I realise this was a while ago now, but the weekend after I first moved into this apartment, the Queen Mary II arrived in Auckland for the first time.

You might have heard about it, since she’s the biggest ocean liner in the world.   Technically, she’s not the biggest passenger vessel, since the Freedom of the Seas cruise ship has a higher gross tonnage, but Queen Mary II is longer, wider and taller than Freedom of the Seas.   She’s too big to tie up alongside Prince’s Wharf or Queen’s Wharf where most passenger ships dock, and instead had to tie up at one of the container terminals.   That was pretty good for me, since I got a great view of her coming and going.

Here is her arrival just after sunrise:

All day the roads and footpaths around the docks were congested with people coming to take a look at her. 

They had to be quick since she only stayed for the day.  Here is her departure just after 10pm the same night:

There was a massive fireworks display for her departure, unfortunately it was too far west for me to see from my apartment (which faces east). Luckily for me though, it was perfectly reflected on the side of the Lumley building, so I just sat back inside and watched the fireworks on a big screen.

I moved into my new apartment a couple of weeks ago and I love it.

There were a few issues with getting basic utilities provided.  I could only live a week and a half without internet before I shelled out for a modem so I could at least get dialup.   Broadband didn’t get set up until I’d been there 3 weeks.

I was relieved to find that my furniture all fits.   I need to get a couple of bedside tables, but otherwise I managed to find the exact right amount of furniture and stuff for a place this size.

I love the place a lot more than I thought I would.   It’s lovely being able to stand on the balcony and watch the sunrise as the city slowly wakes up.  It’s also great being able to stand out on the balcony at night listening to the music from the bars and clubs nearby.

If it sounds noisy, it is, with the doors open.  But they are double glazed so I can close them for a bit of peace and quiet.  It seems very cosy and safe and private.   It’s my own little haven that I can retreat to and relax with a glass of wine at the end of the day.

I signed the paperwork for my new apartment today.  I move in about two weeks time.   I’ll probably post more details after my move in, but for a sneak preview, here’s the kitchen:

Here’s the view:

This page lists and links to my favourite photos from my US trip.  These don’t necessarily correspond to the places I enjoyed the most.

In rough chronological order, here they are:

Kemah Boardwalk at night.  This boardwalk area on Galveston Bay had rides and attractions and beautiful themed shops, as well as many lovely restaurants.  This is a photo of Pappadeaux Seafood Restaurant across the water.

San Jacinto monument.  This monument to Texas independence is the tallest monument tower in the world, larger than the Washington monument.   There is a museum inside the base, and you can take an elevator to a viewing deck at the top of the tower.

San Jacinto monument (other side).  This angle shows more detail of the monument, including the 220 ton lone star on top.  It marks the site of Sam Houston’s successful battle against Mexico that resulted in Texas independence.

Battleship USS Texas.  The worlds oldest remaining dreadnought, Texas was commissioned in 1914 and served in World War II (earning five battle stars) before being decommissioned in 1948.  It is actually in the water (of course), but from this angle throught the trees, it looks like it’s in the middle of dry land.

San Antonio Riverwalk by day.  The San Antonio river winds through the centre of the city one level below ground, and the Riverwalk (Paseo del Rio) is a network of walkways and bridges that follows the river through the centre loop.  The riverwalk links all the major tourist destinations in the centre of San Antonio, as well as being a destination in its own right.

San Antonio Riverwalk by night.  At christmas time, the trees above the riverwalk are strung with hundreds of thousands of coloured lights.  This is from almost the same angle as the daytime shot above.  You can see a boat under the trees.  This is either a tour boat, which does a half hour guided tour of the whole riverwalk, or a water taxi which you can take directly from one point on the Riverwalk to another.

Mission San Jose.  This is one of the line of five missions stretching south of San Antonio (of which the Alamo is the northern-most).  Being south of the city itself, Mission San Jose still has the entire mission compound intact.  This photo is taken throught the window of what probably would have been servant’s quarters, looking across the grape arbor and up at the church itself.

Grand Canyon.  No photo can capture the true immense scale of the grand canyon, but this one with one of the lookout points in the foreground does give some sense of perspective.

Red Rock Canyon.  This shot shows the rocks of Red Rock Canyon in the background, with a Joshua tree and high desert landscape in the foreground. 

Red Rock Canyon.   Another shot of the red rocks from higher up inside the canyon, with Steve displaying his tendency to stand directly in front of me when I’m taking photos.  This was taken later in the day with the last rays of sunlight lighting up the red rocks.

Sunset at San Diego.  The first sunset I’ve seen over the Pacific ocean.   We were driving through Coronado and quickly detoured to the beach to watch this beautiful sunset.

Sunset at Santa Monica.  We sat on the end of the Santa Monica pier and watched the sun go down.  It was a beautiful clear cold day and produced a specacular fiery sunset. 

This is what my front door looked like when I got home from work on Thursday 11th January:

At about 1pm on Thursday afternoon, in broad daylight in a busy industrial area, someone drove up with a crowbar and forced the door open.  That is a very good quality deadlock in a solid wood door, so it took quite a bit of effort.  It needed probably a dozen strokes before finally the door frame gave way.  The door itself was damaged in the process, and the main doorhandle was completely wrecked:

Once inside, the alarm starts beeping, and they had 60 seconds before the alarm went off.  In those 60 seconds, they went through all my drawers (13 of them) and my cupboard, and took (that I know of):

• All my jewellery boxes (two large ones and about a dozen smaller ones)
• Vanilla moisturiser/soap/bath gel set in display case
• Feijoa fruit moisturiser/bath gel set in display case
• A counted cross stitch kit
• A paua-shell inlaid picture frame
• A gold watch
• A toiletry bag
• An old camera
• A battery charger
• My washing basket (presumably to carry off everything else)

As soon as the alarms went off, the neighbours from three doors along, and the neighbours from upstairs came to investigate.  They saw the door, but the burglars had already gone.  The people in the apartment downstairs heard a car leave, but nobody else saw or heard anything.

The neighbours called the police, as did I when I got home, but they didn’t come.  I filed a report with the burglary squad for insurance purposes, but there’s almost no hope of finding either the offenders or my stuff.

I suspect they will be very disappointed with the take.  Despite the fact that there were two large jewellery boxes and a dozen small ones, my jewellery probably isn’t worth over $300 in resale value, although it will cost closer to $2000 to replace everything.  Almost all my jewellery is junk.  There are only a couple of things with sentimental value, nothing that I will really miss terribly.  More than anything else it is a hassle.

I’m insured, of course, but now I have the problem that the insurance company likes to see receipts or photos of the items.   As many of you know, I hate having my photo taken, and I don’t have receipts.  A lot of the stuff is years old, and only cost me $20 or so, not something I would keep a receipt for.  Also, a lot of it was given to me.   So many people give me dolphin earrings that I just have no idea how many dolphins I may have had.  I figure I must have had at least 30 pairs of earrings, and probably half of those were dolphins, but for the life of me I can only remember about 5 pairs.

So, if you are insured, go and get your camera right now, and go and take photos of everything you own that you might want replaced after you get burgled.  Store them in your gmail account and you won’t regret it, I promise. 

Here’s some of the highlights of my trip:

Johnson Space Centre, Houston, Texas.  This is mission control, and you can take a tour and see the room from which they controlled the Apollo moon missions.   Normally you can also see the current control room, but there was a shuttle mission in progress when we were there, so we could only see it via TV rather than live.

East Beach, Galveston, Texas.  Beautiful beaches is not usually something that springs to mind when you think of Texas, but Galveston is a lovely barrier island in the Mexican Gulf with some gorgeous beaches.

Riverwalk, San Antonio, Texas.  If you ever get the chance to go to San Antonio, take it. The riverwalk runs in a rough circle around the centre of the city, below street level, and the river is shaded by trees, and bordered by lovely walkways that are flanked by restaurants, bars and cafes. San Antonio is also a great base to explore the old Spanish missions in the area.

Stockyards, Fort Worth, Texas.  For a taste of the rural life and a glimpse of the old west, the Fort Worth Stockyards are the place to go. They are a working stockyard, with frequent rodeos, plus a cattle drive through the streets every day. Sure, that’s not really "authentic", but when else do you even get to see longhorn steers these days?. Throw in country music at a beer garden, and the biggest honky tonk in the world and it’s a real experience.

Grand Canyon, Arizona.  You truly have to see this for yourself. No photo can come anywhere close to conveying how absolutely staggeringly immense and beautiful this place is. Created in one single flood 4,000 years ago my fucking ass. Somehow you can just feel how old this place is.

Las Vegas, Nevada.  I love Las Vegas. What could be better than a city entirely devoted to enjoyment? You don’t need to gamble, there’s much more to these hotels than the casino floor. There’s enough attractions, shows, exhibits, shops and restaurants to keep you busy for a year.

I had a birthday recently.  Nope, I’m not telling how old, but I’m going to show off my pressies. 

Stephen got me some lovely flowers for my birthday.  The flowers are now two weeks old, and I’m surprised how good they still look.   There are a couple that have wilted badly and that I’ve thrown out, but the bunch is still looking great, even the orchids.

The flower company also included a cute little ladybird on one of the orchids, which gives me a chance to take a photo in close-up mode with my new camera. 

I got myself a lovely little Nikon Coolpix L4, my birthday present to myself.

And finally, my family got me a new MP3 player.  Well, actually I chose it and ordered it online, but they paid for it

My family is good like that.