I t'ink I saw a puddy-cat

From the first time we visited Auckland Zoo, the animal encounter experience had been on a mental checklist for us. As time passed by and work took over our lives, our progress with the list slowed down and the ink began to fade. Then when I was trying to think of something to do with a day-off from work (I have one extra day holiday that must be used or is lost each quarter), the idea came back to life. However, I guessed that this had also disappeared from Lucie’s memory, so it would make a great surprise day-out for her.

We arrived slightly early so had a quick drink and something to eat before we heard our booking name announced. Then we joined another couple and started the preliminary tour. Our charismatic guide enthusiastically fed us facts for each animal we passed and made sure we were told plenty about those we were meeting.

Our first glimpse of the big cats was behind glass as we stood with the regular visitors. Then with a signal from the handlers, we were ushered around the back of the enclosure, through a locked gate, and into the animals’ den. A few more warnings & instructions and we were standing less than 10 metres away, allowing them to get accustomed to our presence.

We moved closer - down to 3 metres. They seemed to be placid enough, but our hearts hammered away preparing us for a futile attempt at flight. As we moved closer, the guide told us (with perfect timing) that they were actually the biggest ‘scaredy-cats’ in the animal kingdom, and were actually more afraid of us. However, the thought occurred that a frightened animal can turn aggressive in defense so we took no chances in moving slowly and quietly. In all honesty though, the worst that probably would’ve happened is that they’d have moved to the opposite end of the enclosure and not let us near them.

We were taken in turns to sit behind one of the Cheetahs and stroke its flank. The other couple was first and then us. The Cheetah had seemed a little agitated so Lucie and I were to go one by one with her being first. However, it seemed as though he’d had enough for the day as soon after I sat stroking next to Lucie, the big cat began to growl. We were told to back off, and then when he’d calmed down we moved back in again, but the deep sound started again.

After that, we all moved to form a line a couple of metres away. We asked questions of the handlers, and were told stories about the Cheetahs, ‘Anubis’ and ‘Osiris’. I guess I’d hoped for a longer time with them, more interaction perhaps, but it was a good experience nonetheless, and it certainly kept Lucie smiling all day.

Breaking Into Summer

By the end of November we were comfortably into summer. The uncertainty in the weather that prevailed last year had been succeeded by constant days of reliable sunshine. We felt confident in embarking on a weekend away, and had sufficient faith to return to tent life.

A friend from work was celebrating his birthday with friends in the Coromandel, so we used the excuse to get out of the city and join them. We left Auckland around 9am on Saturday morning and were tucking into fish and chips near our destination around noon. The others hadn’t been to ‘Hot Water Beach’ before, so we met there and watched them battle against the tide as they attempted to dig their hot pools. A cool wind dissuaded us from shedding clothes and giving anything more than our feet to the hot water, but the tourist-virgins splashed around victoriously all around us.

When we arrived at the campsite, the sun was out in force and the cool wind had disappeared. We took a short walk over a couple of sand dunes and onto the adjoining beach. There were no plans beyond just being here, so we relaxed with a few beers, strolled along the sand, and tried fishing from the shore. Sadly the only thing we caught were crabs, but that didn’t matter; we’d previously stocked up on meat from the supermarket so our BBQ was more than adequately equipped for a hefty dinner.

It felt good to be in a tent again. It was cramped, uncomfortable sleeping at its best, with an early morning sunlight wake-up call. It brought back fond memories of all the fun we’d had camping around Western Australia, and helped us mentally escape that much further from our working lives in Auckland.

In the morning we smiled at each other as we packed up the tent. Our speed and efficiency betrayed how practiced we were and we easily fell back into the old routine, knowing our parts in the process.


The idea was to grab a full breakfast somewhere, and then beach hop our way back around the Coromandel Peninsula, slowly returning to Auckland Sunday evening.

We picked up a mighty fry-up in Whitianga and dented the sand of one beach, but it wasn’t long before the birthday boy was calling for more booze and we were taking in an early lunch.

The day moved on and it became more obvious we were hearing a different drummer than the birthday group. Their goal was a full-on drinking session back in Auckland, and ours was to post-pone the return trip and enjoy the last of our break. So, we parted ways as they returned home with maximum speed, & we stayed on a beach.