We had a busy last week in New Zealand, fitting in several "lasts", including a last walk with my cousin, Shelwyn; a last visit with my nephew, Adam, and his family; a last visit to my sister, Tricia's, house; and our last date and orange scone at Revive in Petone (which we managed to do twice).
I had promised Tricia that I would do some construction projects at her house, and so we spent a day at Cross Creek, adding height to a fence to keep the animals from eating her shrubs, fencing in her vegetable garden to keep the rabbits out, and adding netting to another fence, to stop the sheep from eating her flowers. It was a long day, and I was exhausted, but we got 'er done.
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| Fence Enhancement |
On Tuesday morning we said goodbye to my sisters, and flew to Auckland for the last few days of our trip. We had been lucky in Nelson, avoiding the worst of cyclone Debbie, but the weather forecast for Auckland was not good - heavy rains on Wednesday from a low pressure system in the Tasman Sea, followed by cyclone Cook, which was expected to hit Auckland on Thursday, bringing winds of up to 140 Km/h and more heavy rain. There was even talk of closing the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
The Wednesday rains were very squally, with sizeable gaps between the heavy showers, so we were able to get out for breakfast and get to Archives NZ for a little family research, while staying substantially dry.
We spent Wednesday and Thursday nights with my niece, Katie, and her family in Ponsonby, which is an old suburb of Auckland, close to downtown, with many lovely old buildings. The area has become very popular with young professionals, and has been heavily rejuvenated. While the family were at work and school, Marlene and I explored the local neighborhoods.
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| Old Building on Ponsonby Road |
Our weather luck held, and cyclone Cook was a non-event in Auckland, with virtually no rain or wind. She did hit the East coast very hard, bringing down lots of trees, taking out power to thousands of homes.
We spent Friday roaming the city with Katie and family, as we did not have to leave for the airport until 4:30 pm. Auckland is crazy busy, with so much construction going on that tradespeople are hard to find - count the cranes in the photo below! It was a beautiful day out and our last chance for some exercise before sitting for 12 1/2 hours on the flight home.
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| Auckland - A City of Cranes |
The flight home was uneventful, and now, after spending Easter with our children and grandchildren in Vancouver, we will head home on Tuesday. After 3 months away, we are ready to be home, and back to our Parksville routine.
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