Last Post!

March 28 - More boats and bikes! We drove to Westhaven Marina this morning. We had passed it a few times on our way to other places and there were MANY boats there. The boats were slightly less huge and opulent than the ones in the Viaduct Harbour, but there was obviously lots of money around judging by all the BMWs, Audis and Benzes in the parking lot. We tried to pay a courtesy visit to the Royal New Zealand Yachting Squadron, but the outer door was locked (although they did say they welcomed visitors) and a notice indicated that visitors should go to the west end of the building. So round we went, to find an identical notice encouraging visitors to enter through the east door! So our courtesy went unrewarded. I was amused at the name of one boat - Oliver Sudden (think about it!) and a licence plate on a car -
OFF 2C. We kept driving along the coast road and found a delightful little yacht club about 8 km out of town where we were welcomed with open arms! There were a lot of dads there with their small boys (aged about 10) who were all learning to sail in little tiny boats (P class) which are about 5’ long and are unsinkable. (I said “boys” because we didn’t see any girls - too bad.) The boats have one little sail and when there are a lot of them on the water, they look like a flock (flock?) of butterflies fluttering about. Karen and Pete had told us about a motor bike rally that was being held this afternoon along with R&B music so that’s where we headed next. Just like yesterday, there were lots of old bikes for John to get excited about and photograph. The one in the picture is a 1915 model with a cane sidecar which had a request attached to it, asking for a cane worker to spiff it up. Not often a cane worker would get to work on a motor bike attachment I would imagine! While John went on his photography spree, I sat in the shade and watched some guys (all over 20 and some much over 20) playing a REALLY bad game of soccer. But more exciting than the bikes …!!! The music wasn’t great either …
March 29 - Today we jumped on a ferry to go to Waiheke Island which is a 30 minute trip. Waiheke is famous for its vineyards and is a very sought after address. Because it’s quite close to Auckland by ferry, people can live there and commute to the city for work, but it is quite small and there is limited space for houses, so prices are high. Some of the houses we saw were amazing with fantastic views. We chose to be taken around the island on a coach with a most entertaining driver who told us about all the history, geology etc. We stopped at some gorgeous beaches (see picture) but it’s very definitely autumn now so sitting on the beach or swimming were not on the agenda. We had a really nice lunch in the main town, Oneroa. The restaurant was right on the ocean and the people at the next table were a very pleasant Australian couple, so we sampled some local wine, ate seafood and traded travel stories.
March 30 - Our last full day in New Zealand, so what better way to spend it than at a museum?! We chose the Museum of Transport and Technology over the Auckland Museum which sounded good, but probably has much the same kinds of exhibits as at Te Papa in Wellington. So MOTAT it was. The very first building we went into had a little sign outside saying “Telecom Workshop” so in we went. About 5 minutes later, I exited and about 1 ½ hours later, Mr. Hartley left the building with some persuasion from Mrs. Hartley! He had met an even older telephone man than himself (hard to believe, but true) so of course there were all kinds of stories to swap and modernities to bemoan (and photographs to take). He was very impressed with the scale of the exhibits they had. MOTAT covers all kinds of stuff (there’s that word again) - steam engines, cars, planes, old buildings with some craftsmen (John was NOT impressed with the blacksmith!) There are two MOTAT sites and you get from one to the other on an old electric street car. John got chatting to all kinds of people about military vehicles, planes and everything else! It was actually quite enjoyable but definitely a “guy” place. The exhibit I enjoyed the most was the one on Edmund Hillary’s trek to the South Pole. It was very well put together and extremely interesting, particularly since we knew a bit about it from visiting the Hillary museum at Mount Cook back on the South Island. We went out for supper with Karen and Pete, whose B&B we are staying in. They have been so welcoming and friendly and we’ve really enjoyed staying in their studio apartment. We’ll miss having breakfast delivered to our door, Karen!
So that’s it! We’re off to Japan this evening and I doubt I will be able to post blogs from there. I will continue to type away on our little computer and post when we get home. The blog has been a really good thing from our point of view and I want to thank Mark once again for gently (but firmly!) convincing me that it would be a good idea!