Saturday - Parkrun, Cuba Dupa and an evening at Elly's
It seemed all too familiar. The six o'clock alarm sounded and I blearily got ready to catch the seven o'clock bus. I squeezed in a coffee but only by taking it to the street and leaving the empty cup in my letterbox as the bus came up the hill.
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| It's early |
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| Sunrise over the city |
It might be Saturday, but today is the very first Wellington Parkrun. No more driving out to Lower Hutt or Porirua or Trentham anymore! Mind you, it's no later a start coming in by bus.
On the way into town a strange woman was insisting that "This bus goes to Brandon Street at 7 o'clock". Even though the bus driver and all the passengers were clearly not going to Brandon Street. She talked animatedly to the driver for a while and then got back off to wait for her Brandon Street bus. Hmm. I eventually worked out that that was the Number 13 bus that comes at 7am... on weekdays. So she'll be waiting there until Monday.
Oh well.
It was quite exciting being there for the very first Parkrun. I discovered that a woman called Yuliya who had followed me on Strava was the organiser! She must follow everyone that does parkruns.
The route was out of Waitangi park and back towards Shed 5 - two there-and-back laps. It was quite windy and I didn't think I'd be very quick, but on the last return leg I had the wind at my back and a sub-30 min time in my grasp. I crossed the line just under thirty minutes on my Garmin watch and promptly threw up my extra shot cappuccino into the garden. Worth it.
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| Course photographer snapped me |
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| Official time. I KNOW WHAT I DID. |
Doro and her friend Louise, and Zoey the dog who was ecstatic to meet me again, found me as I was lying on the grass recuperating and we went off looking for a post-run coffee (and to replace my pre-run coffee!). We eventually ended up at a small place by the Oriental Bay beach. Doro knows some harbour swimmers and they were there too.
Back home for quick shower and then back on the bus again. It was Cuba Dupa and I met Elly and her mum & stepdad, Claudia and Didi. It was lots of fun. So much happening. Street food. Performers. Music. DJs. Men wearing half banana half farmer (stubbies and gumboots) outfits and dancing.
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| Yes it's Banana Farmer Man |
While we were watching the DJ and the dancing banana farmer man, my phone chirped. A video, from Toby. That was of me and Elly sitting on the grass. Whaaaa....? He had a friend there that knows me and had videoed me. There's no escape from Toby knowing all my moves!
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| Toby knows everything |
Then we jumped on the Porirua train to Elly's - quite the novelty for me - for a yummy dinner of oven baked cucumber (marinated in lemon and pepper) with tomato sauce and cheese sauce. I will definitely have to make this too.
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| I looked manically happy with my cucumber |
We played Cabo, a really difficult game (for me) that involved remembering a plethora of face-down cards with perfect accuracy. I hit the trick of remembering a multi digit hex number instead of lots of cards and it became slightly easier, though I never managed to win a hand. It made me realise that I never have to remember stuff now! Between Google, Alexa, keep notes and any number of assistants to record or retrieve information, it was a weird experience to have to actually memorise things and play them back in my head.
Tom and their friend Pudding (yes, Pudding) turned up around 8pm and we played for a while before I admitted defeat and got dropped off at the train station for the 9:09 train. But like what happened to the bus woman in the morning, the 9:09pm train I was turning up just on time for is a weekday, not a Saturday train. No dramas, I chilled on the Porirua platform til the train came 30 min later. Then 10 min or so for a 14 bus and I was home by about 10:40pm. It was slightly surreal to pull my coffee cup out of the letter box, where I'd placed it nearly sixteen hours earlier as I finished my coffee on the street as I waited for the first bus of my day.
Sunday - Mice, street food lunch and a counter protest
I took it easy Sunday, although my internal alarm clock still insisted on waking me up at 6am. I hit snooze and went back to sleep, then browsed the internet til I eventually got up around 8.
Our neighbour was checking his traps so I thought I should look at ours too... and success! A mouse in the top trap, and a mouse in the bottom trap. Both in ... less than fresh condition.
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| Mouse #20 |
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| Mouse #21 |
I'll spare you the photos of what they looked like out of the traps.
Got more chores done and then bussed back into town for the trans rights counter protest. Some nutty English TERF woman was supposed to be speaking and demonstrating and we were planning on trying to drown her out. But the counter protesters in Auckland had already hurt her feelings enough that she'd fled the country already, loudly proclaiming that New Zealand was the worst country ever for womens' rights as she flew off to ... Dubai.
I had planned to grab a bite to eat in town first but of course Cuba Dupa was still on so there was endless choices of delightful food. I settled on some Bao buns and a Moroccan tagine wrap. Long waits for both but thoroughly worth it.
With no TERFs or fascists to encounter, other than one, yes one stubborn person who insisted on glaring at us from the sidelines, the counter protest had a much more festival atmosphere. 3000 people turned up wearing all sorts of fabulous outfits and with some great signs. If there's a next time, I need to be slightly more fabulous than just jeans and a t-shirt and I need something like a pot to bang.
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| Civic Square and the City to Sea Bridge were full |
On the way home I grabbed some steak from the supermarket for dinner before I jumped back on the Number 14 bus. It's been a public transport extravaganza this weekend! My car has not moved an inch.
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| Two wee eyes, waiting for me |
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| The perfect meal for when Angela isn't here |
Angela makes it to The Ocean (from The Alps)
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| Angela kept stopping for blackberry picking |
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| Feet shot of course |
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| After-ride coffees |
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| Photographing the weird whiteware cemetary And eyeing up the clouds, not a lot of Aurora spotting on Saturday night |
Sunday the last day is 70km. They hit the track around 8am, planning to make Oamaru by early afternoon. Then the logistics are: Drive to Tekapo to collect the ute. Drive to Christchurch to drop the van with Toby and Maureen at the airport. Drive to Blenheim. Sleep.
Whew!
No photos today but they went past the Maori rock drawings that my Dad has taken us to before, many years ago. 2:30pm saw them in Oamaru trying to fit bikes and people into the van. Tekapo at 5:30pm and Christchurch at 9pm. It'll be a late night arrival in Blenheim!
And the obligatory feline to end with
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| It was Smudge's turn to drink my water |
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