last week of summer

Monday I went into Takapuna as Farmers was having a sale & I also wanted to check out Supre and the surf shops. After that it was back to Mum's to cook dinner and have a nice quiet night in. Tuesday I took a bus to the city and walked around all the shops downtown before popping in to see Mum at her work. Then I caught another bus up to K Rd and went to Illicit =) I then walked all the way back to the bus station and was pretty exhausted from the 6 hour shopping spree.. I had a little time to relax before heading into Taka to catch up with Jarod over a few beers and grilled mussels at the Belgium Beer Cafe.

Wednesday my sister in law Kay dropped off my nephew's Flynn and Ronan and we headed to Brown's Bay beach. James and Ronan went for a long walk round the rocks while the rest of relaxed and then when they came back we went to get icecreams. When we got back Mum and James preceeded to make lots of sushi and we watched a dvd before going to bed.

With Mum, James, Flynn and Ronan at Brown's Bay beach

Thursday we hung out with the boys. Flynn had to leave quite early and then I dropped Ronan round to his friends in the early afternoon and then went round to my Dad's to go through some of my stuff. Then later on Dad picked up me and James and we went to have a buffet dinner at VIP restaurant on the viaduct. It was yummy all you can eat sushi, sashimi, oysters etc and then korean bbq and desert. About 3 hours later we were all very full. We headed to Swashbuckers bar and enjoyed the view and watching some massive stingrays swimming around near the boats. Then Andrew and Greg came to meet me and we headed to Totos to meet up with Jenny and go to the Midori Summer Party. We got there just in time to catch to catch Ddub's last songs then there were a few other bands. Once more of my drink was ending up on the floor rather than in my mouth it was time to go home..


With Dad and James at Swashbucklers

Ddub

Friday james and I drove into town as I needed to pick up some clothes I had bought. After that I got him to drop me off at Ivris' and spent a very pleasant few hours chilling on her balcony with a few beers to ease the hangover of the night before. Her friend then drove me to Taka to meet the ladies at my old work for Friday drinks. We headed to the bar across the road which conveniently had half price drinks happy hour and demolished a few bottles of lovely NZ sav blanc. After then I was home quite early and had a quiet rest of the night.

With Nullie and Val from NBNZ

Saturday we were off down the bush to Little Shoal Bay to meet with Dad & Misoo, Yaron, Becks & co. and Kay and the boys. We had a lovely picnic at the beach then headed to the Northcote tavern for some beers. After that it was onto Misoos for bbq dinner and once again home feeling just slightly tiddly ;-)


Sunday Kay and the boys came over again before flying back to Nelson. I spent a looong time on the phone to Telecom trying to sort out my Mum's internet and then headed over to my old flat for a bbq. It was very nice sitting on the balcony looking at the awesome view and I managed to find some people who liked the aquavit and we finally finished the bottle!

Skal Kirsten =)

So today I was feeling just a little jaded. Had a slow start to the day and then drove to see Emily and Nathan and their beautiful daughter Nakita. Now I only have one day left =(

Emily and little Nikita

beaches, beaches, more beaches and the big day out!!

Tuesday I was going to study before getting a text from Andrew saying "wazzup!" Before long we were off to Devonport for a yum lunch and beers at the Patriot and then a lovely walk along Devonport beach. Then we went up to North Head and had fun walking through the tunnels and looking at the stunning views of Auckland Harbour.


View of Devonport and Auckland City from North Head

Later that night Jen came and picked me up and we got butter chicken from Highbury and had dinner at my old house. It was a nice night catching up with Jen, Dave and Cec and enjoying the views.

View from the balcony of my old house

Wednesday James had no work and wanted to go to a beach so we headed towards the East Coast and ended up at Campbells Bay. From there we walked along the beach track to almost Browns Bay. It is a really beautiful walk along beaches and rocks and sometimes up into the cliffs. One day I would love to do the whole walk from Devonport to Long Bay. Wednesday night I drove into Takapuna and met some old workmates and dinner out friends for a lovely meal at Portofino's. It was great to see Stacey and co. but we were missing Andrea and the two Robyns. After dinner I wandered down to Takapuna bar to visit Amy at work.

Beach track along the East Coast Bays

Thursday there was no chance to study again as James and I were off the west coast this time. Muriwai beach is absolutely stunning. We settled in on one end with our loungers and had great fun watching the surfers and others playing in the impressive waves. The beach is very long and the end we were at had a sign saying Danger, no swimming! After we had had enough sun we packed everything back in the car and walked along the rocks and up the cliffs and came across a gannet colony. They come to NZ to bring up their babies on the cliffs and it was a beautiful sight. Amazing that they can live so perilously on the windy cliffs, almost as amazing as the rock fishermen that fish so close to the edge of the rocks with waves crashing over them. They weren't even wearing life vests! We went shopping on the way home and had a bbq dinner with lamb chops, yum!

View from gannet colony at Muriwai

Friday morning my alarm went off and I got ready for a Big Day Out!! Amy came to pick me up and we got there just in time to catch the last 15 minutes of Cobra Khan. After that it was a short wait for Elemeno P. It wasn't as good seeing them on the big stage as it was when they played at the Kings Arms. After that Amy and Carly went to go watch the Ting Tings while I stayed at the main stages for Bullet for my Valentine. I got right up the front only to be sucked into a very rowdy mosh pit. I managed to get out of that though and enjoyed the rest of their concert safely just behind the moshers until the band decided to initiate a wall of death! After that exhilarating show I went just out of the stage area and met the girls for a boogie amongst the thousands of others getting down to Pendulum. I had never even heard of them but they had a huge crowd and was some very funky drum and bass. After that we had a lot of time to muck around until our next band we wanted to see. We caught up with lots of people and then ended up just me and Amy enjoying some beverages in the bar area at the back of the stadium. From there we headed to the Black Seeds, met up with Dan and danced all the way through that show to. Then we headed to the Boiler Room for Hot Chip and it was more dancing to their funky tunes. After that it was time to head to the main stage for Neil Young. He did not disappoint with his great guitar tunes, was just bummed I didn't hear 'hey hey my my'. Then it was back to the boiler room to finish off the night dancing to Prodigy. We met back up with Dan and caught a train to the city. Was a very funny ride as the drunk guy in the train kept us amused the whole way. Amy's mum kindly picked us up from the city and although was very tempted to go out after I was sensibly thinking about the next morning.

Neil Young

Saturday morning I was once again woken up by an alarm and got ready to be picked up by Dave and Cec to go to Woodhill. After hiring a bike for me we headed up the hill to the track they chose. Then it was a terrifyingly fun ride down the hill over tree routes and twisted tracks. My body wasn't very happy with me after dancing all day at the big day out the day before, especially during the uphill parts but I was pretty happy with my skills downhill and lack of broken bones. When I got home I tried to help out as best as I could while Mum and James were all action in the kitchen. Yaron, Rebecca, Margaret, Hannah and Libby came over and we had a lovely bbq yakitori style with food on sticks and yummy salads made by Mum. I made some fruit sticks which went down well with the girls (especially the ones with lots of marshmallows), and then it was lots of drinks before they went home. I tried to get everyone to try the aquavit I bought from Denmark but it didn't go down well but when Mum bought out the butterscotch schnapps and baileys there was very little of that left at the end of the night.


Today the alarm went off once again but I pushed snooze a few times as I could hear the rain! When I got up it had finished so the plan was on to go to the Takapuna markets on the way out west again, this time to the Kumeu Classic Cars and Hot Rod Festival with Mum and James. It was a great day of people watching and looking at the fabulous old american cars. Some of them had been done up so wonderfully with pinstriping, upholstery, stereos, hydraulics and accessories. There was a band playing blues brothers style rock and was a lovely day out west =)

I want a green car!!

After another busy weekend it is nice to have a quiet night in tonight. Looking forward to another week in beautiful NZ. Laters..

bittersweet bliss

It's hard to remember last week now but here goes..

Monday afternoon I got picked up by Nigel on his way home from work and went to visit with the Darbys. I got a lovely greeting from their youngest girl Saffron and then Monique and then saw my baby Butters. He is looking just the same and very happy to be living with such a nice happy family. Nicole and Jo came over and was lovely having some wines with Ivris and a yum bbq. I stayed there and got to cuddle with Butters all night before being woken by a slobbery dog on the bed.

Tuesday was a slow day after all those wines. Both mum and James were at work until late so nice to have some alone time. Wednesday James and I went to dad's work to say hello and get some information for building their website. We went shopping on the way home and then I attempted to do some study in the sun with a cold carlsberg. Before long my old friend Shane turned up for a visit. Was cool to catch up with him. Then mum came home and it was time for Japanese night. James tried to get us in the mood with some Japanese power metal?? Then they made some sushi and other Japanese foods.

Thursday was a beautiful day so we jumped in James' car and headed up to Wenderholm beach. It was a lovely calm day and the water was very warm. We soon got pretty hungry though so got back in the car and headed round the corner to Puhoi. Had a yummy pie and beer next to the lake and then drove home.


Dad has bought a new car so Friday we drove him to Penrose to pick it up. Did some shopping and it was not long till I had to get ready to go out. First I went to Takapuna to catch up with my old colleagues at the National Bank. It was Robin's last day and there were lots of people there having drinks for her leaving do. It was really great to see everyone but then I was into the city to Rakinos to meet with the Danish twins for their birthday drinks. From then it is all a blur of drinks and shots before Andrew and I took off to Burger Fuel for some dinner, yum!! We then headed back and met with Jenny and her man Ben. From there we went to Flight Lounge and had far too many cocktails before I finally managed to escape home.


Saturday I was not feeling very healthy at all! But there is no rest for the wicked and Jen came to pick me up and we headed to the city to the concert at Myers Park. It was a very nice day sitting on a rug listening to the music and catching up. Ben arrived with his kids and we all walked back to his amazing waterfront apartment at Viaduct Harbour. I only had a short wait there before Amy headed into town and we went to Tanuki's Cave for dinner. I had been craving that for a year and a half and ordered way too much food, but it was all very yum. After we had been there for a few hours trying to eat it all we went up to K Rd to the Thirsty Dog for the Sommerset concert. It was great opportunity to see a band that haven't been together for a long time but we were so tired we didn't stay long.


Sunday it was up and over to Amy's to head to Waihi Beach. It was a fun roadtrip down there, we did the stop at Paeroa for the photo =) Once we got to Waihi Beach the surf was going crazy. Dan hadn't bought any boardies with him so we went to the surf shop and then hit the beach. It looked fun but I wasn't going anywhere near all the jellyfish! Then we headed to the hotel for the concert. We got in just in time to see Katchafire and was really relaxing having some drinks on the grass before getting up the front for a boogie to Donavon Frankenreiter. It was a really fun concert and nice to be finished early so we could hit the road back to Auckland. Got back very tired and happy at around 11pm.


So Monday was spent very quietly relaxing. It was a very hot day and I managed to get a bit of sweaty sunbathing in before walking up the road to the shops. Mum came home and I poured some glasses of wine and we cooked a chicken salad and had a nice night in. Well that's all I can remember of the week. This one is already getting quite busy and very much looking forward to the Big Day Out!!

rockin start to the year!

On our last day in Nelson on Monday we went for a drive out to Motueka where I stayed 2 years when I was 18 and 19 for a couple of months in apple season to work on apple orchids. On the way we stopped at a fruit winery for some tastings and I couldn't help but buy a few bottles of the yummy apple & feijoa cider mmm. Motueka had in some ways changed a lot since I had lived there with a lot of new cafes and bars but it still looked like the sleepy little hippy town I know. We went to Hot Mama's Cafe for a yummy lunch and then a wonder through the shops. On the way back we stopped at the coast to see an old boat ruin and then at Mapua for some real fruit frozen yoghurt. It was James and I turn to turn so we did some shopping then made lasagna and enjoyed a last evening with everyone letting off fireworks.

Tuesday it was up early and off to the airport to fly back to Auckland. Mum met us at the airport and we drove back to her place on the North Shore. I had forgotten just how big Auckland was and enjoyed looking at all the sites on the drive. We spent a relaxing day catching up and a quite night as the next day was New Years Eve.

After a relaxing morning at Mum's (I can see a theme happening here..) we went for a drive out to the new Albany shopping centre and had a lot of fun shopping before Amy turned up and then did more shopping and catching up with her. Then it was home to quickly get ready for New Years. Dad picked me and James up and we went round to my cousin Yaron's place for bbq and some drinks. From there I jumped in a cab and went to Takapuna to meet with Amy and some of her friends. After a few drinks in Taka we headed to the viaduct and to meet with Andrew at Pasha. It wasn't long until we were all outside watching the fireworks off the skytower at midnight. Then it was a blur of horrible, packed bars until I had had enough and went home.


Thursday I woke up and Amy picked me up to drive up north to Tawharanui beach. It was a long drive but lovely weather and a wonderful beach. There were about 3 or 4 different sections and after walking through all of then found a real quiet spot to settle in and read mags and snooze in the sun. All too soon it was nearly 6pm and fearing that they may lock the gate we headed back to the car. It seemed much quicker getting out of the beach and we stopped at Warkworth to have some yummy fish and chips near the river. Then it was s slow creep in all the traffic back to Auckland. A lovely start to the new year!


Friday I woke up and drove round to my old flat to see Dave and Cec. It was just a little weird being in my old house and was lovely to catch up with them. Then it was back to mum's to relax before heading over to Amy's for the trip to Coromandel. There were four of us in the car and by the time all the girls were ready and we had stopped for some dinner we ended up at the Coroglen Tavern around 9pm. Just in time to see Autozamm play and then Opshop. Opshop were really great live and I got a brief chance to say hi to Jason while he was being swamped by fans after the show. Then it took just over 2 hours to drive back and crawled into bed around 2am very happy.



Saturday we headed out to Kumeu with Ian, Mum and James for a lovely lunch at a brewery. We had to be back straight after for James to go to work and then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing at mum's.


Sunday it was up and out to Westhaven to go sailing. My dad's new berth is so close to the city and therefore also very close to where we live. Makes a huge difference as not much drive and then not far to sail straight into the harbour. It was a windy day so perfect for sailing and we were soon sailing past the city, then Devonport and the bays, past Rangitoto island and ended up putting down the anchor next to Brown's island for some lunch. Tales of all the fish leaving the harbour due to so many boats being out made us not keen to fish so instead we all snoozed after lunch. Then it was time to head back to the city and quickly home and changed before being picked up by Amy to go the King's Arms to see Elemeno p and Supergroove. We got there just in time and Elemeno p hit the stage with their catchy tunes and soon had us jumping around. Then after a short break it was Supergroove and was so good to see this band that I had liked so much when I was younger. They had some great new songs and played all their great old ones. At the end of the concert both bands were on the little stage and performed 2 rockin songs together.


So today I slept in and have been sorting out photo's and vids and writing this blog. Will have to get round to studying soon and will call a few peeps to see what this new week will bring. Laters..