DAY TRIP TO AUCKLAND

  

Whoop whoop, we have a full day ahead of us.

We are going to Auckland for the day.

First up we shall be stopping in at Ribbon Rose, which is a huge fabric shop in Penrose.  I am specifically looking for more greens for runners.

Next stop will be visiting Stew's sister Khady.  We are going with her to the Parnell Market, where we will grab some food for our lunch.  I think lunch is going to be in a park?  Not sure, but out and about somewhere.

After that, Stew and I will be heading over to the North Shore to visit my Aunty Joyce.  She has nagged us for years to visit her!  Whoops, just never got around to it.  We see her at family get togethers usually.

So that's our plans for today.

Oh and before I forget it... today marks ONE YEAR in our new home.  That year has gone damn fast!

ONWARD...

9.42 am, traveling along the Southern Motorway, almost at Mt Wellington and we just saw a motorbike rider doing something utterly CRAZY. He was riding along without holding on to his bikes handlebars!!!   WTF?  I can't believe anyone would be so utterly STUPID. 

Nearly at Ribbon Rose,  its been ages since we have been there. I'm a bit excited.  😊

ABOVE: 11.10 am, and our visit to Ribbon Rose was awesome.  The lady who measured out our fabric was the owner of the shop, and she ended up giving us about 3 metres of fabric for FREE! 

She had recognised me from our last visit, she said she remembers me saying "Are you shitting me?", when I found out they were having a massive sale and I didn't know. Lol

We are now visiting Khady. No market visit after all, we got here too late for that. 

5.45 pm and we are finally on our way home. A fuller update once we are home. For now a few photos of the city...

7.20 pm, we are safely home.  I felt so sorry for Coco, I watched her on and off all day. She spent all her time wandering around the house, looking for us.  😕  She was so  happy when we got home.  She's now sitting on my lap, on top of my heated throw.  So cute.

Our day went pretty much exactly as planned... Ribbon Rose, then off to pick up Stew's sister Khady.  We had lunch at the cafe at Palmers Garden Centre in Remuera.  It was very average I must say.

ABOVE:  While at the garden centre, I was so tempted to buy one of those blue Orchids!  BUT, our home would have been too cold for it, and at $89, it would have died and been an utter waste of money.  So sad, cos just how beautiful are they!  I did buy a couple of things there though, and will show you tomorrow.

After lunch, we visited a cousin of Stew and Khady's just up the road from the cafe.

ABOVE: Their home overlooks Orakei Basin, such a lovely view!  That little 'lake' is actually a coastal inlet.  It's where people go to do water skiing etc (mostly).  We spent a very nice hour or so catching up with Ross and Libby, before then heading over to see my Aunty Joyce on the North Shore.

ABOVE: Joyce lives in a retirement village, way, way bigger than where we live!  Huge high rise buildings, probably a couple of thousand people live there, if not more.

She gave us a tour of the main facilities.  It was very nice, but not for us.

The above photo is taken in the main foyer, I loved those paintings.

ABOVE: We only saw one area that had gardens.  There was probably a few more dotted around, but it really just felt cold and impersonal.  Virtually NO trees.  

ABOVE:  Joyce standing in front of the vege planters, she has one.  There's only 6, she was lucky to get one.

Her apartment is very nice, more spacious than our little home and certainly more modern.  I could live in it, but not in that complex.

After visiting with Joyce and her 'boyfriend', we left for home.

The traffic was horrendous getting out of Auckland, then it eased up thankfully.

We got home just in time for Stew to watch the rugby! 

I cooked us a light dinner.

And now I am going to do WORDLE, then browse the 'net.

I will post a photo of my new fabric, and the other things I bought at the garden centre, tomorrow.

Catch ya then.