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we got up, ate another massive breakfast and drove back to auckland

i then went to watch the Devonport Chamber orchestra as esther had been drafted in at the last minute to play trombone.  They played some amazing piano concerto which lasted about 45 minutes, and at one point a vicious (but happy) little dog came in, wandered up the church aisle and sat under the piano with its tongue dangling out looking at the audience.  just as i got my camera out it wandered out again so i missed it. sorry

i gave esther a quick lift to the ferry so she could get home and i could catch up with some of her news (she worked the bar over the weekend and served her old violin teacher, a friend from school and her old old Trombone teacher (who was delighted to hear she was doing trombone at university)

late afternoon jane, kezia and i went in to town to go to the mirror maze as it was its last night in operation.   it came highly recommended by esther and was great.  really totally confusing.  the pictures don’t do it justice

we stopped at the supermarket on the way home and eventually arrived home exhausted

day 1 was dropping kezia off at school at 6pm then driving on to the Coromandel.  we got to the Lodge we were staying at around 8.30pm, dropped our bags off then rushed in to town to get to a restaurant before its kitchen closed

there was an old UK phone box with an ATM in it

day 2 was more of an adventure

this was the view from the front of the lodge (kiwi word for very posh B&B). And here was the massively long breakfast table.  we were the only people staying there over the weekend, although it only had three rooms so it would never get that busy

this was the view from our room

after we’d stuffed our faces at breakfast we drove to a nearby hill and scrambled up to the top to look at the view

then we drove to Hahei beach and walked round the streets and back roads looking at the nice holiday houses

we then drove to another beach to eat our lunch (not in the car)

then we drove south to have a look at the Beach Hop festival which was going on down the coast.  some quite amazing cars (and people)

we visited another beach on the way back to the lodge which we’d gone to a few months after we first arrived.  that was nice, although we had to watch out for dangerous trees on the short walk to the beach

we were back at the lodge by 6pm for drinks and canapes with our hosts who were very lovely and really interesting

then in the evening we went to a posh restaurant where the service was terrible but the food was amazing!

jane and i have been away for a couple of days as kezia has been at camp.  update coming soon …

school, work

this evening kezia had her ‘equinox concert’ which is the first time the various groups play in public.  it was a good evening but i didn’t get any photos good enough to share!

i saw esther for 30 seconds this morning as she was waiting to get on the bus i just got off. she’s well!

here are some photos from earlier in the week when i met esther for breakfast.

spot the typo on these place names in the cafe where i met esther

i worked from home today and met up with buzz for lunch.

jane had school and then parents evening

kezia had school then a choir practice

work, school.

i went to a conference this morning near the university so i met up with esther for breakfast.  it was also my 400,000 hour birthday while we met!   it was great to catch up on her news and she seems to be having a great time with her course (the music bit and the art bit), her job (three shifts at the weekend doing ushering and bar work), her girls choir, her amazing big band (made up of loads of music teachers by the sounds of it) and just generally having a nice time living in the city!

school, work, choir practice.  everyone tired

jane was up early to do an 8km run with a friend from church who asked her if she wanted to do it just a couple of days ago.  jane did great and was happy with her time

kezia and i went to church (i was on podcast duty).

this afternoon it’s been admin for jane and me

kezia has a meal with some of her school volunteer people (not really sure i understand what it is) and has met up with a friend this afternoon.

i had my street photography course in the morning with 8 people which is the most i’ve had for ages.  unfortunately there was a really wide range of technical abilities and some strange cameras so it was a bit of a challenge. but everyone was still smiling by the end so that was good.

jane met up with esther for breakfast. she parked under the bridge and walked with pearl over to a bagel place and met esther there.  they caught up on all esther’s news.  she’s having a whale of a time!

kezia went out during the day but i can’t remember where!

here are some photos from my street photo course (which happened on st patrick’s day)

seems i’ve been a bit lax at updating things. sorry about that.  we’ve all been busy with work/school/choir/orchestra practices and just feeling generally exhausted!

friday evening the three of us went to the cinema to watch the Greatest Shoeman

i’ve had meetings in high buildings and nice walks to work so here are some pictures

i think that might be one of my pictures in the paper in the circle in the middle.