November

 November 2021

The weather warming up, we continued to try and see new places in the Auckland region. A day trip to Lake Wainamu near Bethells beach was our next trip.

Well known for the large sand dunes that people adore boogie boarding down. The sand get's bloody hot in the sun though, and I highly recommend covered shoes for the walk up - my jandals weren't quite cutting the cheese and I ended up hopping along like a maniac. 

Once we crested the hill it was all worth it though, and I even managed my first swim, in November no less! Looking back on this summer as I write this from 2023, I am extremely envious of our 2021/2 summer, as this year has been astronomically bad. Past me didn't know how good I had it! We also hiked out to one of my favourite local beaches, Granny's bay. 

Perfect for a swim, though you may want to go early, to avoid the nudists! It's a bit of a hike to get to, but well worth it for the views. 

The Pohutukawa were already out in full force at Long Bay, and the humming of bees could be heard from all around. 

I made the most of the sunshine by undertaking some DIY and doing up my outdoor chairs. Nothing a bit of sanding and varnish can't fix!

I'll finish the post off with my quintessential summer dish, a strawberry tart. Bring on Summer!

October

October 2021

October brought with it warmer weather, baking experiments, and of course my birthday. I had a go at making profiteroles which was rather fun, and quite successful too.

On a couple of weekends we woke up early and watched the sunrise from the beach with hot coffee to keep us warm. Murray's Bay became one of our favorites for the view.

Unfortunately with another lockdown upon us and nothing but supermarkets and takeaways open, we couldn't exactly do much for my birthday. My family did their best to make it special however, so my 29th was still lovely.

And I had cake!

Of course Spring also meant time to sort the garden for the new season. I planted lavender, basil, chili plants, and tomatoes. 

The days grew warmer, and soon you could tell summer was on the way!

Weddings and Hikes

August-September 2021

My co-workers Yas' wedding was by far the most laid back - and best- wedding I have ever been to (speaking from my grand experience of all three weddings I had now been to). It was more of a party than anything else, and it was wonderful.

Held on Waiheke, where they were living, they had a friend host everyone in their backyard, and the sun even came out for it (quickly followed by a bout of rain!)

They had their family back in Argentina watching via Skype, and the whole thing was rustic, relaxed, and fun!

The food was amazing, the bar was open, and everyone was lovely, what more could you ask for?

 

It was a perfect day, and I went from a little nervous at not knowing anyone, to sad that I had to catch the ferry home early. I imagine that party went late into the night!

My next adventure of note was a little closer to home. With the still sunny winter days, we checked out the Te Atatu peninsula walkway, which was a pretty little walk along the water.

Like most of the Hobsonville area, it's highly tidal, turning to less attractive mudflats when the tide is out.

We were on a hiking buzz now, and for our next adventure we headed out into the Waitakere ranges, about a forty minute drive from our house, and full of beautiful walks and hikes.

We had chosen Nihotupu dam for our walk of the day, not least because it was one of the closest walks available to us, right on the edge of the ranges. 

The dam is one of five reservoirs in the Waitakere ranges that give Auckland its water. The ranges experience higher rainfall than Auckland, so it makes sense they were placed there. This dam was built in 1923, and I enjoyed passing rusting and mysterious machinery alongside the track.

Originally a wooden dam was built here in 1902, but this was demolished in 1914 and construction of the modern dam began. It took years to build mainly due to labour shortages caused by World War I, hence the completion date of 1923. 

To build the dam, supplies were of course needed. So a tram line was built in aid of this. The tracks can still be seen leading through the bush, and it was this, not the dam that was actually my favourite part of the walk.

Wintery Adventures

 July-August 2021

July saw us make a trip to the grounds surrounding Chelsea Sugar factory, which as a child I had suspected my friend Chelsea of secretly owning (spoiler, she didn't). 

 






 


That famous pink building visible every time you cross the Harbour Bridge to and from Auckland has a long history. Not only is it the country's only sugar works, it began operation in 1884, which is old for New Zealand!

As we went for a meander on a Sunday, the factory was closed, but the walks around and views were quite lovely. 

We were still lucky enough to have numerous sunny winter days, leading to many sunset walks along the water in our neighbourhood.

The fine days did have a downside of course, and that was the cold. Multiple mornings on our walks before work we would see frost on the ground.

I soon had a spate of radishes, and with too many to eat straight, I had a go at quick-pickling them (it was successful!)

My co-worker Yas also suggested the little work posse we had developed at our time at Auckland Unlimited meet up for a little Hen's do party for her as she was getting married soon. It was nice to catch up with everyone, as our contracts had ended and it felt strange no longer seeing them every day.

We had a hilarious evening singing terrible Karaoke in a private room in town. If the wedding was half as much fun, I was looking forward to it!

Winter Begins

 June 2021

June was a month of highs and lows, the trees lost the last of their autumn leaves, and the weather cooled.

We were lucky to have lots of sunny winter days however, leading to walks down to the water, and beautiful sunsets. The café/bar Fabric has especially nice water views, and is always a nice spot for a little glass of wine.

The thing I really like about Hobsonville is that you can see its military history wherever you look. From streets named after planes, old flight hangers repurposed, to the houses on the cliff, which once belonged to the sea captains and their wives. 

Fabric was a part of this history too, built in 1928 and once where aircraft had their wings repaired and re-covered in fabric during World War II (hence the café name). 

Attempting to get my hygge on (one of my favourite ideals to follow in winter) I tried my hand at some more baking experiments, gravitating towards apples with the winter days.

Family came to visit for a belated mid-winter Christmas, leading to much feasting. We made cheese fondue which was delicious as ever, even if we didn't have a way to keep it hot at the table. 

The last time we had made fondue had been in my tiny kitchen in France, where it was only two steps from the old wooden table to the stove, so keeping it warm was less of a problem. I'm spoiled now with a much larger kitchen!

Our yearly tradition of three tiered chocolate mousse made an appearance of course, this time with candied orange peel and lots of orange liqueur throughout. Yum!

And of course, we made the trip to my favourite wine bar on K road, Apero, with lots of excellent food and wine as always. 

And then the downside of the month, my job contract came to an end, and with another lockdown hitting, I was unable to find work. Time to tighten our belts - at least my radishes were growing.

A Month of Celebrations

 May 2021

In early May I popped over to Waiheke to visit one of my work colleagues who lived on the island and commuted to Auckland via the ferry. If not for the chill in the air, you would have thought it was summer.

We had booked lunch at Casita Miro, which I highly recommend if ever given the chance. Blink and you'd think you were in Spain somewhere.

Not only was it incredibly scenic, hidden amongst Waiheke's vineyards, but the food was exceptional. 

Tapas style, we ordered an array of dishes, from focaccia to potatas bravas to delicious prawns.

Everything was ridiculously good, and I've been hankering to go back ever since!

We had planned for a wine tasting at Tantalus estate, but unfortunately it was full, so we ended up at Stony Ridge instead, which was very pleasant, but left me with an itch to go back and try alllll the other vineyards on Waiheke. (One day!)

May was also Ben's birthday month, so we made the most of it with a day in Auckland city, starting with an escape room (we escaped 2 minutes overtime!) and Mexican Cafe for lunch (one of our go-to cheap eats in the city) 

We followed this up with mini-golfing and beers, before a lovely hotel room to chill for the night. I ended up winning the mini-golf (much to Ben's dismay).

In the morning we had a bottomless brunch by the harbour, which made for a really fun start to the day and wind-down of the birthday celebrations! 

A word of caution to any future traveller by the waterside, the cannons apparently go off every Sunday morning, which gave us an awful fright and almost made my glass go 10 feet in the air (Maybe that's why they're made of plastic here?) After this, we made our way to the ferry and home.

Did I mention the homemade chocolate mousse cake and bubbles? Not a bad month, May!