Beautiful Saturday

It's now almost 8pm, and we're all tired, somewhat sunburnt, but very content. We had a wonderful day. We left the house around 10:30am and made our way to the supermarket (again) where we bought bread, cheese, ham, and chips for lunch. Then Martin (my brother-in-law) drove us all to the lighthouse at Manukau Heads. My aunt and some of my cousins came too, which was really nice.

We had to climb quite a few steps to get up to the lighthouse itself, but the climb was worth it. Of course, the young, fit ones leapt up all the steps. The view from the top was spectacular; we could see the Tasman Sea, Manukau Heads, Manukau Harbour, and a lot of beautiful farmland. We then drove on down to Orua Bay, a place my family used to stay for a few weeks for several summers. It's changed a bit, but it's still a neat looking place. There was a wedding taking place, so I wandered over to look and struck up a conversation with three older ladies who had also wandered over to look. It turns out they live in Orua Bay, and I told them how my family used to visit. They tried to work out which house we had rented for those holidays, but weren't sure, so I walked back to the house of one of the ladies, met the husbands of two of them, and they all discussed which house it could have been. Finally, one of the ladies, Dot, brought out a large aerial picture that had been taken quite a few years ago, and I was able to point out the house. It isn't there any more, which was a little sad, but it was nice to see. Dot also had a photo from many years ago which showed the old jetties (I used to fish from one of them!) and the house! She printed off a copy of the house (well, she photocopied it in colour on photo paper, which I thought was really nice). Dot's sister said she thought she had an aerial picture, and she would look when she got back to her house. If she has, she send she'd send it to me. How friendly they were!

After Orua Bay, Martin dropped Bryony and me off at my auntie's house where we helped with the eulogy for my uncle. I have said I want to speak at the funeral on Monday, so I'll be thinking about what to say for the next day or two.

We left my aunties, picked up some stuff for dinner at the supermarket (yes, again!!!) and came home. Dinner was burritos, Bryony-style. Now I'm sitting in the dining area, listening to people talking, and writing this. Tomorrow is Sky Tower and ferry day, so it's another early night (I'm still jetlagged - I think we all are).