Kapiti Wanderers

Sydney Airport – after 15 hours in the air. It is 6am, and we are nearly home. Our last day was a complete contrast to the high tech modern experience of Dubai as we took ourselves down to the old market across the creek. Sadly it was Friday i.e. their Sunday, so most of the shops were closed, and the spice souq was deserted. Never mind, we peered lustfully (or at least I did, I don’t think Davie cared much) into the dozens of windows in the gold souq, many of which were open and the old ‘madam madam madam’ call as the shopkeepers raced out of their shops to see if they could inveigle us inside. Well, I am not that confident about bartering over expensive stuff; so we gave it a miss. We had ... read more

Whoa, Barcelona – who would have thought we could have added to our extreme weather experiences (snow, rain, sleet, sand)? Oh yeah, not just a thunder storm, not just lightning, and not just rain, but oh boy, the works! How weird could it be standing under the shelter (minimal) of a KFC shop opposite the Sagrada Familia Gaudi Temple, with no vision because of a blimmin tree and fog?? Wow, did it rain, and worse, was the distance between the lightning and the thunder instantaneous? Scary, very scary. My golf shoes are ruined, but that is ok, they are old. But we had to wade through ankle deep fast running water. Whoo – ee; pretty interesting stuff. Then, finally into the temple, and again, whoo – ee – as Davie says, this was expected, but it ... read more

Andalusia, Southern Spain, is a vast area of contrasts; craggy sierra mountains and lush green valleys, enormous hydro lakes, and windy little, sometimes dangerous, roads and modern expressways and interchanges. Most interesting has been the very obvious history – from paleo through Arabs, Christians, inquisitions and Romans. But, I guess, the agricultural life goes on and on. There are more olive trees than anywhere else in the world, along with wheat, sunflowers and vineyards. It is so green and gorgeous now; of course with the cold and the rain, but we are reliably told that it will brown off now that the sun seems to have arrived. The garden at the vinca (villa)has heaps of herbs and vegetables, but the irises have finished and it is only the roses left. Apart from the cities, like Cordoba ... read more

Arrival in Casablanca, Morocco, was uneventful and after fiddling around waiting at the airport for other Insight tour passengers, we were transported to a mediocre Sheraton hotel – you know the type – gorgeous and sumptuous lobby, and pretty ordinary tired rooms. Dave was horrified at $10 NZ beers and Pringles in minibar. And thank goodness we'd bought a bottle of scotch at the duty free on the way through. We were now ten, as we met Ali and John Tocker at the airport. So our group (Vicki and Frank, Sue and Pete, Pip and Rick along with Davie and me) was now complete. The others seemed to retire until dinner, but Davie and I ventured out into the ‘ancient’ medina up from the hotel across a very busy road. This was a very busy market ... read more

We are all so glad we invested a week in Madrid. How come we know so little about Spain, and how often its history has interacted with our Anglo Saxon heritage? No wonder Henry VIII's daughter Mary liked that Philip of Spain so much - he was pretty good looking! And of course, Catherine of Aragon was an infanta (princess of Spain). Yesterday was a day of 'leisure' i.e. no organised bus tour. So it was up in the morning and down to the lovely breakfast (why can't we have salmon every morning at home??). This spread has the usual melons, pineapple, apple and a variety of lovely citrus. Cold cuts includes Spanish jamon or ham, goat cheese, salmon and a variety of cold cuts. The hot food has yummy chorizo sausage, tortilla, which is a ... read more