A Wet and Windy Weekend Away

Last weekend I took Tim away for a belated birthday treat. I booked us into a B&B (Takamatua Estate), halfway between Matakana and Leigh, about 90mins drive north of Auckland. I recommend it if you're ever up that way - Michelle and Harald have a fabulous home and are wonderful hosts. On Saturday morning we visited the Matakana Farmers Market, popular with locals and Aucklanders (pictured). It was pouring down with rain, so we didn't expect it to be very busy. However, much to our surprise, it was buzzing with a lively crowd. We bought ourselves some locally produced olive oil, some gourmet mustard, and two types of peanut butter. After stopping to appreciate the live jazz band (pictured), we continued on to browse some of the local art and gift shops. In one stationary shop we found a poster of the London Underground map, which we are excited about putting up in the flat to remind us of home - its easier to view the tube map with fondness when you don't have to travel on it to work everyday! We also found a poster map of the world, which we're also planning to put up, and stick pins in the countries we've visited. We stopped for a coffee at a local pottery gallery, and then headed to Leigh, where I'd booked us in to the microbrewery for a tour and tasting. Peter, the owner/brewer of the Sawmill Brewery, took us through the entire brewing process, and gave us a taste of all the beers their produce. Tim liked the Pilsner best.

Tag team blogging. It's the latest thing - there's not even an acronym for it yet. This is Tim writing now... I did like the pilsner the best. Claire definitely raised the bar on the bday presents. I look forward to returning the all expenses paid destination birthday weekend for Claire in October. Saturday evening we went back to the Sawmill Cafe for dinner, more beer (for me anyway), and a live band. A Kiwi reggae group. Hard to top that. The wind was blowing though, harder and harder, and about the eighth time the power went out it stayed out. The band was good though, they found a couple acoustic guitars and played on under the candle light (pictured) for a memorable evening. We made it back through the storm, and our b&b hosts left port and freshly baked cookies and candles out for us in our private sitting room.

The wind was still providing 60+ mph gusts in the morning, although the rain had subsided, so we went down for a walk on the beach (pictured). The wind was clipping off the top of the waves as they crested blowing mist high into the air. The surf was about the roughest I've seen, but that only seemed to encourage the kite surfers to come out. Not the best picture, but you can get a scale for how big the waves are if you can make out the man surfing.

Had to drive back early though, and get ready for my first day of work. I can't quite remember what the expression is about paybacks, but as I patronizingly snapped a photo of Claire on her first day or work, she got one of me (pictured).

No more big adventures planned in the next couple of weeks, unless you count a Saturday spent curtain shopping. Some things even moving across the world cannot be escaped.