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Birthday Half Marathon (at least)

On Monday, I turned 54, sigh. Amazing how fast time goes. When I was younger, I’d be really old by now, but now old just keeps getting older — knock on wood. Anyhoo, while I like my leisurely mornings with a newspaper (after a run), I also like getting out and seeing things and am just cheap enough to prefer walking if at all possible. I picked a long walkabout for my birthday that may have pushed the limits if you’re also wanting to enjoy your day as well. We covered at least 13 miles through sun, rain, and wind before the day was done. (It should be noted that no rain was forecast for the day.). Bob was kind enough to indulge me and saved the day by ensuring we had rain gear before heading out.

We headed off towards Bastion Point, one of the few stops on the Auckland sight-seeing routes that we had not yet seen. Per Google Maps, this was a 7.5 mile jaunt from our house that would take almost 3 hours. It started out lovely but got a bit more challenging near the coast when the wind and rain kicked in.

Heading off on one of Auckland’s great shared use paths.
Even better when the sun is shining!
Luckily, we came upon this before we were feeling like we could join them.
Public art near the cemetery
We are always thankful for public restrooms on our long walks!
Truth in advertising, this houses the NZ Assoc of Rationalists and Humanists
We just liked the look of this building.
A mix of old and new which we saw quite a bit of
Fun public art near a bus stop
Looking across to downtown
We walked by much of the downtown campus of the University of Auckland.
Don’t know where the new hall is, if there is one, but this is cute.
Why not brag a little?

The next part of the walk took us out of downtown and then along the coast past the working port and the aquarium before reaching Bastion Point.

We’re sure this building is structurally sound, but it doesn’t inspire confidence.
Looking back towards the city as we cross the tracks toward the strand.
Lovely walkway along the coast
Looking across the road to the inner harbor where some boats were docked.
Walking past a lovely community before a cloudburst
The point (Bastion that is) for the walk! Sort of — see below.
Bastion Point is the geographical headland, the monument is a memorial.
The lovely obelisk memorial (for NZ’s 1st Labour PM), pool, and gardens.

Selfie

From Bastion Point, we walked 4.5 miles back along the coast into the City Center to head to a department store which was hosting The World Press Photo Exhibition 2019.

Working port

Lots of stuff ready to go somewhere

The World Press Exhibition is a traveling show based on an annual contest. It’s the world’s leading contest for professional press photographers. The 2019 contest drew entries from 4,738 photographers from 129 countries. Subjects ranged from war, social issues, political governance, sports, and animals.

Fashion models on a street in Dakar for Fashion Africa TV by a UK photographer.

Left, photo showing a young woman dressing as a man to be able to attend a football game.

Right, women allowed in on one day to assuage the FIFA President. Both by a photographer from Iran.

Sadly, this a child sleeping on a mattress floating on plastic in a river in the Philippines
A look at the display of the photos

After the photo show, we stopped to pick up a suitcase that Bob had purchased on Saturday to replace the one he’s had forever but has finally worn out. Then we took the train home for a cocktail out and a nice dinner at home.

2 replies on “Birthday Half Marathon (at least)”

Well done!! Happy birthday to you youngster! Lois Z

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