Year of the Kiwi

 

Poor Coke, I’m always picking on him.

 

 

Otara is one of Auckland’s poorest neighborhoods with a disproportionately
large of Pacific Islanders.  On Saturday mornings,  there’s a big flea market
there full of cheap but useful stuff. Otara’s worldwide claim to fame comes
 from the band Otara Millionaires Club, or OMC, which came out with the
one hit wonder  ”How Bizarre” in the 90’s. how bizarre, how bizarre.

 

 

One guy tried selling me a luchadore mask for $50 dollars. “Look it’s real,
Made in Mexico, Hecho en Mexico”, he said proudly pointing to tag inside.
Umm… made in Mexico… and he’s charging WHAT for it?

 

 

No shortage of big girls here.

 

 

Incredible Hulkananas.

 

 

A sunny afternoon down at Muriwai beach. The black volcanic sand is so soft
it feels like walking around in fuzzy slippers.

  

 

 
Run Coke! Run like the wind.

 

 

Coke is not shy at all at the beach.

 

 

 
I hate running, absolutely despise it, never run more than a mile in my life.
But in my life of randomness, I figured why the hell not? And signed up for
the quarter marathon. Okay, I just wanted the souvenir t-shirt. On a dreary
Sunday morning, I showed up downtown for the 7AM start time…
totally unprepared…

 

 

…because I couldn’t carry my camera while running. Oh no!!!
All the missed picture opportunities. Luckily the event site posted
pictures of all the participants which I cleverly photoshopped
to perfection. I did horribly in the run… already gasping for air 2KM
into it when there were still 8 to go. Kids were passing me, old ladies
passing me, fat people passing me. Meanwhile, whenever I ran up
behind people, they’d curiously turn around because my shoes were
so loud, and I run with such a heavy step. But the funniest part was
getting a drink at the hydrating stations… grabbing a cup out of
someone’s hand, taking down a few gulps of water, splashing some
 on my face (even though it was raining and totally unnecessary),
then missing the garbage bag and throwing it at the guy holding the
bag instead. I guess I got a bit overexcited.

 

 

 
Me totally relieved it was over. My finish time of 1:14 minutes is laughable,
but I’m still proud of myself for trying… and really… digging deep to finish
that last km and cross the finish line before 1:15 (which was a goal I set for
myself) was quite a rewarding experience.

 

 

Water!!!

 

 

I was afraid that’d be me, but it wasn’t.

 

 

Returning the chips runners tied onto the laces. That’s how they keep
track of finish times.

 

 

Spectators

 

 

 

 

 
Some guy about to finish the full marathon. Respect.

 

 

Could’ve used one of those. I was sore for the next few days.

 

 

Some live music at the event. Once again, a song I recognized on the
radio and in TV commercials, but had no idea who the artist was.

 

 

Trick or Treaters on Halloween. Blue skies, warm weather, blooming