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Blogs from Napier, Hawkes Bay, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 5
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New Zealand - North Island
Published: December 19th 2007Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Hawkes Bay » Napier
December 19th 2007
Hi Everybody Well here we are in New Zealand and rain has stopped play for the moment - we have had torrential rain for the last day or so. Just as well we have hired a car to tour the North Island as otherwise we would have been drowned rats. We spent two days in Auckland staying in Sky City an hotel situated within a massive casino and entertainment venue - quite a place - we had a meal in the revolving restaurant at the top - giving us fantastic views of the city. We toured the Coromundal Peninsula on Sunday and visited a Hot Water Beach where we hired a spade along with a host of others and dug a hole at low tide! All seems very odd I know but if you strike lucky ... read more
The Santa Scandal!
Published: November 28th 2007Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Hawkes Bay » Napier
November 28th 2007
Stop the presses! Quit tasting wine and marveling at art deco! The local Santa Claus in the village of Levin near Wellington has been sacked by the corp. sponsor for the parade because there were expanded duties - including a lolly scramble - and they wanted to try someone new. Not your fault, Kris, we're just headed in a new direction and your real beard and belly isn't working. The new Santa, old Santa says, had lopsided belly padding, crappy fake beard and was rubbish "and I told him so." Quel scandale! In other news... 1. "Kids warned off cold cheerios" the headline screams. Aren't all cheerios cold? Not here, where a cheerios is what we call a Vienna sausage or cocktail weenie. And it's a fave party food for kids and a treat offered when ... read more
AND they have wine!
Published: November 27th 2007Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Hawkes Bay » Napier
November 27th 2007
Greetings blog watchers: I boarded an Air New Zealand prop plane in chilly drizzle last night and landed in the sunny and warm Hawke's Bay region of the North Island. Once again, I feel like I've landed in the travellers' version of hog heaven. The small seaside town ringed by hills filled with homes that perch dramatically all the way up, was all but flattened in a 1931 earthquake. When it was rebuild, art deco was all the rage and so the town is predominately in that style. I'd say 75 per cent of the place is tropical deco - think South Beach on a smaller scale - very little over 2 storeys. And you know me and art deco, people. As they say on Corrie, I'm gobsmacked. My hotel, The Masonic, is a bit of ... read more
You Mess With One Bean, You Mess With The Whole Burrito
Published: October 23rd 2007Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Hawkes Bay » NapierOctober 22nd 2007
Holy freakin' crap my friends have been arrested under NZ terrorism laws! The house i was staying at in Wellington (128 Abel Smith Street) was raided by the police about 5 days after i left it. There are members of the Maori community who want to have a Maori state and were starting to get organised. The NZ officials arrested the leaders of this movement. Two of my friends who are not involved with that stuff AT ALL were arrested last week in the same wave and the house i came oh so close to living in permanently was raided at 6am. Crazy. My friends haven't been charged with anything and are being held without bail at the moment, but there are all kinds of prisoner solidarity stuff going on and people trying to help them ... read more
May 30th 2007
Daheimgebliebene! Wie im letzten Eintrag angekuendigt, haben wir uns in Hastings den lukullischen Genuessen hingegeben. Sehr positiv anzumerken ist, dass hier alle Weinverkostungen gratis sind!!! Insgesamt haben wir 4 Wine-Tastings geschafft, wo jeweils ca. 6-8 Weinproben verkostet werden - nicht so schlecht, oder???? Unsere Favoriten sind: beim Rotwein "Syrah" (Shiraz) und beim Weisswein "Sauvignon Blanc" - sehr zu empfehlen!!! Dann ging's weiter ins Mount Bruce Wildlife Center in Masterton, wo wir vom Aussterben bedrohte, heimische Vogelarten bewundern durften. Endlich haben wir auch unseren ersten lebenden Kiwi zu Gesicht bekommen - sehr puztig! Naechste Station war dann Wellington, die Hauptstadt von Neuseeland, sehr schoen, ein bisschen verrueckt aber sehr windig (fast wie in Wien!). Da unsere Reise ja auch Weiterbildungscharakter haben soll, haben wir als erste gute Tat gle... read more
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4 wheels on my wagon
Published: May 22nd 2007Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Hawkes Bay » Napier
May 22nd 2007
Route: Kaikoura - Lake Grasmere - Nelson - Bark Bay - Wakefield - Picton - Porirua - Wellington - Waikanae - Waiohine Gorge - Hastings - Havelock North. Miles: Lots very quickly! Accident Compensation Scheme: The Accident Compensation Scheme is the slimmed down Kiwi version of the UK welfare policy that produced the National Health Service. The scheme has serious limitations for Kiwi’s because free healthcare is for accidents only, so for heart attacks, hip replacements and the like you need additional insurance, but for travellers it is an absolute bonus. Any accident will be treated by the health service free of charge, so travel insurance is cheap because there is no need for any accident cover. Thea’s head wound was completely covered by the scheme (St John’s ambulance ride included) and we were able ... read more
May 5th 2007
Hi there bloggos If you read my most recent blog, you'll know that I left the story in a true cliffhanger situation. I was in a raft with my English pal Nick and a bunch of Danes about to drop down a 20 foot waterfall. There was no guarantee that the raft wouldn't flip over when we got to the bottom. Further up the river, we had practised the drill. When the guide shouted , we had to leap into our "waterfall" positions. This invovled clinging hold of various ropes and trying not to let go of your oar. We passed the final point where people who were really freaking out and couldn't face it could take the final exit path. This path is known as the Aussie Run. The guide instructed us to row with ... read more
April 29th 2007
As in the place which I am currently employed as dishwasher on the weekends. It is a French dining restaurant and the food is gorgeous. I know because they make me taste many things daily. They also tend to give me a beer or let me do a wine tasting at the end of the shift. Well... ok so I've only worked there for four days... But I have to say they are pretty cool. Everyone is friendly and it's not really a very stressful kitchen like what I would be used to. Every cook/chef I have ever met has been really stressed but not really in this kitchen. They handle themselves well, of course like I said I've only worked there four days. I feel privileged to work there and all I'm doing is washing ... read more
I'm back in Napier!
Published: April 21st 2007Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Hawkes Bay » Napier
April 21st 2007
*Edit* I just added some pictures that Cat sent me. All titled Waikaremoana Lake.* So Cat and I took off on a road trip for eight nights. Our first night we spent on Blacks Beach on the Mahia Peninsula which is a surf beach so we woke up with surfers arriving. There weren't as many there that day as there were the first time I slept there. The second day we went to Gisborne and stayed so long we wound up trying to find a place to sleep in the dark. As we were sleeping in her car we were just trying to find a good place to park. We missed a couple of the places we were recommended to go to because the signs were not clear. We wound up sleeping next to a ... read more
A picture update
Published: April 21st 2007Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Hawkes Bay » Napier
April 21st 2007
A picture update Australasia » New Zealand » North Island » Hawkes Bay » Napier By Veronica Vista April 21st 2007 VeronicaJust a few...... read more
