We are Kiwis Again

Rotorua Revisited

2012-01-26T13:49:00.000-08:00

Return to Rotorua

We first visited Rotorua in August 2003. Sally had been inNZ for about a year and we were making our first visit. In fact it was not onlyour first visit and not only our first international flight, but it was our first everflight. Joni and Joseph travelled with us and joined us for our first internationalstopover in Kuala Lumpur. This was a stopover in the first luxury hotel that wehad ever used and I remember both boys sleeping like babies the minute they puttheir heads on the hotel bed pillows.

The four of us were treated toan extensive exploration of North Island, taking in the far north of CapeReinga down to Rotorua were each time we had two cars and stayed in classymotels.

The Rotorua motel was pretty much in the town and we wereaware of the sulphurous smells/stench all around, but we did have the luxury ofour own hot tub. We were keen to visit the geysers and similar features. Whichmum and I did, while the boys were keen to do Zorbing and other activities.

Wherever you looked steam was in evidence. Wherever therewas a hole, either natural or manmade, up came the steam. The golf course was perpetually under a mist. At one point I leftthe path to explore the fumaroles and was suddenly aware that Sally and Irenewere waving furiously at me. Had we approached the area from the oppositedirection to which we had we would have seen a notice saying that it wasdangerous to leave the path. It was then that I had the revelation that we were in apotentially life threatening area. Not too far below us the Pacificplate was slowly slipping below the Australasian plate and that huge forceswere at work and there were temperatures that melt rock. To the east is anactive volcano on White Island and to the south is the active volcanoes inTongariro National Park.

We learned that some wildlife had discovered the hazards totheir cost. Some water birds did not have web feet. This was not anevolutionary trait. The highly acidic water of part of Lake Rotorua had rottedthe webbing.

This adventure also introduced us to the Maori culture whichtook the form of a show in a whare. We have also encountered Maoris in AucklandMuseum and in Queenstown.

The day before setting off was something of an in day. Emily was able to go to Kindy in the morning. It is a great facility and much enjoyed by the young one. Zoe was still at a sleep over which meant Irene and me lunching while Sally and Emily went off to fetch Zoe; returning with her friend for a swim. While this was going on I had my first significant drive to Sylvia Park Mall for one or two bits. The exchange rate is really adding to the value. Like every supermarket, everywhere we found the special offers anomaly. A pack of four Bundaberg ginger beers was cheaper than a ten pack.

This morning we are preparing for the journey. I have been to Ian's office and bought his car back. I will collect him after work when the men will make the journey. Sometime soon, this morning the four ladies of differing ages will make their more leisurely way to a bach on the side of a lake near the town. (A bach is accommodation used for weekends and holidays. The owners rent them out in the same way as they may rent out caravans in the UK. They are no longer the homes built as tin sheds on the hill side, although some still exist. Planning regulations are getting tighter. There will even be more tightening up after 1st March, and I suspect that this is due to the Canterbury earthquake. I read Emily's child minders instructions which said that the home must have an adequate earthquake plan.)

I have just read the instructions about the bach. They include the precise location of the key in a marmalade jar, where to gut fish on a table outside, how to turn a multi-axle trailer and which boat launch area to use in bad weather. We are also to be careful with the use of water as the only supply is that collected from the roof. Sounds like we have a lot of fun in store.

Kiwi Valley Farm Park

2012-01-24T23:01:00.000-08:00

Today, Wednesday, the chief activity was to go to Kiwi Valley Farm. This was in West Auckland near the suburb of Henderson. This is the Waitakere region. It was an independent city but is now part of what is now known as Auckland Super City.

Like all days here breakfast is followed by the daily routine of dousing every exposed part of the the body with high factor sunblock. In my case it means all but the parts covered by shorts and short sleeved open necked shirt. I even have to make sure the top part of my foot is covered. I have not worn socks since arriving here.

Once out of the snarl up of city motorways there is a stretch of clearer motorway until the suburbs are reached. When we got out of the car the farm smell was a clear indicator of where we were. The farm is quite genuine Kiwi. It has the kind of appearance that we have seen when driving through the rural areas of NZ. It has a very rustic appearance and is wonderful place to be.

Health and safety, in keeping with most of the country, is not a strong point. Compared to the UK there is a significant lack of notices such as 'Wash your hands before touching the animals' and 'Wash your hands after touching the animals'. In fact there were no facilities to do this even if you wanted to.

The visit started with the 'petting' area. Next to this was a sow feeding her piglets. The pigs were very furry.

Walking on we came to the cave. Once again health and safety was not much in evidence. The lighting was poor and rocks littered the cave floor. There were no signs warning visitors to remove sunglasses before entering. As part of my task to check that there were no bears in side I, with limited vision, managed to scrape my leg on a large rock. To be fair, keeping the lighting low made for a good atmosphere inside.

Before the farm walk came the 'rustic' maze. I don't think that we would have gotten out with Zoe coming back to find us.

On the farm walk there were more animals to feed and see.

Just before the end of the walk was the horse riding activity. Both girls really enjoy this

Then came the tractor ride. Once more you could forget health and safety. The ride was slow and rickety, but it was rewarded by a view of the ubiquitous Rangitoto and Sky Tower on the distant horizon.

Rangitoto and Sky Tower on the horizon

Before lunch was the toilet stop. I mistakenly believed that the rustic appearance was an outer veneer of the very smart facilities that we have come to expect in this country. They were adequate and must not complain about cutting my hand on the rough wood of the toilet door. Irene said that the hole around her door did not make for any great privacy.

Lunch time was a picnic and ices provided by mummy and enjoyed by all of us.

We also enjoyed the company of a very noisy cockerel.

I liked the shot of Emily drinking taken through a bottle.

Then it was time to go home. Zoe had a pool time with her friend before she went off on a sleep over.

Emily went shopping with her mum and is enjoying her own special time.

Week 2

2012-01-24T16:57:00.000-08:00

Monday
Sally, Zoe and me went to a theme park called 'Rainbows End'. It is billed as New Zealand premier theme park. This is perhaps because it is New Zealand's only theme park. By most standards it is relatively small. Sally was not sure that Emily would be big enough and so she stayed home with Grandma.

Although the sun shone the breeze had quite a chill feel and at times I thought that that I should have bought something to put over my sleeveless shirt.

Zoe was happy just going round and round on the old fashioned round-a-bout. She also enjoyed going up and down the mini-drop ride. The main attraction seemed to be the log flume which she happily queued up for twice.

After four hours which ended up with a mini-golf round.
On the way back we stopped off to have a new tyre and buy some fruit.

Emily had had a peaceful day which consisted mainly of playing with her Barby dolls.

Rainbows End was enjoyable and I am sure it won''t be long before the girls visit it together.

Back home the girls had a pool time.

During the evening we finalised the accommodation for the three days that Irene and I would spend on our own exploration of a section of south island once we had spent three days with the family in the Dunedon area. Our car hire is yet to be finalised.

We looked at today's images on the TV and watched a Bond movie before bed.

Tuesday
This was booked as a day to take the main car in for a front brake service. This meant Sally taking Ian to work and bringing the smaller car back. The girls sat quite still, eating breakfast for the nearly 2 hours that Sally was away.

After this Sally went with the girls to play at the beach side play area with Zoe's friend, Jade.

Shops at St Helier

Zoe on the Rocks

Emily Likes the Sea

Grandma and me walked down later on. Now that we know the route it only took us 15 minutes. We arrived in time for me to walk along the rocks with Zoe and bring mummy and Emily back. Once back Zoe went into the pool. I just dipped my feet in as the water temperature was only 25 degs.

Sally had a meeting to which we took Zoe while Emily watched a film.

The next trip was to take the girls to the hairdresser.Getting Emily ready by brushing her hair was somewhat painful, but the actual process was very calm.

Car hire for South Island trip is finalised.

First NZ Weekend

2012-01-21T20:19:00.000-08:00

Saturday
The sun still continues to shine. I have decided to leave the camera alone.

This morning Ian and Sally went off to help their friends move house. We had the children. The girls had a few minutes in the pool. Unfortunately Emily got focussed on trying to get on to the surf board. As 'Pool Captain' on the pool side there was nothing that I could do to help and so the game came to an end.

When Ian and Sally returned it became Ian and my turn to child mind while Sally and Irene went to the shop. Our session started by a trip to MacDonald's for lunch. Once back I played 'Guess Who?' with Zoe. She played well and there was no way to beat her as she always started first and knew exactly what to do. The four of us then went into the pool. This time Emily could be helped on to the surf board. The main game seemed to be 'Chase Granddad'.

This was followed by afternoon tea; except that instead of tea we had Lemon and Peroa'. The girls watched some tv until Sally came home.

We have now had our evening meal. And now that food has gone down the girls are getting ready for a third dip in the pool today before bed.

Today I spoke to the daughter of the gentleman who lives next door. He is 98 and has lived in the house for 50 years. He is grieving over loss of his driving licence. She is hoping that he will soon agree to go to Napier where she can keep an eye on him.

The girls had an evening swim.

The adults watched some TV and had some of the Cadbury's chocolate that is special to NZ. The TV programme that we watched was called 'Lie to Me'. I immediately recognised the episode as one which we saw in Los Angeles in 2009. So, we saw episode 2.

Sunday
We woke up to a wet morning. There were plans to take Zoe to a new activity while Emily went to a birthday party. The plans changed to take Zoe to 'Climb Zone' instead.

Zoe tackles the climbs quite fearlessly.

We also played air hockey.

Zoe is quite sharp at this and scored a few goals against me. Unfortunately a lot of my shots ended up in her goal. Most were quite random.

Air Hockey

After we got back Irene and I went a meander around St. Heliers. Rangitoto is always in sight.

We got back from our walk to find that the pool had been irresistible to the girls and spied Sally and Benny sitting on the pool wall.

Butterfly Creek

2012-01-20T00:21:00.000-08:00

We have visited Butterfly Creek a number of times. It is out near the airport and it does what it says on the tin.

The main attraction of the place is a hot, humid area where butterflies flutter freely about. Zoe was a bit disappointed that not many butterflies landed on her.

Out side the butterfly area is a new area with crocodiles.

We were outside for a picnic lunch and after this there was a release of new butterflies. This time Zoe was able to get one to sit on her, but she became concerned that no matter what she did it would not leave her. A kind lady helped to remove the butterfly which then flew off.

A Newly Released Butterfly

Zoe and Friend

The next activity was petting rabbits at the farm.

Grandma and Rabbit

Grandma, Zoe, Emily and Rabbits

Then Grandma, Emily and I went to the crocodile display. Two men entered the crocodile enclosure. The first croc could not be bothered. But the second took the bate of fresh, dead rat. Emily sat still throughout and joined in the cheering as the rat was consumed.

Crocodile Consuming Rat

At the same time Sally and Zoe walked down the road to the crazy golf. I drove down and met them just as they were leaving the golf. This worked well for both children and they were happy to potter around the house before tea.

After tea Irene and I took a stroll down towards the cliffs at Glover Park. We like the view from there. Unfortunately it was quite a cool wind and we did not stay as long as we would have liked.

Sky Tower Revisited

2012-01-19T20:07:00.000-08:00

Sky Tower is a must no matter how many times you come to Auckland.

Today Zoe went off to a friend to play and so we had Emily on her own and this was the one thing she wanted to which Zoe was not bothered about.

Sally drove us off to the car park below the tower. At the main level Emily was happy to sit through a whole movie on the history of Auckland.

It is a quick smooth journey to the top.

I could not see any major changes to the city, but the views are stunning. One addition that has been made was on the viewing platform. They have installed little viewing tubes that point to features around the city.

Rear: Rangitoto Island
Middle: North Head at end of a peninsula with Devonport to the left

Harbour Bridge

Auckland Town Hall and 'Occupy' Camp

Emily on Viewing Platform

I made the round with my normal lens and then with the telephoto. When we saw them later Zoe wanted to know how I had managed to take close ups. I thought that this showed quite some maturity.

On the tower Emily was thrilled by the sky divers, but disappointed that most did not stop in front of us before making the descent. She showed a lot of patience waiting for the three minute count down and was rewarded by a hovering jumper.

We had coffee on the tower. This was lunch time and we had delicious savoury croissants which I followed by a rocky road slice.

Emily in the Atrium

From here we made our way down the motorway to an area known as Botany. We went there so that Grandma could see the specialist tea shop and purchase a 'red bush' type tea. First their was the tasting. A glass tea pot was used. I have to say that I appreciated the aroma. Sally bought Grandma a one pot speciality tea pot and tea.

Grandma and part of tea collection

Emily Daydreaming

Then we popped across to the pet shop with a collection of fish which kept Emily enraptured. There were also kittens and puppies in spacious glass areas and bunnies etc.

28 degs is too cold

Back at the house the temperature of the pool was up to 28 degs. Someone had to watch Emily in the pool. I now think that 28 degs is too cold.

Zoe Having a Granddad Ride

In the mean time Grandma and Emily were in the garden.

Emily and Grandma Gardening

Just before tea I was sent out to buy Nachos, sour cream and grated cheese. It is some time since I have driven an automatic. It was not until I arrived at the dairy when I remembered that you only use the right foot; and the Honda Accord is a big estate. I have now remembered and should enjoy driving it whenever necessary.

It was a good tea of nachos, beans, stewed meat and sour cream.

Emily's Shot of Me

After tea we played some of my images on the TV. Emily should have been asleep, but managed to catch a glimpse of herself on the tele. (Exciting.)

Botanical Gardens

2012-01-18T22:54:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we went to the Botanical gardens. They are only 30 minutes drive away. We visited them on our first journey to New Zealand in 2003. That time it was winter and the key feature were the magnolias and daffodils.

This time there is more colour about, but many of the blooms have been damaged by the torrential rains of the weeks before we came.

There is a new centre with the usual high quality restaurant.

At the lake the children fed the ducks and the eel. From there they went to the children's garden where Emily enjoyed going round and around the paths.

I went off on my own exploration. I met a fellow photographer who told me about a lens and camera correction program and insisted that I was wrong to shoot in RAW when the camera could easily convert to jpeg without my help. Other photographers have insisted that I either shoot in both or RAW alone. I think I will stick to my plan, but I will try the correction program.

Having wandered about for a while I met up with the family and we made our way back to the restaurant for lunch.

On the way home we called into the 'Warehouse'. Sally did some shopping and I bought a new watch to replace the one that broke yesterday. I paid a whole $20.

In the afternoon Emily and Zoe had their friends over for a pool afternoon.

In the evening we child minded while Sally and Ian went off for a drink and a stroll by the sea.

New Zealand Arrival

2012-01-18T22:14:00.000-08:00

This is the time in the journey which calls for most patience. The ground is in site, but the pilot comes in to land ever so slowly. Then there is customs. This is thorough in NZ. (Almost paranoid about food products.) But, after all the country depends on its food export. On top of this the officials are trialling a new computer system and the queues are haphazard and slow. We lift the tensor tape and scramble through to the more empty lane.

Now we are through and enter the new world through a wide portal. There is a great divide between the arriving passengers and the throngs waiting to meet and greet. Somehow our daughter and granddaughters are slap bang in front and in the centre. The barrier holds no fear to a six year old and a four year old and through they come; hugging, swinging on arms and offering to take the luggage. Soon we are in the car and speeding away from the airport. We take a detour to avoid the bee swarms they encountered on the way to meet us.

At the house I cannot remember the exact details of the time. But, one of the ceremonies was to receive our presents from under the Christmas tree.

Christmas Presents Kiwi Style

The girls were pleased to be able to go into the pool. The sun gods from the UK had arrived and the pool temperature was now sufficient for pool use.

Emily in the Pool

Zoe in the Pool

Sally on the Pool Edge

Irene and Ian

Our room is really nice. We have a brand new room. For two night we are to use sheets at the window until the blind man comes on Tuesday. The bathroom is very smart. NZ fitting are very sophisticated.

An so to an early night.

On Monday it was beach day. Once again the sun shone. The whole family had fun. This was Ian's first day back to work and the first day without rain before his holiday began. For New Zealand this is very strange.

Emily Surfing

Grandma burying Zoe

Zoe Playing

Emily Already Buried

Four on the Beach

In the afternoon we went shopping for things in Mitre 10 (This is a superior version of B and Q) Sally had a choice of a great range of wireless door chimes. Then we did the food shopping.

On Tuesday we went to a place called 'Crystal Mountain'. It is a strange place in North West Auckland. It is quite a rough piece of ground with a track around it (tarmac) for the very slow train which Emily loves. Then it was the roller coaster which Sally and girls enjoyed as we watched.

Fun on the Roller

There was also horse riding for the girls and a mini bungy jump.

Emily struggled with it, but was determined. Zoe managed a back flip.

The central area was much smarter. Here was a clean well stocked restaurant and the gem of the place which was the collection of crystals in the museum which was a lift ride below ground and in the shop.

At the shop the girls bought bags of mud and gems to do the panning activity.

There was also animal feeding and watching.

Emily and Reindeer

Zoe and Big Bunny

New Born Bunnies

We ended the morning with a picnic at the centre.

To Heathrow and Beyond

2012-01-16T23:45:00.000-08:00

And so, at last, we are off.

Following a sumptuous meal, courtesy of Joni and Fiona the morning of our departure came. The journey down to Heathrow went relatively well. It improved dramatically when the family behind us got off and Irene no longer had her hair pulled by an unruly toddler behind us. Heathrow is a nightmare to navigate. A helpful officer in the bus station sent us down to find the hotel shuttle. Once down another official sent us up. Somewhere between up and down we found the row of shuttle buses. I am not sure that we would ever find them again. It was a bit like finding the 'Hogwarts Express' on platform 10 and three quarters.

View from the Ibis Hotel

The hotel was modern and it was one of the smallest that we have ever stayed in.It was just possible for me to get to my side of the bed. (Wait until I get to the Singapore bit.) We had a view of the runway from our window. The hotel meal was reasonable and we slept for some of the time, before setting off for terminal 3.

Transfer to the aircraft went quite smoothly and we found our seat on the very large aircraft. We had seats near the emergency door. This gave us massive leg room, but no window or seats in front to stow baggage. I joked with the stewardess who sat facing us when it came to the evacuation instruction which told us that passengers near the emergency doors may need to assist the crew. I made it clear that in an emergency I would be out of the door before she had even thought of leaving her seat. Our fellow passenger was a young man off on his first job. He would transfer to Perth and become a navigator on a seismological survey ship. Some people have exciting lives. As he left I wished him well.

Singapore airport is spacious and clean. We were able to get a shuttle to the hotel, later to be discovered, false impression that we would get a shuttle back.

Le Peranakan Hotel

The hotel was off the beaten track.It was clean, but the rooms were exceedingly small. The bed had very little space at the bottom and butted up to the wall at the side. Having arrived early we left our luggage at the hotel. I have to say that the young man who worked there was very courteous and helpful; but, he did have a masters in hospitality.

High Rise Washing Day

Some of the thousands of bicycles for hire

Coconut Palms and Ships

What to do in a storm

With a desire to get properly set up in the hotel we set off for a walk to the south shore. It has a wide green area and a beach. Hundreds of large ship are anchored just off shore. They have made a great job of the park area. There are wide walking/jogging paths running completely separately from the bicycle/skating paths. There are zebra crossings over the latter paths. Coconut trees line the pathways and there are shelters all along the front and instructions use them in the event of electrical storms. However, there is to be no 'residing' in them or barbecuing in those not designated for the purpose.

What not to do in a shelter

Immediately we noticed an interesting use of language. Almost all official signs are English alone. But the English is very precise. For instance they talk about bicycling where we would say cycling. We are happy to use context to clarify words. We know that we would not be talking about any other kind of cycling when we use the word on road signs. 'Residing' is to us an over use of the word, but the pictures show more clearly that no one is to sleep on the benches with a bag by the side and their shoes off. We notice that more than one person had totally ignored the instruction.

There were many signs warning us to ring the police on 999 if we saw 'suspicious' people getting off boats or people bringing trolley loads of containers ashore.

Macdonald's was our salvation for refreshment. But once again there were differences. All the items were prefixed with 'Prosperity' as in 'Prosperity Burgers'. Apple pie was Prosperity 'Pineapple Pie'. This is stark contrast with the UK's 'Austerity Apple Pie'.

And so to the hotel. A friendly face greeted us and took us, somewhat apologetically, to our room which was, indeed, small. First, I went down to ask about towels. However, they were already in the room. Then, as the temperature soared to 30 degs I went to ask about air-con. I had not realised that we actually had to switch it on. What a relief. After settling in we set off to find food. As I have said the area was a little off the beaten track. The Thai looked a bit suspicious and didn't open till late and so we took local advice and crossed to the 'Fish and Chip Shop'. It was actually a micro-brewery. I had the pork ribs and Irene had the snapper and chips. Next door we bought slices of pineapple pie and bottles of juice. These we consumed on the large balcony outside our room in the heat of the evening. The balcony was decorated with a waterfall and a running stream.

Supper on the balcony

We were asleep by 8.30 and slept quite well beyond 7.00. Having packed our bags and stored them the first Singapore adventure began. The hotel manager was clever. He met us leaving our room. He had seen us on the CCTV and remembered that we were going to leave our luggage. He avoided the task of having to take our luggage back up after we had bought it down.

The intrepid explorers set off to catch the 15 bus and came across the first language problem, but were eventually able to pay the $1.20 fare to the 'Eunos' metro station. The metro was much like London underground except that it was clean, cheap and efficient with trains running on time. We even got a dollar refund every time we got off. The major scary bit was crossing the roads. They have very wide junctions and at no time does the traffic completely stop. Even when the traffic lights say you have 30 seconds vehicles still turn in to the crossing pedestrians.

The Singapore Botanical gardens are beautifully laid out and we particularly enjoyed the orchid gardens. Our breakfast and lunch at the central restaurant were very pleasant and and well priced. By the afternoon it was getting too hot and we opted to arrive at the airport early and enjoy their air-con. We made an almost perfect reversal of our path. The bus driver recognised us and this time showed us the fare on a piece of card and smiled when I gave him the exact change. However, we got off two stops too soon. We had not realised that all three bus stops on the street had the same name.

Me in the orchids

Irene in the orchids

A terrapin in the lake

Singapore departure hall

Although we were early we checked in immediately. There was a slight scare at the check in. When I looked at my tickets they said that we flew on Saturday. My watch said that it was Friday and it felt like Friday. A quick enquiry confirmed that thanks to jet lag we were disoriented. And so, minus our luggage we found a restaurant and shared a pizza, washed down with ice cold 'Stella' followed by a nice ice-cream. It did not seem long before we boarded the aircraft (a normal sizes one) and sped off at almost 700 mph to NZ.

Last Days in Australia

2009-09-01T05:10:00.000-07:00

The last days were spent mainly in getting ready for home.

Mum had her last play on the trampoline.

On the last Sunday afternoon there was still time for a final exploration. Sally and Ian had read about a good playground at Rouse Hill. Ian, Zoe, Mum and I went off to it. It was a very large area with three different playground for different age groups. Many people had arrived for an Australian Sunday afternoon. Large groups had taken over the barbecue areas for various party activities. There was a walk away from the area towards a creek. The creek had that, not unusual cloudiness. This one had a green algae covering.

We stopped off for coffee on the way back. Sally had been crowned and was doing some baking.

After dinner it was time to leave. Ian drove us to the airport. We said good bye to our cases; being assured that they would meet us at Heathrow about 26 hours later. It was a prompt take off and a good arrival in Hong Kong with four and a half hours in the airport. We had a breakfast snack and boarded the flight to London.

It left early and we had every possibility of catching the 4:30 coach home instead of the 7:00. At the luggage carousel we had a promising start. One of our cases came through early. However, the other never did. Luggage reclaim office told us that there was a later flight from Hong Kong. He took our details and we headed for the coach. It was two minutes to five. I queued at the desk in the hope of an earlier coach. We waited for the driver to let us on to the 5:00. Then it was off for home. The 21 bus was waiting for us and at 9:00 we arrived back. Joni was at the bus stop and he had wine, flowers and chocolate to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary with us. I have just remembered that our wedding anniversary started at midnight over the Philippines. Earlier I had asked the stewardess for wine and a few minutes after midnight she was able to bring it. I presented mum with a card. We had a toast at 32000 feet and our longest wedding anniverary day begun. We even had our wedding breakfast in Hong Kong. How cool is that?

The Blue Mountains

2009-08-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

From various parts of Sydney can be seen a long range of Blue coloured mountains. The Australians are good at appropriate naming.

Once on the Western Motorway it is an easy drive. The motorway become a highway at the mountains and links the commercial city with the political city of Canberra. The Australians have come up with a brilliant idea of isolating its politicians in a separate state in the middle of nowhere.

The highway does not so much cut through the mountains, but climbs over them. It is strangely populated all along the highway in a ribbon development. Generally the townships run alongside, but occasionally make incursions into the mountains. A main railway line runs alongside. The highway is pretty much the main road of the townships and traffic is slowed down accordingly. In other places there are motorway style cut thoughs and these are increasing. Judging by the style of homes I would say people have lived in the area for some time. This is true of Katoomba which became our destination.

The Three Sisters

We turned off the highway into Katoomba town expecting to see (judging from the guide book) instant tourism. We found an alley way cafe. Not like the modern city ones. It it had that old style cafe aroma and atmosphere. Here we had our morning coffee. After this we drove down to Echo Point. Here was the business. A huge viewing platform, a more modern restuarant and a visitors centre with strangely little parking. The main feature here was an expansive view of the mountains with towering cliffs and three tall pillars called the Three Sisters. We took one of the shorter roots to walk alongside the valley wall. The notable feature being a single pillar called Orphan Rock. I was very surprised that it was not called 'The Stand on its Own Rock'. Clever Australians.

Explorers

Orphan Rock

Using instructions from the information centre we made our way to view the falls. To get there meant a short drive. You look out for the caravan park. Opposite is a semi derelict kiosk. On the left is a path. Across the picnic area is an incongrous sign. We made it to the falls.

Katoomba Falls

On the way back we came across a bunch of Aussies also trying to find their way. After being helpful I told them that if they did not return that I would inform the News of the World who would give them $200,000. The reply was 'wait nine days.'

Looking at the map made us decide to stop at Leura Cascades on the way back. We followed the creek down hill as it cascaded over rocks and then it entered a cavern where it was at it best and then out into sunlight where the water simply fell over the cliff wall.

Leura Cascades

We had lunch in Leura, at a bakery, before setting off back home.

That was another blue sky day. The clouds are only just breaking up this morning. Seeing clouds is a strange phenomenon even in the mountains.

By the way, the whales turned up at Barren Joey Head; not on Monday, but on Tuesday. I repeat - not on Monday, but on Tuesday.

West Head and Barren Joey

2009-08-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Sally drove mum and I up to the north east of Sydney. We started by driving up the eastern side of the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park. From the entrance there is one long road up to West Head. It was being reapaired really well and caused some delay. However the 'Excel Road Management' consisted of two men with a lolipop stick each. All along the route there are places to park and signs to various walking tracks to beaches and coves. From West Head there was a view of the Barren Joey light house. West Head and Barren Joey are notable whale watching points overlooking what is said to be the busiest marine mammal channel in the world. (Not today)

A little way back is a serious peice of car park for the aborigine art site. This was a very large slab of sandstone on which are carved aborigine pictures which are like grafitti lines.

Before leaving we turned off for lunch at Aruna Bay. This is a marina with specialist shops and a restuarant.

Next we circled south below the estuary and back north up the peninsula leading to the Barren Joey lighthouse. We parked on Palm Beach. Here the wind was a little rough with just enough to push a wind surfer.

We gave up the idea of a walk up to Barren Joey light house - too steep. I wouldn't be able to get up and mum would not be able to get down. Instead we turned at right angles to the estuary and walked across the peninsula. The sound of the sea disappeared, but shortly we began to hear a roaring. The Pacific Ocean was crashing on the opposite shore. It is incredible the difference there is between one side and another of a very thin piece of land (See first picture). I tried hard to capture the power of the ocean.

We stopped off at Palm Beach for milk shakes and made our way past Newport and the Pondarosa to home, in time for Sally to pick up the girls.

Today is 'in' day. Emily has been swimming and soon the girls are off for hair cuts at Dural.

Taronga Zoo

2009-08-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ian, Zoe, Mum and I set off for the zoo. It is set on a steep slope overlooking the harbour. The normal admission is $41 end but the cashier allowed us through a 'seniors' at $28. The Clarks already have a season ticket.

We made our way downwards; stopping at the reptiles and say 'hi' to the elephants (They are proud of their new baby elephant and it was blessed by Buddist monks at a ceremony which took place on the day of our visit.) The elephant house was built in the shape of the Temple at Amritza. It was built in 1915. Such a thing could not be built today. We passed the giraffes and apes. We had lunch. Zoe had some time at the childrens zoo and climbing frame.

The highlight of the visit was the seals and sealion display. It was really hot and really crowded. At one point we were told to watch a sealion jump up to touch a ball. I held the camera ready. The crowds appluaded. Were was the sealion? Jumping to different ball - actually the one in the centre of the three hanging balls. How silly. Not very bright - these sealions.

From the zoo there are many views of the harbour, including the bridge and the opera house.

To return to the top there is a cable car which mum refused to take. However, she was waiting at the top when we got off the car.

The adult day - being Saturday ended with the eating of chocolate and the consumption of Bundaberg ginger beer.

Cherrybrook Walk

2009-08-14T02:17:00.000-07:00

Ian left the Camry for us to use, but as the girls were still ill we opted to go out for a short time. We went over to Cherrybrook shops to pick up supplies - tissues for me, Bundaberg Ginger Beer and chocolate bars for the last two Saturday nights.

I parked in the sports centre car park opposite the track and off we set. We walked for thirty minutes and then back. At one point the council have built solid stepping stones, but judging by the weather I wonder how often they are needed.

Despite being near houses it is very much bush. We saw the usual white parrots, crimsom parrots and kookabura. Towards the end of our walk we came across an cave created from an enormous rocky overhang. It is easy to believe that aborigine tribes once lived in this area.

The trees and rocks have, for me an Australian feel.

In the afternoon we did a few jobs and Sally went to fetch fish. We ate Dori. It was delicious. Next Nimo?

Ku-Ring-Gai Chase and Bobbin Rock

2009-08-12T22:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we made our way into Kur-Ring-Gai Chase National Park. It is a huge bush area north of Sydney. Sally would have gone with us but Emily was ill.

Our first stop was Kalkari Visitors Centre. Here we paid our $11 to park anywhere in the park for the day. The guides at the centre were very helpful and friendly. We wandered around and saw kangaroos, parrots etc. There was a view point over looking the park. From it you can see Cowan Creek and a suspension bridge. The bridge was to be our way of getting over the mangrove swamp and into the bush proper.

We drove on down to Bobbin Head. It is a large, clear area with a marina of sea going craft. After coffee on the marina, which was the first place that water was put on the table and we were served in china cups, we had a brief walk along the trail. Before leaving that area I felt that it was necessary to be photographed with my foot on Bobbin Rock. I never would have thought that I would ever be at Bobbin Rock. In fact before today I did not even know that there was a Bobbin Rock.

We crossed from this area to do the boardwalk. First there was a big park area with slides etc. People were picnicing, surrounded by parrots. Others were using the public barbeque facilities. We got to th boardwalk by going over the suspension bridge. Then there was a climb between two enormous rocks to get on to the bush walk proper. We did a little walk before returning.

After lunch I drove Sally out to pick up the Zafira. We deposited the Camry at Ian's office and came back, first picking up Zoe from the child care.

Today both girls are ill. All plans for today are cancelled and we hope that they will recover soon. The doctor said that they only have colds.

John and the Galston Gorge

2009-08-10T01:38:00.000-07:00

The two events are totally unconnected. I have been communicating with John Walker for some time before travelling to Australia and by internet during our time here. I wanted to know something about the church here and John graciously responded to my request to meet up.

I had a suspicion that Australia was quite Christian and I had already had this confirmed when I read the weekend paper before meeting John. I learned that this state of of NSW was the most religious with 76% believers, but even more telling was the news; I quote, trying not to give offence that Tasmania has the largest percentage of 'People living in sin before they are married' of any other state. Wow - have they not come across the term cohabitation or 'partner'?

John was very Australian, more than punctual, very polite and generous and somewhat older than me. We enjoyed coffee in 'Gloria Jeans' which is a chain of cafes that John tells me are connected with the 'Hill Song' church. After a good, long conversation we parted company and I will try to keep in touch.

When I got home I could not find my key. It did not dawn on me to ring the bell of the locked front door so I made my way around the back with the intention of tipping out the contents of all the pockets on my bag and person. It was then that I saw mum sitting in the dining room having lunch. This did not help find my key, so back to 'Gloria Jeans' I drove in the Camry. I had rightly surmised that the key had fallen from my bum-bag when I took out my wallet and lo and behold the assistant passed over the shiny red key.

Berowra Creek at Galston Gorge

There was time for lunch and, because the Camry was available, a short trip out to the bush was in order. We headed for the Galston Gorge, not knowing whether we would be able to stop near it. Google street view had covered it, but I saw no sign of parking. Before the gorge bridge is a steep down hill very winding road. The bridge is a single lane plank bridge and there was a small car park and once again we found ourselves by the Berowra Creek and on the Great North Walking Track. We had time for a short steep and rugged ramble and back home to let Sally pick up the girls from their first day at their new child care. I am told that the facility was appreciated by all.

Sydney Aquarium

2009-08-07T22:45:00.000-07:00

Thursday was a domestic day. The girls went for their lessons at the swimming pool.

In the afternoon we set off to pick up Ian's car from the service station. On route we went round 'Round Corner' (A typical Australian descriptive name) to the Dural shopping area. There is really little there, but Sally had heard that the 'Woolworth' food prices were better because they were next to an 'Aldi'. We picked up Ian's car from the service and headed home.

On Friday we took Emily to day care for her last time at that particular one. We then headed on up to Hornsby, which is the county town and a rail centre. Unfortunately, although the station was supposed to have car parking, it didn't. We off back down the line to the station at Beecroft. We found some parking. I found some Claratyne. ($33 for 30 tablets; a little exhorbitant.) After Zoe had a play in the park we boarded the train to the city. The carriages have three passenger levels, are clean and run on time. They are not operated by Virgin or British Rail.

In the city we transferred to the monorail and went around to Darling Harbour. After a drink and a wait we joined the crowds entering the aquarium. It is a large aquarium with two underwater tunnels and many other tanks. The dugongs were fascinating. The really don' look like mermaids. I found aquarium photography to be very challenging. Zoe enoys these visits and after a time we left. The aquarium is skilfully designed to take unsuspecting mums through the shop and then the cafe.

The cafe was quite an episode. Mummy bought Zoe a lemonade in a very tall glass with a spiral drinking tube. Guess what happened. Mummy went off to track down a change of clothes for Zoe. I recharged the glass (free refills). Mum held on to the glass. Mummy came back. Mum took her eye of the ball (hand off the glass for one second). Now Zoe really did need a change of clothes. We made the train journey back with Zoe draped in a large scarf.

We picked up the car. A nice man was doing the crossing patrol. I asked him if he helped old men as well as children across. I got a jovial 'most certainly'.

On the way back in the car the wind began to pick up, the sky darkened, twiggy bits fell on the ground. From indoors we could sea the sky went a golden yellow. There was even a whispery rainbow. But no rain.

Blue skies again today as a sit confined to quarantine, with a streaming nose.

The Great North

2009-08-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday mum and I took a few steps on to the Great North Walking Track. It starts at the end of a street near here. It starts with a wide concrete path to a steel bridge over the Berowra Creek and then turns off to a leafy covered rocky path that goes alongside the creek. A glimpse of the creek is seen as the walk goes on and there is a wooden bridge to cross it a little way along the path. It was hard to believe that we were so close to houses. The bush is dense enough to block any view and there is no way that I would leave the path to cross the creek to find a short cut back.

The Intrepid Explorer Complete with Napier Hat and All Blacks Fleece.

On the way out mum was sure that she had spotted a Kookaburra. We are not best friends with them as a flock of them as a flock woke us up at 5:30 in the morning.

Is that a Kookaburra?

Australian bird song is generally loud and distinct. Once you have heard it you know which bird it is.

In the picture can be seen things dangling from the trees. This is bark which has fallen off, hanging from branches which are left bare.

James Henty Park and Dural Reserve

2009-08-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

This morning Sally, Mum and girls went of to the swimming lesson at Castle Hill. They arrived back at about 10:30 and after morning tea we all went off to the James Henty Park. The girls took the normal way and I went in another direction which turned out to be the other half of a loop.

My journey was slightly longer, but the slopes were less steep. When I gor to the park the girls were already playing on the equipment. I took mum off to see the Creek in the Dural Reserve. (A creek is a water course which is wider than a brook, but not as wide as a river. I also looked up billabong and found it to be a small lake something like an ox-bow.)

Dural Reserve

The Creek

After our short exploration we went back to the girls who were still playing in the playground. we then took them on to the field to have a run around before taking my route home.

Thomas at Luddenham

2009-08-02T02:09:00.000-07:00

Today Ian, Zoe and I set off to find Thomas near a winery in Luddenham.

It took 45 minutes to get there and we were very close to the Blue Mountains.

The site was a well laid out miniature railway track, carefully deigned to allow at least four engines to run at the same time. Zoe and I started the day by riding on Thomas' carriage and then she and her dad rode trains pulled by other engines including James, Mavis and Toby. Just before we left they got out a model 'Gordon' who was in the process of being constucted. I had the privelege of riding this with Zoe.

I did regret not wearing my sun hat and glasses. The late winter days and getting warma and the sun is getting stronger. We have not had any rain for many days.

The House

2009-07-31T19:34:00.000-07:00

The house we are now in is two storeys. It is in a place called Dural. It has a steep drive to a double garage with a remote roller door. There is a lockable door from it to the house. There is a main entrance door to a hall with steps up to the kitchen and stairs on the left. On the right is a carpetted lounge with steps up to another carpetted area. There is door from here into the kitchen. The kitchen area can be closed off with sliding doors; otherwise the rooms are open. The kitcken has a bar sticking out from the rear wall with a large dining space. Through an archway is an even larger area. All the floors in these areas and in the hall are quarry tiled. Off the large empty area (now a playroom) is the downstairs toilet/shower and a laundry which open to the left side garden of the house. A gass area goes along the rear of the house.

Up stairs is large hall. To the left is the family bathroom with bath and shower. Next to it is the guest room which takes a double bed and a wide work bench. Next to this is a sizeable rear bedroom for Emily. Zoe has aslightly larger room looking over the front of the house. Between this bedroom and the main bedroom is an alcove which takes a large computer desk. The main bedroom has an ensuite. All the rooms have horizontal wooden blinds, plastic frames and sliding insect screen outside. All the rooms have fitted wardrobes. The house is air conditioned and heated by ducted air to vents in all the rooms.

In the bathrooms all the floor have drainage holes and the showers have high tiled surrounds.
The modem has had to be put in the kitchen for now, but the wireless signal is good to both Ian and my computer.

One evening we had the pleasure of parrots on the roof.

We have spent the time going to shops, looking after children and I have exercised by walking along the streets. There is next to no access to park type walks, but I did start on a walking track near the Cherrybrook shops while the girls were in swimming.

Two SATNAVs and Still Lost

2009-07-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

On Monday mum and I went for walk down to the Parramatta information centre and along the river. You could get some idea of the reasons for the poor relationships between the Aborigines and the Europeans. It seems to be as the history books tell us. Whole tribes were wiped out; children were kidnapped and westernised. I spoke to an old Ozy yesterday and the fear of the Aborigines is still real.

I also saw that much of the pressure for Australia becoming a republic is from the newer immigrants (Chinese and Indian). Again this was confirmed by my friend at the park. He was pretty much not bothered either way. I wonder what the younger generation Ozy thinks.

We walked down to the rivercat stop. The river is blocked by a weir at this point.

We had a leisurely icecream at a Sudenese shop. Very tasty; we were given tastes of the different ones.

We arrived back to find out that Sally was called to take the Camry in for minor repairs 30 minutes earlier. First we had to go out to Cherrybrook to collect it. We attempted to set up both SATNAVs to get us to the Camry garage. At first Sally led with my SATNAV continuously recalculating. She gave up. I led until Sally came to the conclusion that we were heading the wrong way. I did a turn left; hoping to go around but finished on the motorway. At this point Sally overtook. The map had won. Before going back to collect the Camry I did an intersection check on Google when this was put into the SATNAV we took 15 minutes instead one and half hours. Should I tell Garmin?

Yesterday we went Featherdale Wildlife Park. It would take to long to list the variety of Australian wildlife on show. Zoe enjoyed looking and Emily enjoyed walking around. She has still not learned the lesson on taking on a kangaroo. She got away with it this time.

In the afternoon mum and I took Zoe to the park. She played, I spoke to an Australian grandad. He has story to tell. He was abought up in the back of a lorry, they then moved to live on the water before finally getting a house. His wife's family lived in two caves and had to move out when the world got to be less secure.

Sydney Tower and Darling Harbour

2009-07-19T22:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday was one of those clear blue sky, warm Australian winter days. We all headed off in the Zafira in the direction of the Sydney Aquarium.

We travelled through a very long motorway tunnel and came out across the harbour bridge. The car park was somewhat run down, but it led out on to the modern monorail system. Seeing that the train would take us passed the Sydney Tower it was decided that today would be a good day to go up. The views, as from all city towers, is awesome.

It was a short walk to the Aquaruim from here. However, the queue for the aquarium was one hour long. Instead we explored Darling Harbour. It was thronged with people enjoying the sun. It was real sun trap set out for leisure. The main bridge is a swing bridge and you can just make ou the central pillar in the picture.

Zoe enjoyed the roundabout and they both appreciated a run in the play area.

We ended the time in the food area and set back home, starting our journey on the monorail.

Flying Foxes

2009-07-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

On Saturday there was an opportunity to photograph flying foxes with the telephoto lens. Mum and I took Emily to the park while Ian and Sally took Zoe to the zoo.

This is the best that I could do.

In the afternoon I set off in search of ginger beer. (We already had Cadbury chocolate with Macademia nuts ready for the Saturday night feast). The east coast of Australia has the famous Bundaberg brewery. For quite a while I wondered if I would find any. There is a little convenience store in Parramatta and there it was; Bunderberg Ginger Beer.

Devonshire Tea on Elizabeth Farm

2009-07-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

We visited one of the earliest farm houses in Australia. The John Macarthur family arrived in Sydney in 1790. He introduced English crops and livestock, was a principle promoter of the Australian wool trade and was credited with taking part in the overthrow Governor Bligh in 1808.

Elizabeth Macarthur lived at Elizabeth Farm until she died in 1850.

The farm is very child friendly. Zoe was able to climb on to the four poster beds. We finished the visit with Devonshire cream tea. There were tea strainers and actual tea leaves. We had to wait for the cow to be milked and the corn to be ground to flour. No rush-not MacDonald speed- but quality.

Parramatta River, Parrots and Flying Foxes

2009-07-15T18:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday mum and I walked down to the Parramatta River. It is wide and brown and calm with good reflections.

Near the end of our walk and close to the cafe was the roost of a flock of white parrots. They were really quite tame. I expect that they are used to being fed.

The best was yet to come. Just as we were leaving the area mum spotted shapes in the trees. In the bright sunshine was a flock of sleeping flying foxes.

I can't help wondering how it must have been when the first European settlers walked along this river and saw such things for the first time 200 years ago.

Next time I go there I will have my telephoto lens.

Today we went of to the pool with Zoe and Emily to have their swimming lessons. They are both doing well.

Parramatta Park

2009-07-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday mum, Sally, Emily and Zoe went to Parramatta Park. It is a large area. The muddy Parramatta River flows through.

The main feature is the Old Government House. The park and the house go back to the 1790s.

The girls had a good play on the swings and things and a walk in the park.

Birthday at the Bridge

2009-07-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

I would never have believed that I would ever celebrate my birthday at Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

Sally and family put on a good do at the apartment.

There were rugby hats, scarves and phone holder. I had already had made use of the SATNAV from all the family.

After breakfast we made the journey and enjoyed coffee by the bridge. The opera house is difficult to photograph in the wet, but it is spectacular.

The day ended with white-chocalate mud cake.

Olympic Pool Day

2009-07-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

This morning we visited Sydney's Olympic Village - in particular the Olympic Pool. It covers a vast area with many pools including the fun pools.

Sally, Emily, Zoe and Nan togged up. Suddenly there was a small drama. Nan, who is the only person I know who can swim without a bathing hat and keep her hair dry was drenched. In the 'fun' end there is a giant bucket fed by water. The contraption is designed to topple over at a particular water level. There are warning bells, but nan did not understand what they meant.

Despite the soaking they all had fun and we ended with a feast of hot food, doughnuts etc.

Everyone is now resting, except for Sally who is charging about sorting child care and Ian who is at his second day of work.

One of the cars is in for minor repairs and we are improvising with one. It was a bit hairy following Sally along roads we were not familiar, even the SATNAV got confused, but I managed to keep the Camry in the convoy.

Arrival

2009-07-06T00:39:00.000-07:00

It is now Monday evening at 5.40 pm. It has been dark for sometime.
We landed safely on Friday night; having circled the Australian sky waiting for a landing slot. Ian met us.The air was cold and we were dressed for the 32 degs of Hong Kong. Fairly straight to bed. Saturday was familiarisation and shopping. On Sunday we did meet some of the wild life.

Today has been Medicare and car day. You wait in a very sophisticated queue system and collect a form. On Saturday Sally and Ian return to the queue with completed form. The afternoon was more interesting. Sally collected a cheque and then we set off to the garage. The Camry was about ready for collection. The deal was done. I drove the petrolless Camry back to the apartment. Why don't they put petrol in or maybe be close to a filling station.
The car is now in the apartment garage and Sally has gone off in the Zafira to pick up Ian after his first days work.
Sally and Ian now have two cars and a house which they can move into on 23rd; furniture or no.
Emily and Zoe are coping with the move very well.

We Are on Our Way

2009-06-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

On Thursday the eagle will take flight. This time for only 21 hours to Australia itself.

Tourists or Travellers

2009-03-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

Getting there is common to both tourists and travellers. Arrangements have to be made and flights booked. From here on the itinerary of the traveller are freer and the objectives are broader. I began to figure this out more clearly in the short time that we spent in LA and concluded that our trips to the 'upside down peoples on the islands near to Australia' came more in the category of travels than tours. Not that it really matters.

Our flight through the night started on Tuesday evening in Auckland and ended on Tuesday afternoon in LA. When we left it was Autumn. When we arrived it was Spring. We travelled with the New Zealand cycle team, whose coach took our window seat and rooted himself in it for the 12 hour flight. They were a quiet and pleasant bunch, unlike the Argentinian rugby squad that we had shared the airport with.

We had our evening meal in a grill which served meat with unlimited salads. My starter was the clam chowder, which is really delicious and I washed the meal down with root beer. A big guy armed to the teeth entered the restaurant. His badge said that he was a probation officer. Imagine that in the UK. In the morning we had our pancakes and American coffee in a diner. Was more a uniformed, armed officer came in for his meal. I can't imagine uniformed officers sitting down for food in the UK, let alone carrying guns. There presence in UK restaurants might make the staff and the diners feel more comfortable, but I can't help wondering if a high public display of weaponry is in some ways counter-productive.

We had made a decision that in LA we would avoid the booked tourist journeys into 'Unreal Land' and travel into the real city. To do this we took public transport in the form of the 'Metro'. We needed a little help with this from the hotel staff. But, from then it became a piece of cake. The nearest Metro station was ten minutes walk away at Maripossa and Nash.

The LA Metro is generally above ground, using unmanned stations, with a day fare of £2.50. The layout around the city is easy with lines denoted by colour. I made a mistake of getting on to a carriage whose only occupant was a 'hoody', but soon more people got on. (The guide books tell you not to travel alone or at night). For most of the journey we were the only white people on the train and all announcements and signs were in English and Mexican.

The rail journey took us down the middle of eight lane carriageways, sometimes above ground and sometime along streets which were sometimes depressed and sometimes pleasant suburbia. One of our intersections was Union Station. This was built in the 30's in the Art Deco style and was the arrival point of many 'Stars'. We took an opportunity to look out and see the station. It is impressive. Some unused areas are cathedral like and the main concourse more like a grand hotel.

From here we took the Metro to its furthest point. This being Sierra Madre, near the 'Foothills', with our objective being to reach them. The Metro bridge took us over an eight lane motorway. The noise was appalling, but once over we set off out of town. The road was wide, there were less cars and no pedestrians. The heat beat us and after finding no refreshments, having glimpsed the 'Foothills' we turned back to civilisation. To be honest we did not really want to pay golf club prices. We knew that the bars near the station would be cheaper.

Mum had wanted to go into a park and so we got off at a stop called 'Memorial Park'. All of this journeying had actually been in Pasadena.

Having paid homage to a 'Yanky' soldier we set off back to the station and spotted a magnificent building. This turned out to be Pasadena Town Hall.

We had noticed that each station somehow reflected the area. We happened to be in a arty area and I decided to photograph the platform. It was here that we met the real America. That very morning the US government were talking about a $9,000,000,000,000 bail out. But here we met a man whose needs were more pressing. He was a black man and he engaged me in a conversation about my photograph. He had a large holdall. He explained that he was bag-at-a-time moving his belonging from what was his Pasadena home to a 'Project' (council) home in a more affordable part of LA. He seemed to be neither begging, boasting or complaining, but telling it as it is. He was not the only one we met on two continents for whom the recession is a reality.

Next we went to China Town. It is a real home to the Chinese people of the city and they go about their lives and play Mahjong on street corners.

I must do something about the pose.

Our final stop was to be in Downtown LA itself where we purchased 'Smoothies' and sat on a wall amongst the people in the busy city.

A view from the Smoothies.

The return was through busy rush hour. It is a bit scary to be challenged by a fully armed 'Sheriff' ticket collector.

We had a morning before flying home. The bright sun of the previous day was LA smog. We did the half hour walk to the beach the El Segundo town. The beach has beautiful sand, but is delightfully adorned by the petroleum plant and the LA water works.

Some final photos.

The Beach at El Segundo

Grand Avenue, El Segundo (Note the smogged out buildings)

California Poppies (The pretty bits)

Conclusion
After the 28 hour journey back from LA I would conclude that we return as travellers. We had

Suffered some deprivations
Experienced some risks
Had close personal encounters
We hope that we are somewhat different because of our experiences.

We had experienced the friendliness of other peoples and shared in some of their the difficulties that this current recession is bringing. We have seen people apparently unaffected by the problems confronting us all, but we have also felt the spirit of resilience and determination that seems to be common to everyone that we met in both NZ and US societies.

Our travels abroad end for the time being, but we are determined to continue to be travellers wherever are journey now takes us.

Note
There was some sadness in our homecoming. Our friend Arthur died in his sleep on the day before we got home. We have been welcomed by all his family and feel that we almost belong with them, especially at this time.
Arthur has left me his railway stuff.

Last Post Before Home

2009-03-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is our last day here in Kiwi land. A final picture blog will sum up this journey when we get home.

On Saturday it was Zoe's birthday. It was a good day. It started with some present opening and then Ian, Sally and Zoe set off as the party organisers at 'Butterfly Creek'. Half an hour later, mum, Emily and I followed behind.

No one thought that the weather could be as good as it was. we left a dull Glover Park and turned up at the party to baking heat. The party went well and the first drops of rain fell and turned into a downpour when we got back.

We spent the afternoon presenting, but it became obvious that leg stretching was in order. All of us drove off to 'Valentines' in Papuranga. At this restaurant you could eat as much as you wanted, including pud for a fiver. The choice was wide, including baby octopus and the quality was high. A good day ended well.

On Sunday it was 'Around the Bays' day and, despite dire predictions, it was hot and sunny. The family had made provisions to 'batten down the hatches', but suddenly Ian decided to take Emily to the zoo. For me it was a good opportunity to do the photo swap with Sally. Ian prepared tea and then mum and I set off for my final NZ photo shoot of Auckland City from Devonport. I stayed as long as I was allowed. A few minutes more would have bought real darkness.

Today we are doing last jobs around the house and getting ready to pack in the morning. We have had a final walk down to St Heliers shops and I hope to go to Sylvia Park to buy a new suitcase this evening.

Chimney Sweep

2009-03-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention the chimney sweep.
I love talking to real Kiwis. This gentleman who came to sweep the chimney was a real Kiwi of many generations. His story was that his something, something grandfather came to New Zealand in 1840. He came has a retired soldier to be a 'Fencible'. A Fencible was given a plot of land by the government and was expected to defend the Pakia against the Maori whenever necessary. His plot was in South Auckland. He was mentioned again in 1896 as being the oldest pensioner in New Zealand.
The chimney sweep was also proud of the fact that there was no Maori blood in his family line. I am told that this is something of a rarity.

The weather has suddenly changed. Summer is over. The mornings are darker and colder. Mum is in cardigans. I am wearing a top, but still in short sleeves, short and trainers with no socks.

I went down to St Heliers this morning for some turps. I took the precaution of taking a waterproof. The rain comes very suddenly and equally heavily. As I neared the town the rain was visibly moving up the sea front towards me. I thought that I would make it to shelter. On the corner just before crossing to the shops a silver coloured car pulled up in front of me. I was certain that it was Ian coming to the rescue. I started to get in. It was in fact a stranger waiting to pick up his wife. Sorry! sorry! Leg it. As soon as I had made my purchase the rain stopped, so with soggy short bottoms and a very wet coat I made my way back. By the time I reached home I was bone dry.

Sheets of rain are still coming. The workman are trying to set up the marquees for the 'Around the Bays' fun run/walk on Sunday.

Oriwa and the Hibiscus Coast

2009-03-11T20:52:00.000-07:00

Sally took the day off on Wednesday. This is becoming standard practice for her to have a special day with us just before we leave.

This time we chose to go to Oriwa.This is a holiday town just north of Auckland. It has a huge clean beach and a few shops. We walked most of the beach. Their were many beautiful shells which mum enjoyed and collected some. We had morning coffee with cheese cake and headed back via the Hybiscus Coast. This a long peninsula with one road in and out. It can get conjested in rush hour and holiday times. We passed through an area which was a settlement for the wealthy centred on the Gulf Golf course. The open is player here. It is a strange place. At the end of the peninsula is a headland. It mainly belongs to the army, but there is a short path which allowed us to 'go bush'.

Another strange part is called Manly and there is a sign saying 'Manly' and 'Ladies Mile'. Work it out.

We stopped at one more bay. It was small, but almost within wading distance was an almost pyramid shaped island.

On the way back to Auckland we stopped off at a shop called 'Spotlight'. It is a 'Hobby Craft' plus kitchen and bedroom wares.

Today we have had Zoe home with a cold. I took Sally to work then Emily to childcare, then Zoe shopping, then to 'Placemakers'. I have added a new downpipe to the car porch.

A little while ago Sally called. I went off to pick her up and on route home we took Emily in to the doctors. She will be home tomorrow. Zoe will be in daycare sharing a Dora and Diago cake.

Tonight we are baby sitting while Sally and Ian visit Churchill Park School as a possible palce for Zoe quite soon.

I will not be posting pictures until I get home.

Banquet and Thomas

2009-03-08T12:02:00.001-07:00

Saturday was a busy day. It started by taking the hire car back to the city. From here we went to Pakuranga shopping centre. The main street is called Aylesbury Street. The main claim to fame is that it has a British shop. However, our main mission was shoes for Sally and Zoe. Then it was a dash to Zoe's ballet class. From here we went back to Sylvia Park. The show issue was not resolved and we were birthday present buying. This shopping trip turned out to be extensive and we returned home with a short time before the banquet.

Karen arrived about 6 pm to baby sit and ian drove us in to Mission Bay. Having arrived a little early we had beers at the Belgium Bar. From here we moved on to the Tai restaurant. Sally had booked a window table overlooking Selwyn Domain, the sea and, of course, Rangitoto.

The food and the wine were excellent and we hope that the were a good treat from us to Ian and Sally at the start of our final week here.

On Sunday Sally, Ian and Zoe went off to swimming lessons. We took Emily off to the beach, but our time was cut short by the arrival of spots of rain and the returning family.

After a short time home I drove Mum and Zoe out to Glenbrook Vintage Railway. It was Thomas weekend.

Mum and Zoe on Thomas

It was very busy. The ladies rode Thomas in an open carriage. We found lunch on the platform where we purchased tickets for a longer run down the line in proper coaches. The presentation of the engines was excellent. They all had names and their faces were properly moulded and fixed to the front. It was an amature thing, but well done.

Not the Office Roof

2009-03-05T18:07:00.000-08:00

On Thursday morning Zoe had a special treat. Sally went off to work. Karen picked up Emily and took her to child care. Later we took Zoe to see mummy at work in her office.

As you can see, Sally is in the beverages business. Zoe stayed longer than we thought she would and we were able to join in with enjoying the chocolate cheese cake being shared to celebrate the departure of one of the staff to maternity leave.

Having dropped Zoe back to child care we returned home to do a few jobs. The wind was getting stronger and the weather was deteriorating. As we sat eating lunch there was the most almighty metallic crashing sound. We rushed to the window thinking that something had blown off the house to see part of the roof of the park building opposite on the other side of the car park and another piece blow across, hitting the power cable, causing sparks and landing across the end of our drive. There was no disruption to the power.

We watched as the council workers on the park calmly did nothing. However, the foreman was soon on his mobile phone. We watched as the wind threatened to bring the corrugated metal sheet up to the drive and into the front of the hire car. No one would believe it if I saw two cars go to the body shop in one holiday. (By the way, Sally had her car back and it looks better than it did before the collision - even the rust had gone.)

In a short time a fire engine appeared and naturally started the proceedings by putting out cones.

As you can see the council work men had the wisdom to run a digger on to the sheets in the park to prevent further damage.

Once they got going the firemen and the workmen quickly got the bits of roof removed and tidied up.

No one was injured and, apart from the roof, no serious damage was done. The lady owner of the white car in the picture above returned to her car to find the scene of devastation, but was obviously relieved to see her car completely unscathed and was escorted off the scene by the firemen.

I checked with a fireman whether it was safe to leave and we set off to the local garden centre. The wind was getting more furious and the coast road was getting drenched by waves breaking on the sea wall.

We arrived at Palmers Garden Centre as it started to rain. The centre has a collection of brollies for customer use. (Great idea - UK garden centres take note.)

We collected the girls, had tea, spent some time on our own before rejoining Sally for another episode of 'Boston Legal' before going to bed with the wind howling and rain lashing down. Aucklanders were warned to keep off the roads between 7 am and 12 noon, but by morning it was calm so we took the girls to school and then went off to do some shopping in Newmarket and Slyvia Park.

We were pleased to find a letter from Jenny when we arrived back. (It was a little soggy -Please note the mail box. Papers are put in the round hole and letters through a slot in the box below. The box has a rear flap which blows about in the wind.)

The weather looks brighter and the wind has dropped.

Spit, Nuts, Honey and Cheese

2009-03-04T18:43:00.000-08:00

This blog covers trips on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday we had the most glorious weather, but with little free time we decided to repeat a walk we made last year. Five minutes drive away is a play park which has got to be known as 'Ladybird Park', because one of the rides is shaped like a beetle. Across the park, over a bridge up and down a rise is a sea/river side path which leads to spit that reaches across the river. It is a beautifully quiet walk. The sea was very warm and gentle. Even I got my feet wet, as did mum.

Well not in this picture

The spit was populated by birds and small car ferries went back and forward from 'John 3:16' to Waiheke island.

On the land side of the spit mangrove were taking over and forming swamps and pools of clear water.
On Wednesday the day was not quite as pleasant, but we did have a good drive up the North West side of North Island beyond Helensville to MacNuts Farm on South Head Road. Here they grow and harvest nuts -Macadamia nuts to be precise. We had a slice of very tasty MacNut mud cake and a cup of chai latte, before exploring the garden attached to the farm and buying a pack of tasty nuts.

From here we made our way, with some help from the SAT NAV, across from the West coast and State Highway 16 to the East coast and State Highway 1.

We eventually made it to Warkworth where we joined SH1 and started down to Puhoi which was our destination. Very soon I spotted the Honey Centre. Here we had (Mum - Ginger Ale and fruit yogurt / me lime milkshake and a wrap).

On we went. SH1 goes from the furthest north of North Island where it is a gravel track to Wellington, where it is a four lane motorway. From Warkworth to the new toll road section it is a single lane road, but like most open roads the speed limit is 100kph (70 mph - if you dare).

Just before the toll road tunnel was our turn to Puhoi. You simply go to the centre of the road and take the right turn.

Puhoi is almost another world. It calls itself a town. (Population is too small for 'Lonely Planet' to record.) It claims to be NZs first Bohemian (Czechoslovakian) settlement. It has a Catholic church, a hotel, a Catholic school, a stables and a library.

The library is a good example of the village spirit. It is a small white hut in the centre of the village.

I had set up my tripod to take a picture of the front of the building when there was a movement and an apology from inside. I then had a very pleasant meeting with Mary. I went in and spoke with an elderly lady. She told me that she was not the librarian, but was standing in while the librarian was playing golf. I then asked how often new books were put into the library. Here is where the strength of community came in. Apparently the library has no public funds. Once a year the whole stock is put out in a marquee to be sold and the people of the village supply a new stock by donating books.

Mary did not sound very much like a Kiwi. She told me that she was from Yorkshire. I asked how long ago. She said 40 years. She had bought out her three children. The eldest was now 52 and all had settled either here or in Australia. Her husband was a carding machine engineer. We talked about not everywhere being as rosy as people make out. She made it clear that if it was only her and her husband they would return to the UK. It is still home to them.

Puhoi was our destination because it had a cheese factory.This was 3km further up the road. We were free to walk around the grounds which had fountains and great views of the hills. After our walk we had afternoon tea and set off back to Auckland.

Once more we crossed SH1 and a few meter later arrived at the mouth of the very recently opened toll road. Regular drivers clocked up a bill, courtesy of cameras and computers. We chose to pull off to the cash pay point. Two officials had a tent and seats to help motorists deal with the computer terminal. Mum succeeded in typing in our registration number and putting the princely sum of $2 into the machine and we were on our way. From here it is motorway through Auckland.

Beach and New Car

2009-03-01T16:31:00.000-08:00

On Sunday Ian and Sally took Zoe off to swimming lessons, followed by breakfast and special Early Learning Centre shopping. Mum and I used the buggy to take Emily down to the beach. She became very excited when she saw the playground; so much so it was difficult restraining her - and it would be one of those moments when traffic was heavy.

The beach was in full use. A large group of children were having their fourth surfboard lifesaving class.

After her time in the playground Emily spotted the beach. She was bit miffed when we would not let her simply jump off the high grassy bank on to the beach. However, as soon as she got on to the beach she spotted the sea. She made a bee-line for it with mum in hot pursuit. The sea edge is still lined with sea weed from the recent storm, but mum found a clearer space near the rocks.

The sea was really busy. Further down the bay a large group of people were in various stages of swimming to Rangitoto and back and there were many boats of various sizes in view.

We regrouped for a really nice lunch and after lunch it was time to get the new car.

We knew that this week was going to be difficult for Sally, but we had plans. On Friday Ian informed us that it was going to be difficult for him to help. The solution was that we had a car, leaving both of them free to come and go as they needed. Ian came up with the idea of using air-miles to hire one (if you remember the Subi is off the road at least until Wednesday at the earlist). So, Sally and I went off into town. We did not realise that the Saturday street jazz festival had been transferred to Sunday in Mission Bay, causing a slight delay.

The centre of Auckland City is strangely quiet on a Sunday and all the car hire places are in one area. The hire was speedily carried out and soon I was following Sally on detour of Mission Bay route in a rather nice red Mitsubishi Lancer.

Another good meal, prepared by Ian ended a pleasant, if half stormy weekend. The only trouble being that I went to bed itching madly due to insect bites we think we picked up from the pond side at Monterey Bay. They still itch even now.

Monterey Park

2009-02-27T22:02:00.000-08:00

On Friday we had warning of a severe tropical storm. Auckland residents were advised to tie down trampolines and not drive unless absolutely necessary. We concluded that the large trampoline would go no where, but decided to put the small trampoline and the paddling pool into the garage.

The storm hit in the night. The wind was strong and the rain lashed down. In the morning it was still windy and raining, but not sufficient to prevent Ian driving Zoe and myself over to 'Farmers' to see Diago and Dora. These are character on a childrens TV and are very popular out here. The characters proved to daunting for Zoe and after a brief photo session and coffee we returned home.

Dora

After lunch the storm had changed to intermittent drizzle and Ian decided to take Zoe, Mum and I to Monterey Park - Motor Museum and Model World. The park is a reasonably large area of land on the other side of the harbour bridge. In the centre of the park is a good sized pond. Around it is a walkway and a miniature railway track. Spread around the area were buildings housing different model exhibits. First we went into the car museum. Zoe was interested in the cars with side raising doors like the DeLorean DMC-12 (Back to the Future).

From here we went to the model railway pavillion. This was a fantastic HO gauge railway, divided into seasons. It can only be described as elegant.

Next followed a trip on the miniature railway. The carriages were particularly good and the 'jouney' was made interesting. There were automatic barriers across the paths.

We walked on to the outside model village. Their were Auckland building which we recognised, such as the Ferry Building and the Domain Museum.

The last building was particularly clever. It had pool in the centre connected to the outside pond through a large doorway. Boats were on the pool and could easliy be sailed out on to the pond. The top gallery had an O-guage railway running around most of the edge. In some places it went through tunnels. Its speed was computer controlled at different places and it had turning loops at each end.

After this we left in search of pies. NZ makes lovely pies and like most NZ things has cheese in.

On the way back I notices elliptical marks on the side windows of the car. In the UK you breath on to a cold surface and it causes the warm moist are to condense on the inside of the glass. Here the opposite was true. The air con in the car cooled the glass and the warm moist are condensed on the outside of the glass, despite our speed of 100kph (80mph).

Churchill Park

2009-02-26T18:26:00.000-08:00

Today we let in the refrigerator man. He had come to refit a door seal. He was a young man who was non too complimentary about the people of NZ. (He spoke as a Kiwi himself.) He is looking to emigrate to Australia.

He arrived early which meant that we could have a morning walk. We wanted to go into Churchill Park. It is just over the hill from where I am sitting. Riddell (pronounced reedall) Road forms 2 and a bit sides of a triangle containing an estate of houses and a large area of farmland to the west of its centre. Churchill Park School is in this area. The house on the west of the area look out over the sea and are very smart.

(Tell dog story some time.)

It was a steep climb up Riddell Road until we came to car park leading to Churchill Park. We wandered through it. It had very much the feel of walking in the crater of an extinct volcano.

Passing the school we returned to the road and quite naturally arrived at our seat overlooking the sea.

Back in the house we discussed plans to visit a large area in NW Auckland with a model village, trains and vintage cars.

Hopefully, I have now fixed the bathroom fitting back on the ceiling with glue and tape stronger than that which should be able to fix rocks back on a crumbling cliff edge. I also hope to have blocked up the bottom of the front door through which slugs make their nocturnal way across the hall and over the childrens' bedrooms. We wait for the results on both these matters.

Seaside Holiday

2009-02-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

Today has been one of those we are on holiday days.

After doing some work around the house this morning we had lunch. I made a cuscus concoction. I have never had couscous. But, warmed up with chopped fresh tomatoes and sweet chilli sauce it was nice.

Then we smothered ourselves with suntan lotion, grabbed our books and went off to the beach at St Heliers. The sea was out and it was a very low tide. We headed 0ff in the direction of the rocky headland.

We were able to scramble a good way round until we came in sight of the Lady Bay steps. However, we reached a point were we could go no further. There had obviously been a connecting bridge from the flat rocks where we were to the rocks of Lady Bay, but erosion had long since removed them. The strata was very horizontal and at times looked like a man made wall. In places what looked like pipes of hard rock stood out.

In other places the soft rock layers had been undercut and the platform of hard rock and been worn into an overhanging jigsaw pattern.

The people who live near the edge of this place have wonderful views.

We tried to find some shade, but decided to sit on a bench overlooking the bay and read our books.

We did a bit of shopping and back to the house.

Zoe and Emily played their usual evening games on the swings and the trampoline. Zoe also picked the first of the raspberries. I am hoping that Zoe will settle down earlier than last night so that we can join Sally to enjoy another episode of Boston Legal

Legging-it in Auckland City

2009-02-24T18:53:00.000-08:00

The journey into AK city took the same route as driving but without the hastle of one-way systems and parking fees.

We first went on to the quay side to look for information (free stuff). Then we turned away and into the city. The first mistake was going through a door which I thought would take us to the bridge across the road to the shopping centre. Fortunately a kind sikh gentleman used his swipe card to let us out.

Once in the shopping centre I went to Warehouse Stationary where I bought some masking tape and sticky fixing pads. (They are waterproof and stick rocks back on crumbling cliff sides - they might do.)

With no other plan in mind we walked up Queen Street. (This is the central shopping street.) The aim was Aotea Square. This where the administrative buildings are, the theatre and cinema are positioned around a sunken square like Trafalgar Square with out the fountains and the lions. Development is going on and perhaps we shall see the results next year.

The Cinema

Just before the square was a Borders book shop where we had a very nice coffee and cake served by a splendid Chinese man. He was obviously listening and had most of what we were going to order written. He bought our food to the table and then legged it back to get some butter for my muffin. I wish this were a tipping economy, but I thought better and decided not to distort the system. (I legged it.)

Having photographed the cinema we went into the 'arts building' to see an exhibition called 'Queer Images'. There were some digital images, but they weren't the kind of queer that I expected. There was a warning that the images might offend.

We made our exit, photographing the interior (not the images - they would offend).

We got back to the intersection of Victoria St West and Queens Street. Here two four lane roads intersect and so normal traffic systems do not apply. While the pedestrians watch, for a while the traffic makes its usual cycle of road1 then road 2 then road 3 and finally road 4. (Driving around city roads is very slow in NZ) . After this the pedestrians have a turn. All traffic comes to a stop. The walking green man comes on at all four roads. Pedestrians cross in any of the six directions and in any direction. (This makes twelve directions in all.). Instead of the usual flashing red sign the green now becomes an amber number and counts down from 25 seconds to zero when all walkers stop.

The Green Man Legs It

Four Seconds - Face the Camera and Leg It

Having observed the phenomena of the ' *** square dance' we went back to Britomart. There is a huge array of bus stops, but now we have a timetable and were soon back to St Heliers where we picked up money, bought milk, let mum walk on the beach (I was too posh for this) and so to more pancakes and some work.

Monday and ShroveTuesday

2009-02-23T14:36:00.000-08:00

Monday
Mum still spring cleaning.
I walked into St Heliers to buy long screws and lemon juice. Used them to fix toilet roll holder on bath side. Used blue-tac to fix light and fan cover on ceiling.

Tuesday
While cleaning in garage the light and fan cover fell off.
Finished cleaning in the garage. Cleared dishwasher. Rain absolutely pounding down.

Pancakes for dinner in 20 minutes.
I asked the shop lady in St Heliers if they did pancake day. I explained that pancake day (Shrove Tuesday) was the day before Ash Wednesday. She asked me if it was in the Bible. I whispered to her "N0. Its probably an Anglican thing"
Do you think that I might have kick started in new tradition in NZ.

The signigicance of this day is that it is 41 years since mum and I decided to get married. Some people might say that we got engaged, but I don't remember proposing or mum accepting.

Pour

Cook

Plate

Eat

Simple

Mum is now cooking stuff, including pancakes, for the family tea. I did help. Whisking and washing up is hard.

Eat Your Heart Out Lawrence

2009-02-21T18:09:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I borrowed the car. The object being to purchase a toilet seat as a third replacement for a broken one. The toilet is not your standard one. I was also going to investigate why the cistern refused to fill up. This year, with greater confidence, I pulled off the lid. It was, to me, a fairly foreign arrangement, but it was immediately obvious that the water supply tap was practically off. After 2.5 years you can now get a good flush.

Because Villory Boch toilets are not your standard ones, I made my way passed Placemakers to Plumbing World. After great indecision we came away with one that we thought would fit, but with an option to return. I also puchased a special toilet roll holder.

We also purchased mirror fitting and concrete mix to fix in the swing. This time from Placemakers. Unlike shopping in B&Q when you can be the only one around, including assistance; there seems to be 5 assistants for every customer. Which is most annoying?

On the way home we called into the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial Gardens. This is centotaph in honour of the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand. It is a large area of green with different views of the city and Rangitoto.

After lunch we unpackaged the toilet seat to find that it fitted. However, it was badly scratched and so back to Plumbing World. Very annoying, but a satisfactory job was done.

On Wednesday we tackled the swing. Mum and I took turns digging the four holes. Mum is much neater. I am quicker. Once levelled in went the concrete. Another job done.

On Thursday the tropical storm struck.

CRASH
On Friday the rain still came down. Sally did not have a sitter so mum and I got up early. I went with Sally and bought the car back to take the girls to child care. It was too wet to do anything.
There was no going outside, so the two mirrors got hung. Another job done.

At ten to four I left to get Sally. It was only drizzling. I was pleased with how well I knew the route and managed a difficult island. I little down the road I noticed a bright orange car approaching the next junction on my left. The approach raised concerns and I was ready for evasive action. It appeared to stop and then suddenly turned right across my bows. I put on full anchors and for a minute (no second) I thought I had avoided the inevitable. But, the inevitable is the inevitable. I pulled up. So did the man behind me who gave me his card and left. Somehow the orange car had done u-turn back into the street it came from.

A little old lady got out of the car and my first words were "What did you do that for?" We exchanged details. I got to Sally who miffed that I hadn't totalled the car.

The insurance man will not be charging us excess has he was convinced that it definitely was not my fault. The car goes in on Monday. I am grounded until it is restored to health.

My 30 year unblemished record is down the pan + a lot of inconvenience.

On Saturday mum went with Sally to take Zoe to ballet class. Ian, Emily and I went off to Plumbing World to pick up the toilet roll holder and my missing phone, which Ian found in the car as we parked at Placemakers. I swear it wasn't there when I looked. We had coffee and breakfast. Rather, Emily drank Ian's coffee and helped consume my chocolate whiskey cake.

Today, Sunday, mum went with Sally to Zoe's swimming class. It has generally been a quiet day. Sally is photocopying my passport and driving licence for the insurance claim.

Overlander

2009-02-21T15:17:00.000-08:00

A very early start to catch the 7:20 am Overlander to Britomart, Auckland.

The trains here are narrow guage and the coaches seem to dangerously overhang the track. Book in for this service was almost airline style. Baggage was checked in and etickets checked at the desk. There were only three passanger carriages. One contained the dining area. Up front, behind the baggage car was an open observation platform and at the rear a closed one.

From the open area you easily get a feeling of speed.

Our journey took us through miles of open countryside, over gorges, with a stop in the National Park.

The train stops at the town of Ohakune. At this stop you can either buy food in the buffet car or at the station cafe. We chose to buy our food in the buffet car and eat it sitting at the picnic tables along side the track.

At this spot the Tongariro volcanic peaks are visble. There is little snow near the summit.

From here its pretty much down hill with the engineering feature being the Raurimu Spiral. It was declared a 'wonder of the world' when it was completed in 1908. It has three horse shoe curves, a complete circle and two tunnels.

Sally and Zoe met as at Britomart, a little later than expected; our south of North Island complete.

Wellington Sunday

2009-02-21T12:51:00.000-08:00

Today was the return of the car day. The SAT NAV guided us well to the Hertz office in the industrial section of town, but did not show petrol pumps. From the off ice we went in search of fuel. It was 'Around the Bays Day' and somehow we got involved in heavy traffic leading to the motorway tunnel. I don't think that our manoevre was really a u-turn on the motorway, but once more the SAT NAV got us back to the office and a final search for fuel.

Once out of the car and on foot Wellington is much easier to navigate. Once down the road away from the office we were back on the quay side and everything was recognisable. We made our way to the Te Papa (Our Place) Museum. This took us passed a bright outdoor Sunday market.

Te Papa is a very modern museum. There is much hands-on for children and the usual story of the country and the Maori culture.

We were there for the first day of the Monet exhibition. It was not over busy. There were complaints in the media that such exhibitions only come to Wellington. But, after all, Wellington is the country's capitol.

The city is very arty. There are clever, carved messages hidden around, boys diving into 'wells' in the quay side decking and even youths spraying grafitti (?)

Before going in for lunch I took a photo of our Lambton Court Apartments.

Before ending our day we went for a last visit to the quay; photographing such things as model boats, Scottish performers and the stock exchange.

We needed an early night ready for an early start on the Scenic Overlander in the morning.

Botanical Gardens, Beehive and Potter

2009-02-20T19:16:00.000-08:00

Having worked out what was happening to our on board navigation system, we went down to Lambton Quay on the ground floor. (Note this) Along the street was the alley to the start of the cable car. This was a coach on a steep track that was pulled up the hill. Here we had our first meeting with George and Elizabeth from Nottingham. It was Nikon at first sight.

The winding gear was much more gentle than this speeded up picture shows.

We were to meet up with the Nottingham couple a number of times. Finally, here at these famous gardens. As you can see the celebrity, 'Lady Norwood', could not keep a straight face at the unveiling ceremony.

We separated from our friends at this point. I hope to meet them back home.

After tea we walked to the 'Beehive'. For some strange reason this is name that the Kiwis have affectionally given to their Parliament building.

We rounded off our walk by visiting the railway station as the Potter shot tells;

then back to our apartment through the third floor entrance on 'The Terrace'. Navigation myster solved?

Sunrise in Wellington

2009-02-20T18:22:00.000-08:00

Cities are noisy places. At 4:00 in the morning mum decided that I would like to photograph the sunrise. By six o'clock having had breakfast, washed and had a nap we were 0ff. I looked at the map and decided that we should turn left and arrive at the quay in seconds. However, we found ourselves going for longer and reaching the university. Mum checked the map, redirected us and we made it to the quay. (The solution to this navigation mystery might be dawning on you - it did not on us.)

From here it was simple. Follow the road around the bay. Mum noticed a notice which said something about 'Bay Closure'. But ignoring this we continued. It was bitterly cold even with clothes on. Mum rarely got out of the car. But there were some dramatic views. Eventually we called into Warehouse and bought a coat. Part way through the morning we left the coast road and went into the suburbs for coffee. We found the 'Embassy' cinema/cafe (Not the one that held the 'Lord of the Rings' premier.

Journey's end was to be 'Red Rocks'. The beach here is only suitable for four wheel drives. We were satisfied with a walk and a look in on the visitors centre which provided a frame for this picture.

Here is where we turned the SAT NAV on. We arrived back in Lambton Quay. Where was the car park? Why was there now a flower border? Once more to the right and round the town we went. Back to the start again. This time I pulled up where told and mum found a corridor at the back of a shop. At the end of the corridor was the Lambton Apartment lifts. So, to the left I went, into the car park, crossed the road, went into reception and up to the room for lunch. Have you solved the mystery?

Cheese and Ale Day

2009-02-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

On the 13th we woke up to a dramatic sky and watched a small liner sail into Napier harbour.

Having cleared up we made or way south leaving the family behind. We were to find out later that we really left them behind. Their flight home was cancelled. How do you cope with two infants in a small airport. At least they slept on the plane home.

Our first port of call was a cheese factory. It wasn't that brilliant and after morning coffee/tea we departed Napier in the Camry bound for and Wellington.

Next on the itinerary was the Tui Brewery at Mangatainoka on H2. One Henry Wagstaff (1836-1911); an English rouge stopped at the spot where the brewery stands and made himself a cup of tea. It was the best cup of tea that he had ever tasted so he decided to settle their and brew beer.

The Tui adverts are amongst the funniest I have seen and the visit was fun from the beginning; starting with a glass of Tui bitter which mum enjoyed as the picture shows.

Even a visit to the toilet was fun. The fittings were converted barrels.

We were fortunate to turn up on the one day that they bottled the beer. Our guide grabbed more bottles off the belt. It is true that such beer tastes the best.

So, having grabbed our 'STOLEN FROM TUI BREWERY' beer glasses we set off down the SH2.

The road over the mountains was an adventure. We should have pulled in for coffee. It would have helped with the drive in Wellington.

Wellington is a very compact city with a complicated one way system.

Once more the SAT NAV failed us. We set it for 120 Lambton Quay; the address of Lambton Serviced Apartments. Even though the SAT NAV lady said 'Destination on left' there was nothing to be seen but a Bureau de Change. Having passed the destination the lady directed us to the right. First we went back north on SH2, then back around the one way system. At this point I decided to switch the lady off and turn left. A parking space presented itself and I watched as the meter moved to 6:00 and all $4 of parking. Ten yards from this spot was the reception for our stay. Having registered we were directed to the across street car parking.

This not the end of the story.

Here at last. The journey took 8 hours.

Strawberries, Wine and Trains

2009-02-17T18:29:00.000-08:00

Thursday 12th was to be the only full day that Ian, Sally and girls spent with us.

This was also the day to discover that the cable to the SAT NAV was not working. We manually followed the family to 'Strawberry Patch'. Here Zoe had a happy hour picking fresh strawberries and we had coffee.

From here we followed to 'Clearwater' winery. The best part was sampling the product. The final one 'Sea Red' was particularly tasty and we have a bottle to share and eat chocolates with. After lunch the family went back as the girls were tired. We wondered around the vineyards and spoke to a young Kiwi man who was humping barrels. He was not looking forward to returning to his studies in Uni next week. I guessed what he was earning money for and left him with the wish that he did not drink it all at once.

We found our way back to Napier, being particularly pleased to find the 'Rothman's Building' again and bodly enter the foyer to photograph interior Art Deco details.

In the afternoon Ian, Zoe and myself made our own journey into 'Train World'. Zoe enjoyed controlling the engines on the Thomas layout, but we spent nearly an hour there because of the play she had on the wooden Thomas layout.

The largest central model was a very imaginary (no comment) model of British trains. The star model was one that started life as a model of Us scene, became Napierised, was purchased and presented to the town. A ride round on a miniature railway completed Zoe's time there.

Here we go again; 'where are my glasses?'. We had just driven off. Ian drove round to the front of 'Train World' and waited in a parking bay. I retraced my steps around Train World and then along the alley back to where we had parked. Coming back to the car I was giving up and beginning to hope that I had left them back in the house. At this point I spied them on a low wall. There is a God who watches over lost spectacles and a helpful Kiwi who picked them up of the pavement. Thank you both; if you are reading this.

On the way home Ian called in to to sort out the SAT NAZ. Zoe had gone to sleep in the back. I began to feel hotter and hotter. At which point I tried to open the door. Locked in. So I tried the windows - electric. I didn't try the air con - no power. In desperation I twiddled a lock on the door. This triggered the alarm. Ian dashed straight out laughing and gave me the keys. No I had air - even air con. After lengthy negotiations Ian appeared with the new SAT NAV cable.

Home for tea, walk and bed.

Napier - Part 1

2009-02-16T17:17:00.001-08:00

Napier, having a population of over 50,000 is designated a city. It is on the sweeping Hawkes Bay. It was planned as a town in 1854, but in 1931 it was virtually destroyed by an earthquake reading 7.9 on the Richter scale.

Most of the buildings before 1931 were destroyed by fire, but over two years the town was rebuilt during the peak years of the Art Deco style.

Unfortunately it would seem that this country has little concern with history. I have seen it written that nothing here is worth preserving because it is not old enough. There are many Art Deco features in Napier, but much has been allowed to come into disrepair, destroyed or modified.

We, that is Sally, Ian, Zoe, Emily, mum and I flew in to the town on a twin prop plane. This makes it the first time that mum and I have ever flown on anything other than a jet.

The girls travelled quite well. It would be the first plane ride that Zoe would remember. Emily perhaps won't remember this trip quite the same.

The flight took us over some rather bleak ranges.

I am always pleased with the detail of my aerial photographs taken without image stabilization using a standard lens. The following image is a very clear one of the moment when the wheels touched down.

The plane landed on the tarmac of the small domestic airport and we were soon through.

After the flight we were in convoy of cars. Ian had the SAT NAV in the red Toyota Camry and so I followed behind, with mum, in the silver Camry and parked outside our holiday home. Both cars had air con and automatic gears. This was in a very quiet area 'near the airport'. The open Pacific Ocean was a short walk over a browned grass and a gravel beach. From the horizon their was nothing but water between us and America. It was a peaceful ocean at this point.

Napier has a reputation for being sunny and dry. But, that did not take into account the arrival of the rain gods from Nottingham. I did try to persuade the grateful residents to bow down and worship us and bring offerings of gold. The chap next door just laughed.

Out accommodation was good. Mum and I had the upper floor with a bed sit room, en suite and balcony. The Clark family had two bedrooms off the kitchen, lounge and spa bath area.This arrangement worked well.

This is our room with balcony looking over the sea.

Once we were settled I drove out to Napier with mum, Sally and Zoe. We got to the sea front where there were certainly Art Deco signs. The central promenade gardens were like many UK seaside towns.

The beach that we saw was somewhat disappointing, being made of grey gravel that was just becoming black sand grains. Zoe enjoyed this and mum enjoyed collecting the white drift wood that was prevalent on the beach.

We made a visit to a shop called . Here we came face to face for the first time with deadly 'possum'; destroying scourge of the kiwi bird in the country. This group were on top of a mini singing of their victories.

On our return we came upon a beautiful example of Art Deco. This was labelled 'National Tobacco Company'; being known as the from the 1950. It is now a gymnasium. Cool!!! I made a return a visit on Thursday and was able to photograph some of the interior.

I finished the day with a photograph of Napier Harbour taken from our balcony.

Monday and Tuesday

2009-02-09T17:01:00.000-08:00

At last the rain has come. However, it is even muggier and definitely hot at night.

The began at the end of Monday. Irene spent the day on house work and I replaced a 3 m long curtain rail whose brackets just pinged in a row.

Today it is very muggy. We walked down to shop in St Heliers. I have at last got my loaded disk to connect to the network and am busy setting it up. We are preparing for our departure from this place tomorrow.

No, we are not coming home. Tomorrow we all fly to Napier. Ian has rented a house there. He has rented a car for his family. We have rented one for ourselves. On Friday Ian and family will return home and we will drive down to for a few days. We will leave the car and return to Auckland by a train that will take 12 hours.

We are looking forward to this adventure.

Feeding the Ducks

2009-02-07T18:28:00.000-08:00

Ian invited mum and I to go with him and the girls to feed the ducks at the Auckland Domain. With SAT NAV on we followed them; arriving and parking just in front of them. Even without the Sat NAV our navigation skills are improving. In fact, we had feeling we knew where to find them despite the SAT NAVS' protestation to "make a u-turn when possible.

Zoe enjoyed feeding the ducks, but Emily seemed unhappy, so Ian took her back to the car. Zoe wanted to go to the 'climbing' trees principally to scare mum.

When we got back to the car Ian and Emily had gone. Zoe wanted to go to the museum. Once more we visited Sally the dinosaur, did jigsaws, but this time we visited the war exhibits. Zoe liked the Spitfire.

After a quick drink and ice cream we returned home and we are trying to keep cool in the shade.

Crystal Mountain and Botanic Gardens

2009-02-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

Today we went our separate ways.

Mum, Sally and Emily went off to the Botanic Gardens and Ian, Zoe and myself went off to Crystal Mountain.

The range of charges was daunting.

Crystal Mountain is an area some distance away in Auckland. It is trying to be a theme park for adults and children, but it fails in being a theme park and children friendly. It has number of activities for children, but these are hourly and children just won't wait. There is a roller coaster which Zoe went on, a tractor train, which we had to give up on, pony rides, crystal panning. There was also a display of crystals and a well stocked crystal jewellry shop.

We regrouped at the house and had a leisurely afternoon. It was too hot to be out for long. UV burn times, with blocker, were extremely small.

In the evening Sally and Ian went for a meal in Parnell while we baby sat. When Sally got back we sat and watched the first episode of 'Boston Legal' - strange but enjoyable, with William Shatner playing a comic part as an aging head of a law firm.

It is now Sunday morning, the day is starting, the sun is starting to blaze and we are promised temperatures near to 40 C with burn times of 3 minutes. Keeping cool and out of the sun is the priority. There is no actual air conditioning, but the heat exchanger between the roof space and the house is on and I expect all the fans will soon be buzzing.

We Are Sailing

2009-02-06T15:44:00.000-08:00

Friday was sialing day. As promised Ted was waiting for us on the boat at Auckland Maritime Museum. He was to be one of the crew of the motorised sail boat 'Ted Ashby'. We boarded for free as special guests. We spoke to a man who was on a similar family visit and to members of a party who turned out to be a NZ AOG church on an outing with their pastor.

Once out to see the engine was turned off and the idea was to be sail powered. I was invited to help raise one of the sails. This meant holding a rope and taking the strain. This I did while singing 'Yo, heave O'. I passed the camera to mum who took shots of me at 'work' and a brilliant shot of the sails.

Unfortunately there was next to no wind and after drifting a little way the engine was turned on we sailed back to shore.

Ted came over to have a conversation and to indicate that after we had regrouped from our various travels (he from the Coromandel and we from Wellington) then he would like to show us some of Auckland that we had not previously seen.

We drove back to Glover Park for lunch and some afternoon before I went off to collect Sally.

Today a hard drive that I ordered on line yesterday arrived and I began the install.

Dining Out

2009-02-05T12:40:00.000-08:00

On the same Wednesday we, (Ian, Sally, Mum and me) were invited out to dinner. Karen, who is Sally's child minder had told her parents about us and they were keen to meet us. Ted Worthington was an ex-pom. He has lived here for 50 years, having left the ship on which he was serving at the age of 23. He had worked hard on various jobs such as fruit picking and eventually bought a small fleet of fork lift trucks at the height of the building boom in NZ. His wife was a blond Kiwi named Dianne.

Ian drove us to quite a 'normal' home in Mission Bay. It had the usual steep drive. It ended at a car porch containing a BMW car and a Mercedes pickup (neither brand new). We were shown into a small room at the end of which appeared to be an illuminated beer pump. We were offered a complicated array of beers or wines and nibbles. It became obvious that we were in a small bar room. It had imitation black oak beams. Around the edge were genuine horse shoes. There was hunting horn, a stack of old vinyls. Pictures of boats, airoplanes and trains. Ted knew the writer of the ancient railway magazine. There was an old picture of a mansion in Colney with an old Bentley out side the door. Ted now has an old Bentley in the garage. I did not quite catch whether it was the same Bentley that was his father's one outside the house in the picture.

Before we left we were asked what we would like to drink and Ted busily loaded up a bottle bag. Ian drove Sally, Mum, Karen and I down into Mission Bay we parked and made our way into a fish restuarant where we were seated at table for 7.

Ted arrived and there was a load pop as the champagne cork accidentally flew out of the bottle in the bag that he was carrying. He plonked down the wine and asked the waitress for glasses. They said that they did not have enough. Ted refused one of the glasses as it was dirty; was annoyed that there were not enough glasses and strangely enough a whole batch of clean wine glasses appeared. The restuarant did sell its own wine, but in NZ it is quite normal for customers to have their own wine and use glasses from the restuarant.

We had a good meal of snapper, chips and salad and having had good time and arranged to sail with Ted on Thursday we went back home arriving about 9. All was quiet and we went to bed.

Mount Wellington - Plumbers World

2009-02-04T23:28:00.000-08:00

Today, Weds, we had the car, so having done some work around the house we decided to have lunch on the top of Mount Wellington before visiting 'Plumbing World' as investigators for Lawrence.

Mt Wellington is landmark for this area. If you do not have a SAT NAV and are lost you head for Mt W and find a road from there. Mt W is a regular route marker for shopping and Sally's office. Although Mt W is not difficult to see, the entrance point is more difficult to find, even with a SAT NAV. We drove through gates up one way road that was light an upwards helter-skelter and just below the summit we pulled up into the car park. This was a favourite spot for workers to pull into for lunch. There were picnic benches where we had our lunch. We were glad that we had once more boosted the country's suntan lotion economy. There was no shade. From where we sat we could see Rangitoto and the housing development in the quarry below.

It is a strange development for NZ. The ground is totally flat, the roads are very grid like. The few occupied house exactly the same in shape and grey colour. From our vantage point we could see executive style detached houses, but at the back of their gardens their was a row of grey terraced homes. Very strange.

The crater of the volcano had been partly levelled and a fence added to prevent falls into the cone a good way below. I would seem that this filling in and earth work was carried out by Maoris to create a hill fort.

I made it to to the summit, but mum found the rugged path beyond the steps too difficult to walk on. From the top can be seen the usual city view, but to the south is the entrance of the Tamaki River flowing into the Panmure Basin. This area was very nearly chosen as the starting point for building Auckland and the current industrial use gives a good idea why that idea came up.

We returned via 'Plumbing World'. This a large store. The front has displays of all the elegant products used here, but through the back is a vast array of plumbing components. In the front were elegant ladies chosing the latest bathroom look and in back were rougher plmbers buying the fitments to make dreams come true. All the components that Lawrence gave me are compatible with components in NZ. But, sorry Lawrence, your boiler catalogue amused the hardened experts. One of the plumbers, a cutomer, looked at the catalogue and immediately said, "That's Pommie stuff". I replied "Yer, right". They most certainly do not do central heating, I asked about water heating. He pointed to a tall shiny cylinder. I asked how it works. He said that there was a 3 Kw element inside. (They do gas too.) Electricity is generally hydro or thermal and therefore relatively cheap here.

After lunch I did some woodwork. I left the glue to dry and when I returned a strange, alien like insect was on it.

Tall Ships Race

2009-02-04T18:18:00.000-08:00

Currently, tall ships from many nations are sailing in competition around Auckland Harbour. On Tuesday we had the car and drove off for a closer look.

This meant crossing the harbour bridge, which is the first time that I have driven myself across. Our first stop was the ferry terminal at Devonport where I took pictures of the town, distant shots of the boats and the naval base.

The notices pointed to Mt Victoria. We drove up and took a few shots, but we were still not near enough, so we drove to North Head, which I confused with Mt Albert.

The hill was covered in cars and many people sat along the hillside watching the race, many with radios to hear the commentary. We watched the race between the Swiss and the South Africans from start to finish. The commentator wondered why the Swiss favourites had lost.

North Head has three gun emplacements overlooking the city.

We had some time to spare and so I decided to drive to a headland on the other side of the bridge. I discovered three limitations to SAT NAVS

You have to know where you are going
They sometimes ask you to do impossible things, like turn left when you are well over in the right lane
Believe them when they say you are at your destination. It sometimes does not look like you are, but with more careful examination you find that you have just missed seeing the thing that you were aiming for.

The place we got to was called Kauri Point in the suburb of Birkenhead. We had to do a forest tramp which led to a view of the Harbour Bridge and the City.

The Row

2009-02-02T11:56:00.001-08:00

Last night I had the most almighty row with Mum. She had gone to bed concerned about food. She would not settle she kept getting up and down, putting the light on, reading and prowling about. I wanted to sleep. I had this amazing row speech in my head. It cannot be repeated here or anywhere. In the morning it turned out that she had been asleep all night. Perhaps I was too, but I'll never be sure.

Mum as gone out with Sally and the girls for a school dental check up. When they get back I will go off to work with Sally and bring the car back. Then we will set off across the Harbour Bridge towards Devonport (This is the Kiwi naval base - I'll try and count the ship). Here I hope to be closer to the yacht race. It is time to revisit Mt Victoria.

Now to find out about Facebook, crashed car and snowmen.

Beaches

2009-02-01T18:57:00.000-08:00

Saturday and Sunday were beach days.

On Saturday morning we went off to St Heliers Bay beach with Sally and the girls. Emily generally kept awat from the water, but Zoe could not get in far enough.

On Sunday Ian took us with Zoe to Piha.

St Heliers is on the east coast and Piha is on the west coast at the other side of the Waitakere Mountain Range. The sand is shelly at St Heliers and it is generally calm, whereas the west coast has black sand made from volvanic rock and the shore is constantly pounded by waves. A sea mist hangs near the ends of the bays and surfers find this to be paradise. many bachs hang off the mountain side.

Zoe was more careful about the sea at Piha and spent time digging into the black sand.

The Beach at Piha

After our morning we headed back. We stopped at a cafe / restaurant in the mountains. The food was plentiful. The starters were meals in themselves. The place was called 'Elevation' and the view across the forest and city was spectacular.

View From Elevation Restuarant

On Saturday afternoon Ian and I went off shopping. A huge box of Tomy trains which were supposed to be $300 were on sale last week for $200. On Saturday they were $100. That is £30.

We also bought two sets of curves to go up. We had a rough go at the weekend. Today I have rebuilt the track. I now want somebody to explain why; whichever direction you put the engine on the track it always finishes going the same way. That is; if you pick up the engine and replace it facing the way in which it came, when it comes back it is facing the way it arrived in the first place.

Tracks plans are going - at a price.

MOTAT - Auckland Yacht Race

2009-02-01T14:15:00.000-08:00

Thursday was spent in emulsioning the ceiling of our little Kiwi pad. We are getting to be quite at home in our little room. We have a computer in one corner, double bed in the middle, a coffee table by one window, a book case, drawers, portable loo, kettle along the window facing the park. Out back through a curtained opening is the washing machine with a large sink and hot and cold running water. Above the sink are shelves on which are our toiletries, a shaving mirror and a clip on lamp.

On Friday we kept Zoe out of childcare. I took Sally in to work, bought the care back and off we went to MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology). We arrived just after 10 in time to park on the road nearby. The tickets included a ride on the tram to the other part of the museum and back. Zoe was free. There was more than enough for Zoe to do and there will be much more as she gets older.

Model Railway

Zoe liked the model railway. One visitor told us that she was 7 when she first saw it 30 years ago.

Zoe also like the voice pattern oscilloscope, the flight simulator, the tram ride and above all, the oscillating water spray in the garden.

I appreciated the steam engines, in particular the mechanism. I am please with this shot, showing movement. Although the camera was hand held and a long shutter exposure was used, the movement was not frozen, but non-moving parts are sharp.

Moving Parts

On the way home I spotted the racing yachts. They were a good way across the channel.

Yacht Competition

Zoe spotted an opportunity to back track to the play park at Mission Bay. It was quite a walk away, but nan and she seemed to enjoy the time.

This was a good time on our own with Zoe.

Emily Gets Jabs

2009-01-28T18:26:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday I had the delight of seeing Emily vacinated, one in each leg. She was obviously good about the first one. But, a bit more wise about the second one. After waiting for any reactions and having coffee. (The surgery has a very good coffee shop.) The car park bays are marked 'For the use of customers'. Being a customer rather than a patient is a double-edged thing. As a paying costumer of the doctor you can expect (even demand) a better level of service than in the UK. However, the doctor is free to carry out whatever treatments they might want to, and charge for it. Childhood immunisations can be expensive, but Kiwis balance it against the possible cost of the parent being off work.

Did I say that I lost my spectacles (glasses). I confused the Kiwis over this. I had rung the Museum on Tuesday and a kind lady described my missing glasses/spectacles that had been found. After a long discussion during which she took my name (the discussion was prolonged because we could not get the terminology of kiosk of foyer right; it turned out to be cloak room it was agreed that I should collect them on Wednesday. So, after returning from the doctors to collect Irene and take Emily back to daycare and Sally to her office, where we were served more coffee (Sally does sell it) Irene and I motored off to the Auckland Museum. I presented myself at the 'place' and announced my business. I was presented with an number of 'things'. What had happened to the glasses labelled Norwood. A tad of panic set and suddenly they appeared at the left side of the counter, amongst many other unlabelled things. I told the attendant that I really loved her and Irene and set off for a visit to the Winter Garden and I took more photographs. Among them was this beautiful lily.

Purple Lily

We had planned to repeat the Mt Eden visit, but in the confusion of the morning I did not have my tripod. I decided instead to do some boat watching. In the 'City of Sails' it can be hard to get near any sails. I looked at the map and thought that Hamer Road would get us near the main sailing harbour. I set the sat nav. It took us into dockland amongst large fuel tanks and other industrial plants. However, we could part in one spot for free. When we reached the top of this small peninsular we found that it was an excellent view point for the harbour bridge and sailing boats. Indeed we found it to be a point on the coach tours of Auckland, with one coach after another putting down and picking up tourists. Tourists can be a nuisance, but I was able to do some photography. (Us tourists?)

Auckland Harbour Bridge

Sailing by the Harbour Bridge

We made our journey back along the Tamaki drive, but stopped off at Okahu marina. This area is full of cruisers which must be worth many times more than our house.

Cruisers in Okahu Marina

Auckland Day

2009-01-27T17:56:00.000-08:00

Monday was Auckland Day. We are not sure what it represents. Even those people surveyed for the news were not sure. They failed to tell us. Even the web does not explain and that includes Wikipedia.

Many events took place and we joined the bank holiday makers at the Museum.

We started off with the girls feeding the ducks in the park. Emily would have prefered to have joined the ducks, but Zoe had a great time feeding bread to them.

After coffee we went to the Winter Garden. This is a large greenhouse built in 1930. It is full of colourful plants and ornamental ponds.

Ornamental Pond

Carnivorous Pitcher Plants

Water Lilies

At this point Emily began to tire. Ian took her home and we went into the museum.

There was dinosaur display. Zoe enjoyed most of this, except for the skeleton. We went on to the seas shore gallery, the toy gallery and to the childrens section where Zoe made a badge and did puzzles. We finished up in Zoe's house. This was the Maori Marae that we have visited before. It must have been there where my glasses fell out of my pocket. There is story to follow.

After lunch, back home, Ian took me off to Sylvia Park for the final puzzle in my connection to the internet. This was two lengths of USB extension cable. There is now a wireless detector in the garage beneath the wireless hub and after a great deal of configuration work I went on line by the end of Monday.

Secret Garden and Mt Eden

2009-01-26T19:02:00.000-08:00

On Sunday morning we went off to a garden at the base of Mt Eden. Auckland is dotted with a large number of such mounts. Each one is the remnant of a volcanic cone.

Zoe really enjoys this place. She can explore the numerous paths and is learning about maps.

The garden is shaded by tall forest trees and tree ferns. But, there are bright colourful gaps such as this one.

Bright Colours in Eden Garden

We then drove off to the top of Mt Eden. The City and islands views are stunning. The crater is sacred. It was strange to see a herd of cows roaming about in the bottom.

Auckland Harbour Bridge

Cows in the Crater

The City, Mt Albert and Rangitoto

Auckland Zoo - 2009

2009-01-26T18:26:00.000-08:00

The zoo remains a favourite of the children. And of many people in Auckland.

We were 'late' setting off, so no attempt was made to park in the car park. Entrance was followed by coffee. As we sat in the central area elephants were bought out on parade. Irene says she does not remember being so close to them.

Up Close and Personal

Baby Tiger

Last years tigers have given birth to babies. They have grown fast.

The howler monkeys were noisy and playful.

The Giraffes have Grown

The Lions Still Roar Lazily

Ian spotted that Emily was getting tired. She does run around quickly. He took her home. We had lunch. Zoe explored some tunnels and posed nicely on the yellow lizard.

Sunset and Sunrise

2009-01-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

Thursday and Friday saw us having a time for decorating and shopping.

On Thursday afternoon Sally returned. We went to our favourite spot looking over the Glover Park crater and Rangitoto to watch the sun set.

Sunset over St Heliers

Glover Park Panorama

Ragitoto Panorama

On Friday morning Sally woke me up to tell me that the Chiefs rugby team were practicing in the mist in Glover Park.

The Chiefs Practicing in Glover Park

During Friday afternoon news came on about a car chase. The police were chasing a gunmen on the North Western Motorway (see earlier). The gunman was commandeering vehicles. He stopped one particular vehicle, but the police, unfortunately, shot dead the innocent driver. This shooting of an innocent person is apparently a first for New Zealand.

This happened at the start of the Auckland Day bank holiday weekend. The city was gridlocked for hours. Ian was delayed, but found a way through.

Waitakere Ranges

2009-01-26T14:48:00.000-08:00

After the daycare run Irene and I set off for the Waitekere Ranges, spefically to the Arataki Visitors centre and the nature trail. As we are now getting use to, the sat nav gave precise directions along the Tamaki Drive, through the city, along the North Western Motorway, the Great North Road and Scenic Drive through Titirangi.

The visitors centre was undergoing renovation but there were spectacular view points.

View of Auckland City through Rainforest

Tree Ferm Emerging from the Rainforest

Panorama of Waitiki Range

We ended our visit by stopping for coffee in Titirangi. The chololate mudcake was superb. We bought a eve of inaugaration newspaper. There was a prophetic cartoon of Obama getting the oath wrong. The caption read that his oath would be "Give me five. Alleluia Bush has gone."

Musick Bay

2009-01-26T14:17:00.000-08:00

Today Irene I did the morning run with Zoe and Emily.

Last year our first indepenendant exploration ended in failure. This year we have the sat nav. Musick Point is a place of interest (POI on the sat nav). Program in and off we go.

St Heliers is at the end of Tamaki Drive which is the road from Auckland city. The Tamaki River mouth is wide and at right angles to our location. Musick Point is at the opposite side of the river mouth.

The route is inland, across the bridge at Panmure, across to the suburb of Howick and up along a narrow peninsular.

At the point is a Telcom office and steps down to a rock platform where an ex-pom (engine driver was fishing.

From the point the tower at Glover Park is visible, and of course, and Browns Island.

Rangitoto and Browns Island

Water Tower at Glover Park (The grey block in the centre)

We had a brief time there and back to jobs and the daycare pick up.

I Can Drive

2009-01-26T13:19:00.000-08:00

On Monday morning Karen picked up the children to take them to daycare.

Sally had left the Subi for us to use and my first ride out. Thankfully, this was alone to do some shopping at Placemakers. I needed some tape to go over the ceiling board joints, some skimming compound. Sally had put panels on the ceiling and I wanted to get it emulsioned. I could not find a shaving mirror or lamp so my journey extended to Warehouse in Sylvia Park where I was able to buy a clip on lamp, but the mirror was purchased elswhere.

I did have the assistance of a charming Kiwi lady giving me directions via a sat nav. A brilliant invention.

My driving mistake was to use both feet. One on the 'go' pedal and the other on the 'stop' pedal. The technique works, but I soon discovered that it is better to keep the left foot out of the way.

We did some work around the house before going to collect the girls from daycare.

We had a walk and saw some of the stange architecture near us.

Why disguise the wood

Does Royalty Live Here?

No 16th Jan

2009-01-25T18:04:00.000-08:00

For us, crossing the date line, the 16th Jan never existed. At the end of a week I still had one days supply of tablets left.

The first day here was spent mainly in recovering and getting to the know the children. (Photos of children will be sent to private email addrsesses via Picasa.)

On the 18th we began a little walk about. This was down to Ladies Bay and up to the cliff above Gentlemans Bay. Although we missed the red tree flowers by a little over a week. we did catch sight of beautiful blue and white blooms.

The all familiar Rangitoto from above Ladies Bay

Auckland City from Ladies Bay

Browns Island

Auckland from Glover Park

We spent time with the girls who showed us their bouncing on the trampoline and paddling in the pool.

Sally left for New Zealand on Sunday afternoon and we became baby sitters until Thursday.

Back to Kiwi Land - 2009

2009-01-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

We apologise for the delay in sending this blog. It has taken some time to get the computer functioning and, as I write, I am still not on line.
Wednesday morning was dark, cold and remained misty all day.
The departures board was full of cancellations and delays – mostly to UK and European destinations.

Air NZ in Heathrow Fog

We were slightly delayed in boarding and then delayed for half an hour while on board. It was annoying to find that our booked window seats were not available and once more one of our in flight entertainment consuls was broken. Having started to make friends with an elderly gentleman, travelling alone, we were given two more seats someway further back.
It turned out that our friend was also heading for The Hacienda Hotel. After a relatively sleepless flight (I did not enjoy the movies, but Irene did) we returned to our seats for landing and eventually departed the airport accompanied by our friend. At 8.00 pm it was hot in LA and we were glad to get to our air-con room.

LA Sweltering Morning

LA Garden Centre

Starbucks Coffee Shop

Before our site seeing walk we went to, what is becoming our usual dinner for plates of pancakes covered in . . .

I recognised the waitress (Claudia) who had sat and chatted last year. She thought that we must make it a tradition and repeated the performance.

We met up with our friend at the hotel and had a chat before boarding the shuttle and departing for the airport.

In America do not let your passport and boarding pass go through the scanner. They are not helpful in retreiving them and letting you through. My first 'criminal' mistake.

The Air NZ staff were better. They at least recognised a mistake and moved seats around so that we could sit together as booked. We are resigned to no window seats. Breakfast was served, on board at 4.00 am. NZ customs are more friendly than US ones. Once through at 5.30 am we waited for Sally to collect us and get us home.

Change Blog

2008-07-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

We are home in the UK now. Please use the link to 'At the Oaks'

LA Loss and Home

2008-03-26T01:44:00.000-07:00

Matt did as asked and caught up with the coach that was to take us back. I dutifully and now gratefully produced a $5 note. We transferred to the coach back. The passengers involved were very forgiving. (We got the impression that they had waited some time for us, but were not letting on.) A minutes away from Matt our driver asked if a Mr Norwood was on the coach and asked if my name was James. Matt had found my credit card on the ground by his coach in Bereley Hills. I was at once alarmed that some millionaire celebrity my want to rip me off. Matt was not due back for some time and we were due to leave before that. What to do? Booking the coach was the last credit card transaction that we would do, so, we asked the company to cut it up when it was bought back to the office. I felt that I could trust them, but I have contacted the bank and had it cancelled since.

We got back to the Hacienda just after 12:00 noon, got our luggage boarded the shuttle, tipped the driver and entered the terminal. Again, to the confusion of LAX. However, they do have people in red uniforms who volunteer (Why?) to help passengers throught the airport. (One of these volunteers is a lady OAP). We got to the many confused queues at the BA desk. We were told that our flight would be one hour late. (The board was not to show this for some time and until it did we had to go on the assumption that it was on time. Which was some time and forced us through security earlier than we would have liked.)

When you bag has been weighed and labelled at the BA desk you then have to drag them across the hall to be left at the x-ray machines. At least we did not have to stand with them. (Had we have been told by a returning passenger at Heathrow we might have stayed to see them put in the machine. This returning passenger told me that when they received their case back from US customs the lock had been broken off and the baggage tie removed and put into the case with a letter saying that passengers to the US should not put locks on their cases as the customs officers were authorised to break them off. I have to say that our locks went through perfectly well.) On the US news we learned that the US is losing 17,000,000 tourists a year because of these draconian measures.

Having got through these formalities we went in search of food. This is all on the upper level. There is bar dedicated to the Japanese. There was no way that we could make out these menus. We searched for a doughnut. I suddenly realised that this was one US delicacy that we had not tried in the US. None were to be found. It looked like we were stuck with the internationally prefered snack of muffin and coffee, but I spotted 'root beer'. I don't know what it is, but it was served in a large Pepsi cup and tasted like Pepsi, but at least it was cold and wet.

Down stairs we went relatively smoothly through security. The departures area is bleak. I needed the toilet. I could not find a cubicle with a working lock that looked hygenic. Having explored this area we decided to press on to the BA departure gate, even though it was too early to do so. It was already crowded. The toilets here were newer, as was the area. The locks worked and it was cleaner. We had been told by the Quantas flight attendant that we would be bused out. However, he was wrong when it come to BA passengers. Our departure lounge was superior and our gate led directly on to the flight. We boarded our BA plane. Everything worked. There was a moment that my light would not switch off, but it was soon fixed. We in the UK not only believe in safety, but in honouring our contracts to provide all that we say we will. Let's try to find something good about our country.

The flight was smooth, the food was good, but despite the whiskey, sleep was difficult. Touch down home, emotions, disembark, long wait to collect baggage at the carousel. (Three out of five working.) Show passports, out of the terminal in minutes, not hours, no checks made.) Long walk through to the central bus station. Arctic winds blowing though the automatic doors which were constantly opening. Would it be possible to have air trap entrances? Across to tickets, great service, rebooked for £3, no space on 12:00 noon, space on 2:30. Bus boarding is efficient. The buses arrive on time, before they stop there is clear public announcement stating which bay, where to and when. Immediately the display board shows.

While waited we did put on some extra clothing, has a coffee and muffin and was greeted by the thunderous sound of hail on the tin roof.

Heathrow Bus Station - Hail Amongst the Spring Blossoms

The journey home was smooth. The coach pulled in to Broadmarsh Bus Station precisely on time. Four yards separated us from the 21. Ten minutes later we were off. Twenty minutes later we were at the top of Ewe Lamb Lane. Joni met us there.

The Kiwis had returned from their visit to the Down Under People on the Islands Next to Australia. We will always be Kiwis at heart. We have gained much from our trip - hopefully made friends with our girls.

We are drawn back by our commitment to family and friends here. But, one day, by God's grace we will return to the people and places which are now also in our hearts.