Still, I did find an awesome design! It consists of the celebrated Maori New Zealand symbols the Koru (spiral) and the Hei Matau (fish hook), drawn together to create the outline of a bird. So, overall, the design as a whole represents: new beginnings, change, transformation (spiral); strength, determination, peace, prosperity, abundance, good luck, safe journey over water (fish hook); freedom and voyage (bird). I think it perfectly captures what this past year has meant for me. =) Anyway, when permanently altering our bodies didn’t work out that afternoon, we opted for a more casual day and rented movies instead. I Love You Phil Morris and Lincoln Lawyer both proved to be entertaining enough.
Emma and I spent some time at the French Market on Sunday morning until she needed to pick up some family from the airport. I chose to walk home from the market, a little bit of a trek since the market is held in the suburb of Parnell. It was actually really nice though. I went through a couple of parks on the way home, made friends with a random cat that wanted some attention, and took photos of places that I don’t often see on my usual routes around Auckland. The photos attached were taken at Albert Park, my favorite park in central Auckland. Later that morning, Emma had a few people come by to look at our flat since Daiana had previously mentioned to us she was planning on moving out.
Daiana and I played a few games of checkers (in which I got my butt whooped). Then, I had a group Skype date with my mom, my brother, and my sister-in-law’s mother Laura, which was nice. In the afternoon, Jess came by and picked me up from the flat and took me to one of her favorite spots called One Tree Hill. Within minutes, it was easily one of my favorite spots as well! The park consisted of beautiful rolling green hills, walking paths lined with bright yellow daffodils, a monument, a breathtaking viewpoint, an ice cream shop, AND sheep!
Now, yes I have seen tons and tons of sheep while traveling around New Zealand (not a surprise when the country has 16 x more sheep than it does people) but I have never been somewhere in which the sheep are just wandering around freely without fences or gates. I must admit I got embarrassingly excited hehe. =) I mean…it’s not every day you get to hang out with adorable little sheep! I kept trying to sneak up beside them to get pictures, but they obviously knew what I was up to because every time I sneakily moved forward, they casually crept backward. Cute little buggers! Besides harassing the sheep, Jess and I got an ice cream and then walked all around the park. It was just so gorgeous!
We walked all the way up the center hill to where the monument and the viewpoint were located (a very large tree apparently used to sit on top of the hill, hence the name ”One Tree Hill” ). The view from the top was really stunning, properly capturing Auckland in all of its glory. We stayed there for a while, taking in the sights and admiring the view. Straight below the monument, you could even see where people had arranged some very large stones to spell out messages regarding the Rugby World Cup games. Loved it. After leaving One Tree Hill, we stopped off at Jess’s house for a bit, said a quick hello to her dad, then met Emma and Kat at Ponsonby Food Court for dinner. Once again, it was a really great weekend in New Zealand & the next weekend was even better, as it was the opening of the RUGBY WORLD CUP!!! =)
Cheers,
Ash
Future tattoo
Albert Park
One Tree Hill
No comments:
Post a Comment