Dance by a Volcano

It's the last full day here in Auckland and my colleagues decided to take me for a trip to the little seaside town of St. Hellier. Any excuse to be by water works for me, even if it is slightly overcast. En route, I get chance to take a snap of Rangitoto, an extinct (so far) volcano just across the bay. Then we pull over and it's off for a quick paddle in the sea.

After the obligatory cappuccino at Baker's Delight cafe, we make for the War Museum to see the largest collection of Maori artifacts in the Southern hemisphere. The Maori War Canoe is a favorite with the crowds, with is marvellous prow carving of a guy sticking his tongue out the world. The exhibition also includes a complete house, numerous carvings, and more stuff than can be really appreciated in an afternoon.

Nothing special for dinner - a steak at an Italian restaurant, served by a very nice Kiwi who had spent two years of her life in Nashville. Small world, eh?

And with a late return to the hotel, there was just time to pack before hitting the sack. Loooong trip ahead, leaving on Sunday and arriving back in the US on... Sunday - apparently three hours after I was to leave! Such is the thing with time traveling.

On Top of the Southern World

At 328 meters in height, the Auckland Sky Tower is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. Impressive, eh? And for the princely sum of NZ$25 you can experience the dizzying view. Truth be told, you are only allowed to go to 220 meters where the Skydeck Viewing Platform is located. Before you get there, you start on the Main Observation Deck that is a piddling 186 meters and then pay the extra $3 to get to the top.

One of the fun things to do is to stand in the middle of one of the glass panels situated in the floor of the observation deck and look down. It's a little weird to feel like you're hovering in the air above the ground, but it does make you a little nervous. Looking out at Auckland and to the horizon through 360 degrees is impressive, but not as scary as looking straight down. The picture below is the view you get on a panel.

I was able to take a picture of Mount Eden, where I had been the previous night looking in exactly the opposite direction. There were glorious views of the bay, the Harbour Bridge, and even one of Auckland's youngest volcanoes, Rangitoto. I was also to experience the obligatory "Cappuccinos-around-the-world" from the Sky Lounge Cafe. Sure, the chicken sandwich was a little dry and not as think as a hungry man might prefer, but on a sunny day at 182m, the lounge is still an experience to be had.
Meanwhile, back in Second Life, imagine my surprise to discover that my oldest friend - as in "friend I have know the longest" not "friend who is fast approaching senility" - is going to be partnering up! If someone had been holding the proverbial feather, I could quite easily have been knocked over. I knew that Merry Felwitch and Cap Carver had been friends for some weeks now but I had absolutely zero clue that things were that serious. So I now have to go shopping for a new suit for a wedding - and presumably Cap will be thinking about doing the same thing. My guess is that Styles of Edo will be my first stop. They do some great men's tuxedos. At the same time, I suggested Merry go visit Simone! for the wedding dress.

And maybe, just maybe, I'll get to see Mony Markova in a pair of shoes. Well, I can dream, I suppose.

A Bridge and a Mountain

Before hitting the Shahi Indian Restaurant in Milford, where I polished of a mix of vegetable samosas, seekh kebabs, chicken tikka masala, soft garlic naan bread, washed down by Kingfisher beer, my hosts took me across the Harbour Bridge to see the city as the sun went down. Down by The Wharf, a place that is currently being renovated and seems to be a location for special functions like weddings, graduation parties, and the funeral of a very rich relative, there is a jetty from where it's possible to see the downtown metropolis under the span of the bridge.

Then we took a narrow, winding road to the top of Mount Eden, an extinct volcano that overlooks Auckland and offers a darkened, secluded venue to folks looking for a little smooching time. Needless to say I avoid the courting couples and climbed up to the highest point in order to take some pics. Of course, not having the equipment to take perfect night shots, I was only able to get a reasonably ordinary snap of a strip of lights against a black background. But honestly, it is the city of Auckland with its iconic Sky Tower in the center.

Mezzes for the Masses

For what it's worth, today I was on full tilt as far as work went. Like Britney Spears, I was "in the zone." I know I'm there when I'm able to answer every question from the audience, when I'm speaking at around 200 words per minutes and not stammering, and when folks offer me a job. I then get an endorphin rush that helps me soar through the day, handing out my e-mail to people like candy to kids. Damn I was good.

Then 5:00 pm hits, the fans have gone, and the endorphins stop. My body slows, my brainbegins to shut down, I come over all mellow, and thoughts of ice-cold beers begin to dominate. Time for dinner.

This evenings trip was to a tapas bar just off the busy Queen Street thoroughfare, the Mezze Bar tucked discretely off an alleyway. On the specials list was the Cuba Libre - and I was in a Hemingway mood so this was a no brainer. Then my colleagues and I started stacking the table with a selection of meats and vegetables; chunks of marinated lamb; seasoned meatballs; chunky tuna; spiced potatoes; the list went on.

Funny thing about Cuba Libres is that they go down easy and don't become boring. And I certainly wasn't bored. We ate and drank enough to suggest we should take the long way home - via the dauntingly steep Auckland Domain, a piece of land in the center of the city that added around 45 minutes to our walk home.

An Englishman, An Australian, and An American...

An Englishman, an Australian, and an American walk into an Irish pub in New Zealand...

It was late by the time we'd flown from Christchurch up to Auckland and after checking in at the Airedale Hotel an excursion to a friendly watering-hole was in order. Our first attempt was with a place called the London Pub, which turned out to be unfriendly to the point of being in serious danger of losing custom. It was clearly some sort of local talent night because there was a local talent wailing with a guitar and a small group of solemn and dour individuals with pints nodding like marionettes to the strumming. Oh, and more important - there was no-one at the bar. Not on person. Zero. After 5 minutes without even so much as a nod from the zombies, we decided to move on.


God was clearly on our side because situated adjacent to the pub was Father Ted's Bar, a much friendlier place that actually wanted to serve us with drinks AND was half way through a quiz night. Needless to say, after a few pints we were dominating the quiz - except that we hadn't actually signed up so our answers counted for NOTHING! Still, the beer and Jack Daniels chasers certainly helped work up an appetite, and in high-living style, we stopped off at a local fine-dining establishment, Kebabs on Queens, for a late night snack.

Sleep was easy.