Hi,
We had such a good weekend - hosted by the Sampson clan up in Auckland and treated so well. Thank you so much! The weather co-operated - it was like visiting Australia in many ways.
 |
| Cats enjoy the sunshine before we head north |
.jpg) |
| Calves love 'em |
We picked Chelsea up from outside her flat at 4.30pm on Thursday - after getting a bit mixed up with the pick up location. We were stuck in traffic for a bit right in the middle of town. But we were away by 5pm. The expressway bypass is now open through to just north of Otaki. So good! At this time of the day it must cut out about 40 mins of your journey I reckon.
 |
| Road trip! |
Mike and I switched drivers at Waiouru and I tackled the Desert Road and then up the western side of Taupo. But it was dark, and started raining (the only rain we got the entire weekend) and the hot day meant the rain turned into fog when it hit the road. So I had rising fog, sometimes pelting rain, and an unfamiliar road. I wasn't really enjoying the driving until I hit the Hamilton expressway and the 110km speed limit! Oosshh!
We pulled into Lesley and Wally's driveway at 12.30am. Not too bad a trip. We fell into bed (thank you, Brennan, for giving up your bed for us and sleeping on the couch!) and was out like a light.
Mike was up (with Lesley and Wally) for the working day on Friday. So I tackled the St Luke's mall with Jason, Brennan and Chelsea. It was probably a 25 min walk and it was pretty hot. So we stopped at a cafe not far from their house for sustenance.
 |
| Cafe near our Auckland base! |
 |
| Slurp! |
We got the things we needed at the mall - quite the eclectic mix of things. Wallets. Socks. Groceries. Generally mooched around for a bit and then headed back.
 |
| St Luke's mall is just like being in Aus |
We stopped at Crave for lunch and convinced Mike to come out as it was lunch time. He joined us as we finished and got his lunch after a short wait. Then he drove Brennan home and the rest of us continued the walk back.
 |
| Cafe Crave on our way home |
 |
| Mmmmm |
The rest of the day was pretty relaxed as people finished the working week. Off to bed at a reasonable hour because it was park run the next morning.
Mike and I got up and it was a beautiful day. We walked the 40 mins to Western Springs - enjoying the birds on the lake with their chicks.
 |
| Western Springs park |
 |
| Run, Mike, run! |
Mike did the park run - my calf was tender so I didn't run. He did a good time - around 32 mins. I like this park run - it is very pretty.
We popped into the Auckland Zoo for a coffee afterwards - but they had no iced latte. They are missing a trick there.
 |
| Walking back home |
 |
| Wally got me a delicious home made iced latte |
But we walked home and I got a delicious one from Wally. So there, Auckland Zoo! Way better I am sure of it. :-)
Wally and I ducked out to the supermarket and got picnic provisions. Then we drove to Cornwall Park - which is conveniently on the other side of the hill from Roz's place. So I pinged her and she was free and took Yasmin out for a walk to see us! So happy to see her. And Yasmin. Roz is good - she caught up with me and Mike as we munched our way through picnic goodness. Yasmin is such a great wee pup - 7 months old now.
Hannah also turned up with her boyfriend Sean. And we all played Heads Up before Hannah left and we decided to tackle the hill. Mainly to let the picnic food digest!
Into bed and up for the big day! Yes, Meatloaf the Musical. The reason we were up in the big smoke. We caught the train in ($2 for a paper ticket from the station - woot!) and met Sally and Andrew at Britomart. Got some cabinet food from Amaro cafe and sat in a square and ate it. Nice eggplant roll and good coffee.
 |
| Iced latte from Amaro cafe in Britomart |
Then it was time. Well, okay, we were early for the musical. We got in and got our seats super early. And when it kicked off, Mike was not disappointed.
 |
| Waiting for the musical |
 |
| Mike is excited! |
For me, it was partly awesome, partly terrible and mostly good. The actors were great! The stage production was great. It is just sometime Steinman has terrible taste in music. Hahahah. They played Mike's fave Air Supply song. And there was a truly awful duet at one stage. But the rest was pretty good.
 |
| Crowd gathers |
We all went to Burger Burger afterwards and had an excellent meal. I got an Impossible burger pattie in lettuce! Yum!
Sally and Andrew headed back to their hotel (they stayed in Chamfy's building!!) and we walked the 4km home. 50 mins later and a good walk to understand where they all live in relation to downtown Auckland and we were back at home. Sweet!
 |
| Walk home after some food at Burger Burger |
 |
| Selfie as we walk home |
It was SingStar night. Wally got out the old SingStar and hooked it up (I think it is on PS4 and they have moved to PS5 at the Sampson household - but they did get it working!).
 |
| Sing Star night! |
 |
| Okay - back at Spark Arena |
 |
| And again at half time |
For some reason I stayed up until 1.30am with Jason, Brennan and Chelsea playing Articulate and Heads Up while Chelsea baked cookies!
Next day was a working day in Auckland so Lesley and Wally were up and working by the time I got up. Bit of brekkie and a shower and we were ready to head home by 10:10am!
 |
| Cafe in Whakamaru on our way home |
Such a great weekend, it was sad to head away. But we threw our gear into the Focus and said our goodbyes and then we were off. Lovely day. Headed back the way we came and Mike drove the whole way. We stopped just after the control gates on the mighty Waikato at Whakamaru and had some lunch before doing the final push. Got some snacks and fuel at Waiouru though. Listened to podcasts the entire way.
Dropped Chelsea home at about 6.30pm. And we were greeting the cats not too long after.
Good to sleep in our own bed again - as always when you get back from somewhere. But it did make me appreciate good friends. Felt very welcome and at home in Auckland - where I usually feel like a tourist.
Have a great week ahead. Short week for us.
Love,
Angela
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment