28.04.11 The weather forecast for today was fine in the morning and raining in the afternoon so after breakfast we decided to go cycling in central park, followed by spending the late afternoon at the Museum of the Red Indians. Huh, what a good plan. Lindy, Stan , Damian and I got about 400m from the hotel on our way to the metro before there was a crack of lightening, rumbling thunder and torrential rain. We sheltered under the canopy of a closed café and do...

27.04.11 En route to New York - Delta AirlineHere I am sitting on a wide slippery leather seat next to the window en route to New York JFK with Delta. What a crazy fun week we've had. A heat wave, the first 6 day visit of our grandson Louis with Graham and Rachel, the beach hut opening, Nicki and Chris 3 day visit, my friend Alex arriving on Monday lunch time for Leo's funeral, and the Tuesday evening hair cuts, packing and departure of Alex. Oh, and not to menti...

05.03.11 Auckland to Brunei and Brunei Our night flight from Auckland was delayed by an hour whilst the engineers took out a broken pin from the undercarriage, sourced a new one, and fitted it. No worries, the pilot came out to explain what was going on so all us ladies instantly forgave him. The earthquake has had an effect on new Zealanders travel, so the good news is that Damian and I had 3 seats each and 3 blankets, 3 pillows, 3 Tvs, etc etc but not 3 meal...

01.03.11 Waikawa to Okiwi Bay Scenic Reserve Today we were on the road after mid morning coffee!! We drove first to Katoa Point just North of Waikawa. It is a historic Moari village site, and also a lovely lookout point over The Queen Charlotte Sounds. The present day Maori still live in the area which is great. Their carving skills are still very good as demonstrated by a modern carved pole at the reserve. We headed north towards Blenheim stopping at 12 .5...

04.03.11 Springfield to Arthers Pass, to Christchurch, to Auckland We took our time showering and breakfasting in the still sunny morning. Because it was such a beautiful day we thought we would drive towards Arthers Pass and then back to Christchurch. We began our day with the obligatory coffee break at the local Springfield café. Then we drove up into the pass. We stopped a couple of KM short of the village at Arthers Pass because it was raining and very cl...