Back on the grid

We have been living off the grid for the last few weeks and slaving away on renovations. We have put flooring down in 3 bedrooms, the dining room and the living room. Only the hallway and some closets left to do! Our goal is to get all the flooring done by this coming weekend so we can go back to having some fun.

We have been sneaking out a little. Last weekend I attended the Auckland Food Show while John went out sailing. And what a food show it was! It is a gourmet foody heaven---- the DSM wine club group would have LOVED it. The show was held in a convention center. Each stand had free samples (beer, wine, hard alcohol, cheese, ethnic foods, oils, chocolate, etc). I came home with a big bag of goodies. The show is held every year if anyone wants to plan for the next one.....

On Saturday we ventured out to one of the very few Mexican restaurants in town. This is a family owned shop that is only open for lunch a couple days a week and serves authentic Mexican foods (not Carlos O'Kelly's type Mexican, but the real stuff). Apparently we weren't the only ones that thought it was great as they had a constant line to order. A girl that John works with raves about the food so we thought we butter check it out.

This coming weekend we are going to Rangitoto Island for the day. This is a volcanic island (non active) that sits right in the Auckland Harbour. It is not inhabited and is run by the DOC. There was a cheap ticket ferry special this coming weekend so we are going to hike up to the top of the volcano and look down into the crater. Rangitoto Island is a major focal point of the Auckland landscape so it will be neat to get on the island. During the winter months the sun was rising up behind Rangitoto on the way to work so I would see a volcanic mountain with a big halo over it. That made the drive to work a little better.

The weather is definitely turning spring like- think April /May in Iowa. All the trees and flowers are starting to bloom in Auckland and it is not getting so cold at night. We are also going a few days between rains. Last night was really windy --- I kept getting woken up with the wind blowing so hard against the bedroom windows. The weather service is predicting an exciting spring with thunder storms (which are rare here) and tornado's. I never would have guessed that NZ would get tornado's before moving down here. Interesting thing though is that there are not any tornado sirens in the towns. The tornado's I have heard about tend to be very brief- not the creating a mile wide path of destruction type like you get in the Midwest.

The summer outdoor concerts are starting to be announced as well. The B-52's are coming in Dec (which we got tickets to!), there is a Mo Town revival concert in Feb, a number of winery estate concerts being lined up and AC/DC is coming as well. Now is the time to start lining up your NZ summer travel plans.............