Now and then my wife and I will randomly make spur of the moment decision whilst driving around. On this occassion we decided to go for a drive to Maraetai which is just outside of Auckland. We ended up at Omana beach and got there just in time to watch the sunset.
If you enlarge the photo and look close enough you will notice the Auckland city skyline on the horizon to the left.
Which of the two photos do you like best?
The Clocktower building at the University of Auckland seems to be a bit of a tourist hotspot. Whenever I am taking time out across the road in Albert Park, there is always a steady stream of mostly Asian tourists taking photos of it. I think they would appreciate how it looks at night.
The Harbour Bridge is one of those features that make Auckland, ‘Auckland’. Like a few other bridges around the world, you can go for a nice and maybe not so leisurely walk up it. If you are feeling a bit more adventurous you can chose to bungy jump off it. These photos were taken from Westhaven Marina which is one of the largest marinas in the Southern Hemisphere.
A couple more photos taken from different angles (click on images for large view):
Now and then I go for walks around the place and sometimes I take a camera along with me. The other day I found myself walking past the Sandspit Yacht Club. It was interesting to see people going about their own business at the beach. Some were fishing, some were cleaning their boats and others were doing nothing at all besides relaxing on their boats and enjoying the weather.
(click on image for large view)This is a photo of some of the ponds at the
(click on image for large view)
(click on image for large view)This is a photo of the tekoteko (head) and the right maihi (arm) and amo (leg) of the whare runanga (council house) of the Pipitea marae which is a few minutes drive from
It was my birthday on Friday (18th) and my wife took me out for dinner at the Ambeli which I must say is the best restaurant I have been to. What struck me the most was how the setting was so intimate. The room in which we had our meal had the lights turned down low with candles to help light it up and the music was turned down low which let us have a nice conversation without having to shout at each other. The offer a Mediterranean themed menu and we both settled on the slow cooked crispy duck, mixed bean salad & white balsamic for our main course. It was a bit more expensive than the average restaurant but it was well worth it and I would recommend it to anyone in Wellington looking for perfection.
