Auckland in April!
Checkout this link regarding the founding and evolution of courageous paddlers!
After picking up the car we drove over to the Airport Gateway motel for a 6 hour stay until JT and Shannon's flight arrived at 05:45hrs on Friday April 7.
When we checked out and headed out on the 5 minute drive to the airport, I promptly made a left out of the parking lot and headed down the wrong side of road! I was quickly reminded by both my navigator (Munchie) and the fellow headed directly at me, of my error! With a quick exit into a parking lot I was able to get my bearings sorted and get back onto the road, using the left side of the road, which down here is the right (correct!) side of the road! Since that initial oops, I've been pretty good, with only a couple of almost oops that were avoided in time with the help of my navigator and other passengers!
Google maps said there was parking lot A for the international terminal, however, in real time, the lot was closed and under construction! So after a couple of loops we found a spot in lot E and had a 4 minute walk to the international arrivals.
Shannon and JT appeared through the arrival doors about an hour after landing (it was the same with us the evening before) and we all decided a breakfast joint somewhere would be good. Not far from the airport was the Jamacia Blue restaurant that was open and served breakfast. We sat down and were checking out the menu, when JT realized he had left his cell phone on the plane!
We headed back to the airport and fortunately the phone was located, however they would not be able to get it until later in the day. There were a number of logistical reasons why they couldn't just walk it to the Air New Zealand customer service desk, so we went back to the Jamacia Blue for breakfast. The Air NZ customer service rep said since she had some colleagues who happened to live near our Air B&B in Auckland she would have them drop it off on their way home from work! Talk about going above and beyond! As it turned out JT got a call on his NZ phone (he brought a old cell phone and put an NZ sim in it) that they had the phone ready for pick up if he wished. We zipped back to the airport and retrieved the device!
We spent 4 days at the B&B in Auckland with JT & Shannon. The apartment was within walking distance of the downtown and we did some walking about checking it out. There was even one point when Shannon toyed with the idea of doing a bungee jump off of the Sky Tower. Its a 192m drop with you reaching speeds of about 85 kph. Sky Jump (video showing the Sky Walk and Sky jump). I was going to join her, however, once we were standing at the base looking up, well lets just say the cost of $235 NZD became too much and we opted out!
We took a drive north of Auckland to Browns Bay. The shoreline was impressive!
Had to stop for a beverage of course!
Just a short drive from Browns Bay was Waiwera Beach. Very similar to Browns Bay. Looks like it would be a great summer retreat for the Kiwis!
Our ferry ride over to Waiheke!
On Monday April 10 (Easter Monday) we took a ferry ride over to Waiheke Island. There are numerous wineries on the island, however, being a holiday, most of them were closed! Apparently employers here are more likely to close than stay open and pay employees double time and 1/2! Minimum wage here is $23! The weather really did not cooperate for this outing! It poured most of the day.
We did see some sun in the late afternoon which worked out well for our visit to the only open winery on the island, The Mudbrick. JT and Shannon did a wine tasting and walked away with a couple of bottles! We had supper there in the restaurant. It was very nice and the meals were good. A tad pricey, but most things here in NZ we find to be pricey!
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| Auckland City Skyline from Waiheke |
Had some fun on the ferry playing with features of my phone's camera!
On Tuesday we headed out to Hamilton, about a 90 minute drive south of Auckland (120km). The practice time for Shannon's dragon boat team, Breast Friends Edmonton, was that afternoon. We stopped at the Ambassador Hotel and dropped off the Turgeon's luggage, then did the 35 minute drive down to Lake Karapiro on the Waikato River to the venue.
Munchie and I then returned to Auckland. Our return trip was right during the peak of rush hour in the city! It took us 40 minutes to drive the last 8 km! Shannon and JT stayed in Hamilton as Shannon was involved with her team functions. We had planned on staying up in Auckland until Friday morning but as it turned out Shannon's schedule with the team wasn't as busy as we thought it would be, so I contacted the host of the VRBO I had booked in Hamilton for Friday and Saturday to see if we could add on Thursday. The host said that was no problem with so much notice. This seemed odd because it was only two days notice! I checked on my reservation and discovered I had booked for the year 2024! So, plan B, we were able to get the last room available at the Ambassador for the Thursday through Sunday!
It was a good thing we decided to change our plans otherwise we would be sleeping in a refrigerator box in an alley somewhere!
We loaded up the car on Thursday morning and headed to Hamilton. We stopped in Drury for breakfast/lunch at O'Malley's Sports Bar. Had a great meal and our server, Bailey was awesome. Met the Chef too! He came to NZ about 20 years ago from Poland. Really pleasant fellow and a very good cook to! Munchie chatted with him about the similarities of the Ukrainian dishes she makes to the Polish equivalent. By the time we left the chef was offering her a job!
Friday was the official opening of the Dragon Boat Festival New Zealand. The ceremonies and team parade was held in Cambridge, a town half way to the lake from Hamilton. Shannon (president of the Breast Friends team and member of the Canadian national committee) was out and gone by 8 am to attend the international congress meeting. She then boarded a bus with her team and headed to Cambridge. Shannon's roadies and support crew, JT, Johnny & Munchie, made our way down as well. We stopped at the Good George restaurant in Cambridge for lunch then took up positions at the entryway to Victoria Park to greet the teams as they marched in!
74 teams with paddlers from 21 countries competed! Canada had 14 teams here!
Saturday races commenced in the morning with Breast Friends (Edmonton) in heat number 8. The ladies paddled to a 3rd place finish in their 1st race! (8 boats in each race) Their second race was very exciting! The ladies came from behind to capture another 3rd place finish!
Sunday had some weather challenges! Strong winds caused havok and only 7 heats were able to race. Breast Friends were in heat 8. They paddled out to the starting line, however winds prevented any of the boats from staying in place long enough to start the race! After a couple of hours, with the wind not letting up, the races came to an end! Even the closing ceremonies that normally take place on the water with all the boats rafting together, were held on dry land.
Breast Friends' times placed them 21 out of 74, and 3rd out of 14 for the Canadian teams! Congratulations to the ladies of Breast Friends Edmonton! We are so proud of you all!
JT and I did look at bringing a souvenir home from the race. It may not meet the carry on restrictions on New Zealand Air!
This chapter of our NZ trip (Dragon Races) came to a close Sunday evening. Munchie and I met a number of Shannon's team mates during the festival and enjoyed our time with the team!
We have more on the agenda for our final week here in Kiwi land! Will be posting again soon!
Cheers to all!
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