Start your day at a Les Mills RPM class with Olly the trainer! Phew, it’s a bit chilly only 5 degrees, bound to be a frost somewhere but not here on the North Shore, and it’s going to be a beautiful day. There are only 20 or so this morning as the other thing to do this morning is watch the final of the World Cup. Olly works us hard and despite a cold start, the sweat starts to drip off my nose 15 minutes in. I start to strip off and I am breathing hard.

This is a great start to a day, and I end up feeling euphoric as the endorphins flow and as soon as I am finished my tummy tells me it’s breakfast time. There are spin classes at most gyms on the North Shore but Les Mills is particularly well equipped, I think their training bikes are the best there are and the trainers, Olly, Frida, Pete Leo are fantastic. Highly recommended.

mmmmmmm……..Fresh Baked Bread

I have (like many people) a passion for good bread. I’m excited to have Wild Wheat on the Shore now (originally in Mt Eden) and visit a few times a week to buy my bread. This is the good stuff, mainly artisan and mainly sourdough (their apple based starter is reputedly 10 years old!). If you think sourdough bread is not to your liking, put your prejudices aside and go sample some of the Wild Wheat product. It’s wonderful! I’m slowly working my way through all the flavours, and standouts for me are the fruit bread, the baguette (ooh that deep crust!) and the kumara sourdough. The breadmaking process takes about 36 hours, which helps to develop the great flavour, as well as making the bread far more digestible. It also keeps really well – just wrap it in a clean tea towel and store in the pantry. This is bread the way it used to be made and the way bread should taste. Wild Wheat Bakery also has cakes and other sweet things, and you can pick up a great sandwich for lunch, then go eat it on Takapuna Beach. Wild Wheat is located at 1/69 Lake Road, Belmont (the Takapuna store has closed down but you can buy the whole range of breads everyday at Farro Fresh in Constellation Drive. You can check out the range of products and some background information on the Wild Wheat website.

Forrest Hill was one of the first suburbs to be developed as the North Shore began to boom in the 1960′s and 70′s after the Auckland Harbour Bridge was completed. The Northern Motorway at that time ended at Tristram Avenue, and Forrest Hill soon became a suburb of choice for families wanting convenient and affordable homes.

[Read more →]