July 9th – July 22nd

10th July

It was Bhavnis’ birthday but we both had work today 🙁 In the evening Bhavni when we got home there was a present waiting out side the door from Woody Manor – lots of chocolates.

14th July

We went to the gliding club in Drury, getting there for noon. The winter lecture was still taking place and we spent a while talking to Marion. We eventually pulled out some gliders and tried to fly – but the Pawnee broke down, so while we were waiting for the replacement we had lunch on a hill overlooking the place. Finally I flew as the last flight of the day – for some “spin” practise – getting cleared to carry passengers. Marion said she had put us down for the barbecue but had forgotten that we were vegetarian, so we respectfully declined and drove back to Auckland. We stopped at Silvia Park – intending to go to the cinema, but gave up when we saw the queues were like Harrow – instead we had a meal at Wagamamas before heading back home.

15th July

We woke up earlyish and made our way to the Coromandel peninsula. We drove up to Thames and after getting some help from the I-Site there we went to the School of Mines. We payed $5 each and got a tour around the school (with another couple) by a gentleman who really was quite suited for it 🙂 He did a really nice explanation of the use of the place and the techniques that were developed there – as Thames was a gold mining town. After looking at the extensive mineral collection we then drove on to Coromandel town – which took a while as the road is quite windy. The views would have been amazing in clear weather – as it was they were just brilliant.

At Coromendal town we went to the crazy potter railway (as recommended by David from the flying club). Its a railway on one of the steep hills – built by the potter, which he did – just because he could. It was an interesting ride – again in clear weather the views would be breathtaking. At the top there is the “Eyefull tower” which is  a lookout tower where you can in clear weather see all the way back to Auckland. The train driver gave a talk about the work done here and on the way down asked Bhavni and I about moving here and generally had a talk.

We stopped at a cafe, then went on the way home – Bhavni fell asleep for most of the journey.

16th July

We went to the cinema in St Lukes to watch Spider Man in the evening.

17th – 20th July

Bhavni was on night shift and I went to work during the day.

21st July

After picking up Bhavni from her night shift and getting ready, we walked through Newmarket going to some travel agents (eventually sorting out out itinerary for our August break) We then headed to the museum which was displaying the wildlife photographers exhibit of the year. We got back around 4, and Bhavni had a Siesta for a bit as we had to meet Shelina and Grant. We met them at a restaurant right near Mt Roskil (White Swann Rd – Bhakanvala – Indian Fast food restaurant) and had Chatts and south Indian food. Amani was running around the restaurant enjoying herself. After, they came home and we had a nice propper cup of ginger tea (Grant, Bhavni and I) and cake. Shelina and Amani went for the ice cream.

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