Never Too Old for Shenanigans

The next morning, my flatmate Daiana returned from her 3-week trip to Argentina. Luckily, her niece’s condition had improved during the time she was there, so she was able to come back with some peace of mind. Emma and I went to pick Mia and Greg up from The Coffee Club, where they’d just finished their breakfast. Unfortunately, Mia had gotten a call that our jet boating was cancelled for that afternoon due to rough seas. Even worse, it was Mia and Greg’s only chance to go. Bummer. I went ahead and bought the vouchers off of them though so they at least wouldn’t lose any money. Even without jetboating though, the day turned out to be absolutely superb! I haven't had so many activities and random moments of laughter packed into one day in quite some time. BRILLIANT!

The four of us went to the French Market, then enjoyed a game of mini golf at Lilliput in Parnell. More than the golf, however, we had entirely too much fun taking silly pictures with the fake dinosaur that was planted in the middle of the golf course. Mia and I took an epic photo of us running for our lives from t-rex, which I will add to the end of this blog for your viewing pleasure =). I mean really, you can never be too old for shenanigans. Am I right? Next on the agenda was a trip to The Chocolate Boutique in Parnell for some tasty chocolate drinks. Mia’s ‘drink' was literally just a mug filled with pure melted chocolate. Mmmm mmm good. Afterward, we carried on by going ten-pin bowling in Newmarket…where even more silly photos ensued. =)

The main reason we were able to do so many things in the first place was because Emma had recently bought an entertainment book for Auckland that had loads and loads of coupons for activities and restaurant around the city. So, she was nice enough to let us use all sorts of coupons throughout the day. =) For dinner, we decided to eat at Lonestar, which also happens to be Mia and Greg’s favorite restaurant in New Zealand. To kill some time before it opened for dinner though, we walked around Newmarket, checked out some shops, explored the mall, and took more ridiculous photos with some oversized egg fixtures that were meant to be sidewalk art. I’m not quite sure why we were on such an inappropriate-picture-taking rampage, but it was glorious. =)

Dinner at Lonestar was sooo delicious! I understand why it is Mia and Greg’s favorite, wow! Definitely some of the best food I’ve had in New Zealand. We of course continued our silly photo-taking streak at dinner…fun stuff. We ended the evening with a few games of pool at The Slate Room. Even though I had been there before with my friend Chris, I had never really paid attention to this big robot that stood against one of the walls. As it turns out, the robot is actually a really awesome jukebox that is also FREE! We all had wayyyy too much fun with that robot. Good times, good times. =) Once we were done playing pool, we all walked back to the flat to exchange pictures from the day’s excursions. Then, I walked the lovely Brits back to their hotel and we called it a night.

Mia and Greg were off to England the next day =(. Before heading to the airport though, they came by my work to drop off a bag of random goodies that wouldn’t fit in their luggage, including lots of instant noodles, some men’s shower gel (thanks Greg), an awesome shirt of Mia’s, AND an Archie’s Bunker t-shirt! I was gutted about saying goodbye though. It had been so long since I’d seen them, and then we had such a blast when I did see them again, I just didn’t want them to leave. Still, I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend, and I know it is only a matter of time before I see my Marvelous Mia and Gregarious Greg again….this time in England =)

Cheers,
Ash