Day out

[vilakins]

trixieleitz is up for a weekend drumming course not far from me so she's staying here.

I picked her up from the airport around midday yesterday and we went up Mt Eden, one of our many volcanoes, which gives you a good view of the city; you can even see from one side of the country to the other because the isthmus is very thin here.

trixieleitz on Mt Eden and proof of how far snowgrouse's t-shirts have travelled.

Then we went to the Aotea Market. Parking was not easy. The Civic car park, which has always had plenty of space before, had a queue to get in and cars were only allowed through when one came out. So we gave up and went to a Wilson's one up the road which had a pay-and-display ticket dispenser--which only took coins. [rolls eyes] It was $3 for 30 minutes; they think people walk around with $12 in coins? Between us we paid for 30 minutes and went to the market and bought lunch (Indian and Vietnamese) thus acquiring coins, then I went back and paid for another 90 minutes, discovering after three failed attempts that you could only get a ticket if you put a multiple of $3 in, and I only had one $1 coin with all the $2s. Nice one, Wilson's. You really make it easy for your customers.

Anyway, we had fun at the market. We got a massage, fruit smoothies, and yummy handmade chocolate each, Trixie bought a beautiful iridescent coloured glass pendant, and we enjoyed looking at all the stalls even if we didn't buy anything else. There was also a street performer on a very tall monocycle juggling basket balls which was entertaining; he had a good patter.



We had dinner in Mission Bay at the Bar Comida (tapas abd a to-die-for French apple tart), then went home and watched The Christmas Invasion, a great way to end a good (if very hot) day.

Comments

[spacefall.livejournal.com]

*waves to you both*

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

[waves back]

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I was about to say gosh, her hair's almost as long as mine now, but every time I let down my hair at night I'm surprised that it's longer than I think! It's odd that Servalan never thought of growing her hair as a disguise, instead of cropping it ever shorter.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Or changing her style of dress.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Hey, she went from wearing white to wearing black, how much more disguise do you want? :)

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

Great pictures - sounds like you both had a great time.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

We did, apart from the parking hassles. :-D

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

Yes, I forgot to say you unfortunately always end up paying an arm and a leg for carparks in the city...

[kerravonsen]

Sounds like you had fun. I'm still gonna come visit you, you know. Just don't know when. 8-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[kerravonsen]

Main thing I have to do is
(a) find out how much leave I have, and when I'll have enough (I took a fair dint out of it last year doing Redemption and visiting watervole)
(b) double-check the fares (goes and looks) Looks like it depends on the time of year and whether or not I want to go discount or full fare)
(c) figure out a time and length of stay which would suit us both.

(big smile)

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

I'm fascinated by that archway.

Gina

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It's called Waharoa which means 'gateway' in Maori. It was carved about 15 years ago by Selwyn Muru. Magnificent, isn't it?

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

Wow, junk art... and I'm boggling at someone actually wearing my drawing, eep:)... Must travel to NZ at some point! Must!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Junk art? You mean the carved gateway?

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it looks like a bit of a junkyard got up and walked there:).

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

If you see it up close, it's carved wood with paua inlay, but more modern than the traditional very stylised gate.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

one of our many volcanoes

That's a good piece of oneupmanship. :) I think that the nearest volcano to me would be in either Italy or Iceland - I'm not sure which is nearer.

Glad to hear that you had a good time.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Auckland has about 70-80 of them, all quite small. They're all extinct and well-capped; the field isn't though. One day a new one might form, so living on an old one as I suspect we do is relatively safe.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Should have said: that green bit behind Trixie is part of the now grassy crater.

[matildabj.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I think that might be the square just down the road from where I stayed (and where I met you)! I might be wrong though, can't believe it's almost 2 years ago.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It is that square; well spotted! The little restaurant we ate at is gone though; they're tearing that block down.

[matildabj.livejournal.com]

That's a shame, it was a rather lovely restaurant. Not that I know when I'm ever going to be back in your town... :(

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

They opened another branch further down the road but I haven't tried it. I assume it's the same menu.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a fun day (well, apart from the parking nonsense). I do like tales of LJ friends meeting up!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It doesn't happen very often for me either, though it was once the other way round: a fannish friend and I found we were both on LJ. And it was fun!