I discovered this little park on a lunchtime walk a few weeks ago. Turns out it’s kind of a big deal. 

The Auckland Hash House Hussies jogged by the house last evening. 

We’ve been streaming a lot of Kiwi TV since getting here, and it’s been fun and educational both. This guy played played a charming but devious criminal in Outrageous Fortune, and a genuinely nice guy in Nothing Trivial. We liked him in both roles. Those shows are both done, and apparently he’s been working overseas since then. But he has young kids, and wanted to be home more. 

According to a magazine ad we saw this week, he’s given up life on camera and taken a job as a celebrity real estate agent. I dare say the new job pays at least as well as any but the very most lucrative acting gig, given that there are plenty of neighborhoods here with multimillion dollar median prices. Gud on ya, mate. 

If I were selling a fancy house, having a famous and good-looking guy representing me seems like it would be a great thing. But as a buyer, would I really trust a guy who I absolutely know can create a completely false reality and make me totally believe it?

My first ride today on my new bike, wonderful, if windy. 

I started out riding along the coast, passing the old VW meetup, opening day at the sailing club, junior rugby, and lots of people enjoying the day. I made it all the way to Mt. Wellington, one of Auckland’s many volcanoes.

I went to the bike shop yesterday to buy some bits and bobs preparatory to today’s maiden ride on my new steed. Down in the area where we stayed for our first couple of weeks, I came across this little memorial to the neighborhood’s past. 

This great wheel is all that is left of the old power plant. Now, it’s a not especially pretty jumble of apartments, hotels, and office space. There are ground floor shops and even cafes, but you get the sense that they basically serve the building tenants… there’s nowhere you’d actually make a point of going. The location is pretty good, walking distance to everything, but whoever was in charge of re-developing that area somehow missed the mark. I think the buildings might be a little too big, a little too close together, insufficiently ornamented. 

Half a mile away, the Auckland Council is hard at work reclaiming another section of the old wharves, and they’re trying to make lots of public space, etc., so hopefully the end result will be inviting and vibrant for many years. 

A Nissan Figaro with a makeover. 

100 years ago, at the Battle of Passchendaele, NZ suffered its most horrific single day military losses. Over 800 dead on the day, and 300+ died of their wounds over the next few months. 

Lee and I snuck out to see the commemoration ceremony at the War Memorial Museum. Between the crowds and typical marble hall acoustics, we couldn’t really see or hear much of anything. Strains of choral music, random phrases from the speeches and prayers. Even so, it was a moving event, remembering a particularly incomprehensible battle. Here’s a good if unscholarly account. 

We couldn’t help but notice this proud old soldier standing near us. 

But it was Lee who saw the continuity from one generation to the next. 

May that determined young cadet never see the sights of war as seen by Kiwis in Flanders or Italy or Vietnam or Iraq or Afghanistan. 

We did a ton of work in the garden this weekend, finally finished the deferred maintenance tasks that came with the plants we bought a few weeks ago. It looks really nice now, and should keep getting better as the succulents grow in. Lee planted some seeds and bulbs today too, and it should be really pleasant as summer gets here. 

And I bought a bike… 

Yesterday a few hundred hearty souls walked by the house, braving wind and rain, to raise money for breast cancer causes. Gud on ya, mates!

I walk by this lovely old home on Parnell Road every time I go into town for things like Asian fusion cuisine, dental work, or Asian food products. It is the HQ of the NZ (that’s en zed in case you were wondering) Olympic Committee. 

Turmeric root, yet another exciting new farmers market experience. I feel healthier already.