Yes I just keep on rambling.  The week turned out to be pretty wintery --- colder than usual or that's what the Kiwis tell us.  We even pulled out the old hot water bottle!  More rain than we've had but some pleasant weather mixed in.  My walking group was pretty impressed with how prepared I was --- rain pants and all.

Saturday was what I would call a Rainbow Day.  We explored several bay beaches with our rain coats very close at hand.  The day went from rain to sun with a snap of your fingers.  We had the pleasure of viewing several rainbows.

This first pix is of the ferry building in Auckland.  We missed a turn and started our day in Auckland.

After wandering around for a bit we decided to listen to our Garmin and were lead straight to Mission Bay.  We parked and walked along the beaches.

Now you are starting to see the different weather patterns we encountered on one Saturday of explorations.  We continued along the Bay and passed St. Helier's Bay,  Kokimarama Beach and finally after a latte of course climbed up to Achilles Point with a spectacular view of the whole bay.  Again in some of these long views you will see Auckland.

At Achilles Point David hugged a new found friend.

We never did find our destination on Sunday but did travel through some beautiful country --- We're talking cows, horses, and sheep all grazing on green green rolling hills.

The roads can be very windy (with a long i) and a bit harrowing.

Being the pampered travelers that we are we had a picnic lunch that we enjoyed in our red Impreza --- Lets just say it was nice and dry in the car!

I'll will start todays ramblings with a pix of the sunrise this morning.  Now this may not seem really important unless it's laundry day.  It's all about that drying time.  Do you think I'm perseverating over this too much -----

This sunrise also meant it was a great day to do my first run.  The hills are killers but the view is spectacular!  

Saturday meant the return of our leased car and the real driving of our new (to us) 2000 Subaru Imprezza.  Check out the color!

We explored several nearby beaches and went to a local high school art fair after a quick trip to the farmer's market of course.  We were cruising in our new red wheels....

 The first two pix are different angles of Mellons Bay and the last is Eastern Beach which is one of the nicest beaches we have walked along.  After a day of exploring we ended up back at Half Moon Bay.  This is an evening shot of the harbor.

Sunday gave us a taste of a New Zealand "Heavy Rain" day.  We are talking POURING steadily all day.  David and I decided to try out our LL Bean rain pants and rain coats.  Thanks Katie for lending me your purple rain jacket.  Our duds worked beautifully.  We actually walked down the hill thinking we would view the winter polar plunge ----- Let's just say the kiwi's were a bit brighter than we were. It was cancelled until July 14th.  Here's a pix of Sunday at Howick Beach.

Monday proved overcast and pleasant all day.  I went to Campbell park with a friend.  It is about a half hour away and just beautiful ---- rolling green hills, sheep grazing,  cows mooing,  birds singing ---- the whole nine yards!   I was "gobsmacked"!!  (This term was used in our local paper --- thought you might want to adopt it)

Enjoy!

Beautiful New Zealand!!

Week One has just been incredible.  So much to work out and so many new people.  Just doing a laundry is a kick and timing laundry day to coincide with a sunny outside drying time.  David has now put the living room/dining room heater on a timer so the place is a bit warmer upon rising.

I love my almost daily walks into town and the beautiful view of Howick Beach.  I have had my very first ever Zumba class and am now enrolled for 2 times a week. We have bought a car through a bidding process on trade me.co.nz and met wonderful people through the process.  Everyday is a new adventure.

This weekend we drove to Half Moon Bay and took the ferry to Auckland.

On the ferry we met a wonderful couple who bought us a cup of coffee and tea in Auckland while we waited for our next ferry to Rangitoto Island.  Rangitoto (yes same name as our street) is a volcanic island with rugged lava crops, lush native bush and sandy coves.  It erupted from the sea around 600 years ago.  It is the last and largest volcano to be formed in the Auckland volcanic field.  We reached the summit and had a wonderful view of Auckland, the Hauraki Gulf Islands, and beautiful sailing boats.  Here are a few pictures.

Those little white specks are actually sailboats.  Check out this walkway.  These are all over the place and make tramping quite pleasant!

David is truly becoming a kiwi.  He is leaning beside a little structure that I had to pull him away from to get back on the ferry for our return trip.  He was determined to make that his new island home.

On returning to Auckland we had a wonderful dinner by the harbor and hopped on the ferry back to Half Moon Bay.

I will end with a photo of David and myself in front of the Tiaho Mai wharenui (Mauri meeting house) on the Middlemore Hospital campus where he along with all the new people working in Manukau counties Mental Health System were welcomed in a beautiful ceremony Monday morning.

Welcome all to Ramblings from Rangitoto View Road!

We are living in a very historical town named Howick.  It is a seaside village and we have been blessed to rent a cottage just up the hill from Howick Beach.

I joined a walking group this morning and took an hour walk to Cockle Bay and back with a lovely group of folks from around Howick.  Tomorrow I try my first Zumba class at the Uxbridge Art Center a wonderful center right up the road from Howick Beach.  I will sign up for all kinds of classes once the third term begins in mid July -- my hidden Monet may yet show itself.

David and I took our first tramp through the Mangemangeroa Reserve on Monday (Queen's Birthday).  This is a beautiful hike starting at the beach, progressing through a rain forest and ending in rolling hills with sheep in the distance.  Truly Breathtaking.

The Cottage is coming together nicely.  It is fun looking for odds and ends to make it homey.  The Salvation Army has become a regular stop for me.   There is a Farmer's Market every Saturday which has local produce, baked goods, ethnic fair and trinkets.  (I love my trinkets)

David is figuring out the Medical system and learning something new every day at the Center.

I will close my very first blog ever with a photo of last evenings sunset.