Thursday, April 20, 2006

DAY ONE - Wednesday 19 April

It was pitch black when I arrived in NZ ... but the wonderful Sky Tower was lit up magnificently; I've been over here a few times now so it all feels welcoming and familiar. Didn't take long to drive to my mum's new place in Takapuna on the North Shore of Auckland, via a detour to the local supermarket so I could whip up a hearty breakfast: bagels, cream cheese and bacon with scrambled eggs and good strong coffee to keep me perky ;o)

After a quick catch up, reassured my dad that I had arrived on time etc .. finally got sorted and on the road to familiarise myself with where everything was and do a wee bit of shopping in and around the shore ... went to Takapuna, Milford, Albany, Forrest Hill, Whenuapai, Hobsonville ... blah, blah, blah.

Went to the opticians with my mum who has managed to lose yet another pair of specs!! Bonus was 'meeting' these two black toy poodles that Linley (their owner) absolutely doted on; Chloe even had blue bow hairclips in!! and she also proudly modelled a pink hooded jacket from Tokyo ... madness!!

My mum fostered a couple of chinese kids 20-odd years ago and it was Gary's (traditional Cantonese name!) 22nd birthday, so a group of about 12 of us were invited to a chinese seafood restaurant on the Dominion Road (Auckland city) ... Gary's dad, Michael, knows the place well and ordered for everyone - about 15 or more different dishes - including a giant crayfish that we selected and watched get caught, it tried to make a last minute dash for freedom out of the bucket but the staff were wise to it.

It's a BYO type of establishment, as are a lot of places in NZ apparently, so we brought champagne and red wine ... whoever said chinese weren't any good at drinking was proven wrong this evening - Michael and his friend (missed his name ...) were glugging back the red wine like Ribena!!

Suddenly I developed narcolepsy and had to concentrate hard to stay awake whenever there was a lull in the proceedings, out like a light as soon as i got in the car and then again when my head hit the pillow. Apart from the odd bobbing up and down (like on a boat) kind of feeling, jet lag has not affected me a great deal - in fact, it never really does. You just need to be tough in re-programming your body!! My tip is to fight it not give in to it!

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