Whoops, I took a wrong turn...

(This post was actually photographed and written a couple of months ago.)

One Saturday morning, for an excursion, I suggested that Jeanne and I take a walk from Newmarket to Parnell.  My plan was that we would re-trace the route that I had taken alone during my 'walk to the Skytower.' I promised that I would show her, along the way, a Saturday-morning outdoor market, an amazing tree with more air-roots than I had ever seen before, a shortcut to the War Memorial Museum, and New Zealand's Olympic Headquarters. (Who could resist all that, right?)

She took me at my word that I could, and would, deliver on my promises, and decided to come along.

Well, I delivered on three out of four. After fulfilling my first three claims flawlessly, I somehow took a wrong turn and walked us down a street that, while it turned out to be very interesting, even photogenic, was completely devoid of an Olympic Headquarters of any sort. 

Since I have already showed you pictures of my walk from Newmarket to Parnell in a previous post, it is fortunate we inadvertently wandered off-track. You get to see some new pictures that I took along the new route we took. 

 This is the gateway of a huge rose garden that we had no idea existed. 

I like rose gardens well enough.  I've seen others while in NZ. They generally have dozens of varieties all laid out in little plots and the idea is to pace up and down the rows while exclaiming with delight at all the unique colors and names. There is apparently a strict rule when you visit such gardens about not missing any. (or so Jeanne and Allie insist. )

I don't mind too much. It is true that the ladies in the group generally lag behind a bit. I'm not quite sure what they can find to stare at for such a long time, at each and every single variety like they do, maybe they're doing sketches or something, but I find that it pays to be patient. (The boys generally do laps to pass the time.)

This is looking out of the garden. Since our walk took place in the off-season, the garden is nothing but sticks right now and I thought that this technique might whet your appetites for the explosion of color that will come with full summer. I'll be back I'm sure to walk the rows, comment appropriately, and not miss a one. And take pictures. 

BTW, this is the name of the park. Dove Myer Robinson was the longest serving Mayor of Auckland.  Hmm, I wonder if he has a rose named after him?  Guess I'll find out soon enough. 

I like this wall. 

 Okay, let's get down to looking at a few buildings we saw along the way. 

This one, minus the white trimming, sort of reminds me of buildings from the Copper Country, Michigan.

I don't know where the archetectural style known as Art Deco really starts or leaves off, but the rest of the buildings I'm going to show you today give me the impression of what I think of, as Art Deco. 

Yeah, I know it's the same building, but it's at another angle that shows how it steps up the hill. 

I once stayed in a hotel in High Point, North Carolina, during a furniture show there, that was built on a hill like this set of apartments is, but was much longer. 

Each of the four floors in the hotel followed the lay of the land so there was a low end to each of the long internal corridors, with rooms coming off on both sides, and a high end.  I remember standing at the top end one night and thinking that I was glad I had not had too much to drink at dinner. The floor surface in front of me was flat for four room's worth of space, and then inclined, rather sharply I thought, down to the next level where several more doors were located.  It proceeded this way for the full length of the long corridor. A very odd place. Could be vertigo producing under the right (or wrong) conditions.

 I like this one a lot. This looks like 'Art Deco Santa Fe.' 

The silver car out front is a nice touch.

 Another angle. Look at that cool gate on the side. 

 They just keep coming in this neighborhood.  

 Wow.

Finally, at the end of our walk, we passed a hotel which seems to me to also reflect the Art Deco look. I immediately thought of the apartment building of Agatha Christie's character Hercule Poirot, not that this apartment building really looks much like his. 
Any of you who watched this series on TV over the years probably know the building I mean. Jeanne and I watch and rewatch those episodes still available on Youtube. It is such a classic.              

Just in case any of you would like to see Poirot's building, here is an episode that Jeanne found for me. The building appears for about two seconds, at 23:22.   -djf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH4uICADpv8