What I’d do
1Eden.
Walk up Maungawhau/Mt
This is my local maunga and I get up and back home in 40 minutes if I don’t muck about. However, I like to muck about — firstly by getting coffee from Eden Roasters on Mt Eden Rd on the way, then taking the off-road route up the mountain, which involves climbing stairs and jumping stiles; followed by sitting at the top and really appreciating the city. The view is beautiful, no matter what the weather. If I’m feeling flush I’ll head straight down to Mt Eden Village to go to Time Out, my favourite Auckland bookstore.
2Chev
Fish and chips at Pt Chev Beach. I lived in the
for about five years and I still have the habit of keeping a beach bag in my car boot, so that I’m ready for a dip at a moment’s notice. When the tide is in for the evening, I like to join my girlfriends and their kids for shark ’n’ taties at the northern end of the beach. After a sunny afternoon the water is like a bath. Wallowing in the shallows with the little people is lovely and joining the big ones to do bombs off the pontoon is ace.
3get
Breakfast at Rabbit Cafe, Eden Terrace. Don’t
me wrong, bacon is one of my favourite brunchy things, but one trip to Rabbit on St Benedict’s St will turn the most hardened meat-and-three-veger toward that vegan life. I pretty much get the same thing every time: a coconut FW and the mushrooms with toast (plus at least one stick of butter because #notvegantho). I’m an early riser so I’m happy to get there and nab an armchair before the room is ringing with chatty people. When I first moved to Auckland, Benediction was my favourite place until it changed hands and died. Now Rabbit has breathed wholesome, crunchy, falafel-y life into the space so it is, once again, a blessing.