Muddling about in Manukau

Nando's

In case you thought I was joking about there being nothing in Manukau worthy of mention, Fodor's doesn't even give it a line in the New Zealand guide book I'm carrying. Our apartment is in a high rise building right next to a mall, and we have a panoramic view of the industrial area leading to the airport and south portion of Aukland's harbor. We went over to the mall this morning after breakfast to look around for a bit, didn't buy anything of note, except some shaving gel and cough drops, after lengthy consultation with the chemist.

Headed out to the grocery store to stock up the fridge, then on to another outdoor mall in Botany, and had a great lunch at Nando's. Michele had their piri piri chicken quarter, and I had a Portuguese paella with piri piri chicken breast on top. Spicy! Cruised over to Rainbow's End to see what sort of rides they have there, and what admission would cost. Not really any time to spare this weekend, though.



The Flying Moa

I drove over to the brother of the bride's house around 5:30, only being spun around in circles a few times by the GPS unit, and a small, hardy group of us sat around for a while, getting to know one another, and having a couple of New Zealand beers, then drove over to a restaurant in Ellerslie, The Flying Moa, where we enjoyed some massive plates of barbecue ribs. Food delicious, company convivial, the only surreal note was listening to the live musicians play Bad Moon Rising, American Woman, and a number of other blasts from Law's and my past. We headed out to a bowling alley and played a couple of games; it's obvious why none of us is on the pro tour, rather than working for a living. A low key bachelor bacchanalia, but exactly what an older groom and his groomsmen needed to relax before the big day.