Though I’m reluctant to give any free advertising for a supermarket chain (though I must admit that I stand in the Meadowbank Countdown drinking in the colours and variety of the food on offer every time I arrive back in Auckland!) I think this is a very good idea – a basket of free fruit that parents can give their children to chew while they get the groceries.
The pohutukawa are in bloom and the sky is bright blue. The days are cool and pleasant. We celebrated Christmas and New Year in Auckland with our girls and our family. We’ve had a couple of splendid beach days and some relaxation. But now it is full steam ahead helping our daughters move to Sydney and Dargaville (two hours north of Auckland) respectively where they are starting new jobs in January. It will be sad for us to think that they are no longer living in the same city but we are thrilled that they are moving on to the next phase of their lives. We still have a few days together in Auckland and intend to enjoy them fully.
I am heading back to Ipoh in a few days and will miss everything about being in Auckland – my family and my friends, the coffee, food and wine, the walks and the birds, and the changeable spring weather. It will be hard to leave but wonderful to be reunited with my beloved. If only I could be in two places at once!
Auckland’s weather is famously changeable but never more so than in spring. I’ve just dashed out in pouring rain to grab the towels off the line when 10 minutes ago they were drying in bright sunshine. Yesterday I drove over the Bombays into the Waikato and marvelled at the spring green of the trees in the sunshine. Having arrived in Hamilton and sitting in a cafe drinking a coffee with friends (and very pleasant it was!) I looked out the window to see horizontal driving rain. But when I drove back the sun was shining again. I know “four seasons in one day” drives Aucklanders crazy especially when planning outdoor activities. I, however, am enjoying the weather – it is a welcome change from the relentless heat of the tropics.
When you live on an island, you are never far from a beach. I took a walk along Bucklands beach (south eastern Auckland) the other day. It was overcast, calm and warm. It reminded me of all the reasons I love the beach – waves (very small ones created by the passing ferries and boats), sand, sounds and sky. I walked to the end and gazed for a while at Rangitoto (the volcano in the pic above). It was a serene interlude in an otherwise busy, somewhat stressful day and I felt the better for it.
The clouds are low and the rain is dripping down in Auckland today. The weather matches our mood perfectly as we mourn the loss of our beloved uncle. He passed away peacefully yesterday and we are all very sad. However, he had a long, productive and happy life and we will be celebrating that this coming week. So grateful that we are in Auckland with our family and friends.
This is the Hauraki Gulf in the middle of summer. I know it doesn’t look like that now. It’s grey and cloudy and the low lying islands are obscured. Nevertheless, I miss it and can’t wait to be back in Auckland. I’m even looking forward to the cool weather and rain on my face! Till our next trip home, we’ve got six weeks of tropical heat and days lived mostly indoors.
Since I came to live in New Zealand 20 years ago, I’ve noticed a proliferation of tui in urban areas. In the mid-1990s it was rare to see a tui in a built-up suburb. Now wherever you walk in Auckland or Hamilton (or anywhere else I’m surmising) you hear the distinctive trills, croaks and squawks they make. One day a couple of weeks back I stood in a small copse of trees in the middle of a park and looking up I saw six tui. I managed to snap this photo before a dog came running down the path and they scattered. I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds their tuneful presence a delight.
On yet another perfect summer’s afternoon I walked through Churchill Park, entering it from the east. From the top of the hill I looked back to this view of the Tamaki estuary shining in the sun. I then walked west, all the way over to St Helier’s bay. From the top of Cliff Road, I could see “with a lift of the heart” the glittering waters of the Hauraki Gulf, from the beaches of the bays all the way to the harbour bridge in the distance. Fitting to use an Anita Brookner quote today – she died last week.
In two of the parks through which I have been walking during my stay in Auckland, there are herds of cows. In Churchill Park (in the photo above) there is a small herd of dry stock, which migrates from one paddock to another. One or two lift their heads as I walk by, look at me unconcernedly and then go back to their grazing. Cornwall Park is a working farm and has a larger herd of cows and a flock of sheep. I’m not sure why but seeing these animals in the middle of New Zealand’s biggest city always makes me smile. I guess it may be because farming is so central to New Zealand’s identity, even in Auckland, which is denigrated in rural areas as “the big smoke”.
Travels from New Zealand 