I got to run with a flock of Kiwis this morning. People, not the national NZ bird.
At our BBQ with the Shortall family yesterday, Rachelle mentioned she was part of a running club which met just a few blocks from our AirBnb in Auckland. I wasn't going to miss the chance to run with a group, for the first time during our travels.
I was assigned to a group of runners and off we went. We ran down by the wharf and along the boardwalks. It was good fun to get out and be part of a group. I of course added a pic to my "running around the world album" with some of the folks in my group.
Rachelle ran with a different flock of Kiwis, but we met up at the end for a quick coffee before she was off and back home to see the kids and head to work.
After running, I came home to a quiet house of Boha-girls snoozing. Paige was the first one up, so I let her make a couple of fun videos, including the "mouse trap" video in yesterdays blog post.
Trip to the Dentist
It was a day off school for the girls, the morning occupied with dentist appointments. Cleanings for the girls and Sarah had some follow up to some work she'd had done in Singapore. I was the only one not to get in the chair.
Bike Ride
After a quick lunch, we drove just a few minutes away to the Shortall's home in Herne Bay, where we'd been for a bbq last night. They'd kindly offered up their bikes for us to borrow, so we set out for couple hours along the water toward downtown. We stopped at the Auckland Fish Market for a quick look and then turned back around.
Tennis in Devonport
We'd caught up with Mark and his son Luke yesterday briefly for lunch, but after biking we went back over the Auckland bridge to play some tennis and meet the rest of his family.
Mark was the top ranked Kiwi in the world for many years, playing on the ATP tour from the age of 17 until his mid 30s. Retiring, he set up a tennis program in Devonport seven years ago and is running a great program for local kids.
He graciously invited Paige and Sadie to join an after school clinic where they got to play with a group of local kids. Within a few minutes out on the court, they were exchanging hugs all around.
Afterward, Mark and I got out and banged the ball around for old times sake for about 30 minutes, it felt great.
We were interrupted by Paige & Sadie who were eager to hit more balls, to our delight. We spent another solid 45 minutes on the court hitting with P&S who only stopped because we had to leave for dinner.
Family BBQ
For the third time in 5 days, we had a bbq with old friends. Mark and his wife Jo invited us over after tennis for dinner. We had a great time, talking kids, life in NZ and NYC and of course telling old stories of what legends Mark and I were on the tennis court during our day. We also talked about the good food we ate together many times in Japan.
The little ones hit it off immediately and were doing their thing.
We were having such a good time, we didn't break up the party until 10:00pm. We're hopeful for a round two get together when we come back through Auckland at the end of our NZ stretch.
For the next three I'll be training so I can crush Mark on the tennis court in a few weeks time!
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