Sophia and I visited Auckland 13 years ago (on our last sabbatical). A lot has changed in that time. The city appears more cosmopolitan and self-assured. It is huge. There is apparently a saying: if you haven't reached Auckland yet, it will reach you soon. I gather that something like about half of the population of NZ is in or around the city.
It is a consequence of having a far-flung family that we see each other rarely. I have not seen my other cousins, Derrick's two sisters (Judy and Shelly) and brother (John) for as long, and as the former two are in Sydney and John is in Brunei, sadly I will not be seeing them this trip either.
It has been interesting to see how the boys have changed over the 13 years. Nick, who is in his penultimate year at school, is very much into computers, which seem to occupy most of his free time. Reid has recently commenced an electrical apprenticeship. He is relatively new to driving and so far has had a colourful time. I believe that two cars have been written off and the current excitement is that he has just acquired a souped up Honda with all the police magnet trimmings...
Mandy and Derrick have been fantastically hospitable, with Mandy being my long suffering tour driver yesterday, having picked me up from the airport on the previous day. Derrick has been on duty until last night (St John's Ambulance). He joined Mandy and me at their local Italian restaurant, where we set about putting the world to rights. I hit the water at about midnight and having packed my bags for my journey to Hobart, do not feel to bad. Derrick on the other hand has yet to emerge.... I shall have to knock on his door shortly and remind him that I need to get to the airport.We have agreed that it has been too long... They will be over to see us in Europe.
Next stop, Hobart.
2 comments:
Hi Guy,
Hope your jumper and shades case have reached you at Derricks. Glad to hear Auckland has changed, still managed to live in NZ for over 15 yrs without having gone there! Go the Mainlanders!
We are just finishing yet another night of fine dining and far too much drinking around our kitchen table...hope Hobart treats you well and we miss you here. Love Emma
hi
good to catch up with all your exciting adventures. almas and i got back from istanbul yesterday. it was brilliant but very tiring as we ran around for 4 days trying to see and do everything. we ate way tooo much! the food is soo yummy. downside was that it was raining hard for 2 days solid so we got soaked and i have now got a nasty cold.
james is in taz at the moment so if you get time do catch up with him.
take care
luv
saba
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