January Week 54 2016

On Monday Michael practically held us all hostage until the Broncos game was over, then we went to the National Aquarium where we saw adorable little penguins, kiwis, and some pretty cool fish.

Tuesday we went to my uncle’s café and then either road bikes or drove to Napier, where we all met to go to the MTG museum and art gallery.

Wednesday we came back to Auckland and had a full day. We went to the zoo, then after a quick lunch, climbed to the top of Mt Eden, the tallest crater in Auckland. Even though I’ve seen dozens of pictures of this place, it totally amazed me. That night we went to visit Christine’s sister, Loraine, who made us a beautiful meal including pavlova (meringue with cream and berries; A.K.A. all my favorite things) for dessert.

Thursday my parents had to be at the airport by around 5:30 so we wanted to make the most of the day. That morning we woke early (even though Sara and I had stayed up talking until the early hours of that morning) to get breakfast at our favorite Canadian Deli, Al’s. From there I gave everyone a tour of the UoA campus, then a walk down K’rd to check out some of the thrift stores, then straight to lunch at the Sky Tower. This is the place that rotates while you eat, giving the diners a great view of the whole city. After lunch, we walked to Ponsonby to get ice cream from the Ben & Jerry’s only just opened there, then back to our apartment for some last minute packing. All and all, according to Sara’s fitbit, we walked about eight miles that day. After a teary (at least for me) goodbye at the airport, Michael and I went home and, totally exhausted, made a quick dinner then went to sleep.

The next day it was straight back to work for both of us and over the weekend we started the long, difficult process of renewing our visas.