Bayswater and Back

Yesterday was a lovely congenial day out with three good friends  and a change from Waiheke and Orewa for us.  First of all we went on a different smaller  ferry  which  leaves from behind the Devonport Ferry and there were just a few people going over at 10.10am.

 A bus meets the boat and leaves quite smartly once stragglers like us have disembarked. Sue galopped on ahead to make sure he didn't leave before we got there. I think we were the only passengers.  I think it is mainly a ferry and bus service  for commuters and shoppers who leave their cars at the carpark there or get the bus.   

There is a lovely peaceful marina there but unfortunately I was fumbling around with my iPhone and didn't react quickly enough with my photo taking. Unfortunately they are in reverse order for some reason, starting with a colourful Massey University, Albany Campus  graduation procession in Takapuna which we watched before getting the bus home.  

Anyway The  bus we got from the ferry wound its way through Bayswater with its nice tidy streets of houses, many of them navy houses, and we made our first stop in Belmont at a delightful cafe, Little and Friday, for coffee and donuts, cinnamon ones, or the traditional jam and cream ones. They make them and other cafe food, quiches and other goodies for their two cafes at this site which is in a block of three  former suburban shops.  You can watch them making pies, donuts and pastries through the old shop windows.  

We sat outside at a long trestle table in the Autumn sun, enjoying our coffee, missed the next bus and got the following one on to Takapuna.

Walked along the beach but didn't go for a swim,  just had a paddle through the water which was refreshing enough.  After that lunched back on Hurstmere Rd at one of the several cafes dotted along it before busing back over the Harbour Bridge to Victoria Park and from there on the Link to Ponsonby. All in all a lovely day.

Sent from my iPad

Giapo, artisan icecream maker

Today we delivered  the last few kilos of plump dark red guavas from our prolific guava tree to be turned into NZ Garden icecream.  It is a sorbet mixture of beetroot, guava, mint and passionfruit flavours and comes in a tub with a slice of beetroot as a cap and this in turn is piled high with edible micro greens and marigold petals. Yum! Just a little difficult to eat but is delicious.

Giapo was there in his trendy glasses and shook our hands mournfully, bemoaning the fact that that was the end of them for this year.  I didn't even keep any of them back for guava jelly for us this  time.  

Queen St was a buzz with interesting looking people, great to observe, while waiting for the Orange Link from Wellesley St. It is usually a long wait, but this afternoon, sitting in the sun with our icecream vouchers for a few ice creams in return for our labour of love, in retrospect,picking these fruits off the ground"didn't seem quite so onerous.  

St Mary's Rd

I am very familiar with St Mary's Rd, first as a schoolgirl in the late 1950s and early 60s on my way to school at St Mary's College.those were the days of Panama hats, beige gloves and stockings, satchels and suitcases. 

Later in the 1970s I lived there for the best part of 1978 before shifting upon marriage to our own little cottage in Clarence St.

Things have changed over  the  decades.  The Ponsonby Fire Station,after being empty for many years became a succession of upmarket restaurants and, on the Saturday morning I took this photo, it seemed to be a buzzing cafe now, crowded with people enjoying its ambience.  I look forward to going to the library again soon, getting a fresh supply of reading material and trying out the coffee across the  road.

Further along The road close to the old Post Office is this old building with its quirky frontage and suspended verandah,and its neighbour.

At which point my iPhone ran out of power. Will have to wander down the road and get some more photos on my next visit to the library and list them too in a separate post. 

Mangawhai

These two photos were taken in the wonderful new Managawhai Museum which we visited with the Historical Society we belong to. This was our first bus trip for a year or two and we received a warm welcome from the others.  

First stop was the Honey Centre near Warkworth for morning tea - delicious blueberry and apple muffins warm  from the oven and strong hot coffee. There was honey for sale but somehow left it a bit late to buy any. 

The museum was next on the agenda with plenty of time to look at the exhibits, the natural history of the area, early Maori and Pakeha  settlement over the decades with lots of artefacts and family treasures.  There was an old tram converted  into a bach with forties and fifties furnishings and utensils which brought back a few memories of similar things.

After lunch at  the Deli , one of several cafes in the village,  a delicious Turkish bread roll with chicken, bacon and onion jam and good  hot coffee we drove out to the Mangawhai Heads with a spectacular surf beach and lush green scenery some of which I tried to capture through the bus window.

 

The highlight of the afternoon was the visit to Bennett's Chocolate Factory where we watched a video of how the delectable chocolates are made and were treated to a tasting of two different chocolates, a dark chocolate one with a smooth flowing salty caramel filling  ( they use local seawater for the salty taste!) and another,  a tangy lemon cream in a milk chocolate cup.  They also make fluffy fruit-flavoured marshmallow and we tasted a delicately -flavoured fluffy passionfruit one.  

They make tempting feijoa chocolates , the green ones in this mouthwatering display, and cakes of feijoa chocolate one of which Dieter bought for me.  Yum!  

Easter goodies.

A drive around the back roads to the main road and afternoon tea at the Dome Valley cafe completed the day trip and we were back in Orewa in time for a quick walk along the beach before rain set in for the evening.

The following  day the sun was shining again and friend, Frances offered to drive us on another outing to Snell's Beach where she has kith and kin living.  After visiting and meeting several generations of them at her sisters place, 9 people altogether, we went to the lovely Mahurangi East Library for a browse, on to a cafe for a blt bagel,and a nice hot coffee in a salmon pink cup. 

A walk in the sun along Snell's Beach walkway parallel to the beach completed the day trip in a most agreeable way.  Back  to Orewa via the short stretch of scenic motorway and out in the early evening to collect takeaway roast lamb dinners made for  another full day.

Made the most of Sunday too, going to the Orewa Farmer's Market for vegetables and free-range eggs before Mass, picking up ciabatta walnut rolls  and salad ingredients from the supermarket for our lunch on the way home. 

 Tidied up and cleaned the bach in the afternoon as it is being let to someone who needs a place for a few weeks.  It looked lovely and I am already looking forward to going up again ourselves in a couple of months. We just might go up by bus once or twice  for a few hours during the day while the tenant is at work as  that is the arrangement and would give us the chance to do a bit in the garden.  

The oak tree has shed its leaves profusely, the hydrangeas in their red and green autumn shades need cutting back and the hedge will need trimming.  But that is now a job for a gardener with the right kind of electric hedgeclippers, thank goodness, not us!

Sent from my iPhone

Easter Island

Which for us is always Waiheke Island. This year with the good weather and jazz festival on it seemed to be busier than usual with buses, streets and cafes full of people . Apart from Mass on Easter Sunday and coffee and pains au raisin afterwards at the local French cafe in Surfdale spent most of time at the bach in Surfdale or down at the local beach with,occasional forays by bus in to Oneroa to replenish food supplies.

Our visitor from Germany  D's nephew, Klaus who spent a couple of days over there with us the previous week had carried some heavier provisions over for us which was good. Enjoyed a roast chicken with prune and thyme stuffing  and a bottle of rose Lindauer for our Easter meal.

Good friend Pamela visited on Easter Sunday and i enjoyed  her vivacious company and her scrabble playing expertise.

The pathway to the house was covered in feijoas on our arrival , small tart ones this year due to the lack of rain over summer and the strong winds connected with a cyclone elsewhere which brought a lot of them down. Scooped a couple of small jars full of juicy flesh for the freezer to make plum and feijoa jam with and gorged ourselves  on the rest over the weekend until their place was taken by chocolate and more chocolate from Easter Sunday onwards. 

Still have my cute little Ferraro hazelnut chocolate bunny to break open but not for a wee while. 

The good weather has continued and with the late morning tide being just right for a swim we packed a picnic lunch quickly and drove to Sentinel Rd  for a dip in the sea and lunch under the shade of a spreading pohutukawa tree.

With daylight saving over the days are noticeably shorter and it is good to make the most of them.

This is the road from Blackpool to Surfdale.