This weekend I travelled down to Papamoa with a friend to catch up with friends we haven’t seen for ages. The drive down was fun and traffic was great, only one quick stop at the BP Papakura Truckstop for petrol and snacks.
Nic #1 greeted us with a glass of wine and we sorted out what we would do first, which turned out to be the Beach Bar on Papamoa Beach – a short walk from Nic’s house.
This is such a cool bar, the view is out over the ocean and has happy hour drinks for two hours which we made the most of and the food was awesome.
After several drinks and dinner we walked home along the beach, dipping just our toes in the very refreshing water, the weather was perfect.
After we got home, we took a quick drive to the supermarket for supplies (beers) and spent the evening watching the big, beautiful orange moon rising and the stars come out.
Next morning we were up relatively early for a walk to a place called “Fashion Island” – the name amused me greatly. We had to walk because there was going to be a Santa Parade down Nic’s street and the road was blocked off, but it wasn’t too far to walk to Fashion Island anyway.
On the way I was seriously impressed with all the Pohutukawa trees (NZ’s native Xmas tree) in full bloom and it was another stunning cloudless blue sky day.
Fashion Island is basically an area filled with outlet stores and amongst it all is a really great cafe called Blackberry and that’s where we met up with Nic #2. What a cool little reunion – the 4 of us all used to work together, so we had loads to catch up on and find out. Afterwards we took a stroll through some of the shops then Nic #2 drove us back to Nic #1’s home, after we got dropped off we basically packed up our stuff and headed home – another fun drive with great traffic. At one point there was a slight concern about which way to drive home coz New Zealand’s first IKEA just opened on Thursday and we were thinking the traffic would be bad at Mt Wellington, however the traffic was actually better than it normally is.
Today I went to Gibbs Farm with friends. It’s a place I’ve wanted to visit for several years now and luckily the Auckland Art Gallery emailed me about a fundraising event there. I was with friends at the time when I saw the email, so we were lucky enough to get in quick and book tickets – they always sell out incredibly fast and now I can see why. We were also very lucky with the weather, as it has rained every day for the past week, but today was like an awesome summer’s day, with no rain and plenty of sunshine.
Gibbs Farm is 400 hectares of farmland near the Kaipara Harbour, it’s a privately owned park and home to a world-famous collection of massive sculptures by some of the world’s leading artists, commissioned and curated by Alan Gibbs over the past 30 years.
Please wait for the gallery to fully load before clicking, arrows should appear shortly so you can view each photo, or just click the image to go directly to Flickr.
Luckily this year there were three days between the Easter holidays and Anzac Day, so like many others in New Zealand I took those three days off too. But I didn’t want to stay at home, I wanted something to look forward to so I could set up a countdown of the sleeps till I went away and I wanted to go somewhere I could get away from it all and stare at the ocean.
It took me ages to find somewhere that definitely had an ocean view, was available, and wasn’t hugely overpriced because of school holidays, but after weeks of random searches I found the Castaways Resort which is only just over an hours drive from where I live, and is situated on a cliff overlooking Karioitahi Beach, so it definitely has ocean views.
Prior to and all throughout Easter we had a massive storm Cyclone Tam which brought us a lot of rain and really strong winds, so I was hoping it would all be over by the day I left for the beach… and just in the nick of time, luckily it was. And on Wednesday the weather was picture perfect, warm with no rain or wind so I could sit out on the deck all day enjoying the sunshine and then watch an amazing sunset that evening. It was like a dream come true and I felt incredibly lucky. My villa and the view were stunning.
This February has a very big birthday in it. So a friend and I decided to spend a week in Sydney celebrating it.
I booked an Uber to get me to town then we caught the Sky Drive bus to the airport, which was a lovely feeling because from that moment on everything would happen without needing to organise it or stress about it – our holiday had begun.
According to the weather forecast and concerned friends the weather in Sydney was stormy with massive downpours affecting all travel, but about 30 minutes before landing all that cleared up and we arrived in sunshine.
Passport control and immigration was incredibly easy and fast and bag collection was amazing – our bags turned the corner the second we arrived at the carousel. The airport train turned up two minutes after arriving on the platform and the hotel was only a 5-minute walk from Wynyard Station.
After checking in and discovering our rooms we headed out in search of a liquor store so I could buy beer. Strange thing about the Sydney CBD – none of the supermarkets are licensed to sell alcohol, but luckily there was a liquor store not too far from the hotel – turns out everything was not far from the hotel – this hotel is in an awesome location.
Day two – Tuesday 11th of February
Big huge day of shopping. We started out with breakfast in a Martin Place cafe, then straight to the Lego Store. From there we went up to a fancy shoe store and then a wander round David Jones.
Lunch in a cafe up from the Myers food court, clothes shopping in Uniqlo (where they even do fast free alterations), then over to the Apple Store. Lastly Dymocks then back to the hotel to relax.
No idea why WordPress decided the Apple logo should be that huge, and I can’t adjust it.
Day three – Wednesday 12th of February
Today we had a couple of tours booked so we were very excited and up early, but first – breakfast on the landing in the hotel lobby – most fabulous indeed.
First was a backstage tour of the Opera House and this time I even got to sit inside the main concert hall, the tour was awesome, and we learnt so much. After this we wandered around Circular Quay and filled in time till our 12:30 Long Lunch Harbour cruise this was on a large multi storied Captain Cook boat, the food was great and the staff were lovely.
After the cruise we caught a ferry across the harbour to check out Luna Park, but when we got there, we found out it closed at 2:00 so we missed out by about 20 minutes. Instead, we wandered around the waterfront and caught a train across the bridge back to the hotel.
Day four – Thursday 13th of February
The big birthday – this required a special breakfast in the hotel lobby restaurant before setting off for the Rocks area and the Art Gallery.
After enjoying the air-conditioning in the art gallery we headed for the bridge, walked under and around it getting some great shots of the Opera House and harbour.
From there we headed for the QVB building to have lunch and buy a new Penhaligon’s fragrance.
For dinner we had reservations in the O Bar & Dining revolving restaurant, on the 47th floor of Australia Square. Because it was my birthday we received a free glass of bubbles each when we arrived plus they gave me a really lovely birthday card and exquisite dessert.
The views were amazing, the staff we awesome and the food was sensational. We were also incredibly lucky with the weather – it was a beautiful sunny day and after our two-hour time limit they found us a table in the bar so we could watch the sunset and enjoy a cocktail.
Day five – Friday 14th of February
Our last day was all about getting home. My hotel tv had a cool alarm feature, you could pick a time to wake up and what channel you wanted to wake up to, so I chose Channel 7 for the breakfast tv. I woke to the stressful news that the Sydney train staff were on strike and there were hour long queues to get on an airport train and traffic in the city would be gridlocked. So, we decided to check out early and get an Uber around 9:30 – this was a great plan and we got to the airport without incident and in plenty of time.
About 30 minutes after we got inside the terminal it started to rain – the first time since we arrived on Monday and the rain was so heavy there was flooding, however it didn’t affect take off and apart from the screaming babies in rows near us the whole trip home was great.
In the holidays I went to the Art Gallery with a friend to see the “Your Curious Journey” exhibition which is described on the art gallery website as: “Journey through bursts of colour, swirling mists, shimmering light, invisible forces and living materials to discover new ways of seeing and understanding the world around us“.
I’m so glad I went, it was the most fun I’ve ever had at an art gallery. The exhibition was fascinating and interactive, not like staring at a painting.
Afterwards we found another exhibition to look at which wasn’t there last time I was there, this one is known as: The Robertson Gift and what an amazing gift it is. There was even a Picasso!
One of the reasons I signed up for an Art Gallery membership was to force me to go see more exhibitions. When I read about the Guo Pei exhibition it looked amazing and thanks to having a membership I could go as many times as I wanted for free and bring a friend. I ended up going three times – it was that good.
The first time I went I couldn’t find the words to describe how fantastic the dresses/gowns were and the photos I took and posted on Facebook just couldn’t do them justice, so I was really happy when a couple of friends also wanted to go so I had excuses to go again and discover all the things I missed the first time.
For my third visit I decided to focus on the finer details and incredible shadows the dresses cast, rather than just admiring each dress. So glad I went and I’d happily go again.
After lasting 15 years working for the same company, I deserved a treat, plus we get long service leave after 15 years so I needed to use it and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate this milestone, than a trip to Sydney for a holiday and some shopping in the brand-new biggest Lego store in the world. Turned out this was a great way to celebrate and everything was awesome with many highlights, there were no disappointments and everything went as planned or even better than I hoped for.
Day One – Tuesday 27th of February
Up super early to drive myself to the airport and check in to the Park & Ride car park, it was raining and there were many holdups on the way so when I got there and found a spot I was very relieved. So relieved I didn’t really take much notice of where I had parked till I saw a huge reminder notice asking everyone if they had taken note of where they parked, so I took a photo of the area where my car was focussing mainly on the big black building in the background (more on this at the end of this blog). Luckily it had stopped raining so I didn’t get wet while dragging my bag to the bus stop. The bus turned up after a minute of waiting, I got on and the very kind bus driver even grabbed my suitcase so I didn’t have to try and lift it. And so my holiday officially begun where I can start to sit back and relax, everything going forward is out of my hands and I had plenty of time to relax and grab breakfast after dropping off my bag and clearing security.
Great flight over and as luck would have it, the lady seated next to me was very skinny and took up no room at all. After clearing customs etc I went in search of the pick up point for Uber cars, however that was harder than I thought and not that cheap so I ended up catching the train to Central Station and an $11 Uber to Darling Harbour where the Park Royal hotel was excited to see me (even at 2:00 rather than 3:00) and a fabulous upgrade to the Club Floor awaited. The upgrade was on a standby if available basis for only $60 extra and you had to accept the offer a few days in advance. The upgrade gave me access to the Club Lounge with stunning views, fully cooked breakfasts, snacks and refreshments throughout the day and 2 hours of free drinks from 5:00 – 7:00 every night. My suite had TWO toilets!
After falling in love with my room I had a whole afternoon ahead of me and I wanted to suss out how long it would take me to get to the Opera House in time for tomorrow morning’s tour, so I set off up the hill from Darling Harbour to George St, jumped on the light rail train and went all the way to Circular Quay. When I turned a corner and saw the Opera House I was filled with joy, even though I have seen it several times before I still get goosebumps when I see it in real life. I took a walk around it, took some photos and headed along the wharf to find somewhere to eat. I ended up in Wahlburgers, had never been before even though we have one in Auckland now. It had a really cool concept where you sat at the table, downloaded the app, ordered food and paid for it all within the app. However the app didn’t like my card so I had to use ApplePay which was mega easy and cool, but that meant I was paying in NZ dollars and there would be an exchange rate difference & comission – oh well I’m on holiday, so never mind. The food was great and the beer very refreshing.
After that I wandered around Circular Quay then headed for the train to take me to Town Hall Station (nearest stop to the hotel) & Woolworths to buy beer and snacks. Shockingly that Woolworths wasn’t licensed to sell alcohol, but luckily right next door was a small liquor store attached to a pub so I bought beer from there and I’m pretty sure I bought beer from there back in 2015.
Day Two – Wednesday 28th of February
Wide awake very early I think because of the time difference & the excitement of trying out the free cooked breakfast in the Club Lounge and then the Sydney Opera House Tour. The breakfast was amazing and the view was great.
After that I had a nice leisurely stroll up to the train which took me all the way to the Opera House. This was the second time I have done the Opera House tour and it was really different from the first time which was cool and this time I finally got to see inside the main Concert Hall, which has been a bucket list item since 1981 (not that I had a bucket list back then). Loved the tour and I’d definitely do it again if I ever go back to Sydney.
After the tour I headed back to the hotel to collect my bag then set off for a wander around the shops mainly to check out the Apple Store and the brand new Lego Store. This was my third attempt at checking out this particular Apple Store, in 2015 we were too early and didn’t have enough time to wait for it to open before we needed to check out of the hotel and in 2020 it was being renovated, so this time it was open and I could buy stuff!
The Lego store (biggest in the world) was everything I hoped it would be, but I left my Lego passport back in the hotel so decided to just wander around but come back tomorrow with my passport and buy something then.
Day Three – Thursday 29th of February
Today a heatwave was scheduled for Sydney, so just as well my plan for the day revolved around shopping in airconditioned stores. The heatwave was even on the news last night warning everyone to take care and stay hydrated and the high was going to be 39 degrees. It only got to 35 but that was way hotter than anything I’m used to, but it sure did look like a stunning day outside.
After an amazing complimentary breakfast, I headed out to Darling Harbour and the Chinese Friendship Garden which I figured would be a nice cool and shaded spot to start off while waiting for the shops to open. However that plan was very short lived coz there was a long walk to the garden and none of it was undercover and it was already 25 degrees and way too hot for me. I found out what the cool shaped building next to my hotel was (above left pic) – it’s simply called the W and they use words starting with W to name their rooms, such as the Wow suite and the Wonderful room. After seeing that the walk to the gardens without cover was too much, I headed for the nearest bridge which was the Pyrmont Bridge (a heritage-listed swing bridge) to get me to the heart of the shops.
First stop was Myers – I figured they would have a nice air conditioned cafe for me to sit and enjoy an iced coffee. But on the way to the cafe I discovered they had Penhaligon’s fragrances which you can’t buy in NZ so I checked them out and discovered they now have their very own shop in the QVB mall, so I decided to go there on the way back to the hotel. The cafe was great, their Lego store was cool and the Westfield mall was all decked out in rainbow colours for Sydney Mardi Gras.
From there I headed out the back door and ended up on Castlereagh Street, this was symbolic because yesterday while I was wandering around the Apple Store a friend in Australia messaged me asking me if I was anywhere near Castlereagh St coz there had been a shooting there and I should avoid the area. But I had no idea where it was and everyone around me was carrying on like nothing was wrong so I figured it was quite far from where I was – turns out it was just one block away! I saw straight ahead there was a beautiful park and a massive cathedral so I headed for that and stood in the shade for a bit.
From there I had a wander around the stunning David Jones department store. It was like stepping back in time to the fifties glamour era. It had a wonderful Lego shop, a massive bank of about 10 lifts all in a row and the most visually stunning shoe store like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I only ended up on the shoes floor coz I was looking for the men’s loo.
After that I headed to the Lego store and found something to buy – this time I had my Lego passport and when I told the salesperson she said, “Oh I hope it’s not your real passport”. Apparently a lot of adults see the sign and think they can get a Lego stamp in their real passport. I bought the Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit set, (a) because it wasn’t that heavy and (b) because it wasn’t that big and would easily fit in my suitcase, plus I’d never seen it before and didn’t know it existed. Next I went to Uniqlo for clothes that a couple of friends recommended big time, but by then I was hungry and so hot and the crowds were beginning to annoy me, so I found a pair of shorts to buy and escaped. On the way to the QVB building I stopped into Dymocks and enquired if they had a book I’ve been trying to find in NZ for years and they actually had one copy left yay.
To finish off my fantastic shopping experience I found the Penhaligon’s shop in the QVB building and it was stunning and they had exactly what I was looking for in several sizes (Myers only had the big size) and when I told the salesperson I was from NZ so going on her mailing list probably was not a good idea she loaded up my bag with many free samples!
Once back in the hotel I had several beers and enjoyed the view while I contemplated what to do next. Then I realised I hadn’t been to the Club Lounge yet to try out the free snacks and all day beveridges, I was the only person in there so that was nice.
After checking the time and cooling off I headed out for one last walkabout to Darling Harbour and the Madame Tussauds exhibition.
The ticket guy thought I was a bit strange trying to get in that late in the day – it was about 4:30 and they closed at 5:00, but I knew that would be plenty of time for me and there wouldn’t be any crowds. It was cool but often felt eerie because I constantly felt like someone was watching me and I’d turn around and it would just be a wax figure. The pic above right where someone is taking a photo of something had me fooled for ages – I waited very patiently for them to take the pic so I could get past them.
From there I thought it would be cool for old times sake to catch a ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay – check out my 2015 & 2020 blogs. As soon as I turned up to the ferry peer and got on, it took off and the breeze was lovely. Once at Circular Quay I got some frozen yoghurt something that’s hard to find now in Auckland, then took a really long walk all the way around the quay and under the bridge. After that I headed back to the hotel.
Day Four – Friday 1st of March
My last day in Sydney – I thought about going for a walk around Darling Harbour one last time but in the heat without shade and not a whole lot of time left before I headed to the airport, I figured it was best to have a very leisurley luxurious breakfast in the Club Lounge and then take my time doing coffee while packing my bag.
Air NZ sent me an email saying my OneUp bid had been sucessful so I had been upgraded to Premium Economy OMG – I’ve only ever flown Economy Class, so this would be my first time experiencing something a bit better than Economy Class.
It was sad leaving my fabulous hotel suite behind (how will I cope with just the one loo when I get home LOL). The Uber came quickly and there was only a little wait for the train from Central to the airport. Check in was easy and so was passport control and security. The flight was delayed about 30 minutes but as I was flying Premium I got to board early so it really didn’t matter and for the first time ever I got to turn left after boarding!
Premium Economy was indeed quite classy, with proper cutlery, glasses and plates, bigger meals, lots of drinks, big comfy seats, flash headsets and only 21 seats in the cabin.
Passport control and security was fast and easy, and the Park and Ride bus turned up as soon as I got to the stop. But the bus actually stops to let everybody off at a different stop from the one you board after parking your car, but I thought I was at the same stop and headed for my car in completely the wrong direction. Once I got to the spot where my car was supposed to be I realsied I was definitely not in the same area I had dropped my car off at. Luckily I had taken a photo of where I parked but it focused on the large black building in the background – and in the dark that couldn’t be seen and I had no idea where my car was. The car park was massive and dark and I was the only person wandering around dragging a big suitcase behind them – thank goodness it wasn’t raining! I took a closer look at the photo I took of where my car was parked and noticed a tiny sign saying I was in the Blue Zone C – but I was in the Z zone – the other end of the car park, that’s when I realised there are two bus stops!
Sometimes it’s easy to look back on a year and think it wasn’t a very good year, maybe it’s because the bad things that happened stick out more than all the good things. So I decided to look back through all the photos on my phone as a reminder of the cool/awesome things I did in 2023. So these are the highlights, plus a couple of non highlights but they were pretty big events:
January
~ Michelle here from the UK, stayed over at her AirB&B. ~ Movies at the Silky Otter. ~ Not a highlight but… worst rain in history for Auckland (non stop every day for weeks), floods everywhere. ~ Built the Lego Lighthouse.
February
~ Birthday bridge walk – new Mangere Bridge with the gang. ~ Titanic 25th anniversary edition in 3D with Michelle. ~ Orbit restaurant, Sky Tower for dinner to celebrate Michelle’s birthday. ~ Celebrated my birthday with Lisa then walked up Mt Eden.
March
~ House & Garden Tour with Barb. ~ Brunches with friends. ~ Built the Lego Tokyo architecture set and Groot.
April
~ Got Covid for the first time, not a highlight but a significant event. ~ Went on a blind date. ~ DVD nights with friends. ~ Brunches with friends.
May
~ Brunch with Teresa up from Cambridge.
June
~ Wellington on the train with Dad and Paula, saw the Brickman Jurasic World exhibition. ~ Long weekend in Tauranga, hung out with Nic, stayed in a brand new Quest hotel in Mt Maunganui. ~ Bought big 50″ TV – amazing service and after sales service from Harvey Norman dude.
July
~ Flew to Wellington to do some Excel training. ~ John & Donna’s in Whangaoaroa. ~ Actually got flown to Whangarei for training coz all the roads are flooded or broken. ~ Got my first Lego passport after brunch with Ange.
August
~ Wellington for two whole weeks for an induction at the call centre. ~ Wine tasting with the gang.
September
~ Coffee and chocolate festival, stayed over with friends in the city. ~ Built the Lego Galaxy Explorer.
October
~ Election time.
November
~ Auckland Brick Show with Lisa.
December
~ Xmas at the Pullman. ~ Made a big start on the courtyard after several years of neglect (holiday project). ~ Many BBQs with friends.
Wow it’s been a really long time since I added anything to my blog. There have been plenty of things I’ve wanted to blog about so maybe they’ll appear eventually now that I’ve got the ball rolling again.
Dad and Paula thought travelling to Wellington on the train one last time would be a wonderful thing to do and they asked me if I wanted to join them. Absolutely 😊. So, we set off very early on Saturday morning (the 10th of June) by taxi to the train station, check in was super easy and all the staff could not have been more friendly or helpful.
Up front there is an open-air carriage giving photographers a place to take great photos without the window reflection spoiling your pics, and as you can see the weather was perfect for us. After all the rain we’ve been enduring lately it was a huge bonus and I felt incredibly lucky.
The first time we did this train journey it was raining, and it was summer so there wasn’t much snow on the mountains, but it was still a spectacular sight. So that was the main reason for doing the trip again – we were hoping to see snow on the mountains, and we weren’t disappointed – not only was there lots of snow, there wasn’t much cloud hiding anything, and we got to see a whole mountain that we didn’t see last time.
The train trip takes 11 hours and is a very relaxing way to spend a day, seeing the country, eating and drinking and the staff were super helpful the whole way, even when we got off the train, one of the staff made sure we found the taxi rank and helped us down stairs with all our bags.
The train in Wellington.
On Sunday morning while Dad & Paula enjoyed a sleep in, I walked to the brand-new exhibition centre Tākina which is across the road from Te Papa to see a Brickman Lego dinosaur exhibition.
The weather was perfect, sunny, warm, and not windy at all which Wellington is world famous for. So the walk back to the hotel was marvellous, it was also nice to be wandering around Wellington like a tourist rather than rushing off to work.
We stayed in the Quest Hotel 256 Lambton Quay which I really enjoyed, nice clean rooms with everything you could need, including a fully equipped kitchen, dishwasher, laundry and hundreds of movies available on demand. Plus the location is right in the heart of the CBD, near a supermarket and the Cable Car – perfect for us. And we were lucky enough to have rooms that looked out over Lambton Quay.
At lunchtime we ventured out to the Cable Car and had lunch in the restaurant next to the cable car station. Stunning views and great food.
Next, we visited the cable car museum.
On Monday I headed back to Auckland, it was cool to see a Lego dinosaur at the airport promoting the exhibition I’d been to on Sunday. Great weather for flying home and I even got to see the mountains again, but this time from the air. Once back in Auckland I caught the Sky Bus which was only $18 and I had the whole top deck to myself.
And in case you’re wondering… Dad and Paula flew to Christchurch the next day to take the Tranz Alpine Express to see more snowy mountains.
Last weekend I drove down to Rotorua to stay with friends I haven’t seen for a really long time. I saw Heather for dinner after work one night back in 2013 – maybe later I’m not sure, but I sure haven’t seen Heather and Cameron at the same time since 2005.
The drive down was easy, and I got to drive through the Fitzgerald Glade which is probably one of my most favourite things to do on a drive.
Shortly after driving through the glade, you turn a corner and there is a stunning view of Lake Rotorua in the distance, and I always start to get excited. Soon I arrived at my friends very large home with a choice of guest rooms and my very own ensuite bathroom. After chilling out for a while I was persuaded to go jetboating – this was nothing like I imagined. I have gone jetboating before back in the 80s in Rotorua so I imagined it would be the same – on a big boat with about 20 other people travelling along a river very fast and way too close to the rocks. This was nothing like that.
Check out the Velocity Valley website to see what I mean. That’s not me in the pic below, it’s just a pic I found on the web.
The weather forecast for the whole weekend was supposed to be very heavy rain – thank goodness they got that wrong. Velocity Valley also had pigs and an ostrich which was cool for an Auckland City guy like me to see.
Next we stopped at Kuirau Park in the city so I could try and take some photos of the thermal activity. It wasn’t easy as all the steam just looked like mist, but there was an area where you could take your shoes off and dunk your feet in the wonderful warm water – so relaxing.
After dragging ourselves away from there we drove to the lakeside to check out a very spiritual and special place – Ohinemutu Church where an Anzac Day dawn service is held every year, which would be amazing to attend.
Back home after that for some relaxation with some beers and pizza. Once it got dark Heather drove me to the Redwood forest where they have a treetop walk you can do at night. We weren’t going to do the walk although I HAVE to go back one day to do that, we went so I could see the forest lit up at night – it was awesome.
Back home for some more beers and an occasional sound of the six60 concert in the distance.
New Horizons 