1/25/12Today I ventured out to Highwic, a historical NZ home open for touring. The house was built in 1862 for Albert and Eliza Buckland. They came to NZ from England at the age of 25. Albert made a fortune in land acquisition and cattle. He and Eliza had 10 children before she died at the age of 41 from pneumonia. He remarried and he and Matilda had 11 children. He had 24 grandchildren when his youngest child was born. It was good that they were well off and had servants to help with all the work. Interesting, beautiful home with nice gardens. Would be a good place for a wedding.
1/26/12
Today I planned
to spend most of the day reading. So nice to have the luxury to do that. I met someone on the elevator who suggested that I head off toward the harbor to the fish market area. I took my book and lunc
h along and enjoyed the beautiful day. Three cruise ships were docked in harbor. Auckland is home to some of the world's most expensive yachts, plus sailboats, fishing boats, tour boats and more. I spotted a sign on a tugboat that said 1 ½ hour harbor tours just $20. Such a gorgeous day so I did it. It was nice to have commentary on all the sights. I got to see bungy jumpers off the Auckland bridge. They even supplied coffee, tea, water and sunscreen.1/28/12
It’s Saturday and a good day to go explore a new area with Terry. We made arrangements for the winery tour on Waiheke Island, a 35 minute ferry ride from Auckland. I find it amazing that an island so close to Auckland can have such a different feel. Waiheke reminded me of Hawaii. The bus ride gave us a good opportunity to see the country side and beautiful ocean views. We visite
d three boutique wineries and tasted some very nice wines. Hardly any NZ wines have corks because of a problem many years ago with the quality of cork the young NZ wine industry was receiving, so that is why many good NZ wines come with screw tops. We met a couple from Philadelphia – the first people from the US that we’ve met since leaving LAX. We took the 5pm ferry back, went to the grocery store. While standing in line someone said my name. There are very few people in Auckland who even know my name and here was one standing in the same grocery store line. It was Trish, the gal we met the first Sunday we went to church in Auckland. That had to be God arranging that. It was an encouragement to “happen” to run into her and we had a nice conversation. Thank you God!
Sunday 1/29/12
We went to the nearby Baptist church. I love being able to walk to church and this church is just 1 ½ blocks from our apartment. I thought I would see Trish and I was going to try to get together with her this week but she wasn’t there. Oh well, it was a very good service – worshipful music and a good message. We met someone who works with Wycliffe New Zealand – reaching out to the Pukapuka people on an island in the Northern Cook Islands. Tomorrow is Anniversary Day in Auckland. Part of the festivities include a huge regatta at the harbor as well as tugboat races. They call Auckland the city of sails and I suspect we will see that tomorrow.
It’s Saturday and a good day to go explore a new area with Terry. We made arrangements for the winery tour on Waiheke Island, a 35 minute ferry ride from Auckland. I find it amazing that an island so close to Auckland can have such a different feel. Waiheke reminded me of Hawaii. The bus ride gave us a good opportunity to see the country side and beautiful ocean views. We visite
d three boutique wineries and tasted some very nice wines. Hardly any NZ wines have corks because of a problem many years ago with the quality of cork the young NZ wine industry was receiving, so that is why many good NZ wines come with screw tops. We met a couple from Philadelphia – the first people from the US that we’ve met since leaving LAX. We took the 5pm ferry back, went to the grocery store. While standing in line someone said my name. There are very few people in Auckland who even know my name and here was one standing in the same grocery store line. It was Trish, the gal we met the first Sunday we went to church in Auckland. That had to be God arranging that. It was an encouragement to “happen” to run into her and we had a nice conversation. Thank you God!Sunday 1/29/12
We went to the nearby Baptist church. I love being able to walk to church and this church is just 1 ½ blocks from our apartment. I thought I would see Trish and I was going to try to get together with her this week but she wasn’t there. Oh well, it was a very good service – worshipful music and a good message. We met someone who works with Wycliffe New Zealand – reaching out to the Pukapuka people on an island in the Northern Cook Islands. Tomorrow is Anniversary Day in Auckland. Part of the festivities include a huge regatta at the harbor as well as tugboat races. They call Auckland the city of sails and I suspect we will see that tomorrow.
