this blog is made possible by Esquires Coffee House, Sky City Metro, Auckland. Gotta love these hotspots, and the food is pretty good. Tonight a chicken and peach croissant with brie and rocket, weird combination with the peach but great.
We are smashed, again so much packed into the day. We were up kinda early to get to Auckland's Biggest Garage Sale but got side tracked visiting Cornwall Park which was across the road from the Showgrounds. It was magnificent even though it bucketed down with rain shortly after arriving. We drove to the top of the park to take in the views but were unable to leave the car as it was too wet, and the rain made it virtually impossible to see much anyway. We had breakfast in the kiosk which was kinda upmarket, it was all crisp white tablecloths and french accented staff but I thought the prices were reasonable and the food fresh and delicious. We planned on going back for the high tea at 2pm but got, well.... sidetracked.
The Garage Sale was big, with lots of people most of the good stuff I guess had gone, it would have been good to have been to the preview the night before but we didn't know about it. There were a couple of items we would have liked but there would have been the problem of getting them home.
We hot footed it over to the Aotea Markets back near our hotel, hoping to dry off with the heater in the car, the rain had really set in, we were sodden from the walk to and from the car getting to the garage sale. We got even wetter as we spun around the markets, which were all but washed out really.
Having managed to complete two locations on the days itinerary we would not be put off by the rain, and instead of our planned visit to Ayerlies Garden we took in the Winterhouse in the Domain. This was perfection, especially the heated glasshouse, although we were wet to the bone getting back to the car.
Next, was a trip to Miriwai, the black sand beach. It was a straightforward trip from Auckland, even though we managed to get ourselves lost. And even though it was still raining (I don't think it stopped until we got back to the hotel this evening for a sleep), we were fascinated by the colour of the beach, it is amazing, and the waves were huge. We would have loved to have walked, and there was some that were, but the rain had won out. We headed back to Auckland via Devonport, the plan being to buy one of these by Maggie De Grauw, however, when we got to the gallery they had sold the one I had my heart set on from our visit on Thursday.
Tomorrow we check out of the hotel and travel to Rotarua.
We are smashed, again so much packed into the day. We were up kinda early to get to Auckland's Biggest Garage Sale but got side tracked visiting Cornwall Park which was across the road from the Showgrounds. It was magnificent even though it bucketed down with rain shortly after arriving. We drove to the top of the park to take in the views but were unable to leave the car as it was too wet, and the rain made it virtually impossible to see much anyway. We had breakfast in the kiosk which was kinda upmarket, it was all crisp white tablecloths and french accented staff but I thought the prices were reasonable and the food fresh and delicious. We planned on going back for the high tea at 2pm but got, well.... sidetracked.
The Garage Sale was big, with lots of people most of the good stuff I guess had gone, it would have been good to have been to the preview the night before but we didn't know about it. There were a couple of items we would have liked but there would have been the problem of getting them home.
We hot footed it over to the Aotea Markets back near our hotel, hoping to dry off with the heater in the car, the rain had really set in, we were sodden from the walk to and from the car getting to the garage sale. We got even wetter as we spun around the markets, which were all but washed out really.
Having managed to complete two locations on the days itinerary we would not be put off by the rain, and instead of our planned visit to Ayerlies Garden we took in the Winterhouse in the Domain. This was perfection, especially the heated glasshouse, although we were wet to the bone getting back to the car.
Next, was a trip to Miriwai, the black sand beach. It was a straightforward trip from Auckland, even though we managed to get ourselves lost. And even though it was still raining (I don't think it stopped until we got back to the hotel this evening for a sleep), we were fascinated by the colour of the beach, it is amazing, and the waves were huge. We would have loved to have walked, and there was some that were, but the rain had won out. We headed back to Auckland via Devonport, the plan being to buy one of these by Maggie De Grauw, however, when we got to the gallery they had sold the one I had my heart set on from our visit on Thursday.
Tomorrow we check out of the hotel and travel to Rotarua.
