Tourist At Home

It's a funny thing when you are a tourist in your home town. At first you struggle to see what others might see because you are so familiar with your surroundings.

I found myself back in Auckland with a week to kill between social gatherings and decided to get some exercise. Staying in St Heliers the logical thing to do was to walk along the waterfront. Even better - it was a fine day in Auckland. A rarity the locals tell me. Auckland is blessed with a picturesque waterfront that spans the eastern foreshore of the city from downtown to the well established and very gentrified Eastern suburbs of Kohimarmara and St Heliers. My own hometown experience of the waterfront was at roughly 60kph trying to navigate the traffic snarl to and from the city. So, doing it on foot at a leisurely tourist pace was certainly a novelty.

As I mentioned earlier - I struggled at first to see it through new eyes. I had seen the houses over and over again throughout the years and nothing much changed. Probably because I tended to look in the same place. I knew the beaches and the shops. And I felt really strange with a camera in my own hometown. But then I let the camera take over and I saw the intrinsic beauty of some of the buildings I knew so well and I found flowers and shrubs that I hadn't even noticed before.

What hadn't changed - even with the help of the camera - was the 'village' connection in Auckland. Not two minutes into my walk I ran into someone I knew. That is a real Auckland phenomenon. A population of around 1.5 million and you still run into people you know. Kind of comforting really - makes you feel that you are still connected to your home town. If you haven't done it recently or you've never done it all - do yourself a favour and stroll along the waterfront. The views of the harbour, that rock that is Rangitoto, the birds, boys and babes on the beaches and the colours on a stunning Auckland day. You cannot replace it.

THE BEST.......the stunning photo ops that continued to unfold the further I walked.

THE WORST.....the bloody traffic getting in the way of otherwise unspoilt vistas or resplendent old buildings.

I'M LEARNNG.......there are a lot of people in Auckland with nothing to do. Mid week in November there were streams of people about. Many of whom I wanted to stop and ask why they weren't working. Then I suppose they could have asked the same of me.

A Hint of Summer

Yesterday dawned sunny, warm and looked very much like summer. After several weeks of false starts to this most special of all seasons I had a good feeling about the day. The fact that there were no clouds, no wind and the weather forecast predicted fine weather all indicated that this could be the day to venture into summer 'stuff'.

I took the plunge, did the household chores, visited the local school Crafts market and then decided that this was the day Jack and I would go to Ocean Beach. First time for both. Quite daunting really. For me - because I actually didn't know where I was going and, for Jack, because he was actually leaving the property.

You know how it is when you are going somewhere you haven't been before - it seems to take forever to get there. This was no exception. We wended our way through the rural countryside heading east because that's where the coast is and, presumably, the beach. Unlike other coastlines that I have lived on there was no real hint that the ocean was coming up. You know, things like seabirds, other cars with beach stuff hanging out of them or even the sea itself. All I saw was paddocks, paddocks and more paddocks. To make it a little more intimidating the roads were windy and, from my previous experience with Jack, its not a good idea to go too fast on windy roads. Takes forever to get that vomit smell from the car seats! But, my patience was rewarded and we came to the crest of a hill only to see the most magnificent shoreline below us. And I mean below us. You'd think I would have been thrilled to get there without getting lost and both of us in one piece. Well, there was one last obstacle. The road down to the beach. Narrow, winding and with no fencing on the outside. Furthermore descending cars had to give way to ascending cars. That was me!!! Came round a corner and there's a 4WD coming up the hill. Panic set in briefly but we all breathed in and we made it.

Unlike big city beaches parking was no problem. Jack, with his usual enthusiasm leaped out of the car and commenced dragging me toward the beach. It was funny to watch his reaction when he reached the sand - a sort of 'this weird but nice feeling' look. Not daunted he plunged on. I quickly read the sign about picking up doggy do-dos if they occurred and naturally, being unprepared, that's the first thing Jack decided he would do when he was in full view of the public. Let me tell you - not on my watch. It must have been quite a spectacle watching a woman hurriedly drag a dog down the beach while he was in the crouching, concentrating position. I won that argument and he didn't leave his calling card.

I took him to the water's edge - now that was a little scary for the wee boy. And for me! The water was freezing. We both put on a brave face and scooted back out of the small waves. Jack continued to smell EVERY footprint in the sand for the entire time we were on the beach but it was a great day. You just have to sit back and realize how lucky we are in New Zealand to have such pristine coast line available to everyone and enjoyed by all without any cost or inconvenience. After about an hour of sniffing his way along the extensive length of this beach we returned to the car. This time, in front of the crowd, he decided to whine and bark at the other dogs so, there I was again, dragging a dog kicking and yelling to the car. I am sure it's a sight a lot of the locals won't forget for a while.

On the way back home I stopped at The Trading Post. This quaint cafe, come furniture maker, come cowhide reseller made a truly great coffee. The woman running the cafe was really friendly and even got a bowl of water for Jack who was seriously panting at this stage. I would recommend her spot to any traveller to Ocean Beach. Beautiful hand made New Zealand furniture is the bonus to the creamy coffee and delectable snacks.

THE BEST...........The views, just the stunning vista from the hilltop. Ohh - and the great coffee at the Trading Post.

THE WORST.......Driving down the narrow steep road to the beach. Shades of a very frightening experience I once had in Queenstown when I was, in theory, going to drive to Bungy Jump at Skippers Canyon. The road was just as narrow and just as winding.

I AM LEARNING......People who made the roads in rural New Zealand were obviously bored with job so they put corners in just to keep themselves amused. Either that or they were paid by the kilometre.