Saturday 7^th April. Today Toby, Sylvie and I took Snowy to the kennels. It was so sad saying bye to him but Bethells (where he stays) is a great place for dogs. They have a tv for the dogs, a leather sofa and mini wendy houses for them. Snowy was immediately at home and we have been looking on their facebook page where they upload photos of the dogs to see if we can see him. We then went down to Bethells beach and had a lovely lunch before walking around to the beach itself. The scenery was so dramatic and gorgeous. Sylvie and I planned to go in what we thought were the shallow waves but the waves were huge and were coming in fast and I ended up getting soaked up to my waist. We then walked over to a little cave before going back to Titirangi.

Last day with year 2 in Mrs Morgan’s class. They did maths work in groups, some were working with the teacher, others were doing maths on the active board, doing maths games and math sheets. I went around assisting the various groups. They also sang maths songs to learn their two times tables and they were so cute doing actions and singing in their kiwi accents. It was so sad leaving them as even though I spent more time with year 5, I prefer the year 2s. Lots of them made me pictures and were telling me their connections with England. Maddie, a little girl, asked if I would come back and teach her in a few years. 

Friday 30^th and Saturday 31^st March. The annual Titirangi music festival is on at the moment. During the festival there are lots of different acts performing through the day and evening in multiple venues such as the theatre, hardware cafe and RSA. On Friday evening Tanya had some friends over and cooked her amazing paella and sangria. I then joined them as we went up to the Titirangi RSA to watch The Nukes. The Nukes are a trio of ukulele players who write and sing their own songs. They were really good even though we didn’t have the best of seats. On Saturday I went to Sylvia Park shopping centre in South Auckland. It was a rough area but I got what I wanted. When I was coming back on the bus into Titirangi there were street performers outside the shops on a stage with lots of people dancing to the trumpets and singers. Sylvie had her friends over for an April fools party but Tanya and I went out to the theatre in the evening to see cabaret artist Victoria Girling-Butcher. She was lovely and some of her guests were brilliant. They played soft rock and she explained to her blind father what was going on in between songs. After the cabaret we heard the jazz artists at the hardware cafe so went to explore. We had some calamari and then tried to go downstairs to see the performers but were denied entry as we didn’t have tickets. They sounded very good though. On our way back home we looked into Titirangi hall as more performers were playing and even though we didn’t have tickets we were allowed to listen to the last song. The festival was so good and it was really nice just walking up the road and listening to local artists.

Bilbo's house

Sam's house

under the party tree looking over to the lake, mill and pub

by Bilbo's house

Saturday 24th March. Up at 6am to catch the 6.40 bus to New Lynn followed by another bus to Britomart. I had booked a day tour to Hobbiton with Red Carpet Tours and was very excited. I was picked up by Vic who runs the tour company with his wife Raewyn. Vic and Raewyn are die hard LOTR fans and specialise in 12 day tours going everywhere in New Zealand where LOTR was filmed and even staying in the hotels the actors stayed in. There were only 3 of us on the tour as we picked up two girls on holiday from Peru and Australia too. Hobbiton is in Matamata which is just over a two hour drive away from Auckland. It was an interesting drive through some really remote rural countryside. As we were going up the lane to the Hobbiton farm Vic put on the Shire music which was hilarious. We arrived and looked around the shop and then went to the Shire’s rest cafe for tea and coffee. The actual film set is a kilometre away from the cafe and shop so we left Vic in the cafe and departed for the actual Hobbiton tour on a full bus. When we arrived on set we got off the bus and were able to walk around while the Hobbiton guide told us facts. It was so beautiful with white butterflies and flowers everywhere. It was a lot smaller than I imagined and the camera angles obviously make it look a lot bigger. There were about 45 hobbit holes. They had no rooms behind the doors except Sam’s and Bilbo’s hobbit holes which had small rooms behind them so the actors could go inside and close the doors. We saw the green dragon pub, the mill, the party tree where Bilbo gives his birthday speech, the party field where the hobbits celebrate Bilbo’s birthday, the lake, Bilbo and Sam’s house. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go right up to the pub and mill but we were able to take photos from across the lake. Vic later told us that they’re going to make the green dragon pub on the set into an actual pub. Our guide told us that Hobbiton was originally going to be dismantled but a storm prevented them from doing so and after the storm they decided not to bother. We were also told funny stories about people who came to Hobbiton dressed as elves, hobbits and wizards. One 7ft man apparently came dressed as a hobbit and refused to leave stating that it was his home. Going around the set took about an hour and a half but I wished we had longer. After the tour we got back on the bus and had lunch with Vic in the shire’s rest as part of the red carpet package. He told us that they had finished filming for the new Hobbit film in November and the cast were now down in the South Island. Vic was so knowledgeable and I’d love to come back to NZ and do their 12 day tour which looks amazing. I didn’t want to leave Hobbiton but I had a great day which I will remember for a long time.

Browns Bay beach

Auckland

Rangitoto island

Saturday 17th March. Met up with a connection of Jacqui’s; Dawn, Mike and Becky. Dawn is Jacqui’s friend’s daughter and moved to New Zealand from England when she was 21. They live up in Albany on the North Shore which I hadn’t visited. They took me to lunch at a nice pub in Browns Bay where they were serving green beers from Stoke in honour of St Patrick’s Day. We then walked along the beach where we had a great view of Rangitoto Island. When I said I hadn’t properly seen the wharf front in the centre of Auckland they decided to take me down to what’s known as the Viaduct where there are lots of nice restaurants along the water front. It was very busy as there was an around the world yacht race taking place and lots of Irish out celebrating. Apparently it was here that a lot of the rugby world cup games took place. We then went back to their gorgeous house. The area they live in looks more English than other areas I’ve been to as it was very rural like at home. After a nice chat and snoop around their house, Dawn dropped me back to Titirangi. I had a really nice day with Dawn and her family but it had left me craving cake so I went up into the village to get some only to find they didn’t sell it!

one of the stalls

cook island dancers

cook island dancers

Tuvalu stage

Saturday 10th March. Went with Toby to meet Tanya and Sylvie in Mount Eden after they had been to Sylvie’s cricket game, dropped off Mirabai and friends at the mall on the way. We had lunch at a place called Circus Circus where I had my favourite; waffles with bacon and banana. After this Toby took Sylvie on to another cricket game while Tanya and I went to the pasifika festival. The annual festival is at Western Springs park where there is a big lake and around the lake were ‘villages’ representing the pacific islands. At each island village there was a stage where there was dancing or singing, food and stalls. It was a great cultural experience for me to see places like Samoa, Tahiti and Fiji represented. Tanya and I sat and watched some dancing at the Cook Islands village and we were the only non-Pacificas! The stalls were all bright and colourful with women wearing bold flower hats and multi-colours. There was big jewellery on sale and I bought a shell necklace. We also bought flowers for our hair and really enjoyed the chilled island atmosphere. I really wanted to see what the Fiji village was like having really wanted to go to Fiji. When we got there some children were dancing in a competition and were really going for it which was great to watch. Everyone was eating water melons which huge servings of ice cream. Before leaving we bought some pasifika food for dinner which consisted of chop suey, taro (a type of vegetable), potato salad, rice and fish. Sadly when we all tried it later we found it either too dry or too buttery. Nevertheless we had a great day and it will be a highlight of my time in Auckland.

Friday 24th Feb. Organised a puppy play date for Snowy with Robyn and her five Yorkshire terriers. Sylvie and I went over to her house which has amazing views of the city and beach. The dogs were gorgeous and very excited to see us. Snowy was like a new kid at school being shy at first but he soon got very confident eating all their food! Robyn showed us how she has a little puppy ladder up to her bed which the dogs can go up. We then went to Titirangi beach with them all. Her car has no back seats but a massive sackish thing filled with a pillow for the dogs which they love. It was great going to the beach with them as there were dogs everywhere! Robyns female dog was coming on heat and Snowy took quite a liking to her, following her wherever she went. Unfortunately we had to get back for tea but it was so nice to meet them all and we had a great time.