Cyclone Lusi and Beer Fest

View from my window during the storm

     Last weekend we were suppose to have a cyclone. The news papers, radio and TV had all sorts of predictions about the cyclone. There was suppose to be 120kmh (75mph) wind and lots of rain with the potential of flooding in some areas. People kept saying how bad it was going to be. On Friday night it was a little cloudy and kind of windy. Saturday more clouds and more wind with a little of rain but not so bad. The worst part about it was the ocean. It was really choppy and all sorts of stuff washed up onto the beach. I went out to have a look at it the next day. There were piles of seaweed and garbage all over.  All this week there has been an excess of seaweed on the beach as well. I have been surprised at how long it takes to clear. I'm not sure how often they get cyclones here but it seems like it is sort of regular. None of the kiwis seems as conceded as the au pairs were. The kiwis were definitely right to not be overly concerned about it.

Another view during the storm (compare it to the view in
my post Finally to New Zealand)

      Initially when looking at the weather report I had decided that I should skip Auckland Beer Fest and hang out at home instead but due to the mildness of the cyclone I got to go to beer fest! The festival was downtown on Queens Wharf in the Cloud. It is a big plastic structure that is suppose to look like a cloud but I think it looks more like a long white caterpillar. Here is a link (http://auckland.scoop.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/cloud4-600x4003-e1315541026723.jpg) so you can decide what you think it looks like. At beer fest there were twenty five beer vendors and eighteen food vendors. A 165 ml pour of beer cost $3-4. The food prices capped at $15. It made it more affordable. They also had lot of bands. I didn't get a chance to watch many of them though. The bummer was you had to pay $40 for a ticket just get get into the door. It was worth it though I had oodles of fun at beer fest. I met up with Alvin, Sara and Luis there. We tried beer from seven different places. At most of the places we all got something different and shared so we all had more tastes. I really liked the first place we went which was Spring and Fern. I had a really good plisner there. If you want to know more about the festival look here http://www.beerfestival.co.nz.
      Beer fest ended at 8 so we listened to the music until nine when they kicked everyone out. Then we went to a burger place called the White Lady. It was a pretty good burger. It even came with American Mustard on it. It was reminded me of  of Five Guys and Fries but they didn't have cajun fries and the cheese was white not yellow. After our refueling we went dancing. We danced for quite a while. We started at a bar that had an odd DJ but good music then moved to a bar called Cowboys. It was a lot like Big Al's in Spokane minus the mechanical bull. They had quite good music as well so we danced more. When we got tired of dancing we went to a quiter sports bar and chatted. It was such a fun night full of great company and lots of laughs.