Blogs from Kapiti Coast, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

Kia Ora, My stay in New Zealand with Heather, Mike, Fergus and Flora is continuing… Wednesday 1st to Friday 3rd August – PARAPARAUMU and WELLINGTON I had three lovely days at work… dancing along to my iPOD at my desk. The work itself is not very interesting but I do have to stay interested because an error could cause a lot of problems. I seem to be quite speedy so spend most my time being paranoid that I’ve made a mistake and trying to slow down. I met some of Heather and Mike’s friends this week, all coming round to meet baby Flora. We had Josie from the USA with her little girl and Jan, an old family friend of Mike’s, who was just a lovely whirlwind! Mike and I went to see The Dark Knight ... read more

We're now back home, after uneventful flights from Hawaii-Auckland-Wellington and bus-train-drive back to Te Horo (thanks for leaving the car for us Carmen). But the taxi ride from the hotel to Honolulu airport was memorable - in a white stretch-limo. We only asked for a taxi big enough to take all our luggage and this was the next 'cab' off the rank, at no extra cost and actually cheaper than taking the shuttle! A fun way to end the trip. It's great to be back in the verdant green of late-spring in NZ, and to offload our bags for the last time - whew! Thanks to Amanda, our greatly-missed Roxy was at home to greet us in her most effusive fashion . And thanks to Elena and Luke, the house and garden were in immaculate condition. ... read more

It's been a roller-coaster last couple of months, as we madly try to finalise our travel plans, finish off a PhD thesis, complete work projects, find other colleagues to caretake a business, etc. After 28+ years our old horse Mr Leroy Brown decided his time was up and we all shed a few tears as we buried him in the top paddock at home. Then 3 weeks ago, our beloved dog Roxy was bowled by a car on the road outside. It was touch-and-go for the first 10 days, then surgery to amputate her hind leg but she's recovering fast and getting around pretty well on 3 legs. She started barking again the other night, so we knew she was really on the mend. We'll be able to leave her in the care of Amanda, Abbie ... read more

Christmas in a camper - 24th to 26th December The next morning was Christmas Eve and after breakfast we enjoyed a lovely shower on board the camper. We set off on our morning quest to find Cloudy Bay vineyard which was just outside Blenheim. We had been set the task by Bowks’s Dad who was a fan of Cloudy Bay wine and had said if we could locate the vineyard where it was made he would treat us to a bottle. Now there’s an incentive if ever I’ve heard! To our joy we found the Cloudy Bay vineyard where after the all important wine tasting we selected our bottle, the Te Koko, a very tasty Sauvignon Blanc. Having got the photographic evidence of our achievement we continue north once more, heading to Picton at the top ... read more