Honey, I Shrunk My Car!

On Wednesday night last week, I finally got a "new" car.  I went to look at it and decided to get it over the weekend, but then it had an inspection (which I'm glad I had done and didn't have to pay for) because it needed a new tire and then windshield wipers.  I am now insured and driving along in my 1989 Toyota Corolla (manual).  Now $30 fills it to half instead of under 1/4 tank of fuel!  It still takes premium, unfortunately, because it's so old, but at least it will get WAY better milage and be much more economical!  Basically, it's like a savings account here, and when I go home, I can sell it, most-likely for more than I purchased it for, since Jacques' dad helped me find it through one of his wholesaler friends.   Just because it was something new in the driveway, all the kids just thought it was the coolest thing! Nicest car of the family!

After her bath

King of the Bays/Doo-Wops and Hooligans!

The swim on Saturday morning was actually canceled because the weather was too dangerous for swimming along a rocky coast line.  Instead, they shortened it to a 2-lap course just off Takapuna beach, 1500m total.  It was pouring rain and extremely windy!  I was in no mood to swim, but did it anyway.  The waves were pretty big and I just felt like I was getting tossed around a lot.  It was definitely not the most fun ocean swim I've ever done, but I survived. 

Last night, Jacques and I went to the Bruno Mars, Doo-Wops and Hooligans concert.  It was really, really good!  He sounds great live and entertains very well with his band.  Here are a few snippets of what we got to hear. 

Club Champs/Jelly Bean Week!

This week is Club Champs at the Tennis club.  I entered Women's singles, Mixed doubles and Women's doubles, just for fun.  I had a match on Sunday, Monday, 2 on Tuesday, one Wednesday and one tonight (Friday) and one tomorrow as well (if it doesn't interfere with my Ocean Swim, Milford Beach to Takapuna beach).  I'm not in tennis shape at all, but the tennis-filled week has been fun. 

Last weekend was An and Jenny's last in New Zealand :(  Jenny is now back in California and An is in Australia, and then off to Thailand and eventually back to Belgium.  We had a nice goodbye dinner all together Friday night (along with their replacements) and then games and picnic in Albert Park Saturday evening before going out.  It's sad now a lot of my first friends here have gone back home or off traveling and then back home! 

This week was also the last week of swim lessons for the term and so half the class is fun and games and the kids get jelly beans at the end!  While telling "The Bob Story" during one class of preschoolers I was corrected.  Apparently, they're not zEE-bras at the zoo (where you also always see a bobcat in the bob story) they are ze-(as in egg)-bras...also playing red light/green light, the it's not a yellow light, it's an orange light!  I was wrong all over the place.  They just didn't understand that it was what I called them, to them, it was just wrong. 

Tomorrow I am doing the King of the Bays Ocean Swim, another 2.8k from Milford Beach to Takapuna beach, very close to home again.  Hopefully the weather stays just like it has been all week! Nice and sunny!  It's the last swim of the series as summer is slowly coming to an end.  The rest of the weekend should be pretty relaxed (that's the plan as of now) and then Monday night Jacques and I are going to see Bruno Mars at Vector Arena in Auckland!! :)  Then three days of looking after the kids the first week of school holidays, then the family is off to the Mount and Jacques and I are off to Great Barrier Island!

Last ever group photo with An and Jenny :(

Coromandel!

Last week was another busy one! Lots of swimming teaching (about 12 hours) and the regular days with Reuben, Libby and Tessa.  After Saturday's lessons, I came home, showered, and Jacques and I were off to Hahei on the Coromandel peninsula for the weekend.  The weather could not have been more perfect! It was like summer had come back completely for the weekend!  We drove to Hahei and staying in the Tatahi Lodge right near the beach.  We did the walk to the famous Cathedral Cove that evening and then visited Hot Water beach the next morning.  The beach was pretty busy with people waiting with their spades for the tide to go out low enough.  There's only a small section of the beach where you can dig (and only 2 hours either side of low tide) where the hot springs are felt.  They are HOT!  You need to dig far enough from the water so that the waves don't fill in your hole, but close enough so that you get a bit of cool water every now and again.  Placement is tricky indeed!  We merged "spas" with a few different people at times, better to work together to dig and build a wall so that all the hard work doesn't just collapse on itself with the next wave. 

From there we drove up north a bit more, to Cook's Beach and Shakespeare's Cliff to look out.  We saw the passenger ferry to Whitianga which would have literally been a 5 min swim across.  instead we drove about 40k all the way around up to Whitianga and then continued on some more.  We stopped off for some ice cream, just before getting to Otama Beach (which was deserted!) and asked for a double scoop.  I was so surprised when she handed it to me and I saw my tower of ice cream!!  It was more like a quadruple scoop and I couldn't eat it fast enough off the tiny cone and it started dripping down my arm...a bit messy.  I went for one last swim at Otama beach in the waves and enjoyed the warm water before hopping back in the car, driving across to Coromandel Town, and then back down the coast via Thames and back up to Auckland.  A lovely weekend away indeed. 

People digging and spaing at Hot Water beach

Otama Beach

swimming all by myself at Otama Beach

Partially eaten double scoop ice cream!

A wave of cool water flowed in right at picture time!

Hahei Beach

Beginning of the walk to Cathedral Cove

mid-walk to Cathedral Cove

Cathedral Cove

Otama Beach

Museum and 5k Fun Run!

This weekend we said goodbye to yet another friend! Vicky flew home to the UK on Saturday.  A group of us met on Saturday for lunch (also met Jenny's replacement since she'll be going soon as well) and then visited the Auckland Museum, a perfect rainy day activity.  They have a living room you go and sit in and it simulates what it would be like if a new volcano erupted next to Rangitoto, the floor shakes and you see all the ash and magma racing toward you through the sliding glass door.  Basically, we'd be completely wiped out!  So hopefully no more volcanoes are planning on emerging anytime soon!

I had to babysit Saturday night while Julia and John went out to an 80s party, dressed as some crazy 80s characters!  Sunday morning John and Reuben and I did the Shore to Shore 5k fun walk/run with over 5000 other school kids and their parents.  The race started at Takapuna grammar school and we ran up Lake Rd, down onto Takapuna beach, across the beach, up on the road along to Milford beach and then across Milford beach to the finish.  8-year-old Reuben managed to do it in 42 minutes! just over 20 min faster than he did it last year!