What to do this weekend instead of the Rolling Stones. Photo / AP
What to do this weekend instead of the Rolling Stones. Photo / AP
Those Rolling Stones ticket maybe gathering dust on your pin-board now, but you're determined to play hard in Auckland this weekend, anyway. Here's what's on.
Blast off the cobwebs out west
Head out past Waiuku to Kariotahi for the Festival of FreeRide. Think X-games for jet skis, as riders show off their biggest air, sickest trick and the cherry popper back flip, before retiring to the Kentish Pub for post-champ critiques.
The venue of the last great Stones' show in 2006, this weekend Springs wears its great FIM Speedway hat. Watch crazy dudes on motorcycles slide and speed their way around the track. Billed as 'no brakes, no gears, no fears,' this is part of the world series (next stop Europe).
Details: Saturday, 6pm, Western Springs, Stadium Road, Auckland. Visit the website here.
Laugh instead
Head along to the Weekend Comedy Showcase at the classic for the best two hours of world class stand-up comedy. Ben Hurley, James Roque and James Stewart will make you laugh so hard and nobody will know you are crying over the missed Stones gig.
Details: Saturday, shows at 8.30 and 10pm. Classic Comedy Club, 321 Queen Street, Auckland. Visit the website here.
Work up a sweat
Or at least watch the best of the best compete in the opening round of the ITU World Triathlon Series. It's a qualifying race for the New Zealand team to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and includes sprint, super-sprint and para-triathlons. Enter the Queen St Golden Mile (kids start at 11am, various grownups at 11.15am, elites in the afternoon.
Details: The Cloud, Queens Wharf, Sunday from 9am. Visit the website here.
Wind down at the end of the weekend
The Tasting Shed in Kumeu. Photo / Babiche Martens
Relax with a Heineken Sundowner at The Tasting Shed in Kumeu, listening to the last of the chilled summer sounds of George FM DJs (this weekend, SamE), plus plenty of good food. Or potter along to the Blue Breeze Inn in Ponsonby for some sounds of summer closer to home.
Details: Sunday, 4pm to 7pm at The Tasting Shed, 609 State Highway 16, Kumeu (bus from George FM at 3.30); Blue Breeze Inn, 146 Ponsonby Rd (finishes at 10pm). Visit the website here.
