Wednesday 6th to Tuesday 12th June – Chasing up my visa and exploring Auckland

Wednesday 6^th June – Hunua Ranges volunteering

Time for some more baiting. But a lovely start to the day turned into torrential rain and we all got soaked to the skin.  I was given a couple of ‘testing’ tracks that both went across the same deep gulley/gorge (whichever word means the steepest) which had me scrabbling up muddy slopes on my hands and knees, so I probably didn’t look any different when I finished to how I normally look after my weekly tramp!

Thursday 7^th June – we are getting nervous about my visa now. It’s what is now holding up not only Simon handing in his notice with EP, but also being able to be open with all our family and friends about what is going on in our lives AND we are worried about missing an upcoming trip we have booked back to Oz! Flights on 22^nd June we booked at the beginning of March, thinking we were giving it loads of leeway for us to obtain visas, are now just over a fortnight away. I tried calling Immigration in Auckland on Monday but gave up when I was told I was 92^nd in the queue! This morning, I used my hands-free capability and the usual traffic jams on the highway to give me the opportunity to get in there early. I was only on hold ten minutes this time, but sadly then found out that my application hasn’t even been allocated to a case worker yet and they were quoting the completion time of 73 days for 90% of applications, i.e. too long! She advised me to write a letter to the department and submit it along with a copy of our flight confirmation. So, following a not-too-stressful morning at bird rescue, I hot-footed it straight home to pen a carefully and extremely politely-worded begging letter to NZ immigration to be sent by courier first thing the next day, giving us two weeks to cross our fingers that this can be resolved.

Friday 8^th June – Day out in Auckland!

I decided that it would be best to hand my begging letter straight to Immigration rather than trusting the post or a courier.  So, I drove into the City and found a suitable parking space before joining the queue of equally subdued-looking migrants! The queue wasn’t that long, but I didn’t receive any good news at the end of it. I was told that the process takes as long as it takes and having travel plans makes no difference, unless it was for an emergency.  If I liked, I could collect my passport today so that I can travel TO Australia.  The catch being that I would not be allowed back into NZ as a visitor whilst I have a work visa application in the pipeline, so I would have to stay in Oz until my application was processed – that could be up to two months. No way that was going to happen. The staff member took my letter, stamped it with today’s date and said that it would get passed on but could not make any promises that it would make any difference. Hmmm, I’m thinking I’d better look into whether we can postpone our flights and accommodation or if we’re just going to have to lose our bookings.

The elegant Clock Tower at the University of Auckland

Feeling rather dejected I sloped back to my car. But rather than go straight home and sulk, I decided to make the most of a beautiful sunny day to do some exploring. I started off just over the road from Immigration, in Albert Park. 

The Skytower from Albert Park

Comparing a cassowary to a kiwi

My next stop was Auckland domain where I was planning on having a walk and enjoying some views of the City, but instead I was drawn towards the Auckland Museum and War memorial. The museum is on three levels, combining the history, culture, natural history and Military history of New Zealand. And, as Auckland residents, we get free entry. I spent a few hours absorbing information about the culture and, of course, the natural history. I took a walk through the military section, but I know I’ll be back here with Simon and he will want to take his time looking at everything in detail. 

Part of the cultural exhibition

The three different species of kiwi

A kokako.... unlikely I'll be seeing one in the wild soon!

 It’s a great museum, in an impressive building so I look forward to returning there.

Auckland Museum and War Memorial

I still didn’t want to return home on such a lovely day. One more stop – to Mount Wellington for some more amazing views. It is an extinct volcano and, once you’ve driven most of the way up the side to the car park, there is then an easy walk around the rim of the crater. 

View from around the rim of Mount Wellington, Rangitoto Island in the distance

View into the crater

It was definitely time to start heading home then if I wanted to beat Friday rush hour. Especially as we were hosting a pizza and games night at ours that evening.  I was given strict instructions from Simon about what snacks and drinks to pick up on the way home and then it was on! We’ve found a good pizza takeaway place this side of Pukekoke and we had a lovely evening of playing five crowns (card game) and drinking.

 

 

Saturday 9^th June – Karangahake Gorge and a night out

The path along the railway line

Today was due to be my first training session at the SPCA but about an hour beforehand I received a message to say that the trainer was ill and could I do tomorrow instead. 

No problem, it was another glorious sunny day, so I was happy to have an excuse to skip being inside a call centre and persuade Simon to come and explore somewhere with me. It was an opportunity to visit Karangahake Gorge. I had heard about a couple of good walks to do here, including one called the windows walk. The gorge is the site of an old mine. The walk we did took us along the disused railway lines that supported the business and through a tunnel system cut into the mountainside. It was lucky we had the torches on our phones to see where we were going! We emerged from the tunnel system to cross a bridge across the white water and find our way back along the river’s edge. We were out for about an hour or so. A lovely walk and only an hour or so away from home. 

It was dark down those tunnels

 

No trip out on a weekend would be complete without stopping off at a café for a sneaky coffee and snack. The Woodcutters Café was one to remember. Lots of quirky features covered the property which was out in the countryside with a veranda at the back.

We were back home in time for me to relax for a couple of hours before motivating myself to shower and wake up for a night out in Pukekohe. Angie had invited Huihana and I out to the Ed Street Bar, along with her sister Teresa and her husband, Gilles.  It also happened to be a rugby night. The All Blacks were playing France just up the road in Auckland. We will have to get tickets for a future match, but for tonight I was looking forward to getting involved just by watching a match in the pub. Huihana was still suffering for her efforts last night at ours, but she did well to get right back into it and Gilles kept plying us with drinks even when we said we weren’t ready for another round yet! Apart from Gilles it was a girls’ night. Steve was happily watching the rugby at home and I had left Simon to have a cosy night in with his PlayStation!

This is what the Gilles thought of Simon NOT going to watch the rugby!

The match kicked off. I was looking forward to being able to support a decent team for once with a strong chance of winning whilst also being nervous when I discovered that the referee was English! The first half didn’t go the AB’s way. They made several silly mistakes that France benefited from and the players in blue were definitely the strongest, taking the score to a tie going into half-time. I don’t know what the AB’s manager must have said to them during the break, but they came out onto the field for the second half as a completely different team. One of the French players was sin-binned and suddenly the tries kept coming think and fast until the AB’s thrashed them 52-11! There was a great atmosphere in the pub.

Angie and family had to leave but there was a good covers band playing, called Act Accordingly, so Huihana and I got dancing until I felt like I shouldn’t leave it any later if we wanted to get that lift home that Simon had offered.  I asked Si to pick us up at 1130pm, but we were late going outside because another banging tune came on!  Sadly, our tardiness meant that Si was able to witness a guy having his head stamped on in the car park and by the time we got outside he was on the phone to the Police. I don’t know, you can take the boy out of the Police….

Sunday 10^th – SPCA training

I dragged myself along to the SPCA for my first training session. Maybe I shouldn’t have enjoyed myself so much last night?! I was shown the way around the computer system and how to use the phones, including my hands-free headset. There is a lot to remember, so they started me off gently by getting me to take general enquiry calls and adoption queries, rather than taking welfare complaints that means understanding the entire logging system.

I was finished at 2pm and headed home to collapse for the afternoon. Si received a call from the Police who came round to take a statement from him.  Sounds like the male victim’ girlfriend was also assaulted in the melee last night, so complaints have been made.  When the Officer found out about our old jobs back in the UK he was telling us both that we should sign up over here.  We were going to take more convincing than that I think!