The Grill, All Blacks & Shadow Land - another full on weekend

We’ve had a fab week of being taken out, wined and dined - truly spoilt!

The first trip out was to a New Orleans restaurant at The Viaduct where I got to meet the lower limb team (aka 'legs' to Claire & Simon). The Viaduct is a dockland area in Auckland packed full of restaurants and we’ve had lots of people mention it to us as a great spot for an evening meal, and I’m glad to say that with a month to go before we leave we finally made it! Looks like there is a fish market there on Sundays so think that would be another excuse to pay another little visit me thinks.

Then it was the upper limb (aka ‘arms’ to Claire and Simon) team's turn to go out for dinner, and we headed to The Grill…based on the ground floor below Sky Tower - very swish and swanky. Dan and I had to give the Wagyu steak a try, where we were informed that these cows are fed beer and massaged to give a very succulent melt in the mouth full flavoured steak, and have to say it didn’t disappoint.

On Saturday however was the biggy, and a treat for the boys…and they went for their very first rugby match at Eden Park Stadium to watch the All Blacks vs England. Well I don’t know what it was, the All Black T-Shirts they came back with, the amount of sugar overload during the match, watching the All Blacks doing the Haka or the game itself having a nearly historical English win, but they both excitedly burst through the doors buzzing to tell me what had happened… think it’s true to say they enjoyed themselves and it was defiantly one to remember!

A slow start to Sunday due to the post rugby heavy head of Dan and we headed over to Devonport to meet up with friends Kate and Chris (also another suffering dad) and their little possie as they were up our way in Auckland to watch the rugby too. So we caught up with them on Mount Victoria, not quite the Mount Monganui that they have on their door step, but pretty great views of Auckland none the less. 

Unfortunately we hadn’t realised the Kate & Chris clan were coming up our way and had an afternoon show booked at the theatre so after a flying catch up over a coffee we headed into Auckland to see Shadow Land at the Civic Centre. But hopefully we’ll catch up with Kate and Chris before we head on back to Blighty in a few weeks.

Oooh before I talk about the show itself, just wanted to put in a quick mention about the car park… now this might be the norm around the rest of the world, but I’ve never seen it in the UK… car parking lights indicating whether there is a space available or not… pure genius. I have to say it saves so much time having to hunt for a space, especially when you have a husband who isn’t prepared to park further away and cover the small distance using one's legs, but would rather spend substantially more time driving round and round in circles hunting for the illusive space right by the entrance.

Right onto the show… this was on the recommendation from our eldest and it was brilliant. Very theatrical, just exceedingly fit (fit in the sense of very strong, good muscle tone, flexible… not as in phwoarrr… tut who do you take me for… well there may have been one or two …). Anyway getting distracted, the show was excellent with the dancers contorting their body into different shapes casting shadows of elephants, giant faces, crabs etc…  and we just sat there the whole time trying to work out how on earth they created these shadows shapes.

So low and behold it was inevitable the boys’ activities that evening involved a sheet and torch - happy days. Full on weekend yet again but “such fun” in true Miranda style.

Te Ara Takuna Estuary Cycleway & Walkway, Orewa

We are going out in the evening today so we thought we'd nip on over for a quick walk along Orewa Estuary. It's a lovely little place and brilliant place to bring a bike or scooter. The pathway leads you round Te Ara Takuna Estuary with one side water and the other houses with beautifully kept pruned gardens. The whole walk and cycle path is around 7.5 km, however we only managed a tiny snippet of the walk as time was ticking and we had our baby... sorry child sitter booked, ready for our night out in Auckland.

Cracking photo of a Kingfisher taken by Dan the man

Waiheke Island - Land of Vineyards

Well into autumn now, but the forecast today was fab so we hopped on the bus to Devonport and caught the ferry over to Waiheke Island to sample some of the 22 vineyards it has to offer. Now hind sight is a great thing… Waiheke is a large island and it is definitely useful to have a car to get around (or even stay the night)...but on the assumption that driving and wine consumption aren't a great mix we thought it best not to bring the car.

One to add to the list...

As we soon discovered, the bus service runs in slow mo style, running on the hour and we really didn’t fancy spending our time hanging around bus stops. So it was an on foot expedition, and walk our little socks off we did….but on the positive, while you can’t cover as much ground, it is the best way of really getting to know a place.

Waiheke town is only a 15 min walk from the ferry port. A lovely little place… what I’d describe as rustic - full of shops selling unique items, with the odd gallery and studio thrown in for good measure. We made a quick all essential pancake and Nutella pitstop and then headed on down to the beach…. the start of our epic trek, end destination... CableBay Vineyard.

Our trekking adventure took us for a gentle stroll along the beach, then a clamber over some rocks, a lengthy session of rock pooling, up the embankment, hike across to the other side of the island to Blackpool Estuary full of birds waddling around in the mud...

Paradise Shelduck

...past a Wharenui (Māori meeting house) to discover a shipwreck...

battle up higher, higher and higher still over the never ending upward hill, more roadside rambling and yeah we’ve made it! All I can say is damn that chilled glass of vino was definitely welcome and tasted so good after our long walk! 

Cable Bay Vineyard is such a beautiful place with a fantastic relaxed atmosphere - a large seating area (where we sat) and people sprawled out across the lawn chillin’ on their bean bags and blankets, glass of vino in one hand sapping in the views of the Auckland skyline in the distance.

Morepork

The waitress pointed out a little 20 min shortcut back to the ferry and our eldest’s eagle eyes spotted a morepork (a New Zealand owl aka ruru) sitting on an overhanging branch over the path… totally awesome beautiful bird, and not all that common to see in the wild - so a brilliant little treat before we headed on our sunset ferry ride homeward bound to Auckland.

Lunch time reunion

Brilliant little day today, quick jog on the treadmill, followed by a trip to library to do some bloggin’… get a call from an old uni friend Sam who is currently in Auckland on a business trip… "fancy a quick catch up and some lunch?" - hell yeah… so half an hour later we’re in Auckland harbour cramming in years worth of gossip in an hour over a bottle of wine. Hopefully we’ll be able to squeeze in another trip down to the South Island to see Sam, Jules and their little ones before heading back to the warmer climes of Britain.

Sam, Sam, Sam, all I can say is you haven't changed a bit!

Takapuna Beach at Sunset

Beautiful day today... and a stunning after school family stroll to my favourite spot on Takapuna beach, not much to write really as I think the pics sum it all up....

So going to miss this.

School Trip to a Marae, Tutahi Tonu

One thing which I love about the school is the way they embrace New Zealand and the Maori culture. 

My youngest went on a school field trip today to visit a Marae (meeting house) in Auckland University called Tutahi Tonu (which means 'stand as one forever') where they learnt about Maori customs, and he even got to do a 'hongi' a traditional Maori greeting by touching your nose and forehead with the person you are meeting.

The Marae was filled with beautiful carvings and weavings, all symbolising various Maori stories. A brilliant little day out for the children.