingy man you!!!! It sounds like you've been doing lots of eating and drinking while you've been in Auckland. With the temperature tonight (Thursday) at -2 C I think you definitely made the right decision to go to New Zealand!

[johnh]

Temperature
The temperature here has been generally in the twenties - but it does have its disadvantages - you have to keep the wine in the fridge!!