Beer and Bowlers

Auckland is a diverse and friendly place - the kind of city where you can go from towering buildings to secluded beach in a matter of minutes with people giving you directions and pointing out interesting points along the way. Bryan and Jane took some time in their first week in New Zealand to explore the variety of Auckland.

They began their explorations by walking to the University of Auckland, where Jane was hoping to make some connections with their history department. To get to the University from the center of town, you first have to walk up a steep hill and then cross through a park filled with trees that look somewhat like giant spiders. In the center of the park stands a statue of Queen Victoria, for whom, it seems, the students have very little respect. The University itself is what anyone coming from the US would expect: some neo-classical architecture intermixed with awful, awful buildings from the 1970s. Why they allowed architects near universities in the 70s, we may never know.

After touring the university, Bryan and Jane traveled a little further afield to see what was going on in the suburbs. The suburb of Ponsonby is known for its arty yuppies and personal trainers. Bryan and Jane were drawn here because Bryan had read of a Belgian beer bar there, and with his love of beer, they had to check it out. The bar was not difficult to find as it was located at the very top of Ponsonby Rd, the place, supposedly, to be seen in Auckland. The bar itself did not disappoint either, especially when Bryan and Jane ended up with free beer. A fire, it seems, had broken out in the office space above the bar as Bryan and Jane sipped their Belgians, and when the bar had to be evacuated, the staff told them that there would be no charge. Bryan was very glad that he had opened a tab instead of paying when he picked up the beer.

Bryan and Jane's journey through Ponsonby took them by the Ponsonby Bowling Club. Now, Bryan and Jane are avid, though not necessarily skilled, bowlers as many people will attest, and so they found this "Bowling Club" intriguing. Was it indeed a place where people came to roll balls down an alley, knocking down as many as 10 pins at the end? Luckily, there was a slit in the green-tarp covered fence, and Bryan and Jane were able to peer into the club. What they saw was not what they had expected. There was a wide expanse of green lawn with small white squares laying on the ground on either end. As they watched, a largish croquet ball rolled gently into view. "Ha, ha, beat that!" crowed out a remarkably posh British accent. A woman in her early 70s came into view, and when she saw Bryan and Jane standing at the fence, she called out to them, "Do come in and have a look."
So Bryan and Jane walked around the side of the building and entered through a small door that led them into what looked with a hall where people go to play bingo and chain smoke. This room gave out onto the lawn they had seen from the street, and when they reemerged into the sunshine, they could now see that there were two women in white holding balls while a bevy of older men looked on. Bryan and Jane took up posts sitting next to the largest of these men, and through puffs on the butt of his cigarette, he tried to explain to them what was going on. "Ye' see, they roll the balls down the pitch, trying to get as close as they can to that one out there but not so close as it makes it possible for the other one to squeeze in." Bryan and Jane nodded sagely, though neither one really understood what he was talking about.
The two women seemed to know the rules of the game, though, as they skillfully launched their balls down the lawn to the jeers and cheers of the men sitting behind them. It was a "battle of the sisters" Bryan and Jane were told - a very civil affair with an undercurrent of sibling rivalry. After many minutes of watching, Bryan and Jane thanked the British retirees for allowing them to witness bowling close up, and they left just a little more wiser than they had gone in.