Stop me if you think you've heard this one before (The Smiths)*



Adam, Ollie, SWMBO and Teenie

SWMBO and I visited another old friend this week - Tina and her husband Adam with their two year old son, Ollie. Tina very kindly provided us with lunch and even took us to and from the ferry building. She's a great girl is Teenie.
Ollie provided the entertainment and we had a wonderful afternoon catching up. Last time we saw them Ollie was in a pram, now he runs about shouting 'abuse' (thanks to his grandma), 'lady Yacky' (to SWMBO) and emptying the cupboards.

Jade rang me during the visit and asked if it brought back memories, and blow me down if after a while it did. Most involved a two year old Adam eating weird stuff after escaping from his cot in the early hours of the morning (sitting on the floor eating flour from the container in the kitchen with a large amount on the floor as well as in his mouth is a vivid memory).

After our visit we headed back to Waiheke Island where we are staying with the Minister of Defence (as my Arabic mates would call him), my father-in-law - Brian Smith.
  

The beach at Oneroa on Waiheke.

Life on Waiheke (unkindly but not inaccurately called the Cadbury Isle by Aucklanders) is...different. If you ever wondered what became of the Woodstock generation - 8,000 of them ended up on Waiheke!

It's slower in general, maan, although the jalopies still hurtle around the corners at times, friendlier, and much more alternative than life on the Auckland mainland (about 35 minutes away by ferry).

SWMBO and I are walking a lot each day - part therapy, part adventure, part necessity (we don't have our own car on the island), and it feels a little like walking in Dubai at times - a real lack of pedestrian friendly roads, a place out of time, and plenty of sand.

It does give us an opportunity for sightseeing though. I have been impressed by the variety of letter boxes on display and so I decided to compile a bit of a portfolio (I hope you are impressed Jesse).

Somehow the home made, quirky, innovative, humorous, weirdly creative letterboxes sum up the Waiheke experience quite nicely.

And my favourite on what appears to be an empty section of land (as in there is no house attached to the letterbox)

Love and peace maan - Wozza

* The title this week is an in joke that only my children will fully understand - SWMBO's maiden name was Smith and 'Smith humour' has legendary status in our household.