Climbing Mount Eden & Dinner with Russ

Monday 22 June

Feels like spring has arrived in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland - double figures overnight and up to 17*C in the shade during the day. The giant poinsettia tree just down the road was looking fabulously Christmassy against a rather grey sky.

Louis had appointments with GP & dentist then another catch up with Russ before joining his old swim squad; Albi & I hopped into the Polo and went over to Maungawhau, Mt Eden to tackle the summit walk in the sunshine. Happy memories -I used to bring Toby, our Goldie, up here so often. We shared with care on the way up and posed for many photos for me and for tourists!

Lovely social walk chatting with other dog walkers and visiting tourists, but I was sad to see that the trig point has been removed - it was always so iconic. The sun had come out by now and the views all around - Waitemata, Manukau, the skyline, Rangitoto, the crater and so much more - looked stunning.

My next stop was over at Varela’s Beauty to get my brows and legs waxed and catch up with lovely Ninette. I’ve been seeing her for about 15 years - a hard habit to break!

Detoured via Mt Albert for Pak’n’Save & SPCA op shop on the way back (didn't buy the fabulous handbag though - not quite our Banjo's Odyssey aesthetic!), took Albi for an evening walk then cooked a cheats version of Jools Oliver’s beef stew for dinner as Russ was coming over to join us. It’s one of those long slow cooker recipes which aren’t suitable on the road as they’d use up all the gas!

Finished the evening by booking cabaret tickets and binge watching “The Diplomat” on Netflix as we don’t subscribe to this streaming option in Banjo!