In our late 20s we enjoyed nearly three years living and working on the other side of the world, in Auckland, New Zealand. For various reasons, we decided to leave and return ‘home’ to the UK in 2015. We’ve not regretted it as there’s been an awful lot of happy times since – and we were fortunate to make a new home in Hebden Bridge. But we’ve always had a huge emotional pull and sense of nostalgia for our time in NZ.
This all meant that returning, after nearly nine years away, felt like another big deal in a trip full of big deals. The first glimpse of Auckland from the plane didn’t disappoint. It literally took my breath away – it really is a stunning city and with the sun shining and the sea sparkling we were ready to jump in!
Having had a few arrivals into countries now on this trip (23 to be exact, and 5 by air) this was the very first arrival which involved being met/picked up! Matt must have made a good impression when he worked at Ko Awatea at Middlemore Hospital all those years ago, as Lynne (an ex-senior colleague) had asked if we’d like to stay for a few days, as well as offering a pick-up from the airport (which she delegated to husband Steve). After the longest airport queue ever (for bio-security – tent/bikes needed a good checking over) – jumping straight into Steve’s work vehicle, chucking the boxed up bikes in the back and being driven straight to Lynne and Steve’s beautiful home in Waiau Pa, south of Auckland – was such a treat!
The treats kept coming as we enjoyed two nights with the Mahers, including one of the comfiest beds of the entire trip, never-ending top-ups of delicious Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc, yummy home-cooked food, a gin tasting session at their in-house bar, turns on the driving simulator, a visit to the Fire Station (where Steve and Lynne both volunteer), a visit to the local school (Steve had important Fire Service duties involving spraying kids with water on their end of term colour run), a trip to the beach… and of course – a load of washing, because we never turn down the opportunity to do laundry when offered! Thank you Lynne and Steve – your hospitality was the perfect start to our time in NZ.
Next stop – Kohimarama, a beach suburb to the east of the CBD (Central Business District). This really was a ‘stop’ as somehow we had been offered a beautiful house there, which we ended up calling ‘home’ for nine whole nights!! Our longest stay in one place by a long way, since our fortnight in Bali in late July/early August.
Matt must be a really great colleague, as the beautiful house belongs to Mary (another ex senior colleague from Matt’s time at Ko Awatea) who now lives between Tauranga and Wellington – meaning her Auckland house is empty. We managed to time our arrival in NZ just before the house was to be occupied by a Norwegian family later in January and Mary very generously said we could stay. Well this was definitely another treat – just stopping in one place for so long, filling up the fridge, enjoying the deck and the garden and the views of beautiful bush from Mary’s lounge. Thank you so much Mary for trusting us with your home (and enabling us to have a home for a short while).
And of course – this extended stay happened to coincide with Christmas!
Despite being ready for some serious relaxation we did of course have a bit of catching up to do – with friends and ex colleagues, as well as with the city itself. And there was no way Matt was going to have nine days of not riding his bike (obvs).
The catch-ups included:
A lovely evening at Alex’s beautiful home in Grey Lynn with Alex (another ex colleague of Matt’s) and his daughter Zara. Thank you for the pizza, beer and lovely conversation Alex!
I met up with Richard, Lindsay and Jo from my time working for the Kaipātiki Local Board at Auckland Council. Richard has gone from being a Local Board Member in Kaipātiki (and the recipient of some excellent advice from yours truly) to one of Auckland’s 20 Councillors. And so after having a quick tour of the Councillors’ office suite in the Council’s HQ on Albert Street and a run down of all of the public realm, public transport and infrastructure improvements in the CBD – we were joined by Lindsay (another ex Local Board member and ex Chair) and Jo (Comms maestro) for lunch and a couple of beers. It was so so good to catch up, thank you all.
Another lovely evening, this time at Bianca (another ex colleague of mine from the Council) and Valentina’s place in Beach Haven. We were treated to tacos, beers and a wonderful catch-up on Bianca’s adventures since we last caught up when she stopped by our place in Hebden Bridge in 2016. Thanks guys (and Bailey the dog too!) – and why didn’t we take any photos?!
Matt enjoyed the treat to end all treats – a 146km ride on mostly gravel with 2,700m of climbing with… cycling legend Murray Arthur! Murray was a colleague of our good pal Jody when in NZ. Murray is probably one of the gnarliest cyclists we know. So this was a treat which Matt thoroughly enjoyed – thank you for Murray for taking him out for the day and thoroughly tiring him out (it is possible it turns out).
We had a lovely meet-up with Karen – a Kiwi friend who Matt met in Japan back in 2006. Karen now lives in Devon but she just so happened to be in NZ for Christmas so we took the opportunity to catch up over wine in the Viaduct – a lot has happened since we last saw her back in 2019 en route to a cycle trip in Spain/France. So good to see you Karen (and thank you for the M&S Percy Pigs, they have been devoured!)
And Matt managed to fit in a quick visit to his old work where he caught up with Ian over a brew! And was reunited with Reeta who used to make him curries to bring home (he’s always been the charmer!)
After all of that, plus some other exploring rides round the local bays, volcanic peaks and mountain ranges, ferry trips, an (overdue) hair cut for me, Christmas (minimalist/mainly edible) shopping, art gallery and museum visits… we were ready to flop for Christmas itself.
We managed to rustle up quite the feast to celebrate having a fridge, a full kitchen and time on our hands – as well as the year that has been.
I’d say a pretty wonderful return to ‘the world’s most liveable city’ – thank you Auckland for letting us take up residence again for a short time before jumping back on the bikes…
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