21st September 2008: Sky Tower and Te Whau winery

Popped up the Sky Tower with John M, as it was a clear day. Good views of the harbour. Not more stunning than we have already seen from the tops of hills, though. Maybe views seem better if you've earned them by climbing.

Had lunch at Te Whau vineyard on Waiheke for Sophie R's birthday, along with Claire and Graham. Their wine, The Point, was lovely, but the lunch surpassed it. Definitely the best meal we have had in NZ so far, and pretty well-priced. We will be back with parents, on birthdays, or any time I need to have that crab salad again.

The meal was accompanied by fantastic sunny views from the restaurant balcony over the Waiheke hills, vineyard, the harbour, and some alpacas in a nearby field. John was a particular fan of these, and wants to become an alpaca farmer.

20th September 2008: Canyoning in the Waitakeres

Went "canyoning" down the Cowan Stream in the Waitakere Ranges. This involved jumping, sliding and abseiling down rocky waterfalls into large pools. Huge amounts of fun, and quite an adrenaline rush: some of the jumps were pretty big. The company we went with, canyonz, refer to this as the Blue Canyon. The guide was a total dude, about the best fit for the word you can imagine. He kept telling us to be careful walking in the river or we'd break our [cue laid-back surf-style voice] leeegs.

The trip was organised by John M and Sophie R, and we were joined by Claire P and Graham. And three amusing Germans.

One of the pools on the way down had a large tame eel in it called Albert. He seemed to enjoy ham from the sandwiches, and made a good attempt on the dude's shoes.

Canyonz also do a trip to the Billy Goat falls in the Kauaeranga valley. One to do later in the year perhaps, although Soph isn't so sure!

14th September 2008: Motuihe Island

Spent the day on Motuihe Island, an uninhabited island in the Hauraki Gulf. 80-odd people from IBM were on the ferry with us, planting trees for the Motuihe Trust.

Lovely, peaceful island. We walked along the ridge to Bald Knob (hur hur) at the southern tip of the island, then discovered we could get all the rest of the way round without leaving the beach. Probably a 2-3 hour walk in all, at a leisurely amble.

Saw lots of pairs of birds which were either fighting or flirting, had a beach picnic, and admired lots of weird rock formations, we think caused by erosion of conglomerate or layered rocks at different speeds. Some really good pohutukawas too, clinging to the cliff where no tree that big had a right to be.

The planted trees look really impressive. The ones from 2004 are already shoulder high and give a feel for how the island will be in a few years when it's all returned to forest. We may well come back some time and do some tree-planting ourselves.

16th September 2008: Sailing on ex-America's Cup yachts

Tim went sailing on a 1995 America's Cup yacht which is now run as a tourist attraction out of the Viaduct Marina in Auckland. I took some photos of the yacht from the previous flat.

Excellent fun - the crew are really enthusiastic and happy to let you get involved in the sailing to whatever level you want. Almost everyone on the boat had a go at the helm. We sailed out to near Rangitoto island, back past the marina and under the harbour bridge, then returned to the marina.

The boat was remarkably stable, which I supposed shouldn't be a huge surprise given it weighs 24 tons, 18 of which are in the keel bulb. It nonetheless felt hugely powerful, and was certainly fast.

Interesting moments:

• Sailing circles around a random 35 foot yacht which was going half our speed.
  
• The mast only just making it under the bridge. (or so it seemed from on-board)
  
• Getting buried under about 400 square metres of gennaker in the bow

Must go again sometime.

6th September 2008: Engaged!

Went for a wander in Devonport, this time heading up North Head and along the beach on the northern shore. Standing on the side of the hill, watching the yachts in the gulf, Tim asked me to marry him. Woot :)

Update 18th Sept: The mathmo in me is delighted that my engagement ring is...



a Möbius strip.

1st September 2008: Bill Bailey at The Edge

Noticed tickets on sale for Bill Bailey's Tinselworm tour, but decided not to go as the only seats available were in the very back row (and same price as the better seats). Then we decided that was silly and went anyway. Pretty good show, especially the musical bits. We liked the satanic doorbell and the electro-acoustic mandolin best. (I have now seen two electro-acoustic mandolins. How likely is that?)