Apartment living in the city

Cuz - she should be in real estate!

We are on the 3rd floor...on the left...

Dining room, lounge, patio, and a bit of the kitchen - compact apartment living!

 Apartment living is awesome..but you can't have much stuff (never work for me!).  The bonus is that housework takes about 30 minutes - if you go slow.  The 'location, location, location' of this one is perfect for walking everywhere around the city, with the car safely ensconced under the building much of the time.  When you need to drive, it's a quick wiggle around the concrete pillars, some skillful avoidance of the concrete walls, and even more skillful avoidance of the pedestrians on the other side of the garage door when you drive out!

Kitchen, dining room and some lounge

Hang up your bike - tidily!

My city

Wellington is right up there with the best cities in the world!  I love it! It is purposefully designed to walk everywhere - and I have.  Public transport is convenient and reliable - so people actually use it.   Additionally, being back by the sea is very rejuvenating - seeing it, smelling it and just being a part of it again.  You don't know how much you miss it, til it's not there.  Anyway, a picture is worth a thousand words so here are some...

Shopping in the center of town

Te Papatongarewa - national museum

Looking down on the city



Sunday Farmers' Market - across from the apartment

Amazing produce!

Apartments I am staying at - right in town



Rowers on the harbour

Family and food...

The three f words - family, friends and food - that's mostly what this trip home has been about (if you haven't noticed).   These are also the things that are not necessarily transportable to the other side of the world so I am making the most of them while I am here.  Yesterday, cousin lunch at the beach..today, little girls' hockey at 10, followed by cousin lunch, followed by cup of tea with my aunty and uncle, followed by rugby with the All Blacks thrashing the Irish - not too much better than THAT!

A (winter!) day at the beach with the cousins

Wine? I think I will! Cheers!

A family pyramid

Aunty Diane

Napier art deco...

Yesterday's adventures included multiple trips up the road to Napier.  Napier is the art deco capital of the world (note to my American compadres - that would be the whole world, not just the New Zealand world).  Great to walk around the shops and they are all art deco buildings, albeit a tad chilly on that particular day.

There-s snow on them there hills...

Napier - Methodist church

Napier - shops - art deco buildings in real use

Me and the art deco chick

Napier - more art deco real life buildings

48 years of stuff...

Today was the day for 'reduce, reuse, recycle' - 48 years of accumulation that Mum has managed to keep track of since my move to America, 11 years ago.  Did I mention boxes?  The hardest thing to decide about are all the childhood books that belonged to me, my brother and even my daughter! The handwritten names, special birthdays etc just make them too hard to part with (my earliest one was aged 23 months and it is Popeye).  The other hard thing is my mother needs a new broom (see pic below!).  We're on the way to the couriers tomorrow to figure out how much it costs to ship some stuff over...watch this space!

Green Acres is the place for me...

Roast chicken for tea last night - yum!

Cheese scones for lunch - hard to beat!  Was a great day for a walk around the neighbourhood with Mum and Jessie (her poodle).  The houses are great - some art deco and some just older places with cool designs. 

..and THAT, people,  is how a cup of tea should be drank!

Rugby day!

Rugby day!!!  Yes, the All Blacks play against Ireland tonight and I'll get to see it, live, at the right time on the right side of the world.  Very looking forward to that - especially looking forward to an All Black win. 

Finally got to eat my first meat pie yesterday - just as yum as I remember.  Also had to suffer through a custard square and a raspberry bun...is suffer the right word? Why can't we have meat pies in America???  SURELY it's not that hard...

First round of rain today - and, yes, I am in sleeves. Temp is only 7 degrees (that's cold in Celsuis OR Fahrenheit!).

Side notes - haven't had any fast food since I got here
                - half flush or full flush options
                - instant coffee reigns supreme - unless you're at the coffee shop

Pineapple lumps anyone???

Oysters on the half shell (fresh!) $9.95 1/2 dozen

Hastings town clock (very touristy shot!)

               even the dog eats homemade food - of course, that could be                particular to my mother's dog...

So...one of the best things about NZ is definitely the food - unfortunately!  Today I ate lunch in a church...well, it was in the 50's but that still counts, in my book. Now they make amazing food like the pumpkin soup pictured in the previous post, followed by carrot cake to die for - with a cup of tea of course...then I got to shop in the retro lolly shop next door - which was not originally a lolly shop either - confused?  If you remember eskimos, fairy mushrooms, jet planes, and spaceman cigarettes you will know what retro-ness I am talking about. 

Another highlight will be Coronation Street tonight and rugby v Ireland on Saturday!
Woohoo!

Food glorious food!

Pumpkin soup - Yes, I said pumpkin!

Scones with cream and jam                

Cup of tea by the fire                         

Kid in a candy store!                            

Hamilton to Hastings

So..-2 during the night and a tropical 3 degrees this morning...did I mention we don't do central heat?? My tropical island holiday continues...It is sunny during the day though so no sleeves for me! Catching up with whanau and old friends is the bestest! You pick up conversations and cups of tea like you just mised seeing them in the weekend, rather than the 4 long years it has been. in Auckland I stayed with a friend I have known since high school...yesterday caught up with my uncle in Hamilton...last night stayed with a friend I've known since I was 18...connections, people, it's all about connections.

Travelling south.  The pic above is Lake Taupo from the bus window.  It didn't even have to try hard to look stunning!

Off to Hastings to spend some days with Mum - can't wait! E Noho ra koutou!

Sights of Auckland city

Austin Powers out cruising around (!)

Bikes standing on their heads

LUNCH - in a breakfast sort of way! (REAL bacon...poached eggs...yum!)

Things to remember...

Things I am recalling from a (not too) distant memory:
- leg cramps directly follow long flights (!)
- light switches go down for on
- not too much beats Vogelbread toast and a cup of tea for brekky
- walking to places is so easy - with footpaths!
- public transport in sprawling cities can definitely be effective and efficient (and pleasant!)

American consulate visit went mostly ok this morning...stand in line to get in another line to get fingerprints taken (have my fingers changed in the last 4 years???) to sit and wait - lots of waiting required. Observation: waiting with no electronics = much longer than waiting with electronics ( and that, ladies and gentlemen is the full extent of my algebraic brilliance!) Time to hit the streets- don't have ALL day to drink lattes you know! Ka kite!

Ask me NOW how long the flight is from OKC to NZ -the answer is 28 hours! I did sleep about 6 hours on the LA - Brisbane flight so that was a plus. Spent some time at Brisbane airport reacquainting myself with lollies and chocolate - pics to come! Travelled all the way in my shorts - chilly here but not freezing. Big adventure tomorrow as I head to the US consulate to get my visa so I can actually get back INTO the US in July. Staying with friends, Linda and David and kids here in Auckland. Linda and I have been friends since high school - that's a looooong time. Very cool to be talking kiwi with kiwis!

Today's the day! Packing, last minute shopping, and probably time for a Starbucks along the way.  Airport by 4:45...leaving at 6:20...watch this space!

...and then there's the visa...but only required to get back IN to the states...nothing like the surge of adrenalin when you realise you need to get all THAT organised! (4 days til lift off!)

Not long now til I leave - 8 days and counting!  Stay tuned in for adventures to come!