Full Circle

And so onto our last stop in this Little Big Adventure, and fittingly, it’s where we started nearly ten years ago. Although it’s not the same apartment, we are only a few doors away from the place we called home when we first arrived. It hasn’t changed a but….and we still haven’t got a harbour view! Not a proper one anyhow. I can, if I lean out of the balcony far enough, see a little bit of the harbour. At least we’re not overlooking a multi-storey car park this time!

Oh my goodness, as we walked through the atrium of 20 Pakenham Street today, the memories came flooding back; struggling up the narrow stairs in the apartment with the huge suitcases, sitting around the little circular glass table with a laptop sorting out mobile phones, taxes and others bits and pieces of life admin, falling asleep on the couch whilst watching the Bledisloe Cup, hefting a huge box containing a recently purchased printer/scanner from town. It felt like only yesterday but at the same time so much else has happened. We have been to so many places, learnt so many new things and above all have met so many wonderful people. People who have touched and enriched our lives in so many ways. We are the much the better for knowing them and I hope, even if it’s in a small way, they feel the same.

It’s been an odd few months, saying goodbye to so many people and visiting favourite places one last time, all the while wondering what the future has in store. Sadness and excitement rolled into one potent package. But crikey dick we’ve certainly crammed it in. We’ve spent some time in Canterbury in the South Island, stayed in a beach hut in the Coromandel, visited Sydney and New South Wales, Melbourne and Phillip Island, spent the weekend on an avocado farm, idled away some time in the coastal communities of Raglan and Orewa and finally got that overnight stop in the island of Waiheke. Enough adventure for a dozen holidays and more.

So what’s left here? Not a lot. There’s a container full of furniture and household goods making its way north, diverted around the southern tip of Africa to avoid potential trouble in the Middle East. Another two suitcases were air freighted away last week so we’ll have some clothing for later in the year when the nights draw in and the temperatures turn chilly. So all we have here are a rucksack each. Just enough space to contain the clothes we need for our journey northwards. Not wanting to waste an opportunity, we’re travelling through the US on our way home; landing in San Francisco and travelling overland by train to New York. Although we’ll be trading autumn for spring, the temperatures are going to be a little cooler but we’ll soon be back in summer. Double summer. Yey!

Admittedly, the adventure we embarked upon took a little longer than we planned. Our two year trip to New Zealand became four, then six and here were are nearly ten years later. Had we thought that we’d still be here all those years ago, I doubt we’d have ever left. It would’ve just seemed …well too much of a commitment,  too much of an unknown so we would’ve hesitated and then stepped back into our comfort zone. And yet the time has flown by, except perhaps for the two years that were stolen by the pandemic. They were fun…not! Although, on reflection, we were so lucky to be safely ensconced in New Zealand during that time. 

I don’t know yet how I am going to feel when I board the Air New Zealand flight in just a few days time. Sadness? Yes probably. Trepidation? Maybe. Whichever other emotions come along for the ride, excitement will definitely be one of them. We are just as excited about our next chapter as we were when we started this one. Another little big adventure? If life isn’t for adventures then what’s the point?

Ain’t Nothing Going On

There’s very little going in here at the moment, other than watching a very slow ship carry our belongings northwards - thanks to the ability to track vessels on the internet. It’s the modern equivalent of watching paint dry. So, I thought I’d share a story from a few months ago that I never got around to completing….

Remember when Working from Home, or WFH as it’s now known, was a privilege? Generally allowed by exception when a deadline loomed or there was a genuine need to be at home. Back in the day, pre-pandemic obviously, bosses didn’t trust individuals to work from home. They, the bosses could be trusted, that goes without saying, but not the rest of the riff raff, let them run amok who knows what they would get up to. But the pandemic changed all that. Overnight, WFH became an imperative, and all of a sudden those subordinates were trusted after all. Could this be a change of heart and a move to a more trusting relationship, or a realisation that the business needed their staff to keep working? I’ll let you decide.

Anyway, a few months ago I was WFH, along with half of the office - since the end of the pandemic employers have had a hard time getting staff back into their buildings. The proverbial genie was out of the bottle so to speak. It was the usual routine; set up the laptop and monitor on the dining room table, open the bi-fold doors to let some cooler air into the room and get stuck in. And by get stuck in, I mean start the first of many video calls. 

All was going well, and I was getting through the business. I had just started a call with my boss and the rest of our team when an uninvited visitor wandered in through the open door. A small bird, nothing more exotic than a common sparrow, decided to take a look around. Inevitably, there were some cereal crumbs on the kitchen floor which the bird cleared up.

“Well that’s one less thing for me to worry about before Sarah gets back,” I thought to myself as the call continued. 

“Is everything alright Graeme, you seem a little distracted,” my boss enquired.

“Yeah, all good. A bird has just helped itself to my cereals but I’m good,” I replied.

The call continued, but the bird showed no signs of leaving. Clearly having struck cereal gold, it decided to see what further treats were in store and so it hopped into the living area. I could see it out of the corner of my eye. So far no harm was being done.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go and deal with the intruder?” my boss asked.

“No it’s alright….. I think…..errr, actually on second thoughts I’d better go and deal with it…..it’s on the back of the couch!”

I had sudden imagines of the visitor pooping on the couch and wondering how on earth I would explain that to Sarah. I put my connection on pause and went off into the living area. The bird, taking one look at my advancing frame, hopped off the back of the couch and onto the arm of the adjacent chair.

“Now come on,” I said to my unwanted guest, “play fair. You’ve had your breakfast so how about you head back outside and join the rest of your feathered friends.” 

I swear I’m not making this up, but that bird cocked its head as if to say “Why would I want to do that?” and flew over my head and hid behind the sofa.

“For crying out loud, I’ve got a bloody job to do!” I exclaimed in frustration.

Since lockdown, the back of the sofa had became a storage area for spare IT equipment and other work related paraphernalia. The bird was well out of reach and it knew it. Sensing the battle of wits slipping away from me, I opened to front door in the hope that seeing clear sky would entice the cheeky bleeder to make a break from freedom.

No such luck as there was no sign of movement. This bird clearly had steel resolve. Okay, there was nothing for it. If I wanted to take back control I was going to have to move the sofa. I started to pull one end away from the wall and the bird, presumably sending that his new found resting place was being invaded, hopped out back into the middle of the room, leaving a little leaving present on a disused keyboard in the process.

“You dirty…..right that does it. Get out!” I shouted, pointing towards the open front door. 

I slowly crept forward, narrowing the angles so the intruder had limited option, “Carefully does it,” I muttered under my breath.

“Oh, no!”

I suddenly realised my error - I’d left the stairs completely unguarded. The last thing I wanted was the bird to seek refuge upstairs. It was too late, the bird had already noticed my glaring mistake and was eyeing up a potential new area for investigation.

“Oh no you don’t!” I said and made a dash for the bottom of the stairs to hopefully block the birds passage upstairs.

The bird, weighing up its options, decided he’d had enough fun for one morning and hopped through the open front door…

…right into the paws of a waiting cat. A cat who probably couldn’t believe his luck. There his was, relaxing in a sunny spot, minding his own business, when a bird literally landed in his lap. 

I’ve got no idea where the cat came from - none of the neighbours own one - and to this day I haven’t seen it since. Nature can be so cruel.

“Well that was unfortunate,” I said to no one in particular and went back to my laptop to rejoin the call. Not before closing both doors of course.

A Strange Do Alright

What a strange carry on. Most peculiar. As I type these words, I am sat on a sofa in a hotel room not far from the centre of downtown Auckland. In fact not that far from a perfectly nice home that we own. It’s no exaggeration to say that I could put on my running shoes and be home (more on that term in a minute) in less than ten minutes. And no, I’m not a fast runner!

Well how did I get here?

It’s been a odd few months. Firstly up was leaving a perfectly pleasant and well paying job and not having another one to go into. Elected unemployment you could say, or as I like to call it, temporary retirement. 

Hot on the heels of temporary retirement came the uplift. Which is a rather grand way of saying the contents of our home - there’s that word again - were packed up and shipped out. According to the tracking data, they are currently stacked in a pile at Singapore docks waiting to be collected and transported on the next leg of the journey northwards.

The dust hadn’t even settled when ten days of intense decorating commenced. Boy that was hard work. More tiring than working for a living for sure. Normally I don’t mind a bit of DIY because the end results are worth it, but in this case it all seemed a little pointless - it was for the benefit of the potential buyer and not us. But room by room, and in the heat of an Auckland summer, the work got done.

With our furniture gone and the house looking spick and span, we now needed to rent some more furniture to help stage the house and thus encourage a sale. So more furniture and fittings were brought in by a firm offering such services and the house was ready to be shown to the hopefully interested public. 

So surrounded by chairs we couldn’t sit on, a sofa we couldn’t lounge on and beds we couldn’t lie on it took on a surreal aspect. It was our house, but it didn’t feel like our home. Not really. Even the books that had been brought in to decorate the shelving that had been erected just wasn’t us. With titles like “An introduction to calculus” and “Wood fired gourmet pizza recipes” it made us sound like pretentious twits. Hey, I heard that!

So what exactly is home. Hopefully not where one’s possessions are - it would be hard to call a container in Singapore docks home. Equally it can’t be just bricks and mortar. We do have a shelter over our heads but it doesn’t feel like home, not in the way it used to. Surely then if it’s none of those things, if it’s not a physical manifestation then it must be less tangible. But something that creates a strong emotional response yet can’t be packed up or sold. People, places and memories perhaps. 

Whatever home is, I’m really looking forward to being in one again. Sure, camping in our own place has been kinda fun but the novelty is starting to wear off. Nah, scratch that it has worn off. Sleeping on camp beds and sitting on camping chairs has been okay but it’s not comforting, it’s tiring. 

As is tiptoeing around our own house for fear of making too much of a mess - we’d only have to tidy it up again, probably at short notice if a viewing had been arranged. Camping equipment aside, we’ve got one bowl, plate and knife and fork each. A single frying pan, one pan and a spatula makes up our entire cooking equipment. Yes, I know we could go and buy some more but what a waste. Besides, I’d much rather whinge about it. You know I would.

It has been really tempting on several occasions to say stuff it and just dive headfirst onto one of the beds. We’ve been avoiding using the beds, and the rest of the furniture for that matter, because it wasn’t ours and we didn’t want to spoil the staged look. It was only recently, when I was trying to hide some dirty laundry under one of the beds, that I realised that they were actually just inflatable mattresses resting precariously on plastic storage tubs, all carefully disguised under bed linen.

I’d like to think that I would’ve seen the funny side of it, having dived onto the fake bed and then suddenly disappeared into the inflatable mattress as it sunk between the crates. I’d like to think that, but in my current state of mind I have my doubts.

And so we booked ourselves into a nice hotel

In downtown Auckland for the Easter weekend. A little bit of luxury away from the house that used to be our home.

Regional Perks

We were once told, just hours before we flew out to New Zealand for the start of our adventure, that Auckland was a dour place. Not worthy of a visit. The irony that this unsolicited opinion was given under leaden grey skies and just before the heavens had opened and hammering rain commenced was not lost on us. We’d been to Auckland before and were confident, well reasonably confident, that we hadn’t made a mistake. Had we?

Fast forward ten years and I can say without one shred of doubt that Auckland is not dour. In fact, in my honest opinion, it’s one of the greenest (and bluest)  cities I’ve had the pleasure to visit. Find an elevated view across the city and the first thing that strikes you is just how many areas appear to be unbuilt upon. Admittedly a lot of those are extinct volcanoes but hey, green is green. And then there is the gulf, it's shimmering blue adds the most wonderful frame to the greenery of the city.

Perhaps the jewel in the shining crown of Tamaki Makaurau is the abundance of the regional parks. Auckland's regional parks offer diverse landscapes, from rugged coastlines to lush forests, and provide numerous recreational activities such as hiking, picnicking, and birdwatching. With over 26 parks covering approximately 45,000 hectares, they offer a natural escape within the city limits, making Auckland unique in having such extensive parkland so accessible to its residents and visitors alike. Dour? I think not.

We had planned to visit all of the parks in our time here but it didn’t work out like that. We started well, spending free weekends at a new location, but then we settled in and life here became….well…..normal. Slowly as the months passed we just stopped visiting. 

Which is shame because when we do visit we are reminded just how wonderful they are. This weekend, for example, we detoured to Shakespeare Regional Park located at the end of the Whangaparoa peninsula - which is about as hard to get to as it is to pronounce! This wasn’t our first visit here, but my goodness what a wonderful place. Being off peak and mid-week we virtually had the place to ourselves.

We parked up, bring mindful not to disturb the Pūkeko, set off on one of the many walking tracks. Although quite short at only 5km, the chosen track would take us to a view point on the peninsula which allowed a stunning panoramic view out across the gulf. There is something really comforting about heading off into the 'countryside' knowing that you are not wandering that far from the car whilst being within the boundary of the city. Oh and having well made and marked footpaths to follow of course!

The panoramic view from the lookout is definitely worth the short walk

From there is was all downhill…not quite…but mostly. For such a short walk the views are spectacular and the scenery changes from bush to farmland to coastal forest and finally beach. 

Looking out towards the gulf with Rangitoto in the distance. 

The last 500m is along the beach. 

Perhaps the most surprising thing is not that this is all free, but it takes place within the Auckand city boundary. All you have to do to experience this is to remember to visit - and in our case follow the red marker posts. 

We’ve got a few weeks left here, so maybe we can get  a few more ticked off. Perhaps Atū Creek on the shores of Kaipara Harbour. It is Auckland’s third-largest regional park at 843 hectares. Its size means there is ample farmland, native forest, wetlands and beaches to explore on foot, bike or horseback. Maybe not the latter. 

Or Tawhitokino? Tawhitokino is regarded by some as the most beautiful beach in Auckland but is only accessible at low tide. This means a trip to this small coastal park – at the end of Kawakawa Bay Coast Road – needs careful planning. Surely we can manage that?

Whichever Regional Park we decide to visit with our increasingly limited remaining time, I can guarantee that it won’t be dour. Dour? Auckland? Definitely not.

It All Adds Up

One of the (many) things I will miss about New Zealand is its adverts. That may sound like an odd statement but New Zealand’s advertising is in a class of its own. 

Of course there are those ads that believe that shouting at the viewer will somehow make the message hit home, as if the words were physical and can be hammered into your subconscious. You know the type, “BOB’s BEDS ARE THE BEST BEDS IN THE CITY SO COME ON DOWN AND GET A BARGAIN TODAY!” or “WE LOVE CARPETS AT CARPET WORLD. DON’T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT - COME AND SEE OUR CRAAZZYY PRICES.” or my favourite “WANT THE BEST BULL SEMEN? WELL YOU KNOW WHERE TO COME….” 

Okay so that last one might be a slight exaggeration, but I do remember seeing an add for bull sperm on our first visit to New Zealand - during a prime time rugby match no less - and thinking this was a country that I just had to investigate further.

ANY WAY WITHOUT FURTHER….sorry. Anyway without further ado, here are my favourite adverts from the wonderful but at times strange country. (And I hope these links work for you  otherwise this is going to be a somewhat pointless blog)

Mitre10 Kids

Rather than save the best until last, I’ll dive right in with the best. Why is it the best? Well kids are just funny, this delves into the kiwi psyche regarding DIY and it gently pokes fun at the Aussies. In a little brother / big brother kind of way.

“She’s pretty big job”

“Nah, we’ll knock it off in half a day”

 Watch and enjoy…

Trumpet Togs or Undies

Honestly, this one could be a public information film. I’ve been to loads of beachside towns and have often wondered whether some individuals enjoy walking around half-naked. Yes I know it’s warm but really…… Anyway this advert is a sharp piece of satirical writing and is helping sell ice cream. What could be better?

Waka Kotahi NZTA Road Toll

Not all New Zealand adverts are comical but boy can they be hard hitting. This one, from the national highway agency strikes right in the solar plexus. If this is what it takes to get our horrendous accident statistics to improve then so be it. 

Mr Frosty and the BMX Kid

With the 100% Pure New Nealand, the ad department really knocked it out of the park. And this example is probably the best. Not an advert for an ice cream with sprinkles, but an invitation to come and take a look at this unique part of the world. Aotearoa beckons….eat some ice creams, do some bombs. What’s stoppin’ ya?

Pineapple Lumps

New Zealand isn’t all ice cream and scenery. Nope, not at all. It’s also confectionery and there’s no sweet that screams NEW ZEALAND more than the humble Pineapple Lump. Don’t worry, there’s no fruit in this lolly but there is a squishy pineapple centre covered in chocolate. And like the previous add, they’re 100% Pure New Zealand.

And here’s another one riffing on the fact that they’re a true kiwi icon and gently poking fun at the British the same time. Sweet!

The Hellers Butcher Guy

Meat. New Zealand does great meat. Although this wasn’t the specific advert I was looking for, it does give a flavour of the meat based advertising we get here. The synopsis is, and do try and keep up, Man comes back home, wants to feed his family so naturally only meat will do. In fact, only Hellers brand of packaged meat products will do.  

In this advert the Hellers Butchers Guy has a problem or a snag (which is also slang for sausages) as he needs to feed his family at short notice, so naturally starts raving about Hellers Deli meats. Except I heard Jelly Meats and didn’t like the sound of those so for months was put off the idea of Hellers products. Which is probably a good thing because they are mass produced and there are many better alternatives. On the plus side though, it means we get regular adverts for meat on telly. Sandwiched, as it were, between two other kiwi staples, powerful 4x4s and beer.

Air New Zealand Safety Video

Although not strictly an advert, a honourable mention has to go to the Air New Zealand safety videos. You know, those often dull information videos that play as flights prepare to take off. Well they’re not dull here, and this one is based on Lord of the Rings. Did you know the movies were filmed in New Zealand? No? Well that’s not surprising I guess as we hardly ever mention it…..

Rip It Up and Start Again

Close your eyes and let’s go on a journey…..no wait, that isn’t going to work. Okay, so keep your eyes open and just imagine a time when things were a lot simpler; before the internet became all controlling and smart phones were but a glint in Steve Job’s eye. Are you there yet? Good. 

Welcome to the year 2000 and to my job as an engineer for the client on a construction site. I won’t name names, but let’s just say it was a square in Leeds in the United Kingdom. It was an interesting project but progress was slow. Partly this was due to the large number of underground services - being a city centre location the ground was naturally riddled with cables, pipes and other hidden paraphernalia. We also had to install a huge number of new underground services, including nine large diameter ducts that would carry video, data and power across the site. I could go into more detail - and you know I want to - but I appreciate that not every reader is going to be so enthusiastic about such engineering matters. 

Anyway it was very slow going. The situation, however, was not helped by the Contractor going about things in a somewhat haphazard manner. They quickly became behind programme - probably the only thing they managed to do quickly - and everything became a struggle. They couldn’t have picked a worse project to demonstrate their inability to deliver - the site was literally on the door step of the civic centre and right in the political heart of the city. Eventually summer rolled around and the Clerk of Works - for the ease of reference let’s call him Mike - took his annual two week break in the sun. One of the great things about taking time away from a construction project, is seeing what progress had been made in one’s absence. Not this time….

Well you can imagine the surprise on Mike’s face when, on returning to the site after a fortnight away, progress had actually gone backwards. I forget the specifics, but essentially a fault had detected in the material used for the construction of the paving and months of progress had to be ripped up. Used to slow progress on this project, Mike took it all in his stride.

“Well I must say this is a first…..there’s even less paving laid than when I left two weeks ago. I guess I should be pleased I wasn’t away for longer in case the whole job got taken up.”

He spent the next few days walking around the site, inspecting the work that had been done and shaking his head. In the days that followed he could regularly be heard singing the Orange Juice song “Rip it Up and Start Again”.  Eventually the project did get completed and it has since been a hailed as huge success - funny how the issues and drama experienced at the time have all been forgotten - but boy did it take some effort to get there.

So why am I telling you this? Well, I thought I’d seen the worst of lackadaisical construction, but I’ve got to say that New Zealand would give the boys from Leeds a run for their money. Before I go too far, I’m not suggesting that all New Zealand projects take an age to complete, but my goodness many of them do. 

By way of an example, last year a new pedestrian crossing was installed on my route to the office. This gave me an excellent opportunity to see what progress was being made twice a day; once in the morning and then again on my way home. Often it was difficult to determine what exactly had been completed. A bit more kerbing? Nah. Maybe some paving? Hard to tell. There were plenty of construction vehicles on the small site but the activity was at odds with the progress. It’s not like it was in a difficult location, and to help half of the road had been closed. A job that would have taken two weeks in the UK, and that is being generous, stretched out to a couple of months. There wasn’t even any electrical work to complete. And the kicker was that the quality of the workmanship was very poor. One could forgive a project that took a long time if the final product was professional and polished. Not this though - the kerbs that had been laid looks like they had been done blindfolded and the paving was already starting to rock. 

And this is just one example.

In the 10 years I have been here, I have searched for a reason as to why things are the way that they are. Is it the more laid back pace of life that’s rubbing off on the crews? Is the warmer weather making things difficult? Maybe the pool of resources is too small or insufficiently skilled? Is there not enough time given to training the workforce? Could it be that the client organisations don’t provide enough supervisory support to make sure projects don’t linger? 

I suspect it’s a mixture of all of the above. Any road up, there’s no sign of things improving anytime soon. It’s just the way it is and it’s what everyone has become used to. In some ways I am glad of that. It gives me a reason to recollect on past projects, people that I have met and worked alongside and never fails to bring a smile to my face and place a song in my heart…..”Rip it up and start again…”.

Can you see nearly ten weeks of work in this? No, me neither

Look at the state of that kerbline. After me….”Rip it up and start again…..”

A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood

With the date of our departure from these shores rapidly approaching, I suddenly feel compelled to document things that I was in danger of taking for granted. 

It has been a wonderful summer so far, mostly settled weather since early January and very little rain. Hardly any. Beautiful mornings such as today are becoming predictable but welcome. So, with the bulk of the house decorating completed, I took some time out to take in a walk around the neighbourhood. 

The walk to Ōhinerau / Mount Hobson, is one that I have been doing on a reasonably regular basis since we moved to Newmarket. Considering it’s only a short walk, albeit mostly uphill for the first part, it does reward with great views across the city, the Hauraki Gulf and out to Rangitoto. Definitely worth doing on a beautiful day such as this, so please join me on a walk around our neighbourhood…..

First things first….getting out of our street. I won’t miss this hill. Oh and it’s bin day. 

Looping back around, the path on the right drops down to Newmarket Park. Not for us today. Incidentally, Newmarket Park used to contain a football ground. It got washed away in a storm in the 1930s or thereabouts.

We’re heading into Newmarket Park (no a different one). I love this house on the right hand side. They seem to have fixed an old carriage to the top of their property. 

The streets around here are beautiful, especially when the sun is shining…..

….but a lot of the

Houses appear to be empty. Probably Air BnBs.

As we start to climb, we can look back and see our house. Fourth from the left. See it?

Ōhinerau (pronounced O-hee-ne-row)

Starting the climb. It’s not far to the top but I like to complain!

Once the trees are cleared, the view to Tamaki Makaurau opens up.

Nearly at the trig point at the top. 

It’s all downhill from here….

Cute cottages - look amazing today but bloody freezing in winter though. No insulation and limited heating. Basically expensive garden sheds!

Considering we are only a 30 minute walk from the city centre, it is very green. In fact Auckland is a very green looking city. 

Back home. Time to put my feet up with a cup of tea and a biscuit before getting back to the decorating.