Day two of shared reading. A great group:

Let me introduce you to them (all happy to be featured):Richard. 78. Just got a PhD in social change. Has been an English teacher and lived in London in the 70s, regularly travelling to Snowdonia.

Kate. She is so impassioned by shared reading she came to Liverpool to train, has set up several groups in Auckland herself, and now has raised funds/interest for this week’s training. Wow!that’s something.

Anna. Works at TAPAC. Lovely calm manner and great facilitator. Michael. Keen reader and enthusiastic group member. Lyn. Vet and supplier of delicious cake. Danny, Judy and Maria (left to right) politics and philosophy student, artist and librarian from Russia.

Megg. Course friend and trainer for Read to Lead course. Originally from NZ but living in Liverpool.

Keith. Official photographer for group shots and all round great help. He want to the motor museum and the aeronautical museum today (MOTAT museum of transport and technology) and said it was the best he’d ever visited. Not bad – as an overseas senior citizen he got in at child rates.

Centre for performing arts where we did training.

So – Auckland, how idyllic must it be? North of north island, built on a series of bays ….

They have the same traffic issues as us:

Heard about the ‘ Nippon Clippon’ Bridge? This is it, on route 1, Friday at 16.45.

Here you can see the extra two lanes they clipped on to increase capacity.

Quite something.

TransPORT is a big issue as one might imagine. I came across a peaceful ‘sit in’ about some plans in Auckland. People sleep here at night to protect the tree. The lady in the pic is Catherine a recently resigned school nurse who offered me a seat and strawberries and explained the problems of communication with the local council.

You can’t see the tree on the island, but it was v beautiful with large red flowers.

And as we travel up the coast, stopping at the 4square supermarket for food supplies, I notice the use by date on the milk is after the date for our flight. I’m saddened.

Tantrums: no….

New words: pooty (=snooty)

Nz kindness: nil specific today.