We had such a fleeting visit to Auckland and I’m amazed we were able to catch up with the family that we did but this was helped by Dad holding his 80th birthday party the day before we flew out. We stayed with my auntie and uncle, Margie and Richard, and managed to see a bit of them in between zooming around! We decided to spend our ‘spare’ afternoon on the day we arrived out at Piha, a favourite surf beach where we spent loads of time when we lived in Auckland in the late 80’s. I was stoked to see that Piha hasn’t changed that much.
Piha is about 45 minutes from Auckland City and the last 20 minutes is through the Waitakare Ranges that seem just as wild as they were 20 years ago. The surf on the beach didn’t disappoint and we were confronted with waves that were way taller than us and we got dumped a fair few times. We took a leaf out of Marks book and ran wildly at the waves, throwing ourselves at them only to get tumbled round like we were in a washing machine. It’s a pretty dangerous beach so heavily guarded and two surfers were rescued while we were there.
The beach wasn’t busy and there were some fantastically positioned houses right on the beachfront. The black sand was so hot we couldn’t walk on it in bare feet.
On the way back into Auckland we stopped off for a BBQ at my stepsisters place, perched high on a hill in the Waitakare Ranges. Katie and Tim have a fantastic view over the city but unfortunately it was a bit hazy when we were there (but I’m sure you get the general idea!). The mountain in the distance on the left is Rangitoto Island, a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf, just outside the Auckland Harbour.
Dads 80th birthday party was great fun as there were loads of people there who I’d not seen for years and years, plus family from both Mum and Dads side of the family who I haven’t seen for at least four years. This is Dad, my nephew Nick, my older brother Paul and Grace.
These are my cousins, Charlotte (middle) and Philip (back right) and we’re missing their older brother, Nigel, who is in the UK. The kids are all Charlotte and her husband Jeffs (in green). I’m glad we’re sitting down as my cousins on Mums side are super tall and lean and I’ve always been the shortest in family photos. The kids don’t count but Charlottes 12 year old daughter Eden is nearly as tall as me anyway!!
This is almost the entire family (minus a few cousins who are overseas!). Dad did a brilliant job of getting everyone together for a meal that evening so it was a pretty full on day but a great opportunity for Euan to meet the family.
Rather than have a photo side by side, Charlotte suggested we have a go on this super-sized rocking horse but she wouldn’t take her feet off the ground because she thought we were going to go over backwards! We used to spend loads of time both riding double on my pony when we were kids and there were plenty of times when we both hit the ground. Somehow I don’t think she’s forgotten it.
I was hesitant to put this photo in but it’s the only photo we have of Auckland. It was pretty awful weather while we were there so no photos of the harbour bridge and this is the only one we have of the City. The shadow of ranges in the background is the Waitakere Ranges. We were up Mt Victoria in Devonport when this storm came over and ruined the views.
This is Rangitoto Island (at a guess, the toadstools are vents from an underground Naval bunker)
We left NZ for Chile the day after Dads party and I’d asked no one to come to the airport to see us off which was just as well as I was incredibly upset to leave without anyone there to say goodbye.
Piha is about 45 minutes from Auckland City and the last 20 minutes is through the Waitakare Ranges that seem just as wild as they were 20 years ago. The surf on the beach didn’t disappoint and we were confronted with waves that were way taller than us and we got dumped a fair few times. We took a leaf out of Marks book and ran wildly at the waves, throwing ourselves at them only to get tumbled round like we were in a washing machine. It’s a pretty dangerous beach so heavily guarded and two surfers were rescued while we were there.
The beach wasn’t busy and there were some fantastically positioned houses right on the beachfront. The black sand was so hot we couldn’t walk on it in bare feet.
On the way back into Auckland we stopped off for a BBQ at my stepsisters place, perched high on a hill in the Waitakare Ranges. Katie and Tim have a fantastic view over the city but unfortunately it was a bit hazy when we were there (but I’m sure you get the general idea!). The mountain in the distance on the left is Rangitoto Island, a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf, just outside the Auckland Harbour.
Dads 80th birthday party was great fun as there were loads of people there who I’d not seen for years and years, plus family from both Mum and Dads side of the family who I haven’t seen for at least four years. This is Dad, my nephew Nick, my older brother Paul and Grace.
These are my cousins, Charlotte (middle) and Philip (back right) and we’re missing their older brother, Nigel, who is in the UK. The kids are all Charlotte and her husband Jeffs (in green). I’m glad we’re sitting down as my cousins on Mums side are super tall and lean and I’ve always been the shortest in family photos. The kids don’t count but Charlottes 12 year old daughter Eden is nearly as tall as me anyway!!
This is almost the entire family (minus a few cousins who are overseas!). Dad did a brilliant job of getting everyone together for a meal that evening so it was a pretty full on day but a great opportunity for Euan to meet the family.
Rather than have a photo side by side, Charlotte suggested we have a go on this super-sized rocking horse but she wouldn’t take her feet off the ground because she thought we were going to go over backwards! We used to spend loads of time both riding double on my pony when we were kids and there were plenty of times when we both hit the ground. Somehow I don’t think she’s forgotten it.
I was hesitant to put this photo in but it’s the only photo we have of Auckland. It was pretty awful weather while we were there so no photos of the harbour bridge and this is the only one we have of the City. The shadow of ranges in the background is the Waitakere Ranges. We were up Mt Victoria in Devonport when this storm came over and ruined the views.
This is Rangitoto Island (at a guess, the toadstools are vents from an underground Naval bunker)
We left NZ for Chile the day after Dads party and I’d asked no one to come to the airport to see us off which was just as well as I was incredibly upset to leave without anyone there to say goodbye.
No comments:
Post a Comment