Creating Magic: I love my city!

I live in Auckland, the largest city in NZ. I’ve lived here all my life (although definitely not all in the same place) and for the foreseeable future, due to Papa M’s work, will continue to live in the region! There are definitely some downsides with living in a large city. I fell into despair when I lived in an inner-city apartment; as well as having ill health, I also desperately missed having a little patch of grass to call my own. We’ve lived in areas that we fondly referred to as ghetto-adjacent but it is sad that within this city we have entire suburbs of areas that are basically ghetto-fied. The motorways are a horror in peak hour traffic and it takes a 60 km drive to visit some of my favorite people!

All that said, there are definitely some things about my city that I absolutely love! I love the food – Miss B and I went to Tanuki’s Cave for dinner tonight and it was amazing! I love the fact that no matter where you are in the city, you’re less than half an hour away from some body of waters – harbors, inlets, waterfalls, beaches. I love the multicultural nature of the city – the Polyfest, the fabulous Middle Eastern restaurants, the miniature Chinatowns. Most of all though, I love the way that my city surprises me and reduces two grown women to awestruck little girls at the sight of a beautiful carousel in the middle of a usually ordinary square! Full disclosure: we were far more excited about the carousel than the pop-up ice rink right next door!