Orewa and Auckland: Spending Time in the Big City
11/8-11/13
Our first day back in Orewa, we got up and went into town for breakfast once Jackson finally got out of bed. We drove to the Real Food Kitchen, where I got a chicken, brie, and cranberry toastie with fresh-pressed apple juice. I know it doesn’t sound very breakfasty, but it was delicious. Mom and I walked down to the library, where I got a book called Lyla about the Christchurch earthquake. After we went shopping, we headed back to the house, where I did math and science. We had rice cakes and broccoli for dinner before we watched the Voice.
On the morning of the Shawn Mendes concert, I had breakfast and then journaled in my room. I did Spanish and flute before I got dressed. Mom and I drove and took a bus into downtown Auckland. We went to Mexico Food and Liquor for dinner. We got esquites (street corn), a salad, a jackfruit quesadilla, and a pavlova. It was all great, but the pavlova was best. It came with strawberries and a delicious kiwi sorbet. Mom and I wandered our way to the Sparks Arena, where he was playing. When Ruel came out, the guy opening for Shawn, all the girls went crazy. He was like a young Justin Bieber. He was actually pretty good; I like his song, Painkiller. After an intermission, the lights went out and then the arena exploded. He jumped right into Lost in Japan and I couldn’t hear him at first through all of the “AHHHHHHH!!!”. He’s super talented; he can play the guitar and piano incredibly well, is an amazing singer, and is the best performer that I’ve ever seen. After the concert, Mom and I got a bus and Dad and Jackson picked us up at the station. Sorry about the audio quality and rotation of the videos.
The tenth was a completely lazy day. We watched the Voice in the evening after a day spent entirely at the house. The morning of the eleventh was the exact same but in the afternoon, we went to the mall, where I got black shorts for field hockey and we went grocery shopping. The game was so fun; it just felt so good to play in a game again with other people. On the twelfth, I watched some TV and then read. Mom and I got a new journal at Paper Plus. Back at the house, I did more schoolwork before and after lunch. I watched the Seahawks play the 49ers in the afternoon and then practiced flute until we could watch the Voice live. Dinner was burrito night: steak, rice, black beans, salsa, sour cream, cheese, and salad. Mom and Dad went on a walk and I did some dance strengthening before bed.
On the thirteenth, we went into Auckland for the first time as a family. I went on a run in the morning and then we drove into town. We had brunch at Marie’s, where I had a raspberry and white chocolate muffin and apple-pear-orange juice. We went into so many shops in the morning that I can’t remember and we slowly worked our way into the center of town. I got another Fleur Beale book at a bookstore and picked up a few Christmas presents. We stopped at a brewery for Mom and Dad to get some drinks, went shopping a bit longer, and then went to Giapo Gourmet Ice Cream. The menu was insane (go to giapo.com to see pictures of some of their more ridiculous items). I got a Yorkshire pudding (the closest thing they had to a cup: a pastry cup lined with milk chocolate). It had Giapo Bueno (salted caramel) and tiramisu ice cream in it. It was definitely the most outrageous creative ice cream I’ve ever had. We went to the fish market to hang out and watch cricket and I read my new book. I had chicken parmigiana at an Italian place and then we watched the Voice back at the House.
