Goldilocks and the three bears

Enroute to Sydney I stopped for 36 hours in Auckland to catch up with my brother Matt, his wife, Shelley and my niece, Brooke. Matt collected me from the airport around 6:30am, then took the rest of the day off to maximise our time together.

Brooke was happy to see me and full of stories. After breakfast we dropped her off at kindergarten and headed into town. We had planned to visit Auckland Museum but arrived on the doorstep only to discover that opening time was still an hour away. We abandoned the city and headed off for a hearty coffee. Outside the sky turned black and unleashed an abrupt, spectacular hail storm.

After lunch, Matt, Brooke and I headed off to play a round of indoor mini-golf. However, the opening hours curse struck again. The venue was closed. All was not lost. We drove down the road and enjoyed a fun game of ten-pin bowling. A mobile launching ramp and pop-up guide rails along the lane meant Brooke always knocked over at least one pin. For the older men competition was tense. Matt won the first game. I won the second.

The day finished with a bedtime story for Brooke. It was soon clear she knew the story better than me as she reiterated the trauma of Goldilock's in great detail. The following morning Shelley dropped me off at the airport for a connecting flight to Melbourne. Matt later wrote to say that Brooke broke into a flood of tears when she realised her "best friend" was gone.