Sunday moments

A few sundays ago I brought great joy to a couple boys by delivering a garden cart:

And I learned that not only is a garden cart kind of like a sled in non-snow settings, the wheels can be used instead of braids to pretend to be princess Leah... a stretch I know, but the boys suggested it not me:)
Today I spent my Sunday morning bringing myself joy rowing a quad from Petone across the harbour to Oriental Bay. I finally am starting to get the hang of sculling and find it easier to attempt to do what the coach is asking than I did when I first learned to sweep row. Water like this in the middle of winter doesn't hurt matters!
In other non-Sunday moments I went for a fog walk thinking how much it made the city feel like Oregon at Christmas time,

spotted some striking flatmate searching art

and was struck by how amazing the harbour looks when filled with frothy fog. Trav said 'inversion' and I said 'harbour capaccino' when we saw it on our drive down to the rowing club. I think is is safe to say that he and I sometimes see the world differently!

Rain walk

Today I spent 2 hours wandering the beach with our friends' dog. My brain was pretty still today, but I did have a few recurring thoughts: I love living here. I love being around dogs. I Dogs can be more responsive than people sometimes. I still don't mind the rain. Fetch the stick can provide hours of entertainment for grown ups so long as the other participant shows proper enthusiasm.Playing on the beach with a dog is nearly as much fun as rowing - and completely cleared my mind. I now have two bliss activities - yay me!

Don't worry, I did take advantage of that rowable water and got out in a single for a bit before my walk.

How do you measure the days...

I've been listening to the theme song to Rent a lot lately. Originally it reminded me of road trips with my club volleyball team at Northwestern. Driving through the midwest to find small out of the way gyms at various Big Ten universities .

Then it reminded me of some of the harder parts of last year and how I was counting the days until I could journey into parenthood.

Today, well all that seems a really long time ago. Today I measure my days with weather forecasts and by checking my new favourite site.

Here is a sample of my morning hit today.
I think it has scenic value even if you aren't trying to guess whether its rowable. It also shows how the days are clearly getting shorter here. Tonight I was rowing in the dark at 6 pm.

wainuiomata day

This week I was greeted on my drive to town by a rainbow arcing into Somes Island. My camera is broken so I was only able to capture it with my phone camera - but look closely and you can just make out the rainbow. What a treat after a week of storms - in the sea, in my heart, and in my head.

We were driving to Wainuiomata to buy some chicken feed. People often put down this area of Wellington... but it reminds me of home. There is just something very 'grove' like about this valley. I mean really, we pulled over to text the friend who told us about the animal feed shop and a lady pulls over to ask if we're okay. We say what is happening, and she has us follow her to a nearby shop taht sells chicken feed. Not only that but the shop hands open the store 5 minutes early because they see us waiting outside. So cool! Then on the way back we paused to take in the view from the lookout.

somes island

We had a visitor from NYC recently and that gave us the excuse to finally go to Somes Island. I've rowed out to this island, and even around it once, but never actually set foot on it before. The impact of humans is very clear here, but it is a special way to get to see the harbour

walking

Today I did something for both Traveler and I. I went to the fish market and got some fish I've never heard about. The lady said it was good (and then said tapped 15 other fish saying they were good too...).

Then I did something for me. I walked to the train station as an amazing full moon was rising over the harbour. I walked down Cuba Street (grabbing a coffee with all the money I saved on bus fare today), up-over-down-through Civic Square, through Kitts Park, along the Quay roads, and finally to the train station.

Here is my walk....













It ended with me accidentally catching an express train that passed my station and 3 others before stopping. I was so happy that Traveler had found a way to organize a phone connection at home today. As I was waiting for him to retrieve me, a fire engine came screaming up the road. Then slammed on its breaks, flipped off the siren, and waved a pedestrian across the road.

It started and stopped for 2 more walkers before taking off again.

wow

and at the grocery today I saw biscuits, cookies, and crackers all listed on aisle 5.

Search for goggles...

Last week I found myself walking to Oriental Bay to buy some goggles. Along the way I snapped a few photos as I often do. I probably look more like a tourist now than I ever have on real trips. Then again, having a small digital camera with you at all times helps!

Here is another playground, its on the opposite side of the harbour as the tall slide one







This is a new type of play equipment to me. The kid is standing on a board that its attached to a curved rail. The kiddo then can grab a curved center post and pull to slide himself back and forth. I am hoping to go try it myself someday soon!



in the background you can see the ferry - just as iconic as the windmill, if not more so (see next post)



This is the Freyberg pool that juts into the water a bit


and here are some more local toys

Harbour stroll

There are often things to see and do down at the harbour. Here are some of the more permanent ones

Starting from Te Papa...

This is the national museum – and admission is free, well its give what you see fit, which is perfect because sometimes you just have 20 minutes and its nice to pop in and not feel like you have to get your full $20's worth of museum experiences.

Macs –

This is a popular a pub/restaurant with great out door seating. We think the food and drink are okay, but its really all about hanging out on the patio. In case you are curious, that is the NZ stock exchange next to it. Its a bit smaller than Wall Street and they don't seem to mind you have a beer at their front door.

A random water fountain sculpture


An interesting sculpture...


And this is something I call the wobble wand...

It is a metal pole that sprays wanter out holes along its length. While the water is squirting out, the pole sways, wobbles, spins, undulates and all sorts of other motions that don't have a clear verb attached to it. These kayakers were also rather intrigued by the wobble wand