Mt Wellington, just a month after a fireworks incident burned a swath near the top. You can see the darker section in the picture.

After only about a year, this now-familiar sight is a thing of the past: for safety reasons and I think sheer corporate arrogance, Lime has been banished from Auckland’s streets. We have three or four other scooter choices now.

Lime was first to market, and what a market it is… the dratted things are everywhere, rented by the minute like Lime, but also owned and replacing a car or bike as primary means of transportation. Still kinda fun to ride, but I haven’t made my peace with how it’s all supposed to work on already dangerous streets and crowded footpaths.

Here’s me and my mates in the Auckland Big Band playing at a retirement home last Sunday. My first gig! Lots of fun for me and made some old people really happy.

Next goal for me is to get the solo in Begin the Beguine down pat…

People lined up for Black Friday deals last week outside a store that sells caps and jerseys from US teams.

New Zealanders have mostly heard about the American holiday of Thanksgiving here, at least from seeing movies, but don’t really know the details. They probably don’t know it always falls on a Thursday, for instance, so they don’t know why you’d be off work to go shopping on Friday. They don’t know how many families gather together for that big turkey dinner, and are therefore desperate to get out of the house by Friday.

Doesn’t matter… Black Friday has become firmly established here. It’s still a month till Christmas, and besides, everybody loves a deal. I suppose it’s just easier for brands and retailers to use the material they’ve got than to gin up some Kiwi-specific reason to go shopping.

We bought this archway so the jasmine would have a place to grow. It’s already blown over once in a windstorm this week, but once we get it weighted down a bit better it will be great.

I’ve never owned a classic car, or even a project car other my largely unsuccessful time with an old VW bus. And for all sorts of really important and valid reasons, it’s almost certain I never will.

But that does not stop the persistent flutter of excitement that walking by this driveway has evoked in me these past few days.

Another year, another clutch of baby gulls. We’ve seen two so far.

We went on a couple of nice walks this weekend.

On Saturday we hiked up Mt St John, which is a lovely hill / park nearby.

The next day we wandered down to the waterfront and climbed this massive staircase that was just rebuilt after a landslip. That is Lee’s “They better serve wine in this treehouse.” face.

But we made it!

Lee has been doing a bunch of artsy projects lately. Here’s the newest. She took this hall table we picked up online, painted it, then applied the two old prints, found somewhat damaged at an op shop, using trusty Mod Podge.

The prints themselves are interesting in their own right. The top one is a picture of the famous Pink and White Terraces, New Zealand’s most famous attraction in the late 19th century… until they were destroyed and/or submerged in 1889 by the eruption of Mt. Tarawera. It was painted by John Barr Clark Hoyte, who was a prolific artist and is much collected these days. We just learned about the Terraces recently after Lee stopped to chat with a utility box artist doing a more surreal interpretation of them…

On the lower level is a picture of Mt. Tongariro by Charles Decimus Barraud. He was “an enthusiastic amateur ” according to the biographer. Peter Jackson made good use of Tongariro in the Lord of the Rings movies.

Saturday’s unexpected find at the farmers market: a cherimoya or custard apple at the honey lady’s stand.

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Vicki here is leaving the swimming group, and was farewelled (‘farewell’ is commonly a verb here) (along with ‘gift’) (I’m not thrilled with either) with a cake featuring a bunch of little swimmers.