Gareth put it quite succintly ...

Coffee breaks and pit-stops

The last few days ... from a weather and fun perspective .... have had it all!! Weatherwatch and Met Services forecast a very intense low heading across North Island and whilst it was vicious in certain places, it didn’t hit Auckland with quite the punch we expected.  

The gentleman in his blue undies was deemed inappropriately
dressed and removed by the security guards

We did get to the cricket on Saturday and yes ... it WAS really cold .... and rather windy ... but it was a lot of fun.  There weren’t an awful lot of people there but the ones that were added to the atmosphere and made it so enjoyable ... apart from the group sitting next to us .... especially the Cape Coloured lady with the megaphone mouth!

Gareth put it quite succintly ... her behaviour made him embarrassed to admit he was a South African! Fortunately she only joined her friends well into South Africa’s innings so we didn’t have to listen to her 'take' on the game for very long ... what we did have to listen to was MORE than enough!

I can only imagine she must have been a cricketer in a former life as she screamed advice at the players constantly ... advice which they mostly ignored ... until she yelled that she was going home if they didn’t hit a 4 with the next ball.  We breathed a sign of relief ... 4's had been hard to

Some calves we found on the way back from the airshow

come by .... too much water in the outfield which halted the ball’s momentum the minute it hit the turf.  For once they heeded her advice though ... they hit a 4 .... and megaphone mouth continued .... “blerry this”.... and “blerry that” ..... my South African friends will know exactly what her accent sounded like!

Ardmore Airfield

Spitfire

Pity that the Security personnel weren’t as vigilant with unacceptable verbal behaviour ... we’d seen them evict several spectators for being scantily clad and behaving in an unseemly fashion ... to my mind, her language was just as unseemly ... she should have been evicted too!

The Harvards putting on an aerial display

Early Sunday saw us watching the Sharks take on the Stormers .... yayness levels went down .... my Sharks need to stop giving away penalties if they want to progress up the log. Two weeks into the Super 15 and they haven’t won a game yet ... they need to pull their socks up. 

I support them through thick and thin and watch all their matches .... regardless of the time of day or night ... I need to see some winning!!!


The Wings n Wheels show at Ardmore Airfield was a whole heap of fun .... we got to see fast cars, vintage cars, drag racing cars, drifters, jet planes, war planes, helicopters .... and all under the most beautiful blue sky.  It was a wonderful day out in the country .... sadly the hound couldn’t join us ... dogs aren’t always welcome at some of these events.

I’ve made up for not being around yesterday though by taking her for a super long walk today .... we’re rambling on our lonesome this week as Julia and Indy are away on holiday.  


We’ve been onto Ladies Bay and chased the waves .... and the gulls ..... and onto St. Heliers Bay and chased our ball .... with one eye open for the Dog Warden.  The hound’s being really good though .... she’s realising she has to stay in the water and runs along the edge with her feet in the waves and the ball in her mouth.  Just let that Dog Warden come and tell me she should be on lead!!

Don't think I want one of these in my garden

I still haven’t had any reply from Dog Control about my fine .... I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I know they’ve had a lot to deal with this last week or so as the closing date for submissions for the changing of the Dog Bylaws was 27th February .... my letter of objection would have arrived in amongst all the submissions .... here’s hoping they didn’t lose it!

As we head into March the beaches are emptier in the mornings despite the glorious weather.  We ramble up and down in the waves until 9 and then head up to the Co-op to get our daily fix. As I sit on the bench and drink it and look at the empty beach, I can’t help but think how absurd it is that there’s not a soul on the beach .... apart from those humans with hounds flouting the law.  My hound sits and watches too ... and whimpers .... she doesn’t understand how she can see the waves but can’t go in them .... wish I could speak DOG and explain to her how ridiculous some of the laws are that my fellow humans make.