One of the reasons I signed up for an Art Gallery membership was to force me to go see more exhibitions. When I read about the Guo Pei exhibition it looked amazing and thanks to having a membership I could go as many times as I wanted for free and bring a friend. I ended up going three times – it was that good.
The first time I went I couldn’t find the words to describe how fantastic the dresses/gowns were and the photos I took and posted on Facebook just couldn’t do them justice, so I was really happy when a couple of friends also wanted to go so I had excuses to go again and discover all the things I missed the first time.
For my third visit I decided to focus on the finer details and incredible shadows the dresses cast, rather than just admiring each dress. So glad I went and I’d happily go again.
After lasting 15 years working for the same company, I deserved a treat, plus we get long service leave after 15 years so I needed to use it and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate this milestone, than a trip to Sydney for a holiday and some shopping in the brand-new biggest Lego store in the world. Turned out this was a great way to celebrate and everything was awesome with many highlights, there were no disappointments and everything went as planned or even better than I hoped for.
Day One – Tuesday 27th of February
Up super early to drive myself to the airport and check in to the Park & Ride car park, it was raining and there were many holdups on the way so when I got there and found a spot I was very relieved. So relieved I didn’t really take much notice of where I had parked till I saw a huge reminder notice asking everyone if they had taken note of where they parked, so I took a photo of the area where my car was focussing mainly on the big black building in the background (more on this at the end of this blog). Luckily it had stopped raining so I didn’t get wet while dragging my bag to the bus stop. The bus turned up after a minute of waiting, I got on and the very kind bus driver even grabbed my suitcase so I didn’t have to try and lift it. And so my holiday officially begun where I can start to sit back and relax, everything going forward is out of my hands and I had plenty of time to relax and grab breakfast after dropping off my bag and clearing security.
Great flight over and as luck would have it, the lady seated next to me was very skinny and took up no room at all. After clearing customs etc I went in search of the pick up point for Uber cars, however that was harder than I thought and not that cheap so I ended up catching the train to Central Station and an $11 Uber to Darling Harbour where the Park Royal hotel was excited to see me (even at 2:00 rather than 3:00) and a fabulous upgrade to the Club Floor awaited. The upgrade was on a standby if available basis for only $60 extra and you had to accept the offer a few days in advance. The upgrade gave me access to the Club Lounge with stunning views, fully cooked breakfasts, snacks and refreshments throughout the day and 2 hours of free drinks from 5:00 – 7:00 every night. My suite had TWO toilets!
After falling in love with my room I had a whole afternoon ahead of me and I wanted to suss out how long it would take me to get to the Opera House in time for tomorrow morning’s tour, so I set off up the hill from Darling Harbour to George St, jumped on the light rail train and went all the way to Circular Quay. When I turned a corner and saw the Opera House I was filled with joy, even though I have seen it several times before I still get goosebumps when I see it in real life. I took a walk around it, took some photos and headed along the wharf to find somewhere to eat. I ended up in Wahlburgers, had never been before even though we have one in Auckland now. It had a really cool concept where you sat at the table, downloaded the app, ordered food and paid for it all within the app. However the app didn’t like my card so I had to use ApplePay which was mega easy and cool, but that meant I was paying in NZ dollars and there would be an exchange rate difference & comission – oh well I’m on holiday, so never mind. The food was great and the beer very refreshing.
After that I wandered around Circular Quay then headed for the train to take me to Town Hall Station (nearest stop to the hotel) & Woolworths to buy beer and snacks. Shockingly that Woolworths wasn’t licensed to sell alcohol, but luckily right next door was a small liquor store attached to a pub so I bought beer from there and I’m pretty sure I bought beer from there back in 2015.
Day Two – Wednesday 28th of February
Wide awake very early I think because of the time difference & the excitement of trying out the free cooked breakfast in the Club Lounge and then the Sydney Opera House Tour. The breakfast was amazing and the view was great.
After that I had a nice leisurely stroll up to the train which took me all the way to the Opera House. This was the second time I have done the Opera House tour and it was really different from the first time which was cool and this time I finally got to see inside the main Concert Hall, which has been a bucket list item since 1986 (not that I had a bucket list back then). Loved the tour and I’d definitely do it again if I ever go back to Sydney.
After the tour I headed back to the hotel to collect my bag then set off for a wander around the shops mainly to check out the Apple Store and the brand new Lego Store. This was my third attempt at checking out this particular Apple Store, in 2015 we were too early and didn’t have enough time to wait for it to open before we needed to check out of the hotel and in 2020 it was being renovated, so this time it was open and I could buy stuff!
The Lego store (biggest in the world) was everything I hoped it would be, but I left my Lego passport back in the hotel so decided to just wander around but come back tomorrow with my passport and buy something then.
Day Three – Thursday 29th of February
Today a heatwave was scheduled for Sydney, so just as well my plan for the day revolved around shopping in airconditioned stores. The heatwave was even on the news last night warning everyone to take care and stay hydrated and the high was going to be 39 degrees. It only got to 35 but that was way hotter than anything I’m used to, but it sure did look like a stunning day outside.
After an amazing complimentary breakfast, I headed out to Darling Harbour and the Chinese Friendship Garden which I figured would be a nice cool and shaded spot to start off while waiting for the shops to open. However that plan was very short lived coz there was a long walk to the garden and none of it was undercover and it was already 25 degrees and way too hot for me. I found out what the cool shaped building next to my hotel was (above left pic) – it’s simply called the W and they use words starting with W to name their rooms, such as the Wow suite and the Wonderful room. After seeing that the walk to the gardens without cover was too much, I headed for the nearest bridge which was the Pyrmont Bridge (a heritage-listed swing bridge) to get me to the heart of the shops.
First stop was Myers – I figured they would have a nice air conditioned cafe for me to sit and enjoy an iced coffee. But on the way to the cafe I discovered they had Penhaligon’s fragrances which you can’t buy in NZ so I checked them out and discovered they now have their very own shop in the QVB mall, so I decided to go there on the way back to the hotel. The cafe was great, their Lego store was cool and the Westfield mall was all decked out in rainbow colours for Sydney Mardi Gras.
From there I headed out the back door and ended up on Castlereagh Street, this was symbolic because yesterday while I was wandering around the Apple Store a friend in Australia messaged me asking me if I was anywhere near Castlereagh St coz there had been a shooting there and I should avoid the area. But I had no idea where it was and everyone around me was carrying on like nothing was wrong so I figured it was quite far from where I was – turns out it was just one block away! I saw straight ahead there was a beautiful park and a massive cathedral so I headed for that and stood in the shade for a bit.
From there I had a wander around the stunning David Jones department store. It was like stepping back in time to the fifties glamour era. It had a wonderful Lego shop, a massive bank of about 10 lifts all in a row and the most visually stunning shoe store like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I only ended up on the shoes floor coz I was looking for the men’s loo.
After that I headed to the Lego store and found something to buy – this time I had my Lego passport and when I told the salesperson she said, “Oh I hope it’s not your real passport”. Apparently a lot of adults see the sign and think they can get a Lego stamp in their real passport. I bought the Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit set, (a) because it wasn’t that heavy and (b) because it wasn’t that big and would easily fit in my suitcase, plus I’d never seen it before and didn’t know it existed. Next I went to Uniqlo for clothes that a couple of friends recommended big time, but by then I was hungry and so hot and the crowds were beginning to annoy me, so I found a pair of shorts to buy and escaped. On the way to the QVB building I stopped into Dymocks and enquired if they had a book I’ve been trying to find in NZ for years and they actually had one copy left yay.
To finish off my fantastic shopping experience I found the Penhaligon’s shop in the QVB building and it was stunning and they had exactly what I was looking for in several sizes (Myers only had the big size) and when I told the salesperson I was from NZ so going on her mailing list probably was not a good idea she loaded up my bag with many free samples!
Once back in the hotel I had several beers and enjoyed the view while I contemplated what to do next. Then I realised I hadn’t been to the Club Lounge yet to try out the free snacks and all day beveridges, I was the only person in there so that was cool.
After checking the time and cooling off I headed out for one last walkabout to Darling Harbour and the Madame Tussauds exhibition.
The ticket guy thought I was a bit strange trying to get in that late in the day – it was about 4:30 and they closed at 5:00, but I knew that would be plenty of time for me and there wouldn’t be any crowds. It was cool but often felt eerie because I constantly felt like someone was watching me and I’d turn around and it would just be a wax figure. The pic above right where someone is taking a photo of something had me fooled for ages – I waited very patiently for them to take the pic so I could get past them.
From there I thought it would be cool for old times sake to catch a ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay – check out my 2015 & 2020 blogs. As soon as I turned up to the ferry peer and got on it took off and the breeze was lovely. Once at Circular Quay I got some frozen yoghurt something that’s hard to find now in Auckland, then took a really long walk all the way around the quay and under the bridge. After that I headed back to the hotel.
Day Four – Friday 1st of March
My last day in Sydney – I thought about going for a walk around Darling Harbour one last time but in the heat without shade and not a whole lot of time left before I headed to the airport, I figured it was best to have a very leisurley luxurious breakfast in the Club Lounge and then take my time doing coffee while packing my bag.
Air NZ sent me an email saying my OneUp bid had been sucessful so I had been upgraded to Premium Economy OMG – I’ve only ever flown Economy Class, so this would be my first time experiencing something a bit better than Economy Class.
It was sad leaving my fabulous hotel suite behind (how will I cope with just the one loo when I get home LOL). The Uber came quickly and there was only a little wait for the train from Central to the airport. Check in was easy and so was passport control and security. The flight was delayed about 30 minutes but as I was flying Premium I got to board early so it really didn’t matter and for the first time ever I got to turn left after boarding!
Premium Economy was indeed quite classy, with proper cutlery, glasses and plates, bigger meals, lots of drinks, big comfy seats, flash headsets and only 21 seats in the cabin.
Passport control and security was fast and easy, and the Park and Ride bus turned up as soon as I got to the stop. But the bus actually stops to let everybody off at a different stop from the one you board after parking your car, but I thought I was at the same stop and headed for my car in completely the wrong direction. Once I got to the spot where my car was supposed to be I realsied I was definitely not in the same area I had dropped my car off at. Luckily I had taken a photo of where I parked but it focused on the large black building in the background – and in the dark that couldn’t be seen and I had no idea where my car was. The car park was massive and dark and I was the only person wandering around dragging a big suitcase behind them – thank goodness it wasn’t raining! I took a closer look at the photo I took of where my car was parked and noticed a tiny sign saying I was in the Blue Zone C – but I was in the Z zone – the other end of the car park, that’s when I realised there are two bus stops!
Sometimes it’s easy to look back on a year and think it wasn’t a very good year, maybe it’s because the bad things that happened stick out more than all the good things. So I decided to look back through all the photos on my phone as a reminder of the cool/awesome things I did in 2023. So these are the highlights, plus a couple of non highlights but they were pretty big events:
January
~ Michelle here from the UK, stayed over at her AirB&B. ~ Movies at the Silky Otter. ~ Not a highlight but… worst rain in history for Auckland (non stop every day for weeks), floods everywhere. ~ Built the Lego Lighthouse.
February
~ Birthday bridge walk – new Mangere Bridge with the gang. ~ Titanic 25th anniversary edition in 3D with Michelle. ~ Orbit restaurant, Sky Tower for dinner to celebrate Michelle’s birthday. ~ Celebrated my birthday with Lisa then walked up Mt Eden.
March
~ House & Garden Tour with Barb. ~ Brunches with friends. ~ Built the Lego Tokyo architecture set and Groot.
April
~ Got Covid for the first time, not a highlight but a significant event. ~ Went on a blind date. ~ DVD nights with friends. ~ Brunches with friends.
May
~ Brunch with Teresa up from Cambridge.
June
~ Wellington on the train with Dad and Paula, saw the Brickman Jurasic World exhibition. ~ Long weekend in Tauranga, hung out with Nic, stayed in a brand new Quest hotel in Mt Maunganui. ~ Bought big 50″ TV – amazing service and after sales service from Harvey Norman dude.
July
~ Flew to Wellington to do some Excel training. ~ John & Donna’s in Whangaoaroa. ~ Actually got flown to Whangarei for training coz all the roads are flooded or broken. ~ Got my first Lego passport after brunch with Ange.
August
~ Wellington for two whole weeks for an induction at the call centre. ~ Wine tasting with the gang.
September
~ Coffee and chocolate festival, stayed over with friends in the city. ~ Built the Lego Galaxy Explorer.
October
~ Election time.
November
~ Auckland Brick Show with Lisa.
December
~ Xmas at the Pullman. ~ Made a big start on the courtyard after several years of neglect (holiday project). ~ Many BBQs with friends.
Wow it’s been a really long time since I added anything to my blog. There have been plenty of things I’ve wanted to blog about so maybe they’ll appear eventually now that I’ve got the ball rolling again.
Dad and Paula thought travelling to Wellington on the train one last time would be a wonderful thing to do and they asked me if I wanted to join them. Absolutely 😊. So, we set off very early on Saturday morning (the 10th of June) by taxi to the train station, check in was super easy and all the staff could not have been more friendly or helpful.
Up front there is an open-air carriage giving photographers a place to take great photos without the window reflection spoiling your pics, and as you can see the weather was perfect for us. After all the rain we’ve been enduring lately it was a huge bonus and I felt incredibly lucky.
The first time we did this train journey it was raining, and it was summer so there wasn’t much snow on the mountains, but it was still a spectacular sight. So that was the main reason for doing the trip again – we were hoping to see snow on the mountains, and we weren’t disappointed – not only was there lots of snow, there wasn’t much cloud hiding anything, and we got to see a whole mountain that we didn’t see last time.
The train trip takes 11 hours and is a very relaxing way to spend a day, seeing the country, eating and drinking and the staff were super helpful the whole way, even when we got off the train, one of the staff made sure we found the taxi rank and helped us down stairs with all our bags.
The train in Wellington.
On Sunday morning while Dad & Paula enjoyed a sleep in, I walked to the brand-new exhibition centre Tākina which is across the road from Te Papa to see a Brickman Lego dinosaur exhibition.
The weather was perfect, sunny, warm, and not windy at all which Wellington is world famous for. So the walk back to the hotel was marvellous, it was also nice to be wandering around Wellington like a tourist rather than rushing off to work.
We stayed in the Quest Hotel 256 Lambton Quay which I really enjoyed, nice clean rooms with everything you could need, including a fully equipped kitchen, dishwasher, laundry and hundreds of movies available on demand. Plus the location is right in the heart of the CBD, near a supermarket and the Cable Car – perfect for us. And we were lucky enough to have rooms that looked out over Lambton Quay.
At lunchtime we ventured out to the Cable Car and had lunch in the restaurant next to the cable car station. Stunning views and great food.
Next, we visited the cable car museum.
On Monday I headed back to Auckland, it was cool to see a Lego dinosaur at the airport promoting the exhibition I’d been to on Sunday. Great weather for flying home and I even got to see the mountains again, but this time from the air. Once back in Auckland I caught the Sky Bus which was only $18 and I had the whole top deck to myself.
And in case you’re wondering… Dad and Paula flew to Christchurch the next day to take the Tranz Alpine Express to see more snowy mountains.
Last weekend I drove down to Rotorua to stay with friends I haven’t seen for a really long time. I saw Heather for dinner after work one night back in 2013 – maybe later I’m not sure, but I sure haven’t seen Heather and Cameron at the same time since 2005.
The drive down was easy, and I got to drive through the Fitzgerald Glade which is probably one of my most favourite things to do on a drive.
Shortly after driving through the glade, you turn a corner and there is a stunning view of Lake Rotorua in the distance, and I always start to get excited. Soon I arrived at my friends very large home with a choice of guest rooms and my very own ensuite bathroom. After chilling out for a while I was persuaded to go jetboating – this was nothing like I imagined. I have gone jetboating before back in the 80s in Rotorua so I imagined it would be the same – on a big boat with about 20 other people travelling along a river very fast and way too close to the rocks. This was nothing like that.
Check out the Velocity Valley website to see what I mean. That’s not me in the pic below, it’s just a pic I found on the web.
The weather forecast for the whole weekend was supposed to be very heavy rain – thank goodness they got that wrong. Velocity Valley also had pigs and an ostrich which was cool for an Auckland City guy like me to see.
Next we stopped at Kuirau Park in the city so I could try and take some photos of the thermal activity. It wasn’t easy as all the steam just looked like mist, but there was an area where you could take your shoes off and dunk your feet in the wonderful warm water – so relaxing.
After dragging ourselves away from there we drove to the lakeside to check out a very spiritual and special place – Ohinemutu Church where an Anzac Day dawn service is held every year, which would be amazing to attend.
Back home after that for some relaxation with some beers and pizza. Once it got dark Heather drove me to the Redwood forest where they have a treetop walk you can do at night. We weren’t going to do the walk although I HAVE to go back one day to do that, we went so I could see the forest lit up at night – it was awesome.
Back home for some more beers and an occasional sound of the six60 concert in the distance.
After a 2-year absence the brick show was back 5 & 6 November. In 2020 it was a small part of Armageddon and in 2021 because of Covid it didn’t happen at all. So, this year I was a bit more excited about going to the show than normal. And I wasn’t disappointed, there was lots of stuff I’ve never seen before, so thank you Lisa for coming with me.
The winners of Lego Masters NZ were there with the winner’s trophy. Yes the box of chocolates is made of Lego.
One of my favourite builds in the NZ Lego Masters show from my favourite team was also there in miniature form – it was life-size in the show.
Interestingly even though I’m not a huge Hobbit/LOTR fan, my favourite builds were from those movies:
If you look closely at the next photo you can see each little scene is made from one colour:
There was even a life size motorbike:
I have a campervan model just like the one below, but this one opens up!
In the next video you can see actual water running through the model – I’m sure I’ve never seen real water used in a Lego model before.
Lastly, one more pic but it’s not Lego – amongst this guy’s Lego models were a bunch of old computers that actually worked and ran programs to make his Lego models work. These took me way back to the 80s. So cool.
Many years ago when I was about 6 or 7, maybe younger, my family spent Xmas at my Aunty’s house in Manurewa and all I remember from that Xmas was getting a drinking bird for Xmas, but it only worked for a day. On boxing day it refused to drink and that was the last I saw of it.
My dad tried so hard to get it to work, but it just refused to drink.
A couple of weekends ago I was at a friend’s place and we were talking about toys from our childhood and Duncan the drinking bird came up. I said they should remake him coz I’d pay good money for one of those. She said you can get them, they’re around, so I Googled him, found him and bought one immediately.
Duncan took a few weeks to arrive from Australia – as with all things coming from overseas these days, he spent a while at the airport waiting for a courier to pick him up. But he arrived and I’m pleased to say after a bit of experimenting he works.
I think the problem on that dark and sad Boxing Day morning (I remember it being very grey outside, maybe even raining), was that it was just too cold for Duncan. The instructions say he works best in 25 degrees. This morning he was disappointing me again by refusing to drink, so I moved him in to the sun and 4 hours later he’s still drinking.
Back in February on the 20th a friend and I did an awesome tour of Hobbiton and then we drove to Hamilton to check out what’s new in the Hamilton Gardens. They have created several fantasy gardens and they were amazing, loved them.
The rest of the gardens were beautiful and well worth checking out.
After the gardens, we drove across town to the Good George Brewery, where we made it just in time for a free tour. Good George is the brewery that provides the Green Dragon in Hobbiton its beer, so we had to check it out. This was quite possibly the best brewery tour EVER! Before the tour starts you are handed a glass of beer to taste what the beer you are about to learn about tastes like. Then near the end of the tour you get to sit down in the boardroom and sample as much cider as you like, while learning all about the history of the brewery and the many awesome things they do, like making free hand sanitiser for charity.
I think that was a cunning ploy to make you buy more beer on your way out. We stayed for a late lunch/early dinner in the bar and ended up buying glasses, beer and a whole lot of cider.
On the 20th of February I went with a friend to Hobbiton, it’s about a two hour drive from Auckland and somewhere I’ve always thought about going to, but it’s not cheap so the price has always put me off. However my friend read an article about Hobbiton and how they may have to close because the number of tourists is way down thanks to Covid and they might not be able to continue with the upkeep. So we decided to go just in case we never get the chance and that would be a real shame.The tour bus was full, lucky we booked. The very brief bus ride is basically to get you across the road from the meeting point, shop and cafe and in to the farmland where the movie was made (it was filmed on privately owned land). The guided tour starts the minute the bus takes off – they play a DVD with music from the film and scenes from the movie to remind you of what areas we were driving past looked like in the movie. It set the scene and got us excited, it was strangely emotional. It also made me want to watch the first movie all over again, luckily there is a big gift shop and I could buy the DVD.
The bus ride ended at an instantly recognisable stone path where either Bilbo or Frodo met Gandalf and excitedly we set off.
It was exactly like in the movie – the details were amazing and I understood how the cost of maintaining the movie set justified the price of entry. It was well worth it and I’d happily go again.
Eventually we came to Bagend where Bilbo lived and I couldn’t actually believe I was seeing it for real.
The tree above Bilbo’s house is the famous tree that featured a lot in the movie – turns out it’s not real!
After that we headed to the Green Dragon Inn for a complimentary beverage – the beer they were serving is brewed by the Good George brewery in Hamilton, you can also do a tour of their brewery.
After that the tour was over and we headed for the bus. On the way back we crossed paths with another tour party just setting out and it made me appreciate how lucky we were to be on the tour with reduced numbers. At times it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves and we could walk around at a very leisurely pace. But I imagine in the height of the tourist season the place would have been packed and the tours would leave every 10 minutes rather than every hour or so.
From there we set off for the Hamilton Gardens and a tour of the Good George brewery.
For many years now a friend of mine has been trying to get me up north to stay at her farm cottage, but it’s never happened for many reasons. But this Xmas break we picked a date and stuck to it and it actually happened.
Selena picked me up in her brand new car and we headed north. Our first stop was at the Eutopia Cafe which I have driven past many times and always thought I should stop in because it looks so cool and very different. So I was really happy to be stopping there for coffee after all these years.
My joy didn’t last long, as they didn’t have any Covid check in QR codes displayed anywhere and there was no hand sanitizer anywhere and no soap in the toilet. Luckily I always have some with me and I asked for their QR code. They were quite rude about it and gave me a look that said: “this is not Auckland – we don’t have Covid”. So we didn’t stay there to drink our coffee, we took it back to the car and drunk it on the way. Turns out a week later somebody with Covid visited that cafe and it became one of the locations of interest!
In the past when I have asked Selena where her cottage is she has always said somewhere north of Whangarei, so I thought we were headed for a place near Whangarei. So when she asked me how hungry I was and would I be ok till we got to Russell because there is a nice hotel there she wanted to go to for lunch, I was very surprised but very happy to be going there for lunch. I have been to Paihia but never Russell and I had an Irish flatmate in Japan whose claim to fame was that she’d worked at the “Duke“. Which is a famous hotel in Russell and one of the earliest hotels in New Zealand apparently.
When we made it to Paihia we had a bit of a drive round to see how much it’s changed since I was there back in the early 90s. Then we headed for the car ferry that takes you from Paihia to Russell. We drove on to the pier after a really short wait up the road and then the pier MOVED! Well not really but I thought it did – turned out what I thought was the pier was actually the car ferry. Guess I was expecting something big like the Cook Strait ferry or maybe even the Devonport ferry. But this thing was more like a floating platform that moved. I was hoping to get out and move around maybe even get a drink or something – but nope – we were trapped in the car! For a whole 10 minutes LOL.
After a really great lunch in the grand old Duke of Marlborough we strolled around Russell, bought some supplies for the cottage and headed for the farm.
We took a slight detour to see one of Selena’s favourite spots where there is a house tucked in to the hillside and for some reason made me think of Hollywood and Marilyn Monroe.
Finally we made it to the farm – what a stunning place. Nobody around for miles, lots of land for cows to stroll around and a view of the ocean. So peaceful and so quiet, it was going to be very hard to leave this place.
Shortly after arriving we grabbed a few drinks and went for a stroll down to a small river that runs through Selena’s land – she called it a stroll, I’d call it a trek across dangerous terrain and wilderness. While seated by said river and enjoying the nature I saw a random cow appear out of nowhere and as I tried to remain calm it got closer and closer. Eventually I exclaimed: “COW”, which Selena thought was hilarious, because she couldn’t see the cow approaching from behind her. Till I yelled out: “There’s a COW headed for your river”. I thought I was safe on my side of the river but apparently the river didn’t make any difference to the cow and it crossed over in order to get a closer look at us which is when I took off very quickly up the steepest bit of terrain I could find knowing it couldn’t follow me. I had no idea though that this was a mountain climbing cow and the hill meant nothing to it. Selena tried her best to shoo it back to where it belongs – turns out the herd of cows don’t belong to her and had somehow broken through the boundary fence, probably lured over by the smell and sound of naive Auckland city folk (and alcohol).
That’s the cow that chased me – it didn’t want to face me once it saw the camera and we weren’t on good enough speaking terms to ask for it to pose for a photo.
The rest of my time on the farm was awesome, Selena even lit a fire for me and scared off a few curious possums. The cottage was wonderful – filled with books, plants and beautiful old furniture – and each piece had a fascinating story of where it had come from and what its history was.
New Horizons 