Our dear cousin, Annette, led us on a tour through her neighborhood, Westmere. We started walking through the neighborhood’s streets, where, like most Auckland suburbs, there is a vibrant mix of older and newer homes.
We then walked down into a trail that winds around the harbor and through some marshland.
Automobile of the day is this ute. For our non-antipodean readers, a ute is short for utility vehicle. Back when Mal was growing up in New Zealand, there weren’t any pickup trucks. Rather there were utes, which were basically, a station wagon with the top cut off. This is a newer more spruced up version.
Matakana is a picturesque little village about an hour’s drive north of Auckland. Matakana is generally translated from the maori as meaning ‘distrustful’ or ‘watchful’. More specifically, mata means face and kanakana is an expression made by bulging the eyes and tongue to intimidate. It is the expression the All Blacks make when performing the Haka before rugby games. Matakana was originally the name of a pa (fortified village) at the mouth of the Mahurangi river. Despite the fact that the pa was not particularly close by, Pakeha (European New Zealanders) apparently borrowed the name when naming the river and village that stands on it.
On Saturday mornings, there is a bustling market that is well worth a visit.
The village sits directly on a river which is resident to a large number of eels. This one was on the lookout for a feed.
There were some cool English vintage cars on hand and one not so vintage American one.
Just outside the village is the Morris and James pottery studio / workshop. We dropped by after the market.
Matakana is a big oyster farming area, so we picked up a fresh dozen at this roadside shop. The oyster enthusiasts in the group declared them to be particularly fresh and delicious.
Kohimarama, commonly known simply as Kohi (pronounced koey) is a coastal residential suburb of about 4,400 residents that centers around a beautiful beach and a large park. In maori, Kohimarama, apparently refers to the gathering of the scattered wood chips that are left from the carving of waka (canoes).
After a delicious lunch at the Kohi Cafe, we decided to go for a stroll. We started by heading along Kohi beach.
Setting out from Kohi Cafe
Before heading inland to explore the suburb and its wide variety of houses.
Finally we headed into Madill,s Farm Recreation Reserve with its wide open playing fields.
On a beautiful point overlooking Narrow Neck Beach on Auckland’s north shore, we visited a large sculpture show, raising funds for Women’s Refuge. With over 130 works by 100 artists, it was a spectacular show to visit on a beautiful sunny day. Here are some of the stunning works.
The most powerful and moving installation, by far, was called and then they kissed me, by Turtle Sarten and Bernie Harfleet. It consisted of a number of rooms in an old bunker, each of which contained a devastating statement on domestic violence. According to a sign posted outside the installation, police in New Zealand receive 480 family harm calls each day (that’s one every three minutes). In 2022, police attended 175,573 family harm incidents in New Zealand. On average 14 women are killed each year and a child is killed every 5 weeks.
These pieces of furniture had carved into them common statements made by abusers. When you looked into the mirror you could see the abused victim’s truth.
Each of the medallions in the following photo represented a woman killed in incidents of domestic violence. Each of the kiwis represented a child killed in acts of domestic violence. There were many more not visible in the photo.
Please consider making a donation to Women’s Refuge at womensrefuge.org.nz
In September of 1967, Mal and his family took The Queen Mary across the Atlantic from New York City to Southampton, England, on one of the iconic ship’s final voyages. Soon after, it was retired from service and entered into its new life as a hotel in Long Beach, California. Fifty six years after he last stepped on board, Mal went for a visit, along with our daughter-in-law, Kylie. This is Mal on board back then (in bow tie).
And this is Mal on board now.
At an overall length of 310.7 meters and a weight of 81,237 tons, The Queen Mary held 2,140 passengers and 1,100 crew. That might seem big but it doesn’t compare to today’s largest cruise ships. The Wonder of the Seas, for example, is 362 meters long, weighs 236,857 tons and holds up to 6,988 passengers. Here is the actual Queen Mary.
And here is the lego version, which just happens to be the world’s longest lego model of a ship. At 25’11” long, it is made of approximately 250,000 bricks.
We walked the decks
And the beautiful wood paneled halls.
We visited the Bridge
And the Captain’s cabin which was tucked in behind the Bridge. Not his main cabin, which we expect would be much fancier. This is the one he used in potentially dangerous seas where his leadership might be urgently needed.
We played a little shuffleboard
Spoke on the phone.
Checked out the bar
And, finally, the engine room.
Special thanks to Kylie for indulging Mal on his trip down memory lane.
About an hour’s drive down the coast from LA is scenic Laguna Beach. We made the drive down to meet Lauren’s old school friend Lisa and her husband Dave. After a beautiful lunch at Las Brisas restaurant, sitting high on a point overlooking the beach, we went for a stroll along the coastline and into town. Here are some of the sights.
Named after Griffith J. Griffith (cool name), who donated the over three thousand acres on which it sits, the Griffith Observatory is the place to go for extensive views of Los Angeles and the nearby Hollywood hills. Opened in 1935, it is a beautiful deco style building that has featured in numerous movies, perhaps most famously in Rebel Without a Cause and more recently in La La Land.
Griffith’s legacy was marred by his notorious shooting of his wife in 1903. The shot did not kill her but left her disfigured and she lost her right eye. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to commit murder. However, under cross-examination, his wife testified that Griffith was subject to paranoid delusions. Consequently, he was convicted of the lesser charge of assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to two years in San Quentin State Prison.
We parked down the hill In the surrounding parklands and along with our son, Jake, started the long winding walk up to the observatory.
Along with the amazing views, the Observatory also offers informative space and science related exhibits, that include a Tesla coil
And a piece of moon rock
The observatory is surrounded by beautiful decks from which to enjoy the views.
Silver Lake is a hip suburb in Los Angeles. It is east of Hollywood and straddles across Sunset Boulevard. Our son, Ben, recently purchased a property there. On yet another sunny LA day, we headed out to explore the neighborhood. It was quite a strenuous walk as it is very hilly in this part of LA. With its staircases cutting down to the main streets, narrow windy streets and many Spanish style homes, we were often reminded of Europe.
Ben’s home
The neighborhood gets its name from the reservoir that sits at its center. Built in 1907, the reservoir is named for Herman Silver, a LA Water Commissioner
Sitting among the houses lining the reservoir is the Neutra VDL Studio and Residences. An original building, designed and built in 1932 by the famous Austrian-American architect, Richard Neutra, as his home and studio, was destroyed by a fire in 1963. It was rebuilt by the architect’s son, Dion, with his father’s oversight. The original footprint of the house was preserved, although a number of changes were made in the design. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Our son, Jake, and daughter-in-law, Kylie, recently purchased their first home. It is a beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival house in the California Heights historic district that was developed in the late 1920s. Jake and Kylie took us for a tour through the neighborhood. Here are some of the houses we passed, starting with Jake and Kylie’s home.
Apart from the coyote threat and the constant drone of the small planes flying overhead, it truly is an idyllic neighborhood.
We wandered over to nearby Los Cerritos. Established in 1906, the Los Cerritos neighborhood consists of larger homes, some of which you may recognize from the movies, including this home from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
And this home from Donnie Darko
Here are some other homes from the neighborhood. With Halloween just a few days away, some had gone all in with their decorations.
In the center of Los Angeles, next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) are the La Brea Tar Pits, an active paleontological research site. Over many centuries, animals ventured into the pits and became stuck and their bones have been preserved. There is now a museum on the site displaying a sample of the over 750,000 specimens that have been discovered there. Among the prehistoric species found at the Pits are mammoths, dire wolves, giant sloths and saber-toothed cats.
Museum entranceMammothMammoth skeletonEmma and friendDire wolf skullsDire wolf skulls
The scientists are still uncovering, preserving and studying bones.
Pit 91Preserving sloth bones
Here is the skeleton of a Harlan’s ground sloth.
And here is what it would look like if it was still roaming about today.
Mal and Lauren 