Day 1.2 and Day 2.1

After leaving esquire's coffees last night, dad and i went to the albion pub for a drink and some local color. the latter we didn't get too much of...but 2 highlights that were more than enough. the first was a contraption near the door. it was identical to those bowling aley games; where there is a glass box with a crane-claw inside for you to forever-unsuccessfully attempt to grab and win a stuffed animal. except this game is called "catcha craw" and instead of plush pals, your goal is a LIVE lobster crawling around in about a foot of water. the second bit of fun was a bloke walking in and stopping a few feet away to watch the tv that my dad and i were seated near. dad was drinking his beer, i had my whiskey, and we were half-watching the highlights of various rugby, cricket, and sailing matches. bloke is shifting his feet, smiles at us, asks which team we're for. dad simply said, "it's just highlights," and bloke left. BEST PART: on either side of the crown of his head, two bright red sating ribbons were tied into gorgeous big bows around tufts of his short sandy brown hair. lovely.

we went back to the hotel shortly there-after, kinda pooped after a day which began before 4am (and on an airplane, no less.)

this morning, my dad had arranged to meet with a colleague (a native of auckland) for coffee at 9a.m. however, true to form, they had actually arranged to meet at 8a.m. not a big deal. graeme, the colleague, is a really nice guy. drove a gorgeous (dare i say luxury?) sedan, some aussie model. he's the boss of his hearth n' home branch, so spent the morning showing us around a bit. he dropped us off at the maritime museum, which we decided we might as well tour since we were there. it was kind of funny.

we walked around the harbor area for awhile, then trekked uphill back to our hotel. and then left to go get food. of course. this time we went to a locally-owned version of subway (basically) but it was much better.

later in the afternoon we decided to go shopping. we hit up a nearby shopping district, elliott st, but the stuff was really pricey and really poor quality. no souvenirs for my loved ones from there! pshaw. ha. originally i had wanted to go to the parnell area anyway, so dad says okay let's go. well, we begin to head there, and it begins to downpour. sun-showers have been common, but this one required us stepping into a convenience store and purchasing umbrellas. off we go, on foot....and....sigh. dad gets us lost. so we wander the city, my jeans soaked up to my knees, getting heavier and heavier, my feet slipping like mad in my gorgeous but impractical flip flops...as we walked down possibly the most awful hill known to kiwi-kind, my legs actually shaking from the effort of walking through the rainstorm (wet jeans = the best leg weights ever), we see a gas station. GENIUS. so we go in...and smartly admitted we were lost...and called a cab to take us back to the hotel. for cushy leather seats and only $10 AUD, i think that was the best call of the day. which leads us to late-afternoon, and me once again typing away at esquires coffees...

(sorry for the lack of pretty writing....but my laptop's battery can only handle so much time...)