I've been a little busy.
Little Sister arrived back from The Gold Coast
and I whisked her away to Auckland City.
We went to Peta Mathias' book launch,
"Peta Unplugged in Marrakesh".
High Tea at The Heritage.
The heritage hotel was originally the Farmers..
a department store loved by us when we were young.
The High Tea was held on the 7th floor which once was the tearooms and the wonderful playground with pedal cars and all kinds of magic.
When we were children living in the country, going to Auckland was going to Farmers, and being a good catholic mother, Mum always took us for a visit to the catherdral over the road.
There was a lookout platform off the Farmers playground,that seemed so high and gave a panoramic view of the city.
Today The sky Tower makes the old Farmers /new Heritage Hotel look small
so too the cathedral, dwarfed amongst the high tower blocks.
This time it was champagne, dainty little cakes and sandwiches.
It was lovely to meet up with Peta, Jane and Jeff again
and enjoy Peta's entertaining talk.
I have been reliving the exciting time I had in Morocco all over again.
Little Sister arrived back from The Gold Coast
and I whisked her away to Auckland City.
We went to Peta Mathias' book launch,
"Peta Unplugged in Marrakesh".
High Tea at The Heritage.
The heritage hotel was originally the Farmers..
a department store loved by us when we were young.
The High Tea was held on the 7th floor which once was the tearooms and the wonderful playground with pedal cars and all kinds of magic.
When we were children living in the country, going to Auckland was going to Farmers, and being a good catholic mother, Mum always took us for a visit to the catherdral over the road.
There was a lookout platform off the Farmers playground,that seemed so high and gave a panoramic view of the city.
Today The sky Tower makes the old Farmers /new Heritage Hotel look small
so too the cathedral, dwarfed amongst the high tower blocks.
This time it was champagne, dainty little cakes and sandwiches.
It was lovely to meet up with Peta, Jane and Jeff again
and enjoy Peta's entertaining talk.
I have been reliving the exciting time I had in Morocco all over again.
A delightful night at Nic and Andy's. Breakfast in Ellerslie village...then it was on the train into downtown Auckland and onto the ferry to Waiheke Island out in the gulf.
It was misty rain and cloudy sky. The ferry building looks so small and orange amongst the bigger tower buildings. It was once the highest building on the water front.
The quick ferry has reduced the trip to half an hour. I remember when the old Baroona lumbered over to the island in a slower age. Waiheke Island was nearly carless then (no car ferry) and the houses were quaint little baches. Now the homes are more mansion size , and vineyards and olive groves and wonderful cafes and restaurants dot the island.
We were meeting up with sister-in- law Angela and niece Penny and grand-niece Paige. They live on the island and are 'real islanders'. Paige is at least a third generation islander. They took us to a cafe where the 'real islanders' hang out, for a delightful lunch.
We explored the art gallery and the little craft shops before catching the ferry back to the city.
A wonderful weekend was concluded perfectly when Lucy and Glen invited us to dinner... seven hour slow cooked lamb.
Mmmm ... delicious!
I fell into bed last night quite exhausted but very happy.
I have to go now.. the film festival is on and I'm off the see "Lourdes". Oh what a life it is ..this retired life! How did I ever fit going to work every day into my life those few short years ago?
What a wonderful time you have been having J. Fantastic. Your words about Farmers take me back - to the escalators that we country children loved riding on, the tearooms and the playground with the wonky mirrors that we used to love so much, and laughed till we were silly. Also the Baroona, I remember when we went to Waiheke for the first time in the 1950's and the trip took so long, in the days when Waiheke was an isolated island with wee baches dotted in the hills and gullies - wonderful memories. It's so changed now but still has it's beauty.
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