Happy Valentine's Day!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Busy day today. We headed into Mount Maunganui this morning, along with what seemed like everyone else. There were two cruise ships in port, so there were lots of people milling about, mostly of the geriatric persuasion. Mark wanted to show Sherry & Ronan the leading candidate for their new place to live, and they both loved it. There was a friendly, young Icelandic couple living in the apartment now, but their visas have expired and they have to get out of the country. They were nice enough to let us in to show us the place, and it rocks! It's a relatively new building, and several doctors from the hospital live there. We noted a couple of their wives chilling in the hot tub as we toured the pool area. The apartment we're looking at is top-floor, 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath, overlooking town, but with a view of The Mount from the deck. Fully furnished, only a block to the shops and restaurants along the main drag in Mount Maunganui, and half a block to the water on the harbour side of the peninsula. The surf is gentle for kids to play in, and there's an expansive palm-shaded lawn running along the beach for the adults to relax on. The cruise ships dump their passengers right there, so it's very scenic, with a decent-looking restaurant (used to be a yacht club) and an ice cream stand that we happily patronized. We finally got to try Hokey Pokey flavor ice cream, which was invented here in NZ (pronounced "en-zed" to the locals) and is quite tasty, reminding us a little of butterscotch. While we enjoyed our cones and walked along the fishing pier, we watched Maori teens diving off the docks into Pilot Bay, entertaining the crowds.

Apartment's link: http://www.anchorageapartments.co.nz/

Ro enjoying his ice cream with Maori teens diving into Pilot Bay behind him

Ro & Sherry strolling along Pilot Bay. Mount Maunganui in background

There is a nice park right across the street from the apartment building called Coronation Park. Alas, no jungle gym, as it seemed to have been designed more in an Oriental garden style, with a pond and ornate landscaping. Ro enjoyed watching the mama duck and her ducklings parade around, and dipping his toes in the water for tadpoles to nibble on. As he and Mark discovered, it's a great place to play hide-and-seek.

Chillin' in front of a sculpture in Coronation Park

Ro chatting with a new friend in Coronation Park. Note the faux-hawk

We hired a babysitter tonight so we could have a Valentine's evening out sans child. Her name is Maureen, and she's a very nice grandmother who's great with kids; we already knew her because she works as one of the housekeepers at the motel. She's a longtime friend of Kris and Tracy, and babysits for Luke and Aidan all the time. The only reason she was free tonight is because the other kids are staying with their grandparents in Omanu Beach. Trying to get out of the house tonight resulted in a few tears, however. The only way we could get Ro to eventually release his death-grip on Sherry's leg was to take him over to the innkeeper's house to distract him with Miss Muffet (the motel cat). As soon as he reached for the cat, we nearly stumbled over each other making a clean break for the car...lol. Of course, as soon as we were gone, Ro happily resumed playing and had a great time with Maureen.


For dinner, we went to a very nice place on The Strand called Wharf St. Restaurant, which Kris had recommended. Sherry's meat-eating horizons continue to expand beyond well-done steaks and bacon, as she got the venison hotpot pie, which was very good, but we both agreed Mark's braised lamb shank was even better; it simply melted in your mouth...mmmmm. As a former vegetarian, Sherry can't believe it, but she has actually started to like lamb (as long as she doesn't think about where it comes from)!

Restaurant's link: http://www.wharfstreet.co.nz/


Afterwards, we adjourned down the street to the Rialto theater, which serves beer and wine (just like the one in Raleigh), to see Slumdog Millionaire, which was excellent. Highly recommended. Of course, the motel room was a mess when we got back, but that means Ro had a good time. We'll definitely have to make use of Maureen's services again!