Kia Ora Guys

Mel jumped out of the car at the traffic lights where Queen Street intersects Customs St West and went into the Mercure Hotel to meet Marcia,who we had the pleasure of showing around for a brief few hours,while she was in Auckland.It was already late afternoon,and we had decided to get her out of the city for a couple of hours.

The weather had come good for the visit and the sun was out which made the city look excellent as we drove across the Harbour Bridge to the North Shore.We drove up Mt Victoria and North Head here in Devonport for some great views of the city and good photo opportunities for Marcia to add to her collection. We dropped our car off at the house and took a walk on Cheltenham Beach on our way back into town.It was a lovely evening with a breeze in the air.Manuka was our next stop for coffee before taking the ferry across to Auckland City which allowed Marcia to see the city from the water.

The Auckland Boat Show was on this weekend and that meant that the Viaduct was busier than usual,but we managed to get a great table at Portofino,a nice Italian restaurant,right at the front overlooking the water and the boats.Our meal was delicious and we chatted about lots of things and by the time we had finished eating,it had gotten dark and the whole viaduct area was lit up which looked fantastic. Our time with Marcia was brief but we all had a great time and felt we had packed a lot in for a few hours.

We walked her back to the hotel,said our goodbyes and then wlaked back to the ferry terminal for our ferry back to Devonport.Back at the house we had big problems,it was late and we were ready for bed when Mel noticed the shower tray full of water,it was when we flushed the toilet we realised that the pump was not working correctly and the bathroom started to flood.It was 1.30am and we were bailing out bucket loads of water to try and keep the bathroom dry,it was quite a sight!!!

The worst part was our Landlords were going on holiday early morning so we got to bed at 2am but had to get back up at 5.30am to try and catch them before they left for the airport.The alarm went off and we got up and waited for the main house lights to come on. We felt bad breaking the news to them but they took it in their stride and while Dave messed around with the pump I was chief extension lamp holder which meant I couln't get to the mossies that were nibbling on my feet!!!!

After a quick mess around it didn't seem to be moving so it was time for them to leave to catch their flight,a couple of hours latre the plumber turned up and within minutes had sorted out the pump and we were back in business,but by now both Mel and I were shattered.

We knew that we had to keep our energy up as we were driving North later that afternoon to try the TreeTop Adventure near Helensville.It was a nice drive up and as we pulled into the forest we got to see the courses all up in the trees at different heights.We checked in,got into our harnesses and helmets, had our safety briefing and we were good to go. It was a short walk through the forest to the starting point of Course 5 our first of 4 we would be tackling today.The course was about 10 metres up in the trees and you climbed a rope ladder to get to the platform.

One by one we traversed the obstacles strapped on with our carabinas and negotiating our way through wire walks,ropes sliding boards,cargo nets and zip lines.It took around 3 hours to get around all 4 courses and it was hard work but absolute great fun and Mel did a fantastic job getting around the courses.It was funny watching her psyching herself up to jump off the platforms onto the zip lines but by the end she was loving it.

We deharnessed and all of us had sore hands from grabbing the steel wires around the course,but the 2 workmates of Mels that we were with took us to a cool winery/brewery for a drink,the place was busy and we got a paddle of beer with 5 different beers to try which Mel polished off as I was driving and was quite happy with a water.The setting was nice and we had a good wind down chatting about the tree adventure before driving back home.

It was a lovely evening and we felt like we had done a good workout in the trees,so decided to treat ourselves to Fish and Chips,but first we had to swing by home and pick up the HP and vinegar!!!

We bought our Snapper and Chips and sat on the beach in town eating the Fish and Chips and relaxing our aching bodies,it was a great end to a great day...

Lots of Love

M & M
xx