A real mall!

We went on an excursion yesterday to the Valley, aiming to share a final Bambina Espresso with Wanda Harland et al. Sadly they were out, no doubt enjoying some of Petone's many charms.

So we ventured on to the flash new Queensgate Mall, and what a beauty she is. 2 floors of solid retail therapy, glossy finishes, designer everything, shiny pre-pubescent shop staff, the smell of consumerism, the elevator music with a nasty christmas twist, and so much stuff you just want but don't really need. It was great, even if we couldn't find a seat for a coffee anywhere.

Douglas Coupland had this line "the Emperor's New Mall" about how malls and large internally focused buildings sit within their landscape - or without as the case may be. This isn't too intrusive - although that may be due to the angle of our approach, the softer edge of shops, and the multi level parking doing away with the acres of parking wasteland often associated with malls.

We then had a fun drive over to Porirua, for coffee and art at Pataka. More on that later.