The neighbours next door to my grandparents cut down a giant norfolk pine (my feet for scale) so I helped to provide a bit of extra manpower in moving some of the pieces.
I also got enlisted to help Angela haul her stuff to the Avondale Flea Market and sell it to some eager shoppers. We sold an impressive amount of the stuff you see here.
And then we had a celebratory dinner at the Sizzling Chorizo (Argentinian barbecue): grilled provolone, potato wedges and steak. All tasty. The provolone in particular impressed me.
As a part of the "Goodbye Angela" tour, we (Angela, Andy, Jess and I) partook in the South East Asian Street Food edition of Cook the Books (a cooking class). The cook talks through a set of recipes (giving out helpful tips, as you can see by my handwritten notes) and prepares the dish for us eager customers. We started the night with a coconut and chicken broth.
Then we got to taste some delicious Larb salad in wonton baskets.
Onward to a Crispy pork belly with Vietnamese herb salad.
And then, to close out the savoury dishes, Bang bang chicken with noodles.
And finally, Banana coconut tapioca pudding. She even kicked it up a notch by adding some sliced pineapple too. Yum!
After a month and a half on a boat and sitting at the dock (waiting for a biosecurity inspection), my stuff arrived! I can finally start moving into the flat!
Reunited with my belongings. Sweeeeeeeeeet.
Irene came to town to accompany Angela on her final hurrah through NZ. So to welcome Irene (back) to NZ, me to the flat and to farewell Angela on her tour of NZ...Irene helped me to cook a couple of the dishes we learned from Cook the Books. Starting with coconut & chicken broth.
And then the larb with sprout and herb salad.
That brings us to Easter weekend when Deryck and Emily came to visit. We started the weekend right with a trip on the ferry to Waiheke Island and a visit to the Cable Bay Vineyards.
The view from the vineyard. Very different vibe from Napa (in a good way).
Thanks to Emily's connections, we got a bit of a behind the scenes tour (and even got to meet Chloe the winemaker!).
The Wine Library private dining area. For where the ballers dine.
Lunch at the Cable Bay Verandah (their outdoor, casual dining area). Kale salad, fig & prosciutto, squid, lamb shoulder and wood fired pizza. Very delicious.
A taste of the Five Hills (Merlot/Malbec). Lovely.
Me and the visitors enjoying some warm sunshine and wine.
The windy ferry ride back to Auckland.
Dinner with the family.
Next on the activity list, a trip to Omaha beach.
A bit colder than us Hawaii folk grew up with, but an awesome day at the beach (and a bit of backyard cricket too).
To satisfy Deryck's Kiwi food craving and to expose Emily to some local food, we stuck with the ocean theme and had fish & chips for dinner.
I didn't get a pic of the food, but here you can see the damage from yum cha. I can definitely get behind this as an Easter Sunday tradition.
Deryck also introduced Emily to good old fashioned Kiwi meat pies. Bernies = the best.
In honour of Angela & Irene's last weekend in NZ, we had dinner at one of Angela's favourite restaurants in the city: Ortolana. Dinner began with air dried pork.
Then the mains came: gnocchi, market fish, chicken cotoletta and panzanella (Tuscan bread salad).
Continuing on with Angela's farewell weekend, we had Peking duck at Angela's favourite Chinese restaurant.
The next day, while Angela took care of some packing, Irene, Jess & I hit the town. We started with a visit to the Auckland Domain and we contributed to the Giant Poppy Project
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilRqS1j0QyjggwrXJl_TEGErcWkqN9ylLL8RBsqudGYCg-fHamc0R_iMr2iH2FlKOhyphenhyphenobKe8iKe9l6z8EqtJb4elaTs_rF40OQCl920JT1Wlavy7W54DnSyEoYiAbHXI1QY1oXsQ/w500-h375-no/IMG_4047.jpg")
From there, we went to the Auckland Art Gallery. This is the outdoor work SOOM (breath in Korean) by Seung Yul Oh.
I don't consider myself to be cultured (or as cultured as I'd like to be), but I do appreciate recognising artists I've seen before. This work, Stand Still by Bill Culbert, certainly took me back to my Venice Biennale experience.
And then, before we knew it, Angela's last night in NZ arrived. So we had to celebrate (thanks Deryck & Emily for the champagne).
Cheers Angela!
Then Irene, being the intrepid photographer, wanted to drive around Auckland to get some amazing night shots. I took this shot on my humble iPhone, but it pales in comparison to the shots Irene took using her SLR.
And then, the next day, we headed to the airport for the final farewell.
Cali crew!!! Together in NZ for the last time (for a long time). :'(
After our "dinner" at the Mac's Pub at AKL.
And another one before crossing the threshold into the departures area.
The end of an era deserves an emotional goodbye.
And an even more emotional goodbye for the sisticles.
Jess left to go to the gym, but I hung around just in case there might be some luggage drama. Turns out, they got turned away from security due to overweight carry-on bags. So Angela and Irene had to repack their bags, check in an extra bag and then try again. Departure Take 2!
The following weekend, the family and I headed down to Wellington for Anzac Weekend. We went down for an extended family birthday party.
Being in Wellington, we absolutely had to visit Te Papa (the National Museum). In honour of the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign, they had an amazing exhibit on Gallipoli. Weta (who did the special effects for LotR and Hobbit) created these larger-than-life-sized models, which helped to really set the scene and generate some emotions. If you have a chance to visit Wellington in the next 3 years, I'd highly recommend seeing this moving and thoroughly well presented exhibit.
Also at Te Papa, they had a great exhibit on Cook Island quilts. Aunty Karen and Popo got up an close with an example of the quilts.
On the way back up to Auckland, we stopped by Aunty Lilian and Uncle John's for morning tea. More family!!!
We stopped by a Honey Centre en route to buy some honey and indulge in some delicious, homemade honey and passionfruit ice cream. So good.
Back in Auckland, the family got up to our usual shenanigans.
Since Mum and Aunty departed, life has settled down a bit and I've had an opportunity to try and get a bit more social. First up, I got to do a bit of birthday go-karting with a group of workmates.
Then we had a lovely lunch at Villa Maria Winery afterwards. Here you can see my delicious eye fillet, beef cheek, smoked mash and celeriac remoulade.
Happy Birthday Jon from all your friends a F&P!
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