Thursday 3rd
Bhavni and I went to see The Hobbit at the Imax cinema. The film although good was quite “Trippy” and the 3D was a little too jerky for my liking.
Friday 4th
After work we went for a walk in Cornwall Park.
Saturday 5th
It was a hot summers day with Bhavni and I both off. We went to Drury and the gliding club, as Norman had asked if I could be on duty. It was a bit of a chaos as there was the local comp going on, but no duty pilot (though Dave H was there). Anyway I took a trial flight with a guest, before helping out for a while. Bhavni was melting in the mean time, so a little after 2.30pm we left.
On the way home we stopped at the Botanical gardens. The exit for some reason is not marked when going to Auckland, but we managed to get to the other side of the park and walk in. It was busy there, but lovely weather (not Bhavni’s weather though). We had a look at a few of the gardens and areas, before a ice cream break for Bhavni, followed by some more looking. It was nice getting home and slumping on the sofa after the heat. In the evening we booked the ferry for the next day.
Sunday 6th
We went to Tirititi Matangi, which is an island where the introduced predators have been eliminated and is now a bird sanctuary with lots of regenerated and planted forest. Our day started quite early as we had to drive all the way to Gulf Harbour (near the end of the peninsula just before orewa) getting there around 8.15am, where we checked in for our ferry which left for Tiritiri Matangi Island around 9.45am. We bought a hot chocolate from a vendor while we were waiting, but I was not that impressed. The journey across was only half an hour, going past Shakespear park and across the 4k of sea to the island. After disembarking we had a talk by the ranger there, about the island and the rules to obey. We had elected for a guided tour, and elected to go onto the longer walk first. Our guide led us firstly up the coastline on Hobbs Beach where she pointed out mostly plants and some tracks. There were not that many birds visible here and the sound of the ocean would have drowned out most bird calls. From the top of the beach we went onto the Kawerau Track and into some of the original forest on the island. Here there were a lot more birds and we stopped many times to stop and peer into the bush.
From here we followed the Ridge Track with its planted forest, where the bird life reduced a little, but still had some flying around all the time. It was then a small hill (apparently called coronary hill after some unfit americans) where we had a nice view before going to the visitor centre where we stopped for the lunch that Bhavni had packed. We had some of the tea at the center and sat outside with fantails and other birds flying around.
We had a quick look at the lighthouse there and then went to an cliff viewpoint overlooking the sea on the west side near there and sat on some benches for a bit taking in the stunning vista below. Getting back to the visitor center we came accross some Takahe with a crowd a couple of the other visitors around – the last we had seen were in Te-Anu.
We carried on down the Wattle track and as we were the last to depart we had no-one disturbing our walk and we saw some more birds. It was not long before we had to board the ferry (after looking at a Pukeko in the little pond), for the short ferry ride to Gulf Harbour.
We called in on Shelina, as she was on the way home (giving her her her bedding). They decided to go pick some plums from the bottom of the garden and I helped (though I got bitten by Mosquitos a bit whilst Bhavni escaped). Grant came home a little later and gave Bhavni a PADI book. We stayed around for a bit and caught up before going home just before dinner.
Tuesday 8th
Dominos Pizza for dinner
Saturday 12th
I went flying, leaving Bhavni at home. I ended up doing a trial flight before flying a CFI from a club in America. After getting home Bhavni and I got ready as we were to meet Silvia and James for dinner in Pononby. We met them at Italian restaurant, which was quite lively. It was lucky that we got there early enough as it got very busy as the night came on. We had a little wine and starters such as a Beetroot Salad and were quite full after the main course (though not as good as the starters) Pizza and Pasta. We walked back with them for a way as they parked a long way away before saying goodnight.
Sunday 13th
(Semi) Lazy day at home
Monday 14th
After work, I got home and had an early dinner before we went to watch “Life of Pi” in St Lukes.
Tuesday 15th
We were invited to dinner at Silvia’, so after work we made our way there, leaving quite early. The traffic was horrendous (for Auckland) and it took about an hour to get to their house. The other two guests (Bruce and his wife) we had last seen at the wedding. We had a pleasant dinner with copious amount of wine, before Bhavni and I headed home – last out.
[Not a valid template]