I'm back from my short weekend visit to Auckland. It was eventful, but it wasn't, if that makes any sense. So here's the run down;
My lovely sister (LB) and I checked in at the airport before the allocated time on the ticket. But, no joint seats for us. The best they could do was to place us on the aisles, one behind the other. For such a short flight it didn't really matter, but she did enjoy poking me in the head every now and then.
Once arriving in Auckland and greeting Dad with great big "Happy Birthday" hugs and cheers, oh and my brother (LXB) we headed off into the city. LB commented that it had been years since she had last been in Auckland, which seemed odd to me seeing as I've been up there a few times in the last 6 months. So, we tootled around the city showing her "the sights". We headed over to Elam Arts School where Dad is studying fine arts, to take down his sculpture exhibts. We made some sort of smart remarks about him "using slave labour" and how lucky he was to have "Children that were old enough to work". LB was jealous of the art space, and to be honest so was I! I'd love to do an arts degree.
Dad commented "Five years ago, I never would have thought I'd be spending my 60th birthday like this". Here he is, divorced, living in Auckland and studying at Uni! I certainly couldn't have predicted any of those things! But, all of them have led to this new life and new happiness.
When we finally got back to the house we had birthday cake. Yep, in the middle of the afternoon. We went to Wildfire restrauant, an all you can eat meat place, meaning there would be no room for pudding afterwards. So it was birthday cake in the afternoon. JB (LXB's wife) had bought a caramel mud cake and some cheesecake. Singing, singing, "happy birthday", blah, blah. . . caramel mud cake = YUM!
Now this caramel mud cake had a chocolate sauce decoration on the top and some chocolate biscuits around the outside, meaning I could only eat the inside. This is when my brother stepped in as my hero and performed what I am now calling a "Chocolectomy". What is that you ask? Well, it's when my bro takes a slice of cake, place it on a chopping board, take the small, sharp knife, lean in close and squint, and proceed to delicately slice off any and all chocolate from the cake, while leaving as much of the delicious caramel goodness. WHY? you ask, well, because I'm allergic to chocolate and it really was only the decoration that was preventing me from eating the cake. LXB YOU ARE MY HERO!!
Wildfire in Takapuna, is the restrauant I call "The Meat Place". It's a very down to earth, simple restrauant that has veges, appetisers and all you can eat meat. Waiters walk arount with plates and skewers of meats offering you more and more until you just can't fit it in anymore. It's the perfect place to take a macho, kiwi bloke on a date - you'll be sure to make a good impression!! ;)
The only problem? We had to practically wrestle the waiter to the ground to make them bring us some polenta. mmmmmmmm polenta. Finally the third waiter went in to the kitchen and bought us five slices of polenta. yum yum yum. I really must learn how to make my own polenta.
That night LB and I slept in the lounge, or more specifically LB slept in the lounge and I slept in the dining room on a mattress. Nothing wrong with that, except that it was from this position that I noticed that the kitchen clock and the lounge clock don't tick simultaneously, but instead sound like they are trying to talk to each other.
And the cat eating out of his bowl in the kitchen, vibrated through the floor and sounded like lawn mower attacking a rock.
But the best bit of all was when JB and LXB's cat Sox came to lie on my temporary bed for the night. He's settling in for a good old snuggle and starts purring. Nothing wrong with that, but he's purring very very loudly, and almost chirping. But it's more than that, he sounds like he's swallowed a pigeon, and it's trying to get out. I could never possibly try and replicate the purr for you because it's just too crazy - he purrs WHILE squaking like a pigeon trying to escape. Needless to say, he got shooed off pretty quickly and told to find somewhere else to sleep.
And that was just Saturday.
On Sunday, LB, Dad and I went to Titirangi to check out the art gallery that Dad volunteers at. It was a cute wee gallery, and a cute wee part of Auckland that I've never seen before.
In the afternoon LB, JB, Dad and I went out to Muriwai Beach, about 30 minutes north of Westharbour (where JB and LB live). Muriwai Beach has a Gannet Coloney, which I've heard has 1000's of Gannets and is a spectacular sight. But, as is my luck, we turned up and there were no Gannets (ok, maybe 10 of them but that's it). Nevertheless it made for an amazing few and some lovely photos of the family.
We had a lovely simple dinner and then Dad, LB and LXB took me to the airport so I could catch my flight home (LB is flying home tonight). Luckily Dunkin Donuts was still open at the airport and I was able to pick up a box of requested donuts for todays team meeting.
Mum and KC picked me up and I was home by 10.30. Phew!! What a weekend!! I'm looking forward to a few relaxed weekends and NOT going to Auckland for a while. It was lovely to spend some quality time with my brother, sister and Dad. It's been ages since we did that. I hope it's not years before we do it again.
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