Manaia

We've been taking life pretty easy since we arrived in Auckland. Perhaps it's the atmosphere or perhaps it's the fact that we know that we are going to be in the country for some time but we haven't felt the need to do a mad dash of the tourist spots here. We did make it to the Auckland Museum though and were treated to an excellent exhibition called Vaka Moana, obviously we weren't allowed to take any pictures but to explain briefly it was an exhibition describing the exploration of the Pacific some 4000 years ago when the anestors of the Pacific launched their first ocean going craft. After that we had decided to attend a Manaia Cultural Performance, experiencing Maori song, dance and of course the famous haka. Most of my photos didn't come out well due to dimmed lighting and intense action on stage, so I've just posted the best of a poor lot. Our families will be treated(?) to the whole performance as Cathal captured it on the camcorder. We still haven't downloaded anything to DVD yet so it'll easily be the New Year before ye will receive a DVD - apologies!

Today we headed out to Devonport on the ferry and took this picture of Auckland on the way out. It was an absolutely beautiful day and the factor had to come out - yipee.
Here's a quick glimpse of our arrival on Devonport. I'm not going to elaborate about Devonport I'll leave that to Cathal. I will talk about it a little on my other blog though, I found a yarn shop there, and continued my stash enhancement ( did I mention I also managed to find a yarn store in Hong Kong).
We're off to Hamilton in the morning to visit Sean and Anna Mc Cormack for a few days - Leixlip readers will know who I am talking about.

We'll be back online mid next week when we get down to Wellington, till then see ya.

Sharon

Oasis of Calm

If you are looking for a convenient respite from the maddness of the city centre I suggest you look no further that the IFC Shopping Centre roof top garden. Where else in Hong Kong can you have a fantastic meal in a great setting for less that €5!

Located four floors up on the roof of the IFC, the garden is an unexpected treat and a fantastic place to grab a bite to eat. The first thing that strikes you about the space is the quietness and the unexpected sound of birds singing.

Hong Kong has a small chain of gourmet supermarkets called City'super which can be found in most shopping malls. The one in the IFC offers hot take out meals like Thai Green Chicken Curry for about €5. We made our purchases and made our way to the rooftop to enjoy some really good food with beautiful scenery and views over the harbour. There are restaurants proper on the rooftop but they are a bit pricey for a bit of lunch.

Hope the following photos give you a good idea of what was an oasis of calm in a very hectic city.

Cathal