April 6 – 7, 2021

And the NZ Escape team is wrapping up!

Jim had his pre-departure Covid test yesterday and today received paperwork stating that he tested negative.  Yeah! He’s packed and almost ready to make his masked way halfway around the world tomorrow.  Frances will take him to the airport after an early morning work call.

Yesterday (April 6) we went to the Auckland Botanic Gardens.  We found that we were quickly over being in the city and craved some green space.  The botanic gardens are extensive (158 acres), with both more manicured beds and large forests. It is a lovely place to be.

We gave (sort of) Mexican another try with dinner at Baja Betty.  Jim played it safe with a Philly cheese steak, which while tasty, Philadelphia would not recognise.  Frances had a passable smoked mushroom quesadilla.  Not sure there is so much Baja in Betty as the restaurant couldn’t come up with a margarita.

Today, after doing our office printing at Warehouse Stationery (our office assistant), we walked to the Auckland War Museum, where we, and lots of kiwi school children wandered through exhibits of Maori artefacts and learned about the history and geography of New Zealand.   The sub-continent of Zealandia, which New Zealand is part of, was under water until about 25 million years ago.  New Zealand was settled initially by Polynesians and developed a distinct Maori culture only about 700 years ago.  It was really cool to see the Maori chief’s cloak made out of kiwi feathers and the waka (canoes).  British settlement didn’t really begin until the 1800s.  We learned that the Maori chief Te Kawau (Chief of Ngati Whatua of Orakei) invited the British to establish their capital in Auckland (Tamaki) out of a sense of hospitality and because he thought it would help protect his people from other Maori tribes (especially those with guns). 

Totally unrelated, there was a Lego exhibit at the museum, we were particularly impressed with the model of the Te Rehutai sailboat (23,647 bricks) and the Nasa Space Rocket (450,323 bricks).

And that’s it!

Frances will be busy working at her Auckland desk over the next few days and then head north for a last few with her sister, Helen.  At this point we are uncertain if the blog team can manage to post from different locations.  We’ll do our best!