Blogs from Hastings, Hawkes Bay, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

A more gentle day today. After reveille, the C.O. ordered a sortie to Hastings. Hastings is a very small city that is adjacent to Havelock North and it is unclear, to a visitor, where one starts and the other finishes. Some bargain kit purchases were made and will be added to the C.O.’s baggage train. Lunch was taken and enjoyed at Madelaines which is a quirky cafe. The weather is glorious and has reached 30 degrees C. We had previously loaded the beast with some borrowed golf clubs and the 9 holes of golf was re-arranged for this afternoon. We made up a four ball with Dave Wood and Mark Tasker. Mark is a very good golfer who plays off scratch. He was very patient with and good company for the other three lesser gifted players. ... read more

Well, here I am in Hastings with Holly and Ella for the school holidays. After arriving home into the cold, I, of course got sick and spent 4 days feeling sorry for myself and sleeping in bed. These long haul trips are getting harder to take every year. Once I came right, up to Amy and Jeremy's for a few days with the kids and then return to WN with them for the rest of the holidays. I of course couldn't wait to get out for a bit of trout fishing but the rains of last week have left the rivers dirty and high. So I have been patient but hope to get out today, Monday. The weather up here has been normal Hawkes Bay weather, sunny but with some wind. Yesterday we drove over to ... read more

Well! Christmas and New Year have gone. We had a fantastic time. After coming back into Wellington we headed down to beautiful Wanaka in the far south, just for a few days,to help Viv, Di's sister to celebrate her 60th birthday. Magic time and catching up with a few people we haven't seen for a while. Lots of food and drink and great company. Still think this is a neat place and intend to spend more time down there exploring in the not to far future. A quite time with a few people around on the Friday, but all on for the party on Saturday night. Lots of people and a lot of laughs and good times. A bit chilly but with the fires burning and the Pizza oven sending out the heat, spent most of ... read more

Hi Guys, been along day on the bike heading to Blackburn, on the way i passed a lovely little place with a lovely school, anyway nothing really in blackburn apart from the new tesco and amazing views, im down in Hastings still no rain, but the forecast shows it coming, never mind ive only had one day up to now so its sweet, hope everyone is good, keep the comments coming, Guzzler book me on the golf trip sept, i will see you before then pal. missing you all Ta Ta for now Sam x... read more

I mentioned in an earlier blog that in working on the farm, I knew what hard work felt like. For three long weeks in Auckland, hard work took on a whole new meaning! My new role as labourer extrordinaire took me into unchartered territories. After making a mess of painting a wall (how I managed it I do not know), I was tasked with assisting in erecting a wall. Thankfully I really was the assistant, otherwise the whole building probably would have collapsed, and after two days of heavy lifting, a masterpiece to rival Hadrian was there for all to see. By this time, the hype surrounding the New Zealand vs Australia semi-final was in full swing and as a result of the on-field skirmishes between All Black captain Richie McCaw and Aussie fly-half Quade Cooper, ... read more