The City of Sails

Saturday

Swine flu paranoia has hit New Zealand full force, as Mark discovered this week at work. Clinics were calling the ED to see if we could spare any flu swabs because they had run out! We had a quiet week at home, though; it rained pretty much every day. Entertaining Ro in the apartment had become quite a challenge, so with Mark off this weekend we were eager to get out of town and see something new. We needed an indoor activity in case the weather stayed dodgy, so we headed north to Auckland.

Ro fortifying his pillow fort with weapons

Ro charges Mark to bludgeon him with his Bunning's hammer

The dragon takes flight from the couch

Auckland is by far the biggest city in NZ, containing almost a third of the population of the entire country, almost 1.5 million people. It's the only place here that would qualify as a "big city" by American standards. Tauranga, which recently replaced Dunedin (on South Island) as the fifth biggest city in NZ, is tiny by comparison, with just over 100K people. We've found that Kiwis outside of Auckland often regard Aucklanders much like people in the US regard people from New York City - a bit out of touch with "real life." Mark seems to see a lot of patients from Auckland on Saturdays, as parents bring their kids down for athletic competitions (rugby matches, netball games, etc...) resulting in various sprains and fractures; he's heard the nurses at work refer to them (the yuppie parents, not the kids) on several occasions as JAFAs - Just Another F---ing Aucklander...purely in jest, of course. All kidding aside, Auckland was just named the 4th best place to live in the world by Forbes magazine.

See link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland

Driving there from Mt Maunganui took a little over 2 hours. We had to drive through the beautiful Karangahake Gorge, so we broke up the trip with a stop at Owharoa Falls. Sherry and Ro had been there before, but this was Mark's first time. Nobody was in the swimming hole below the falls this time though, as the weather was chilly and damp. After driving through a torrential downpour on the outskirts of Auckland, the weather finally broke for us and remained beautiful the rest of the day.

Ro & Mark at Owharoa Falls

Sherry outside the aquarium, Auckland skyline in distance

Our first stop was Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World, the premier aquarium in NZ. Mark equates the aquarium part of it to the Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39 in San Francisco, with moving walkways under a glass tunnel, with sharks and various fish swimming above you. There was also a large open tank with fish, a sea turtle, and three HUGE stingrays (over 2m across); we watched them get hand-fed by the staff as they happily splashed their wings, soaking the kids standing along the edge of the pool.

See link: http://www.kellytarltons.co.nz/

A stingray splashing kids who get too close

Ro never did get to ask his question. His teacher Ms Dohnt would be proud nonetheless

Ro & Sherry checking out Underwater World

Ro high-fiving a diver

There was also a pretty cool kids section, with a seemingly random collection of things to do, but the kids didn't mind. There was an explorer submarine with working lights, a light microscope, treasure chests full of costumes to play dress-up, a suction cup demonstration (to simulate octopus suckers), a padded corridor that got progressively narrower to simulate getting squeezed by an octopus, and various penguin-themed objects including a surfboard, ring-toss, and Foosball table.

Racing in these penguin feet is harder than it looks, because they're tethered together

Ro batting a ball with his penguin flippers

Sherry & Ro in the Squidzilla submarine

Ro in his shark costume examining the fine detail of a turtle shell

Ro thought the giant squid carcass was pretty creepy-looking

What sets Kelly Tarlton's apart from other aquariums, though, is the Antarctic Experience. As you enter the place, you can try dipping your arms in Antarctic-equivalent water for 30 seconds (that hurts, by the way), the kids can clamber around on a SnowCat or snowmobile, and you can explore the very detailed recreation of Captain Robert Scott's hut, with many of the original artifacts. You can also ride in a SnowCat to go inside the penguin exhibit - otherwise you'd freeze. The penguins were adorable, but Ro's favorite part was the animatronic Orca whale.

Sherry wisely deferred this test of wills

Ro behind the wheel of an old SnowCat

Sherry posing in Robert Scott's hut

Ro & Sherry peering at the penguins from the SnowCat

A King penguin strutting his stuff

Sherry adored these fluffy penguin chicks

After leaving the aquarium, we headed down the shore to a park we'd seen earlier to let Ro burn off some energy on the jungle gym, then went downtown. Mark drove while Sherry navigated, and after a brief comedy of errors trying to find a parking spot, we arrived at SkyCity. As this was a spur-of-the-moment trip, we didn't have dinner reservations; the Orbit and Observatory restaurants up in the SkyTower were booked up, so we tightened our belts and took the elevator up to the Observation Deck to watch the sunset. Ro was fascinated by the glass-bottomed elevator, which showed just how fast those things move.

See link: http://www.skycityauckland.co.nz/Attractions/Skytower.html

Auckland's not called the City of Sails for nothing

Ro kept yelling "Faster! Faster!"


Arranged in a circle, these swings had restraining chains on them so you can't jump off


Mark & Sherry relaxing in Orakei Domain while Ro plays


Ro giving this girl a hand. He forgot to get her digits


Mt Victoria across Okahu Bay from Orakei Domain

Auckland's SkyTower is the tallest man-made structure in the southern hemisphere, and we paid the extra couple of bucks to go to the even-higher SkyDeck; the view wasn't all that different, and we think Ro preferred the lower Observation Deck so he could watch the SkyJumpers falling down to the ground below. There's even an LED display above the window with "Jumper in 30 seconds" and other such bulletins. Sherry giggled as she watched Ro cautiously tiptoe around the sections of glass flooring for fear of falling through. He may have had Willy Wonka on his mind, because as we got into the second elevator to go to the SkyDeck, he asked the operator fearfully, "this elevator doesn't go outside, does it?"

Ro & Sherry checking out the view from the Observation Deck

Sherry on the SkyDeck, Mt Eden in the distance

Ro & Mark falling backwards to their doom. Oh, wait, there's glass there

The Hills with the Auckland Harbour Bridge in the background

Ro's more captivated by climbing support beams than the expansive view

Auckland's City Centre at dusk

Watching the lights come on in the city at dusk was a beautiful sight, but we were all famished by that point, and were in the mood for something more substantial than the coffee-shop offerings at the Sky Lounge - easily the nicest view from a coffee shop we've ever seen. With Ro in tow, we couldn't go into the casino, so we headed for Rebo Cafe. The food was pretty good by hotel lobby restaurant standards; Mark had a perfectly medium rare wood fired lamb loin with apricot stuffing, Sherry had a top-notch smoked chicken caesar salad (with poached egg on top), and Ro had a cheese pizza (with the basil scraped off by Sherry after some fussing). The service, although cheerful, was frustrating - our waiter basically disappeared after serving our mains (that's what they call entrees here - "entrees" in NZ are appetizers in the US). Unfortunately, he must not have turned our table over to another waiter, so our coffee and dessert were delayed a good half-hour.

Ro enjoying his long-awaited sundae

Ro fell asleep shortly after getting in the car, quickly forgetting his embarrassment at getting changed into his pajamas in a parking deck, "but Mama, what if somebody sees me?" We lucked out and were able to catch the All Blacks match on the radio on the way home. This was the first Test Match (see link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_match_(rugby_union)) of the year, and the local pundits have been generally pessimistic about the coming season, as the new All Blacks roster is relatively inexperienced and decimated by injuries. Tonight they were playing in Dunedin, and looking for a measure of revenge for a 2007 Rugby World Cup quarter-final loss to France. Unfortunately, revenge will have to wait until next week in Wellington, as we lost a nail-biter tonight to Les bleus 27-22 after falling behind early 17-3 and knotting it up 17-17 at one point.

After putting Ro to bed, Sherry needed something to soothe her throat (she's coming down with a cold), so we sat around drinking port and caught the end of The Two Towers on SkyTV. Mark tried to stifle his dismay when she doused herself in Vicks VapoRub before bed; the stuff smells pretty vile when you're not sick...lol.

Player of the Day

Saturday

Sunrise from our balcony, Mt Drury on left

Mark is pulling the weekend shift, but he did stop by the rugby field pre-game to drop off Sherry and wish Ronan well. Ronan was slightly low energy today, but in good company. In fact, his best mate M.J. and he spent most of the second half resting or snacking on the yummies Sherry and other moms bring.

Ro holding up the goalpost

But, when Ro was running, he did run fast, and earned one of the coveted Player Of The Day certificates for his fast running. There are always two given out each game; one to the guy with the most tries, and another to a little rugger for doing whatever it is they excel at. Of course the object is to spread the love around, and give all the boys a little ego boost over the course of the season. Ronan felt so bad for M.J. not getting one yet, he shared the coupons for milk that detached from the bottom with his buddy, so they each had something to hold.

Ro & MJ guarding the snack section

Sherry and Ro went back to Karla's so the boys could play for a bit and the girls could share a "cuppa" (tea). Without Tori around to torment - she was at a friend's house - Ro and M.J. spent the majority of time playing with M.J.'s action figures or coloring, and snacked on chicken nuggets Karla made. After a chilly, cloudy morning, the sun broke through and things turned absolutely gorgeous. The Mums decided to get the kids out of superpower imaginary land and go for a walk back down to Blake Park to the playground, and to try to watch the older boys playing full-contact rugby.

Drawing insects at Karla's place

Ro with his certificate

The playground won out, though Karla did overhear the boys chatting up some girls on the swings, "We play rugby. We played this morning, you know." After spending the rest of the evening outside, Sherry and Ro bid farewell to friends and headed home to clean up and get dinner on. While undressing Ro, she was asking him about his "superpowers," and got quite a giggle from Ro's response. He pointed to his nipple on his bare chest and said "Well, Jack (another mate from rugby and school) says his fire powers shoot out of here, but he's lying." She stifled a laugh, thinking Ro was stating the obvious, however he then said "Everyone knows fire shoots out of here (pointing to the palm of his hand) and even though Jack controls the volcanoes and hot lava, I control the whole world and I can make an earthquake like this..." After Ro karate-chopped the floor and Mum pretended to run from the cracked and quaking earth, she demonstrated to the rugby-dirty pretend fire-wielding super boy that there are some things even superpowers can't get you out of...like a hot soapy bath.

Nature's Power Pack

Friday

Today's blog entry is dedicated to Cerine, Mark's vegetarian sister ;) While Mark slept in this morning in anticipation of a long weekend at work, Sherry dropped Ronan off at class then joined some other parent volunteers with the Parent Support Group (think P.T.A.) to prep for the "Iron Brion Roadshow." The Roadshow is sponsored by New Zealand Beef & Lamb, and travels all around New Zealand visiting schools to talk about the merits of exercise and well-balanced diets. Of course, the Roadshow makes no secret of the fact that red meats like beef and lamb have the most iron, and thus the highest capacity to transport oxygen in our bodies, giving us the energy we need to excel in sports and feel great, or something like that.

See link: http://www.beeflambnz.co.nz/kids/kids-introduction.html

Parents up early to assemble buns for the feast

After slicing tomatoes, then assembling the buns with "salad" (lettuce & tomato) to await the freshly grilled hamburgers to be given out after the Roadshow, the parents gathered into the Assembly Hall at school with the children to watch the show.

A burger thief lurking by the grill

During the very lively presentation, children played games with the Roadshow's charismatic cartoon-like star, Iron Brion, and were quizzed on the four food groups. The 45 minute presentation was chock full of primary school humor, including Iron Brion pretending to pass gas when he was talking about beans being rich in iron...of course all the kids roared with laughter.

Iron Brion was a hit with the kids

Afterwards, Sherry and her fellow volunteers headed outside to hand out burgers, or just "salad" on buns for the kids who weren't interested in the hamburger, no matter how cool Iron Brion was. Ronan, who asked about five times this morning before leaving for school if Sherry had packed his lunch, fell into the latter group. At lunch, he gave Sherry a quick kiss then bolted off to enjoy his PB&J as usual with the rest of his classmates. Although she didn't get the satisfaction of her son enjoying the burgers she'd worked all day to make, Sherry did receive a pretty sweet cookbook for her efforts from the Iron Brion team, Hot Ideas For Beef & Lamb. Mark was most appreciative.

Ro looking decidedly underwhelmed by his classmate's burger

When Mark asked Ro this evening what he'd learned from Iron Brion, Ronan replied "to eat healthy so you don't get sick" and then dutifully proceeded to name items from each food group. In honor of the day's activities, Sherry slaved over a hot stove for a couple of hours, making a delicious Mince Polenta Pie with Bechamel sauce, while Mark entertained Ro down at the pool. Despite the day's propagand...er, dietary education, Ro still had to be cajoled, as usual, into eating his meat at dinner.

The Real Reason We Put Kids in School

Thursday

Mark finally had a day off today, so while Ro was in school we headed for the outskirts of town and hit Mills Reef Winery for lunch. Mills Reef grows their grapes in Hawkes Bay, in the eastern part of the North Island, so they don't have Pinot Noir (Sherry's favorite) which is grown in central Otago on the South Island, but they do have some excellent Syrahs. We spent a fair bit of time chatting with the winemaker, and picked up a few bottles to take home, including some nice Vintage Port for Mark.

Sherry enjoying a civilized lunch al fresco

Feels odd to bundle up when there's palm trees around

Lunch at the winery restaurant was delicious, and we each got an assortment of wines to try. Mark had the warm lamb salad, while Sherry had the summer vegetable and pine nut strudel. On our way out the door, Sherry stopped by the ladies room. While waiting for her, Mark got the urge, too, and went into the men's room. As he was zipping up, he turned around to wash up, and who should come out of the single stall door but Sherry! Cracking up, Mark exclaimed, "didn't you notice the urinals?!?" Mark had a "D'oh!" moment of his own on the way to the winery, dinging the car's rear bumper on a support column in our apartment garage while backing up. He claims Sherry distracted him with her beauty and conversation (and that's the story he's sticking with).

Ro showing his classmates how it's done

The Queen's Birthday

Monday

Ro spent Saturday morning building couch-cushion forts and this Tower of Babel-like structure

The inevitable result

After a quiet weekend at home (our big outing was to go see Night at the Museum 2), Mark headed back to work for the late shift on Monday, the Queen's Birthday holiday, and Ro was out of school.



See link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Birthday#Other_countries_and_territories

Karla and Sherry ran errands with the kids, including a stop at Bunning's Warehouse (like Home Depot in the US) to get some potting supplies and let the kids play on the Playplace there. The boys were less than captivated by the Bunning's jungle gym, though, and found hiding in and among the huge three-story shelving units a lot more entertaining, much to Sherry and Karla's frustration. It's harder than you might think to extract a small kid from behind pallets of building materials when an adult can't fit back there. On the way home, as they boys were getting into the car, it became clear that a few random objects had "found" their way into their pockets as they were climbing around the store. You know how a 5 year-old's logic goes...if it's on the ground, it must not belong to anybody, right? Sherry and Karla made the boys sheepishly go back to return the items and apologize to the burly Santa Claus-like greeter at the front of the store. He gave them each a big inflatable Bunning's toy hammer in exchange for their honesty. Ironically, the hammers were much cooler than the small paint brush and scrap of PVC pipe the boys had found originally.

Sherry bought an Indonesian Orchid at the Farmer's Market yesterday for only NZ$8, which is a huge deal. She named her Priscilla, and needed orchid food from Bunning's, while Karla was picking up some starts to go into a new planter. They both bought a daffodil bulb pot, and Sherry planted them and put them on the deck to await their September bloom.

Priscilla the Indonesian Orchid

After the shopping trip, Sherry and Ronan went to Drury Park, which is currently undergoing a massive renovation. The new jungle gym has some wonderful climbing stations, and since climbing is Ro's favorite pastime, he is thrilled with the new set-up. They've also added a wheelchair swing, like the one we saw in the park at Lake Taupo.

Ro testing out the new equipment

The landscaping's not finished, but the neighborhood kids don't care

Ro's favorite, "the big metal slide," is still there

Back at home for the evening, Sherry helped Ro make suncatchers from a craft kit she found at our corner store Sunny's, her favorite beach store that carries a little bit of everything.

Fresh from the oven suncatchers

They finished the night by making an impromptu Jack-O'-Lantern at Ro's request from a cooking pumpkin Sherry had purchased for a dinner recipe. Cooperation was key, so Ro drew the face and let Mum cut it out. They used a leftover birthday candle from Ro's cake to illuminate it, and enjoyed the pumpkin's "glow" from the outside deck table while they did Ro's reading homework.

It's Halloween weather, so Ro wants the appropriate decor