From nature to the D-floor and back again

We of course spent the whole week looking forward to our Big Night Out on Saturday. Though the weekday achievements were not insignificant: swimming a kilometre of front crawl in tandem in the pool and making gluten-free banana muffins.

On Friday night we had a quiet one and watched La La Land, which helpfully also inspired us for the Wellington Jazz Festival in mid-June. Saturday daytime took Roger to the library, while I joined new(ish) friends Matt and Phoebe on the Pukerua Bay to Paekaekariki escarpment track. We stormed along the cliffside without a break, admiring Kapiti under the dramatic sky and making it to the cafe ahead of the Southerly wind change and our train.
(Thanks to Matt for the photos)

The Suzuki Swift's complex radio settings thwarted our attempts to put on GeorgeFM ready for the evening's George on Tour event. Luckily we all met up at Cafe Instanbul to get in the vibe, with a BYOB dinner of authentic Turkish cuisine complete with an authentic Turkish belly dancer. Being Wellington, I bumped into two of my old football friends, and promised to watch their match the following day.

Banana muffins

The night had everything a good club night should have: a queue, a door stamp, people pushing at the bar, spilt drinks, ambitious dance moves, people pushing on the dance floor, music. It was missing the more DJ-set feel we were hoping for, and Tim was disappointed that George's core genre of trance/dance had been diluted, presumably for the audience (everyone else was secretly pleased). In addition the presence of some over-friendly Wellingtonian males meant some time out had to be taken outside to avoid approaches. But all in all a very fun night out (us plus Phoebe, Matt, Sophie, Tim and a couple of their friends).

The next morning brought headaches and tummy aches, combatted with egg on toast and banana porridge. True to my promise I watched 1st half of a tough Sapphires game (they went on to win) and enjoyed catching up with the girls and updating them on my toe/foot woes. We then trundled round some odd jobs before meeting Tim and Sophie at Zealandia.

Zealandia and the Zoo were holding an open weekend, where it was only $2 entry. We didn't do Zealandia full justice, but enjoyed the fresh air, peered into an old gold mine and saw A LOT of Kaka and some ducklings (hanging out together). 






On Monday I flew up to Auckland for a work trip and had lovely views both ways:

The Tararuas poking through the clouds

On Tuesday we swam 1066m in the pool.

On Wednesday the Lions arrived! A once-in-12-years tour begins.