Auckland Anniversary

The weekend before last happened to be Auckland's Anniversary; to commemorate the arrival of Auckland's first governor in the Bay of Islands in 1860 and the subsequent establishment of a colony here. The day is a public holiday and part of the celebrations include the worlds largest single day regatta...

It also happened to coincide (almost) with our first month anniversary since arrival. Since Amanda had a few days off in a row we made the most of it and ventured a little further afield, if not quite as far as we would have liked...

Friday, the weather was appalling, raining all day. Which was the perfect excuse to remain holed up in the Auckland Museum. Lots of Maori artefacts, snapshots of colonial Auckland and some interesting maps (Amanda & I are suckers for an old map). Finished Friday off with a bottle of local white and an Indian takeaway!



The weather improved a little on Saturday and we headed to a nearby market, the largest Polynesian market in the world. Very multicultural, lots of fruit & veg, food stalls and other typical market fair. Worth the visit if not as bohemian as we had been led to believe.

A short drive East brought us to Howick, an old colonial farming town and also home to a market. If Otara market was East end, this would be the Brighton Lanes. Artisan cheeses, salamis, French pastries and arty / crafty objects d'art etc. We took lunch in a café decked out like an old Apothecary. Fine food and fine coffee and a relaxing spot to write some postcards.


Sunday we checked out our local swimming pool. Quite a find with both indoor and outdoor pools, diving boards, jacuzzi and sauna - all for a couple of quid. Many families were making a day of it, having picnics in the shade around the outdoor pools. You see that a lot more here. Caught some live Latin music afterwards in the park adjacent to the pool. We would have stayed but were invited to share our first BBQ in New Zealand with some new friends. An entertaining evening finished off with an amazing banana cake.




Monday we headed into the CBD and spent the afternoon at the Auckland Seafood Festival. Lots of awesome food available (although Amanda was not that keen!)-pick was the Macadamia crusted Monkfish. We also had a lesson in making Sushi, caught some of the Regatta and spent the afternoon relaxing in the sun (and shade - very hot day!) while listening to some more live music.

In the news recently, was the announcement that this year's 'The Big Day Out' (Australasia's version of Glastonbury) would be the last. Since the music scene is quite a bit quieter here than the lively Brighton one we are used to, this was bad news indeed. Still while taking a break from the Seafood festival and wandering around the viaduct quarter (where we found this piano) we stumbled upon a somewhat smaller Indie Festival. We could not get in, but we will now be ready next year...


Finally, wrapped the weekend up with a nice chilled glass of Leffe Blonde. Choice!