We spent much of the weekend socializing with several of my Lind cousins. We were shepherded around for several days by cousin Brad and his wife, Sapi.
On Saturday, we headed to the home of another cousin, Pene Quin, in Manukau, about a 30-minute drive south of downtown Auckland. Pene is a complete and total animal person, supported by her husband, Richard, a retired engineer.
Their talking mynah is named “Morris.” If you know your old cars, you’ll get the joke. They recently added two Pappilon puppies to the household, joining Pebbles, who looks like she could be their mother. Pene has been a star volunteer at the Auckland Zoo for over 23 years.
Rick brewed up some killer coffee (“this will grow hair on your teeth,” he warned), while we ooh’d and ah’d over the puppies, Pene’s art work on display, and their beautiful home.
Then it was off for lunch at Pepper Jack’s Cafe in the Pine Harbor Marina, where their boat, the Lady P, is moored. It’s currently for sale, but there are tough economic headwinds, so it might take a while to find a buyer.
Sunday was another family day, this time hosted by Brad’s mother, Gaewyn. Her home is in the Massey district of West Auckland, the opposite direction from where we were on Saturday. The house has a wonderful view overlooking a large public park.
Gae retired from a career in catering, and it showed in the tasty spread she served up for lunch on her deck overlooking the adjacent park.
We had all met before. We first met Pene and Rick in 2012 after my late sister, Bonnie, tracked her down through meticulous genealogical research. And we just met Brad, Sapi, and Gaewyn, and two other cousins, when we visited Auckland a year ago.
It’s felt good to see a bit more of the Auckland area, deepen these family ties and learn more details about the history of this New Zealand wing of the Lind family.
Our flight home departs late Wednesday evening but arrives in Honolulu early Wednesday morning, courtesy of the International Dateline.
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Such a lovely time you are having! Thank you for sharing with us.
Thank you for the comment!
You can feel the warmth of your new relatives through their hospitality.
Enjoy the last few days
.. and you will be just in time for weekend photos of the four legged friends on the beach ….
It’s been a pleasure following your NZ adventures! And dont forget the NZ airport has some quite cute & novel shops (duty free) that are great for take home goodies to Hawaii Nei! Aloha Dd
We will have several hours to kill at the airport, so will check them out! Thanks.
Ah, Ian, I’m so sorry to hear about Bonnie’s passing. I didn’t know.
By the way, I caught the Morris Myna reference right away. Does that mean I’m an old guy?
I did not know that your family ties were so deep in Aukland. That is wonderful.
She died in October 2016 of breast cancer. She had moved back to Honolulu from Groveland, California, after the death of her husband in 2007.
It was lovely to spend time with you and Meda again, Ian. Thankfully you were blessed with some lovely winter days.
It looks like our lucky streak of sunny weather is running out today.
Tuesday seems to be the wettest day of the week!
Imagine sushi in NZ. Japanese cuisine is ubiquitous.
Homemade sushi by a woman whose ancestors were from Scotland! It’s a small world!
*After this was first posted, I realized that the days were wrong. It’s been updated to properly reflect Days 6&7, instead of the original 5&6.
I plead “vacation delerium.”