I got 99 Problems, but a Beach ain't one...

The finer things in life do not typically include Vegemite

It is going to be quite the task to encapsulate a lot of my experiences in writing, and I am sure some days will be shorter than others. Who knows how long I will keep this up for! Pictures to come. I should also say that Vegemite is way too savoury. But it has the B-Vitamins you neeeeeeed!

Chris and I are situated around Mairangi Bay (ie A BEACH!), which is about a 20 minute walk away, but includes a steep hill and going past our new grocery hub. It is extremely nice, with dog owners being allowed to have their dogs off leash anywhere, unless otherwise posted. I just imagine Mi'ka at prime time hours trying to bite the waves and meeting other dogs between bouts of soccer- her favourite game. Someday we will bring her here. For those who don't know, Mi'ka is our adorable australian shepherd. The laziest aussie you would ever meet.

I am going to make a point of going to the beach almost every day, despite how salty it is. I seem to utter that particular adjective every time I go in. The water is between 14-18 degrees year round, so it's swimmable at any time. By the way, swimmable is apparently not a word, according to the auto-correct dictionary. Every beach has a changing facility and usually a washroom. I also have to mention that the washrooms are "smart" washrooms, as they tend to talk to you and they all play What the World Needs Now by Burt Bacharach. So I feel like I am in an Austin Powers movie every time I use these Exeloo's.

SNAKES! Why did it have to be SNAKES?!

Yesterday, Sunday the 19th of March, 2017, Chris and I went to Victoria Park, which features some impressive cliffs along a beach and a 150-step climb back to the top. Needless to say, I was a bit tired when we reached the top to continue on our way to Takapuna. We didn't quite reach Takapuna before we had to catch a bus to Downtown Auckland, but only because we had to stop for a swim at a beach along the way. It was very refreshing after a bit of urban hiking.

Photos from our excursion yesterday are available HERE

So following our hiking into the early afternoon, we made it to downtown Auckland again for a quick bite of pick-your-own-adventure sorta sushi. Like any metropolitan city, the center is packed with wall-to-wall food and oodles of things to look at and do. It is reminiscent of Vancouver in the way the downtown couples with the beauty of the ocean, except Auckland has waaaay more sunshine.

So our activity of the day was seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark in a theater with a live symphony orchestra. It was pretty damned incredible as a part of the Auckland Art Festival, which is running for another week. I could not have imagined how important, effective and breathtaking the score of the first Indiana Jones movie is. It must have been so much fun to play it will an audience enjoys a classic film. If you ever get the chance to see any movie with live music accompaniment, I strongly implore you to do so. It is worth the price, whatever that may be. My only gripe is that I couldn't see the entire orchestra while they were playing, but I was able to see all of the violins and most of the horns as well as a sparsely playing harpist. Truly exceptional.

Come the evening we were invited by our landlord to come enjoy some wine and chinese cooked vegetables. Our landlord is from Singapore and is an investment broker with a penchant for traveling the world to visit vineyards and find the finest Pinot Noir. It's actually really nice to meet someone who wants to just sit and enjoy wine very slowly and carefully while speaking with good company. He says that Pinot is best served with good friends. I had never been guided as to how to enjoy a nice wine, but I think I will develop a deeper appreciation for the stuff. I will have to mention that I sip about an ounce to two ounces in a glass at a time. We aren't downing three bottle between us in an evening, so it really helps us savour the moments and complex flavours. I'm no connoisseur yet, but our landlord certainly is.

I will have to leave it there for now, as we needed to pass out at 9pm last night, just from the behemoth of a weekend Chris and I had. I did walk with Chris to work this morning, just see where it was, and wow... kind of a hike in itself. But that's it for now, folks!