Adventures

A familiar painting by Monet (not the one we saw in Auckland)

It’s now Sunday 31 August, 2025. Kia ora!

It’s been quite a busy weekend. Friday was a quiet day, with some housework done (both by me and the lady from Access), but I missed my previous  activities. But on Saturday morning, just before midday, I got a text from a friend saying she was going to see The Ballad of Wallis Island at 1:30 pm at the Lighthouse Cinema in Wigan St! Would I like to come? Of course I would.

So I made a sandwich for lunch, and JD took me into town. It was a beautiful warm and sunny day, and I wore a summer top rather than a jersey.

It was a lovely film, charming even. The only known star was Carey Mulligan, and I marveled at how old she looked, but perhaps it fitted in with the film’s story. Anyway, there was no bad language and no sex (!) and the film was very down-to-earth and quite funny. It had a very good review in the morning’s paper, so I was very pleased to see it.

Afterwards I caught buses home ending up at the Churton Park shops. I intended to make asparagus rolls the next morning to take to church for morning tea after the service – they were having a HUB service with Johnsonville Uniting and Ngaio Union Churches, and I felt bad for not taking food the previous Sunday. Sadly, one still can’t get Watties brand tinned asparagus spears. On Sunday morning the weather was very different: it had been windy during the night, and then it was raining, and much colder.  I got up early, and drained the asparagus and measured out some butter. JD helped make the asparagus rolls.

Oddly, we ended up with plenty of time, although it was still raining. But there was drama to come. When I got to the church an elderly gentleman had just collapsed, just inside the entrance in what is called the Gathering Space. People were attending to him, so I went through to the kitchen to hand over the food I’d brought. They’d established that he was unconscious; was he still breathing?

When I went into the church, someone was doing chest compressions, and an ambulance had been called. So evidently there was a medical emergency, although the person was not a Khandallah parishioner.  We had the service, and at the end we were told that the elderly gentleman had died, and his family were now with him in the Gathering Space, which had been curtained and screened off.

So we had morning tea, and most agreed that actually the church entrance was probably a good place to die. It wasn’t a tragic death, although sad for the family and friends, obviously, and sobering for everyone else. It was still raining heavily.

JD picked me up and we made our way to his next appointment. Then we had lunch at Ombra, where the food was delicious – better than previous times when we’d been there. I had baccalà (whipped salted cod) again. Yum! It was nice and warm there, too.

On Monday I went to Tai Chi at Khandallah. Afterwards I caught a bus into town, and then a bus to Johnsonville, but it was so windy at Wellington Railway Station that I nearly got blown over. In Johnsonville I got a new passport photo taken.

On Tuesday morning I went to Bible Study, and then had coffee and a cheese scone afterwards with some who’d attended. JD picked me up afterwards, and we were due to go shopping, but he had an appointment in Miramar. He dropped me off at Wellington Railway Station, and I walked to Sercombe and Matheson to get some more glasses cleaner; then I caught a bus to Unity Books, where I bought JD a Father’s Day present. Then I went to Farmers to see if they had any corduroy trousers (they don’t), and then back to Smith the Grocer Café to meet JD. They have guest Wi-Fi there too!

JD eventually turned up, but he had parked the car in Harris Street; on the way he visited the Ecco shop in Willis St. He tried on some of their beautiful shoes: they did not fit, which was perhaps a relief, considering the price.

After we’d reached the car, we needed to go shopping – at Thorndon New World, of course, since they offer the 5% Gold Card discount on Tuesdays.  This time the weekly shop was under $200!  I was very tired afterwards.

On Wednesday morning there was hymn singing – about 11/12 of us were there, I think. We sang The Lord’s Prayer in Māori, and at the end one of the singers sang the beautiful Pie Jesu from the Fauré Requiem. After that there was a Te Reo class, with 17 people there!  We worked on greetings and good wishes. It was a good session.

After that I caught a bus to Wellington Railway Station, and then a #7 bus to Brooklyn. I just missed the bus I really wanted to catch. Never mind, there was another one in twenty minutes, and it was fine and sunny at the bus stop. I got to the Penthouse Cinema with half an hour to spare before the 1 pm screening of Mr Burton. I was really hungry and after a cup of coffee, but although it wasn’t particularly busy there it seemed to take ages to get served, and then I realised I hadn’t picked up my movie ticket! The waitress came over to tell me that there were no more club sandwiches, and I’d already paid for one. So I bought a sausage roll, which arrived at a bit after 12:50 pm.  Fortunately I’d ordered a berry slice, which was delicious. So I wasn’t in the greatest shape when the movie began.

I had really wanted to see the movie: I’ve a lot of respect for Toby Jones and Leslie Manville, and the young man acting the young Richard Burton did a great job. But the film is long, at 2 ½ hours, and the scenes in Wales are very bleak and dark.  It’s a positive story, on the whole, but Richard has already become a heavy drinker as a young man, and of course he’s conflicted about his own father (who doesn’t recognize him), and his mother (who died when he was two).  It’s a tough watch, although well reviewed. It relies heavily on Shakespeare’s Henry V and Henry IV, which is great if you’re a Shakespeare fan – perhaps not so great if you aren’t. I was glad I’d seen it, but happy to catch buses home afterwards.

On Thursday there was singing again; it was overcast, but not supposed to rain until 1 pm: it started to drizzle as we left home!  In the afternoon there were serious matters to tackle: renewal of my passport, which was due to expire in February next year (Oops! Just as well I checked), and renewing my driving license.

It took all afternoon to lodge a passport renewal online, although I had the photo and my friend (referee’s) passport number. It turned out that his full name, date of birth, and address were required, so although I found the card with his new address on it, I had to wait for him to text me the other information.  I have to say the online application is pretty easy to do. But the cost! It costs $247 for an adult passport renewal (I hope I’ll still be using it in 10 years’ time), plus the cost of the courier. Well, that was all fine, and early the next morning I got a message that my new passport had been delivered to the courier, and would be delivered to me on Monday, requiring my signature! Oh dear, that was fast. Unfortunately, we plan to be away on Monday – we’re flying to Auckland for the day to see the art exhibition there!

NZ Post courier service was not easy to deal with. They wanted me to be at home, and there was no phone number given, I was asked to arrange an alternative address, or a place where the parcel could be left.  Eventually I got onto another website, where I arranged to pick it up from a Post Office (do they even still exist?)  for this “re-direction” it cost $3.00.  I realised I had to make alternative arrangements that day (Friday), since they obviously didn’t work on Saturdays. I did get an acknowledgement of my redirection – under the front door mat wasn’t offered as an option! So it’s a very expensive passport, somewhat fraught with drama and trauma.

It’s a quiet day on Saturday. I figure it will be busy tomorrow (Sunday) and of course Monday will be a big day. On Sunday I am to read a passage from Jeremiah 18, about the potter.  It’s very accessible.

It’s now Wednesday 10 September.

On Monday we flew to Auckland for the day – to visit the lovely Auckland Art Gallery and see the exhibition of modern art from Toledo, Ohio. It was a big adventure: we had booked well in advance to get cheaper tickets, and we took spare gear in case we had to stay overnight.  Several weeks earlier I had hoped that we would do a road trip taking in Taupo, Auckland, Hamilton and Hawkes Bay. But that was not to be.

We took a taxi at 7 am to Wellington Airport; the flight to Auckland was smooth and quick. I was going to wear a puffer jacket, but the weather forecast turned out to be colder than previously forecast, and I awoke to the sound of rain!  So I took a raincoat, although I did not need it. We had booked seats in the front row: silly us! The cabin is so cramped you don’t have much room and can’t put your stuff under the seat in front. The formidable hostess stowed my tote bag and hand bag in an overhead locker before I had time to get out the things I wanted. Never mind, it was a quick flight. When we got to Auckland I almost wished that we were going further afield.

Right away we got the bus into the Sky complex in inner Auckland. This went by the international terminal as well. A lot of work has been done to improve the surroundings into central Auckland. The Waterview Tunnel is a big improvement too. Everything went smoothly until we got into central Auckland – there were many cones, and the bus took ages to turn into Albert Street. Some wise folk had alighted at an earlier stop in Queen St.

Eventually we got to the Sky Tower, and set out to walk to the Auckland Art Gallery. It’s quite a short walk, but you walk down to Queen Street and then up to the Gallery beside Albert Domain!

We got there, and our bags were stored at no cost. Then we bought tickets to the exhibition, and it was pointed out that other exhibitions are free – the Robertson Gift (which we’d seen on a previous visit), a Colin McCahon collection, and something else. Then we went upstairs to the lovely café to have lunch: it was almost 12 noon by this time.

After lunch we went to see the exhibition. It’s timed, so they only let a few people in at a time. This makes for good viewing, especially as there’s no rush. Well the paintings are magnificent, of course: highlights include a landscape by Renoir (unusual to have no people), and a painting of his muse who became his wife: a beautiful, if very young-looking woman.  There is a wonderful painting by Vincent van Gogh, and a wonderful waterlilies painting by Monet. The waterlily paintings, of which there are many, remind me of the piéta paintings of the Italian Renaissance, of which there are many, and many styles. This painting by Monet was, for me, the highlight of the exhibition, followed closely by the van Gogh. But there were several impressionist paintings, and a landscape by Whistler.  There’s an amazing painting by Picasso, with a bit of green/blue, which perhaps dates from his blue period before he fully embraced cubism.

After that we saw the Robertson gift again, with another Monet, and couple of paintings by Braque, one by Frances Hodgkins (not one of my favourites), and a painting by Salvador Dali. There were several sculptures as well.

We looked at the McCahon paintings (mostly numbers), and then I had to have a look at the shop.  I bought a large purse containing a tote bag – in the style of Monet. It’s actually really useful to have another purse.

It was a beautiful day in Auckland. We walked down Queen St to the waterfront. Queen St is quite sleazy, but towards the Ferry Terminal there are designer shops, with security guards at every door!  So much for browsing, I wouldn’t dare.

We sat in the sun and watched the ferries come and go, before walking back up Albert St to the Sky City complex.  It seemed much easier to walk back up Albert St.  There was bus having newly arrived, but it wasn’t due to leave till 4 pm.  There was lots of time to our flight, but I had booked later, to get cheap fares, and we did not want to get stuck in Auckland traffic. In the event it tool only 20 minutes to get to the Airport!

Once there, we bought a copy of this week’s Listener (which we couldn’t get in the morning).  Thankfully we could go to the Koru Lounge, and hang out there till our boarding call: 7: 45 pm!  Somehow we were too tired to eat or drink much, but I did manage to do most of the Listener puzzles and read the articles. Unusually since the new compiler, I could do most of the cryptic crossword.

Eventually we flew back to Wellington: again, a calm, short flight. This time we were in Row 2, and so had more room for everything.

Meanwhile, there had been some fuss to do with delivering my passport. I had paid to have it redirected, but while I was in Auckland I received an email to say it would be delivered to my address on Wednesday (today), and please be there. Then on Tuesday morning I received an email saying please pick it up from the Johnsonville Post Office (is there one still? Apparently so, it was in the list I was invited to choose from). I was to bring certain documentation. So I called in, and there was quite a process to redeem my parcel. Fortunately I did have the very long tracking number. And so I got to pick it up, and I checked the package to ensure it contained my new passport. And it did!

That’s it for now.  Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.