We are settling into life in the city core ... home is 68 Greys Ave ... gentrified neighbourhood steeped in history me thinks ... nice pad with high ceilings and tons of windows ... overlooking Meyers park ... making daily trips for groceries, to the library, to the museum and up to the waterfront. Everything good in Auckland, we are told, is north ... the best exposure (sunny) is north; the waterfront is north; beaches are north; train station is north; ferries to the islands is north; supermarket, banks and fancy shops are north. Uphill and south to "K" road, we were warned, is "the wrong direction for anyone with a family" ... "over the precipe to the dark side" ... "wrong side of the tracks" ... etc.
Hearing this, I (of course) steeled my nerve and did my best to lose the Clark Griswald look I've been carrying ... immediately hiked up there to take a look ... found a more interesting and eclectic mix of shops, cafes, bars and business men doing lunch ... oh yeah can't forget the 2 ugly hookers, a strip joint and a shiny club with a rainbow flag. Remarkably, I escaped with my integrity in tact and my wallet unscathed. Imagine that ... travel advice sprinkled with fear mongering. ... enough to make you want to pull the curtains tight and turn on the Sky TV Dukes of Hazard reruns.
BOSgone
ps M+M sometimes turn off Disney channel and watch the creatures that creep out of their lairs nightly and "perform" below us in the park ... they are learning Kiwi gutter talk and 50 different ways to kill brain cells .... hmmmmmmmm
2 comments:
Hey Bri, greetings from the gang at FoxStock '08 ... it was a bit colder (and louder) than Auckland is, I'm sure.
Really enjoying following your adventures, hope you're all having twice as much fun as it sounds.
Cheers,
Steve
Actually I think it's spelt "Myers" Park. Established in 1914 with money donated by Arther Meilzinier Myers a former mayor of Auckland. Before that time it was described as a place of "slum shanties and rubbish tips". Arther was also a great ally in my work with the Maori people... oh did I mention my time spent at Motutapu Island...?
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