Dave and Kay at Castle Point
Old Pumphouse at Goldmine Waihi
"The Island" Gisborne
The offending bollard Tairua
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
2nd Week in NZ
Driving Creek Railway
Coromandel Drive
Swimmerama Auckland
Tane Mahuta in Northland
Kauri gum display at Matakohe
Monday, December 7, 2009
First Week in NZ over
Bay of Islands nr Opito bay
Opito Bay feast
Heather and Warren
George
George and Joy
I really stuffed up the last minute packing of my clothes back in Australia and ended up only bringing a black turtleneck and 2 tee shirts. I only had my boots to wear after chucking away my smelly slip ons so went to a Katmandu in Whangarei and lashed out on a good pair of sandals called Teva. Now I've got lots of blisters from trying to break them in, or is it, break my feet in!!!
There has been lots of hospitality up here in Northland. I've had my hire campervan a week and not even slept in it yet! I was doing the eastern beaches and called in on Joy and George at Parua Bay. Now these two are the ultimate in hospitality having all sorts visit, all the time and so happy to have them. So the next day there was a midday BBQ and I made another contact for America and had a few beers so stayed another night. I was able to give George a bit of help with his computer and had my own play up!!!! Well it was only the adapter giving up but that ground it to a halt. So had to go back to Whangarei and get a new one and then visited Mum Price at the hospital again before heading north to the Bay of Islands
Another cousin in law lives at Opito Bay, just past Keri Keri and I ended up staying with Heather and Warren for 2 nights as well. On the Sunday they were the hosts for the annual community 'get togeather for Xmas' and filled up their house with about 40 people. Lots of interesting people to talk to and amazing food and drink to enjoy
Yesterday I went for a swim in the bay that is full of yachts and launches and tried to headbutt one!!!! so I have a graze on my forehead from that !!! Did finish the swim right around the bay and checked out all these lovely craft so that was good. Then I drove across the island to Opononi and had a few hours break looking across the harbour to those massive sandhills across the other side. You can catch a boat across there and go sand surfing.There is a really nice walk at the southern headland where you can check out the waves breaking on both sides. I reckon the locals must have some good surf at these places. Then there was Tane Mahute, the massive kauri tree in the Waipoa Forest and the Kai Iwi lakes were last port of call before reaching Merv and Sue's place in Dargaville.Will stay a day and move on tomorrow back down to Auckland and beyond
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Few Days in NZ
COUPLE OF DAYS IN NZ
The 1st of Dec finally came and Liz drove me to the Gold Coast Airport and it was a bit of a shambles with a big flight going to Japan as well as mine to NZ. Airport security had 2 different checkpoints before customs and immigration. So it all took time and it felt like I had bricks in my 2 carry on cases. A laptop with all the accompanying cables added to the chargers for cameras,mp3 and binoculars is pretty heavy when you add a book or two—whew!!!!! It was hard leaving a very good friend but I will meet up with Liz again in Hawaii about this time next year so its all good.
I was the last one to board the plane about 5 mins late and then the cabin staff couldn’t get the headcount right for another 25 mins so we left half an hour late but made it all up with a strong tail wind to Auckland. Nice and mild there and pick up of my ‘mini’ Nissan campervan went smoothly. It was rush hour as I made my way into the city and then over the bridge to the north. Orewa is the last suburb to the north and I was pretty tired by then so stayed the night with one of my late wife’s cousins Jeanette. We made some calls from there and were given some good news about how this evenings surgery to my mum-in-law went.
Shirley is 90 the day after Boxing Day and her fall a couple of weeks ago was a worry with all the Xmas and birthday celebrations coming up. Anyway it all looked good when I reached the hospital at Whangarei the next morning and saw Mum in pretty good shape after the operation on her hip. The photo is of her and her son Mervyn and the amount of visitors she had while I was there is a great reflection on her standing in the community.
Now my trip will continue to the Bay of Islands and loop back through the west coast and down through Auckland to the south before coming back to Auckland on the 22nd and joining up with the rest of the family coming from Australia for X’mas and Mum’s birthday.
The 1st of Dec finally came and Liz drove me to the Gold Coast Airport and it was a bit of a shambles with a big flight going to Japan as well as mine to NZ. Airport security had 2 different checkpoints before customs and immigration. So it all took time and it felt like I had bricks in my 2 carry on cases. A laptop with all the accompanying cables added to the chargers for cameras,mp3 and binoculars is pretty heavy when you add a book or two—whew!!!!! It was hard leaving a very good friend but I will meet up with Liz again in Hawaii about this time next year so its all good.
I was the last one to board the plane about 5 mins late and then the cabin staff couldn’t get the headcount right for another 25 mins so we left half an hour late but made it all up with a strong tail wind to Auckland. Nice and mild there and pick up of my ‘mini’ Nissan campervan went smoothly. It was rush hour as I made my way into the city and then over the bridge to the north. Orewa is the last suburb to the north and I was pretty tired by then so stayed the night with one of my late wife’s cousins Jeanette. We made some calls from there and were given some good news about how this evenings surgery to my mum-in-law went.
Shirley is 90 the day after Boxing Day and her fall a couple of weeks ago was a worry with all the Xmas and birthday celebrations coming up. Anyway it all looked good when I reached the hospital at Whangarei the next morning and saw Mum in pretty good shape after the operation on her hip. The photo is of her and her son Mervyn and the amount of visitors she had while I was there is a great reflection on her standing in the community.
Now my trip will continue to the Bay of Islands and loop back through the west coast and down through Auckland to the south before coming back to Auckland on the 22nd and joining up with the rest of the family coming from Australia for X’mas and Mum’s birthday.
Monday, November 23, 2009
November nearly gone
Its been all good news on the elbow after leaving Dad with a promise to return for his 90th b'day in 18 months.I drove up to Woolongong and saw the surgeon and he was very happy with the Xrays, so gave me a referral to Lismore Base Hospital. Called in and saw my aunt June and Alex in Sydney and the next day I drove up to Ballina where my good friend Liz offered to put me up for a month while I completed my preparations for my trip and recovered from the broken elbow.So this month has been a mixture of just about every human emotion imaginable, dealing with family issues, last minute 'have to do's', fun nights out,weekends at the flat,swimming and exercise for the elbow, inoculations and elbow inspections,etc etc. Just need the credit cards and travel insurance and I'm on my way!!!!!Some bad news from NZ about Mum who is all set to celebrate her 90 th b'day just after Xmas. She has cracked a bone in her hip while having a fall in the garden and now has to spend the time up to X'mas in hospital healing that crack. What a way to avoid all the pre X'mas work!!!! Seriously we all hope she makes a great recovery for the onslaught of family visitors from NZ and Australia.This last weekend we took Sam up to Brisbane in an attempt to run some Aussie Titles qualifiers but didn't get those times and then called in and saw my good friends Bruce and Loretta and Brian and Sue. Bruce is having a big struggle with cancer and it was good to see him still full of fight. Then we went overseas-----to Straddie ha ha----and said goodbye to Jan and Bruce, Sean Lisa and Jamella and Satchi. Couple of things going on with the Moreton Bay Reserch Centre having an open day and then the Oyster Festival on the Sunday. Nice weather for swimming but no waves, so good for me but not Liz and all the other surfers out there.Back to the mainland now for the last week of dotting the I's and crossing the T's and then I'm off on the trip
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
OCTOBER 2009
When I handed the keys of my main house over to Dean and Cara I was ‘on the road again’ and at the end of a huge task of rearranging the property so the granny flat could still be used by the family or friends for short periods of time.On the Oct long weekend the Evans Head Longboard Invitational was on again and this time scored some good waves and I was pretty pleased to get past the 1st round for the 2nd year in a row. Offshore winds and 3-4 waves in October at Evans was great for a contest often plagued by northerlies.Bit of a shame about the Grand final for an old Parra boy but I reckon they played their grand final the previous week against the old foe Canterbury. Liz &I spent this afternoon and night with my uncle Ted and Estelle and Yvette just outside Grafton and apart from the result of the game it was a great stop as usual.Next day we had a very nice surf at Arrawarra Headland before moving on to Shelly Beach at Port Macquarie for another fabulous ‘free camp’. We had 2 other vans for company and the unofficial mayor of Shelly Beach the late Harry would have been very pleased with us continuing the fine tradition of free camping at this great beach. It has free BBQ’S,cold showers and toilets and you are parked right beside the sea----it doesn’t get much better!Fabulous coastal walk over beach and headlands to the lighthouse and a swim in the bay is a tough way to start the day so we stayed for most of the day and were rewarded with some nice right handers on the point as the tide dropped.Drove south to Forster and slept beside the Great Lake and then on to Sydney the next day.Had a nice surf at Towoon Bay on the Central Coast on the way. Only 4 out and some 3 footers every now and then. Took Liz to the airport for her flight to Melbourne and then had to pay $30 for an unpowered site near the airport at Rockdale to wait a night for my visa interview at the US Consulate. Used the train into town the next day then headed south after going through the involved process of the visa applicationFound a really nice wave at Boneyard but stuffed up on the walk down for a surf and woke up in Shellharbour Hospital a few hours later! Seems like a strong wind gust and some clumsy footwork tipped me over a 10 foot drop and I was found there by other surfers covered in blood from a head wound and cuts from my feet and legs. The main injury however was a broken elbow on my right arm that will keep me quiet for a few months. I would like to thank anyone who helped me to hospital and took care of my boards and camper. They also tracked down my mate Barry Taylor who came from Culburra and took over looking after me. Thanks Barry and Eileen.I was operated on at Wollongong 2 days later and then spent a further 3 days recovering and convincing the ‘neuros’ I would be OK outside. They sure ask some complicated questions ha ha. Had a plastic caste made and then Baz came for me and we went back to Boneyard to look for the blood and figure out what happened. Surf was a lot smaller, I missed a really good session when I crashed off the path. On to Culburra for a few days R and R and then I went down to my Dad’s place at Batemans Bay.One of the highlights here was a visit from my youngest son Phil and his new family---Guihong or Linda and her son. Dad and I welcomed them into the family with a nice drive around the Bay area and lunch at the Soldiers Club.
When I handed the keys of my main house over to Dean and Cara I was ‘on the road again’ and at the end of a huge task of rearranging the property so the granny flat could still be used by the family or friends for short periods of time.On the Oct long weekend the Evans Head Longboard Invitational was on again and this time scored some good waves and I was pretty pleased to get past the 1st round for the 2nd year in a row. Offshore winds and 3-4 waves in October at Evans was great for a contest often plagued by northerlies.Bit of a shame about the Grand final for an old Parra boy but I reckon they played their grand final the previous week against the old foe Canterbury. Liz &I spent this afternoon and night with my uncle Ted and Estelle and Yvette just outside Grafton and apart from the result of the game it was a great stop as usual.Next day we had a very nice surf at Arrawarra Headland before moving on to Shelly Beach at Port Macquarie for another fabulous ‘free camp’. We had 2 other vans for company and the unofficial mayor of Shelly Beach the late Harry would have been very pleased with us continuing the fine tradition of free camping at this great beach. It has free BBQ’S,cold showers and toilets and you are parked right beside the sea----it doesn’t get much better!Fabulous coastal walk over beach and headlands to the lighthouse and a swim in the bay is a tough way to start the day so we stayed for most of the day and were rewarded with some nice right handers on the point as the tide dropped.Drove south to Forster and slept beside the Great Lake and then on to Sydney the next day.Had a nice surf at Towoon Bay on the Central Coast on the way. Only 4 out and some 3 footers every now and then. Took Liz to the airport for her flight to Melbourne and then had to pay $30 for an unpowered site near the airport at Rockdale to wait a night for my visa interview at the US Consulate. Used the train into town the next day then headed south after going through the involved process of the visa applicationFound a really nice wave at Boneyard but stuffed up on the walk down for a surf and woke up in Shellharbour Hospital a few hours later! Seems like a strong wind gust and some clumsy footwork tipped me over a 10 foot drop and I was found there by other surfers covered in blood from a head wound and cuts from my feet and legs. The main injury however was a broken elbow on my right arm that will keep me quiet for a few months. I would like to thank anyone who helped me to hospital and took care of my boards and camper. They also tracked down my mate Barry Taylor who came from Culburra and took over looking after me. Thanks Barry and Eileen.I was operated on at Wollongong 2 days later and then spent a further 3 days recovering and convincing the ‘neuros’ I would be OK outside. They sure ask some complicated questions ha ha. Had a plastic caste made and then Baz came for me and we went back to Boneyard to look for the blood and figure out what happened. Surf was a lot smaller, I missed a really good session when I crashed off the path. On to Culburra for a few days R and R and then I went down to my Dad’s place at Batemans Bay.One of the highlights here was a visit from my youngest son Phil and his new family---Guihong or Linda and her son. Dad and I welcomed them into the family with a nice drive around the Bay area and lunch at the Soldiers Club.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)