"Our Town"

You've been seeing photos of all sorts as long as we've been here of course, but this time I thought that I'd show you just pictures of Henderson. This is what we see in our daily life and where we walk and shop, etc. 

This post then, is called, "Our Town." and is presented, in a way very loosely modeled, on the play of the same name by Thornton Wilder. (I have a video starring Allison as the Stage Manager in the Our Town production at a dinner and a play event that her senior class put on back in 1995. What a treasure that is.)  

"The name of the town is Henderson, New Zealand--just across the international date line: latitude, 36.8811 degrees south, longitude 174.6312 east. The day is February 5th, 2015. The time is several hours after dawn."

"Well, I had better show you how our town lies..."

"Up here is main street"   (actually Great North Road, looking northward. At the top of the hill, we turn left on to Swanson Road, then left again on to Sturges Road, and then right on to Harvest Drive. Home is about 2 kilometres, 1.2 miles, from this corner. )

  (Great North Road looking south)

(The courtyard of our Westcity Mall, that lies along GNR)

"Way back there is the railway station." (Bus Stop is on the side walk, train platform is raised in the background, next to the ivy-covered wall.)

(The bus stop and train station from the other direction.)

"Catholic Church is over beyond the tracks"...(Our Lady of Lourdes is in Glen Eden, about ten minutes drive from our house or 3 stops by train...sorry for the low quality of the photo.

Our Lady of Lourdes side view. This shot was taken on Christmas Eve 2014. There are nine 'communities' represented in the Church...Maori, Kiwi, African, Samoan, Tongan, Filipino, Asian, Indian and Fijian.)   

"Here's the town hall."  (this sign is located on the corner of the WestCity Mall carpark on Railside Avenue.)

"And the Post Office." (The post office, called 'Postie' here, and the Kiwibank are combined.  This branch, where we do our business, is on the lower level of the mall)

"Here's the grocery store." (We commonly shop at two, mostly Pak'nSave. You see two practitioners of "Falun Dafa." This is a Chinese discipline for mind and body... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong ) 

"And here's the drugstore."

"Public school's over yonder." (Summerland Primary.  Both boy's new classrooms for this coming year lie behind the building on the far right of the photo.)

(First electric trains are going to come along in about 5 months. This is the new electric model that I saw being tested on our line at Sturges Road a few days ago. For now, it's noisy diesels)

(Our favorite, a sushi place, Ko & Ki's.  And the boy's too. This is our favorite place for a treat after going to the library or on another errand.)

(Here's one of those treats.)

(Our public library)

(Here are some stores that we shop at constantly.)

(The Great North Bakehouse is my favorite because of the nice lady who runs it. We limit ourselves to only stopping here occasionally.)

Well, I hope you've enjoyed walking around our town and seeing a few of the things we see almost every day. I wish I could have included the sun and the wind and all the folks walking past on the footpaths.)

"Hm. . . . Eleven o'clock in Henderson. You get a good rest. Good night."

THE END                                                -djf

Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.... W. C. Fields

No, this post is not going to be about W.C. Fields, but I couldn't pass up his comment when I saw it, since this post is going to be about food. Not anything that I've cooked, this time, but street food that I found at the Friday night fair that is held each week in the underground carpark in Henderson. 

Unlike the foody travel shows on TV that you might have seen, I didn't buy and sample each item I'll show you. I had already eaten an early dinner at home, and I didn't want to spend a couple of $20's.  

I did buy one hard-boiled egg cooked in tea and spices though for a dollar, and some plums to bring home, but that was it.  

This is a view down one of the aisles at the fair. The fair starts at 5:30 pm and this was taken just about 6 I suppose. As you can see, the place is already jumping. I found that if I show up around 7 pm, it is so packed that it's elbow to elbow, too hot from all the grills and not as pleasant.  

So, lets get down to looking at some possibilities for a snack. Who doesn't like meat on a stick? There are lots of choices here...

These selections are fairly cheap, any 3 sticks for $5.

Sorry, my photographic skills are not evident in this next picture. The three items listed on the sign are garlic prawns, mussles, and squid tentacles.

Then there is the meat that goes into combination meals with an egg and the chopped up meat on top, and rice and some veggies down below in the bowl.(next picture down)  Not a bad price for a fast meal.

All this meat has made me thirsty, let's find a cool drink.

The girl working this booth looks unhappy with her job. It's true she didn't have any customers, at least not when I took this photo, but maybe that's because she was charging $5 for a coconut and everyone knows that you can buy the same thing at any fruit market around town for $1.99.

It's just not worth $3 to have someone knock a hole in the top and add a straw. 
Besides that, there is a thin layer of very tender, very delectable coconut 'meat' along the inside of the shell that can be scraped out with a spoon. I think it would be a shame to buy a 'drinking coconut' and then throw part of it's goodness away. 
Judging from the empty spaces in front of her booth, most people agree with me. 
Here is a photo from back in 2012 that shows the 'meat' inside.

Here's one of my favorites. They're called Khao Tom at an Asian market I frequent, but this version is a little better because they are grilled over charcoal just before they're given to a customer. It adds a little smokiness to the flavor too from the charring leaf. I'm sorry the photo is slightly out of focus. This is made by wrapping a length of banana in sweet, sticky rice and wrapping that in a banana leaf and steaming it. 

Khao Tom are delivered on Tuesday and Friday mornings to the Da Hua Market across from the Mall and since I shop in the morning, I often buy them while they are still warm from the steamer. 

Here is an in-focus photo I took of some Khao tom in 2013. These have taro inside instead of banana so the filling doesn't show up like banana would. (The sugars in the banana tend to turn it browner.)

This one is a 'Korean fritter' made with an egg batter and veggies or meats.

A kind of dumpling...

And here is my tea egg. It comes with a cracked but still attached peel. (I already peeled half of it)  You can make these at home. I found out that it's strong black tea and 5 spice powder. It tasted better than it looks but I'd prefer one of Jeanne's devilled eggs. 

These are waffles with sweet red-bean paste on  the inside.  

Purple rice congee is a rice porridge or pudding. It's sweet, but not too sweet.  I've had several kinds of congee since it is available canned in all the Asian markets. The can of congee also comes with a tiny plastic spoon so you can eat it on the run. Another fast food.

Finally, an old friend. Fritz's Wieners.  

Thank goodness for Fritz's Wiener stands. The first one I found, on my first trip by train into Auckland, was across from the Ferry Building. I tried their $7 spicy bratwurst. (In the photo, there is a pile of them on the right side of the grill and in the front row.) It was somewhat coarsely ground, juicy, spicy and salty. It is what all sausages ought to be. It's the kind of sausage that makes you want to eat it too quickly. These sausages remind me of home. 

Well, that's it for today. Are you hungry?                     -djf

North Head, Revisited "Breathe deeply the scent of a cave. It's odour carries hints of it's mystery. Accept it's cool caress."

My comments recently in this blog about North Head triggered in us the need to return. Here, then, is a new series of pictures that specifically highlights one of the underground areas.

I hadn't yet shown you the actual caves that exist on the island. They were incorporated into the network of tunnels that were dug in support of the gun emplacements.  

Here is an intrepid explorer shining her torch into the darkness as we arrived. You'll notice that there is a well-worn trail entering the cave system by the larger upper hole. The younger members of any expedition usually opt for this head-on approach to exploration, many times dragging along a somewhat less-willing senior member as support and backup.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the hill, a perfectly good man-sized opening exists for those spelunkers with less pliable joints. The tunnel is tall enough here to allow entry standing upright, but I notice that most people bend over just a bit as they do. A psychological thing no doubt.

Once underground, the camera loses definition in the darkness, but I like the effect.  I'll show you a comparison later between using a flash and no flash, with only my headlamp providing the light for the camera. Go to your right up ahead. I see a cave creature of some sort. Let's investigate.

Yeah, it's a little 'scurry' of cavelings.  Completely harmless, but they are known for shining their torches directly in the eyes of adult explorers. Use caution around them. 

As you can see, these caves are visited by all manner of life-forms.

  

We've reached the 'Grand Hall."

We now exit the caves and make our way toward the gun. We're in the upper burrows of the south battery gun emplacement. 

What?  Ok, we'll take one quick peak out of the 'window' and see what's happening back on the 'topside.'   

"All quiet, Sir, no enemy sighted."

Now, back to the business of finding the disappearing gun.  Fortunately for us, it only disappears from the surface world. We'll find it easily enough. "All roads lead to the gun," after all, but lets check the map just to be sure.

Right, it's down this passage way.

Then, around the corner and go toward the light you see ahead. The last two shots shows what it looks like with the flash..oops, we got a deer-in-the-headlights dad peaking out from an ammunition storage locker.

Without the flash, my headlamp provides a much softer look.  It was only candles back in the late 1800's so this is a much more realistic view. Walk into the light....

I found it, grandpa. It is BIG. It is HUGE!

Wow, I know, my eyes too. I'll be able to see without squinting in just a second...that's better.  I wonder what this gun looks like from outside?

Very impressive huh?  Hey, do you see that little covered observation post directly behind the gun and the flagpole, right in front of that couple?  

Yeah, this is it. See the trap-door in the floor?  Well, I've got an idea.  Lets go back underground and find it.

Ok, we're back in the tunnels. We go down through here, and look for a stairway heading up.

That's it, we've found it. Now, can you see if there is a ladder leading upward to a steel trap-door?

There is? Amazing, you've found the trap door leading to the observation post we just saw above the gun. Good work explorer team!              -djf