Hello children. I've been a busy busy bee (busy doing nowt) and have forgotten to update for a while. I'm continuing to look for another job. I've applied for 50 million jobs this far so fingers crossed one of them will pan out, otherwise Ill have to start charging y'all to read my illustrious blog, Rupert Murdock style. In the mean time I've joined Auckland City Library. Its AMAZING! Three stories of reading bliss. It about the same size as Dun Laoghaire Shopping Center and even has books that were not printed in wither the time of the Great Famine (1845-49) or salvaged from the flotsam and jetsam which surfaced from the wreck of the titanic. To put it in perspective, Irish libraries are a third world effort in comparison. They also provide a music library for cd's and sheet music, a magazine library, a video game library and a dvd rental library where for a fee of $5 (€2.50) you can borrow a dvd for 5 days. Xtra-Vision would be hopping mad on one leg if such a service was available back home. An idea for a bit of competition. I love the library here and it offers free wifi too.
In other events we visited the Royal New Zealand Naval Base and Naval Museum located on the North Shore in Devonport. Its a short ferry ride across the bay to get to this wonderland. (Speaking of which, Ive recently been to see Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland which I though was thoroughly awful and would give it a generous 4 out of 10 score. Don't go see it) . There is an extinct volcanic mountain on the called Mt Victoria located which I actually managed to scale. I'm a proper mountaineer now folks. Nearby is a the North Head which houses a former secret military base which was hollowed into he mount and houses many 'disappearing' gun which were constructed to stave off a threat of attack and invasion by Japanese forces during the time of the second world war. The base is abandoned and no longer in active military use. The underground structures are open for visitors to wonder around and explore. A most fascinating place indeed although I must admit I though it was a wee bit creepy walking around the dark abandoned tunnels. I got the heebeejeebees. Following on to quick swim in the warm sea (its still 19°C here) it was back for ferry home.
Also we visited the Auckland War Memorial Museum located in a large park sporting park Name Auckland Domain. The park similar to Phoenix Park minus the wild deer and zoo and had several sporting facilities suck as cricket grounds and running paths and is often mentioned in interviews as having been used as training ground for visiting sportsmen and women. The Museum itself is a little odd and I was unsure what to make of it. Firstly there are not exhibits about war as the name WAR MEMORIAL might suggest. There was one room with artifacts that were around 200 years old although many of the descriptions stated that the date of the items being exhibited were unknown . One room with modern history of school children in NZ (one of these exhibits had a picture of the Spice Girls on the wall to give you an idea of how modern it gets ^_^) and all the other rooms were filled with Maori carvings and necklaces and a Maori long boat and a reconstructed ancestral home. I was a bit disappointed by the museum to be honest as nothing was explained of labeled explaining what historical or ceremonial meaning or context they represented. There is nothing much to be learned there so I don't think I could be enticed into visiting there again. (I've been to much better museums such as the amazing Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Definitely go there if your in town.)
Well that's all the excitement I think you can handle for now.
Ta Ta for Now
Lee
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