Week 4

1/30/12

Today is Anniversary Day in Auckland. It is much like 4th of July and celebrates the day NZ became a colony. All the action is centered on the harbor where there are regattas, street performers, tug boat races and of course lots of food and beverage. We saw a clipper ship as well as some huge sailboats. Sunshine and good breeze - beautiful day in Auckland.


1/31/12
A climb to the top of Mt. Eden. Today I packed my lunch, filled up the water pouch in my adventure backpack and set off for Mt. Eden. It isn’t a mountain like the Rocky Mountains as it is only 600 feet above sea level, but it is the highest non-manmade point in Auckland and offers wonderful 360 degree views of the city. I enjoyed the views, spent time reading my book and got some good uphill exercise. I probably walked 6+ miles when you consider all the backtracking I did when I got a bit lost.
In the evening, Terry and I got our exercise by going down to the harbor for happy hour at the gelato store – a double for just $5. How’s that for rationalization!

2/1/12
The story of Terry’s contact. Way back in Fiji, Terry lost his left contact lens. He was frustrated with himself as he has never lost a contact in 30 years of contact-wearing. And he had forgotten to pack an extra set. He contacted Matt, our house-sitter, and asked him to send the back-up contacts by express mail. Matt mailed them off on 1/13/12 saying it was supposed to arrive in five days or so. We started asking for mail on the 5th day. Everyday, no mail. We checked the tracking number and were told it left Chicago on 1/14, but still didn’t arrive. We decided that perhaps we should just get the prescription from the eye doctor and get a new contact made over here. On 1/25, still no contact so Terry went and ordered a new contact lens. Rather pricey - $350 – but TG was getting headaches from being one-eyed so it needed to be done. Wouldn’t you know, the contacts from Columbus arrived in the mail that very morning. I promptly delivered the package to Terry, he tried the lens and decided that even though the contacts were from 2007, it would still work so he canceled the $350 lens order. They were very kind and said no problem and credited our credit card. Today (2/1/12) Terry got an e-mail from the NZ optometrist saying that even though the order was canceled, it still got made and would he be interested in buying it for 50% discount. He went over to the office and tried the new contact. It fit perfectly so now he has a current up-to-date contact lens (at a reasonable price) and he still has back-ups. God knows exactly what we need!

2/4/12
This Saturday we started off in a different direction and headed to Mission Bay, home to many of Auckland’s water sports. It ended up be a 10.5 mile walk by the time we arrived home. We saw lots of windsurfers, sailboats, kayaks, parasailers and more. Lots of stroller-babies, roller-bladers and kiddos on the walk. I was glad we walked so far – now I know I’ll be able to finish the 11k walk that we’re going to do later this month when Kara and Adventure Friend Alex visit.
The Lantern Festival is happening at a nearby park. Beautiful lit scenes have been set up in the park with lanterns hanging from the trees. Plenty of performers, music, food and people. Did you know that 10% of the Auckland population is Chinese? We had pineapple and ice cream. Yumm! Fireworks ended the event on Sunday – we had a great view from our 17th floor apartment.

2/5/12
Today we went to Auckland Bible Church. We took the bus there and walked home. Excellent sermon - good to be reminded of the rich truths in The Word. “Morality can keep us out of jail but nothing but the blood of Jesus can keep us out of hell.” (Charles Spurgeon).