Day 167 - Back Again

My Temporary Home - Melbourne, Australia

As I'm almost coming to being a month behind in posting my photos, it's somewhat fitting that the first one I post is why it all started.

Welcome to my temporary home for what was supposed to be a one week work trip to Melbourne.  One week turned into three!! With a quick three days home in between.

Room # 72. Good to see you again....

Day 166 - I Scream For IceCream!

Ollie Ollie Ice Cream - Royal Oak, Auckland

After a massive day of running around feeding ducks and playing on the playground with Miss A, we decided to stop off in Royal Oak on our way home to get some ICE CREAM!!!

I really did NOT need a whole sundae to myself.... There was waaaaaay to much of everything on it! But it was entirely too YUMMY for me to stop myself eating the whole thing anyway. 

(And also eating the leftovers of Miss A's!)

And once again, I'm a week behind in posting my daily photos... I'll catch up! Promise :)

Day 165 - Napkins and Things

Napkins and Things - Home

Nothing too exciting, except I do love my napkin holder!  Playing around with my new lens.  I'm really loving it at the moment.  Absolutely love the details I can get close up.

Day 164 - (un)Lucky Friday 13th

Whiskers - Home

My day didn't start out the best.  Even thinking about what happened today still makes me feel a bit shaken up. It does have a somewhat happy ending (more like a lucky ending...)

I was waiting for my bus across the road from our house and I could hear Cas with his normal meowing exploring the treeline in the area next to our place.  He often plays/explores there throughout the day.

The next thing I remember, was suddenly seeing Cas running towards me from across the road. Que screeching tires, screaming, a tumbling cat and my heart lodging itself in my throat. Cas managed to pick himself up and being freaked out (and possibly hurt!) decided the safest place to be was back home, so off he ran back across the road... Que more screeching tires, further screaming, a tumbling cat (a second time) and my mind in complete freak out mode.

As you can imagine I raced across the road to try and find my poor (most likely injured) terrified cat.  Neither of the two cars that hit my cat got out to check on him or me!

As I was running and trying to find him, I called M in a panic and I think the first thing I said to him was "Cas just got hit by a car!!"

Whilst I'm searching for him, M was trying to find out what had happened while also heading to his car to come home.  I finally found Cas underneath our other car, it took awhile for him to come out and I was petrified that he was really badly hurt.  When he finally came out to me, I gave him a pat down to check if he was injured but there were no obvious signs of injury.  He seemed fine and so he followed me inside the house where I re-checked him and then gave him some of his wet food and tried to calm myself down.

M was still on the phone with me, also trying to calm me down and to make sure that Cas was definitely OK.

Cas was fine, which was amazing and incredibly lucky.  I stayed home with him for about an hour, making sure there were no changes in his otherwise normal condition.  By the time my friend came to pick me up, Cas was very much back to his normal self, jumping all over the benches/couches/cars and meowing at the top of his lungs.  

I went back home at lunch to check on him, but he was out exploring again.  When M got home a couple of hours later, Cas was still his normal self and everything was back to normal.

If I had thought that he was injured, in any way, I would have taken him directly to the Vet.  As many people pointed out to me throughout that day, I should have taken him there anyway as a precaution.  However knowing my cat as I do, I feel he was completely fine.  I was far more shaken up than he was.

While this was an unlucky day for me (I never want to have to experience that again!), it was definitely a very lucky day for Mr Casanova.  Hopefully he has learnt that roads are NOT safe for kitty cats!

P.S. I got a new lens!! Excite. 

Day 163 - Pizza Plate

The Aucklander - Garrisons

We went out to dinner at the Garrisons Pub in Sylvia Park with a couple of friends.  They make some divine Salt & Pepper Squid and their Pizzas are pretty amazing as well.

This was a photo of the Aucklander Pizza. Chicken, brie, avocado, cashew nuts and mozzarella with a cranberry swirl.  It was so yummy!

I might have to try their other pizzas now too! 

Mightchicken, brie, avocado, cashew nuts and mozzarella with a cranberry swirlchicke n, brie, avocado, cashew nuts and mozzarella with a cranberry swirl

Day 162 - Early Darkness

Red Sky at Night, A Shepards Delight - Glen Innes, Auckland

While it isn't a full red sky, I do love when the sun is setting and it lights up the clouds.  It's almost like they are on fire! 

I took this not long after 5pm on my way home from work. The one thing about winter that I'm not overly fond of is how early it is when it starts to get dark! I'm sorely missing my afternoons in the sun!

Day 161 - Rain Drops

Rain Drops on Windows - Auckland Train

It's a miserable day here in Auckland. Wet, Windy, Cold and Dark. Going home from work wasn't particularly pleasant.

I like it when it rains, but only if I don't have to go out in it!

As I was sitting on the train I thought I would try taking some photos of the rain drops on the window.  I wasn't very successful. The train was rattling away and I couldn't get a steady hold on my camera.  I managed to get this shot, which is mostly in focus! 

I couldn't decide between this one or another that I managed to get. The other didn't have the train station in the background. I'll post it below.

I might give this idea another shot one day. 

Day 160 - Work Office Buddies

Buddies! - Work

As you might be able to guess from my previous photos, where I show off my keyboard buddies and warriors, I love to have cute little toys, ornaments or things on my desk. 

This collection of friends live on my desk in the office at work!

Doctor Who Villians (Clockwork Soldiers and Daleks), Disney Characters (Snow White and Grumpy) and My Little Ponys (Rainbow Dash and Derpy/Ditzy Doo).

Love my work buddies x

Day 159 - Lap Cat

Mr Casanova, The Lap Cat - Home

After two nights away from home, Cas wasn't particularly happy with us.  He did his funny little "I'm Ignoring You" thing when we got home.  He didn't want his normal pats or cuddles.

BUT

Within an hour I had my nice, warm, purring lap cat back. Although for some reason he has taken quite a liking to sitting on one leg and make you hold the rest of him with your arm. It's a balancing act!  I think this way he gets to push against the other leg with his feet and also doesn't have that dip to lie in either.

Sorry about the photo, I wasn't really allowed up again once he had claimed my lap as his own....

Day 158 - Searching for the Light

Sculptured Artwork - Dead Dog Bay, Waiheke

This is one of my favourite photos that I took wandering around Waiheke.  It was a sculptured tower made up of some kind of metal trays stacked together. When you went inside and looked up it was pretty cool.

Plus some birds had been building nests in the trays, which I thought was pretty neat.  You could see all their bits and pieces hanging out of some of the trays.

This was at the Dead Dog Bay, Wetlands Sculpture and Gardens. It was actually really neat, there was a half hour bush walk you could do, plus wander around looking at the gardens and sculptures.  They work on an honesty system, so if you do go, remember to take $10 cash with you!

Since this doesn't really show much of the overall feel and day on Waiheke, below are some other photos I took that I still really love.

Day 157 - A view from a boat

Auckland City - Fullers Ferry, Going to Waiheke

Heading off on an adventure for the weekend! I took the afternoon off to catch the ferry from Auckland City to Waiheke Island with M and some of his friends.

It's always nice to go some where different for a weekend, and I'm very excited to be going to Waiheke. Hopefully the weather stays nice! It was apparently going to be raining all weekend, but it looks like that's changed.

Also, how BIG is that cruise ship sitting in the harbour!? Compared to the buildings around it, well it looks massive!

Day 156 - New Glasses!

My Fancy Pants New Glasses - Home

I'm excited! SOOO Excited!

A couple of weeks ago I went in to look at some frames and get my eyes re-tested.  My eyes are slightly different to the last test I had done (3 Years ago... woops!), but still nice and healthy!

I had a lovely lady help me pick out some new frames, and we both instantly fell in love with these when I tried them on.  They were on the slightly expensive side of things... but hey! That's why I work 5 days a week, so I can buy the things I like!

Day 155 - Morning Traffic

Morning Traffic - Mt Wellington Highway, Auckland

The fast paced cars vs the stillness of the trees.  It was a very nice morning, a bit chilly but I can handle that!

Waiting for the bus on my way to work.  My bus ended up being late due to some traffic/road works further down the road...

Hows your traffic in the morning? Bumper to Bumper or smooth sailing all the way to the office?

Day 154 - Wine & Dine

A Very Nice Wine - La Padella, Highland Park, Auckland

This wasn't supposed to be the photo for this day. 

I had planned on taking a nice family photo of my Grandad's Birthday Dinner, but I got caught up in the evening, the company and the divine meal I had.  If you ever get the chance, do try out La Padella in Highland Park.  It is decently priced, lovely meals and BYO!

This was a sneaky (or actually not so sneaky) photo I took of the wine my Grandad brought for dinner.  It was a very smooth red wine and I wanted to be able to remember what brand/winery it was from. 

Thanks again Grandad for letting me crash your birthday dinner!

Day 153 - Forest Walks

Forest Walks - Mutukaroa-Hamlins Hill Regional Park, Auckland

Another day where I forgot to bring my camera with me...  It's a good thing I always carry my phone!

We took a walk through the Regional Park in Mount Wellington to see the cows which hangout on the farm land between the industrial area and the motorway.  Its actually quite a nice walk. 

M and Miss A both found walking sticks to help them on their way through the forest.  Looking at this photo, it amazes me just how big Miss A is getting!

We took the hill walk to the cows through the bush rather than the farm land track you can do.  Then we got a bit lost once we came to the cows, but we managed to find our way back quickly enough.

Looking forward to our next bush walk.

Day 152 - Birthday Madness

Birthday Cakes - Grans House

So, we had two birthday family things on today. M's Granny and my Grandad!! 

We went to my Grandads morning tea get together first.  We took Miss A with us and so there were three trouble makers running around!  My cousins two boys and Miss A.  Surprisingly Miss A was the one with the most energy.

Then later that afternoon we headed off to Grans housee (M's Mum!) before going out to Thai Family for some dinner for Grannys birthday!  Above is a shot of Grannys Birthday Cake, Miss A helped decorate it! 

There was also a surprise in it too! M&M's all through th middle! Yum!

This weekend has been such a busy one. I think I need  relaxing one next weekend x