NZ Citizenship

This evening was our NZ citizenship ceremony, the final step for us now to have dual citizenship and the right to hold a NZ passport.  The ceremony itself was a procession of about 500 people going up on stage collecting their certificates, singing the national anthem and reciting an oath.  We celebrated with a glass of fizz when we got home.

Wellington

This weekend we headed to Wellington for a triple celebration - a belated 40th present for me, getting our NZ citizenship and my recent promotion at work.  The weather was beautiful, so we had a good wander around the waterfront to see all the new bars and restaurants that have opened since our last trip.

The main reason for our trip was to have dinner at Logan Brown - winner of NZ's best restaurant on numerous occasions.  The restaurant is situated in an old converted bank, a stunning building inside matched by the quality of the food and service.  We had the 6 course degustation which was amazing http://www.loganbrown.co.nz/

Clear skies meant the flight back gave us a perfect view of the Central Plateau and the three volcanoes.

Wellington Phoenix v Adelaide United

Football finally made it to Eden Park after a long time away so we joined the 20,000 other fans in watching Wellington Phoenix playing their home game in Auckland...  We sat with the Yellow Fever - the main area of Wellington fans - cracking atmosphere.

A fairly even game with Adelaide leading 1-0 at the break, scoring just before half time.

The introduction of Paul Ifil in the second half made a big difference to Wellington and he helped with the equaliser, with the game finishing 1-1.

Auckland at Night

To learn how to use my new camera properly I attended a digital photography course, one session being taking shots at night.  Not that easy...one of my better efforts - at least not as blurry as some!

Caroline's New Car

We have finally become a 2 car household and I have a little run around to get me to and from work.

Charlie

Some photos of Charlie posing for my new camera.

And pretending he's a lion...

Waiheke Island

Today we took a day trip to Waiheke Island, taking the car over on the ferry.  The trip over was rainy so we thought we would be in for a wet day, however by the time we got there the rain and cleared and the sun was out so we headed to the first beach of the day - Onetangi Bay.

We then headed west along the northern coast road, getting some stunning views down the valley towards Palm Beach.

Eventually ending up at Palm Beach, a small quiet beach with some stunning houses lining the beach front.

Next stop was Little Oneroa Beach where we found this lovely painted boat shed.

Then onto the wineries, one of the main reason to visit Waiheke.  First stop was Cable Bay for tastings, and admiring the view from the tasting room back over to Auckland city.

Then onto Mudbrick, a beautiful building for the restaurant and tasting room.

We had lunch here, the most delicious meal with stunning views out over the harbour.  This was my main dish of lamb cutlets, beautifully presented.

The final winery of the day was Te Whau, a stunning winery set on top of a hillside with views down to Putiki Bay.  We purchased a lovely bottle of red to have at Christmas.

The ferry back to Auckland gave great views of the city...

...and the Harbour Bridge.  A great day out and we plan to take the car back over again soon to explore the eastern and quieter side of the island.