The Wynyard Quarter

We went to the Wynyard Quarter today, the new waterfront development in the centre of Auckland. I visited the place a couple of months ago on my own with the kids and was keen to go back with Ben and my camera. I enjoyed this visit considerably more than the first time, partly because Ben was with us but also because the sun was behind clouds for some of the time and it was just way too sunny on that first visit. I have white skin that freckles and burns at the first hint of sunshine and the sun in New Zealand is fierce. There’s also very little shade so the clouds were very welcome.

It was a wonderful way to spend the day. There were crowds of people everywhere and quite a festive atmosphere with rugby fans gearing up for the semi-finals tonight. It was nice to feel a part of the celebrations even though I don’t care much for rugby.

There’s an enticing playground on the waterfront which is unfortunately sitting on a future development site and so due for relocation. I hope they do just relocate rather than axe it because it’s very good and quite unique and it was also crawling with kids.

Can just make out Rangitoto above the busker’s head

Daniel enjoyed watching the pedestrian bridge we walked across open up for the passing yacht:

It’s not often we see yachts like these in this part of the world

Cruise ships and the rugby ball

I find myself appreciating old buildings again

Elizabeth riding the scooter back at home

We still don’t know when we can move into our new house. There are tenants in it and they are currently trying to find a new place for themselves. The problem is that the owner of the place we are renting wants to move back in on the 28th of this month so we may be homeless for a week. Today I discovered there’s some free accommodation available in central Auckland for the next 6 weeks. All we need is a tent and some sleeping bags: http://www.occupyauckland.org/