John Kidde Writes

It’s been well over a year since I last posted anything. It’s been even longer since I put words to this webpage and made a complete sentence. The short version is that I life got in the way. The long version involves me not having been anywhere noteworthy in a long long time. Sure, my job takes me to some intriguing and interesting places, but I wanted something more to share here.

Rewind to December 2022. I’ll set the scene: My partner and I were watching the Men’s World Cup Final.

After the thrilling match ended we looked at each other and she suggested that we go to New Zealand for the Women’s World Cup in August of 2023. I have been to a Men’s World Cup before and the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final at the Rose Bowl. My partner hadn’t been to either and she was, to say the least, jealous. We both love the sport of soccer (or football depending on your part of the world) and knew this would be a trek worth taking. We were also extremely interested in seeing more of New Zealand since both of us had been there before.

I had mentioned that I had been to New Zealand before. To make it easier, you should click here, here, and here. Clicking those links will show you what I did in New Zealand some, oof, 16(!?) years ago! I was but a 20-something-year-old university student at the time and the things I did then…well, they’re quite similar to what I did this year! But, I was able to do more and share it with someone this time around.

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far you’re probably wanting to see what it’s all about. So, I have some shots for you to whet your appetite.

There she is. Auckland, New Zealand. Sometimes referred to as “The City of Sails” given the large number or ships populating the waterfront? I guess so, I only know this because it’s on the virtual run I do sometimes on the treadmill. But yeah, there are a lot of ships!

We came to find out fairly quickly that Auckland is a fairly walkable city. Mind you, there are an ass load of hills you have to walk up and down but, hey, it’s walkable! (There are also an abundance of scooters for hire around the city as well) You can go from one park, the University of Auckland (clocktower seen below), or a museum to the waterfront fairly easily and quickly too.

The posts that will be coming will be about our trip to New Zealand and what we did/ate and where we did it. This initial post is to get me back in the habit of writing and sharing with all of you. Thanks for reading and make it a great week!