33: Titahi Bay Walk: A Three-hour Tour

I seem to have a habit of going out for what I think will be a leisurely walk around Titahi Bay, just to get some fresh air and clear my mind. But then the competitive/curious part of my brain takes over and commandeers my leisurely walk, often making me keep hiking "just to see what's around the bend." Today turned out to be another nice day, so I figured I'd take a walk around the bay and hike to the top of the north end of Titahi Bay. I decided to keep walking around the perimeter of Whitireia Park since the usually brisk wind was rather light. Next thing I know, I found myself half-way to Mana on the other side of Aotea Lagoon. By that stage, I was past the point of no return, so decided to just keep on going. In all, my hour-long walk spontaneously converted into a three-hour hike. Great exercise and great photos to show for it.

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32: Titahi Bay (part III): Yet Another Glorious Day

I awoke to yet another glorious day of perfect sunshine and perfect temperatures and just couldn't bear the thought of being indoors. I've been working far too hard lately so decided to cool my jets a bit and explore the southern end of Titahi Bay. Turns out there's a little trail down to the beach and from there you can walk along pretty much all the way to Wellington if you felt so inclined. Due to the impeccably clear weather, you can see the South Island situated in the background off in the distance.

31: Titahi Bay (Part II): Uniting the Maple Leaves and Yanks in Perfect Harmony

New Zealand: Uniting Canadians and Americans for Who Knows How Long
My Friday walk just didn't seem to do this place justice. I needed to get out and share it with friends, so a few well-placed phone calls soon found me in the company of my beloved Canadian friend Jessica (go Maple Leaves!) and her two friends Vicky and Chrysa visiting from Montreal, and Scott my fellow American. Given the friendly brother/sister-like rivalry between the Yanks and Maple Leaves, it was a great opportunity to break down the barriers and bring our nations a little closer together (even if the Canadian dollar IS actually stronger than the greenback). Then again, when you're living on a tiny little green rock off the coast of Antarctica, the differences tend to dissolve into nothing.

Rama for Prime Minister
After our sunset walk, we agreed to take a drive and find some eats. Titahi Bay on a Saturday night is pretty quiet, so we took a drive down the road to Johnsonville and stumbled upon Rama's Malaysian/Indian restaurant. Turns out they just opened a week ago and the owner was keen on making a favourable impression on his new guests. He came out and personally greeted us, and even sent a complimentary bowl of chicken curry to our table.

Thanks for the Great Memories
We were so moved by our experience that we felt it simply wouldn't be enough to just pay and leave. We decided to round up the chefs and servers from the kitchen and have them pose for a photo with our now unified team of Maple Leaves and Yanks. In all a great walk and great dinner.

Other photos from the afternoon (click on each photo for a larger image).

30: Titahi Bay Panorama

Greetings all,
Well, I have since moved on to another level of progression here in New Zealand. I was living in town for most of 2007 due to my work and school obligations being on campus. However, with the recent ethics committee approval of my PhD project, the study will now be focused up the road in Porirua. I will be running subjects through the City Fitness health club in Porirua so I decided to move about 5 minutes away to the panoramic beach community of Titahi Bay. Take one look at the photos and it's not hard to see why I made the jump. I am also working out of City Fitness, so it's a two for one. My life is now effectively centralised in one location, which will cut down tremendously on petrol costs. By the way, by comparison, it's still cheap in the US, even at $3.50 a gallon

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