end of the golden weather
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Saturday, 21 April 07 - 07:52 PM (GMT +12:00) By Brenda L in eternal holidays |
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It's the end of the road for our sun-drenched adventures. Those of you enjoying lovely spring sunshine in Europe will be well pleased to know that the pictures of endless sunny days and t-shirts are pretty much over for this end of the world. We returned to Wellington today to a cosy fireplace and (thankfully) the boxes of winter clothes we sent over before we left Amsterdam.
the end of the road (well, a bit on the way) a taste of things to come - snowy mt ruapehu
So Dawn, we look forward to more of your adventures and less of ours - as the opportunities for terras drinks by the canals increase and we settle into wintertime!
We had a great trip back, visiting Rotorua and Tokaanu - most glorious for the prevalence of natural hot springs and boiling mud.
not exactly sure what they're doing in there taking action photos of mud boiling is quite hard
We saw some more odd signs:
We did touristy things like the Waiau Waterworks (which was cool!) and the Driving Creek Railway (where the children showed off their angelic and begging skills).
not quite sure what i'm doing, but they're being angels ... and then beggars
Sandy working on her horse impersonation talents
And today we all wore something of Sappho's to inspire us on the drive home 
So unless we take Toon's suggestion and set up a fund whereby you all (and 10 of your friends) donate a monthly fee to keep us in holiday money and you continue to live vicariously through us, we're going to have to get a job soon. Probably a good way to deal with the winter months ....
Little angels ...
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Wednesday, 18 April 07 - 08:48 PM (GMT +12:00) By Sandy Mamoli in eternal holidays |
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A week at Bev's beautiful batch - 30m from the beach, all amenities of a real home and a great fireplace for wild and stormy evenings. You can even hear the sea when you go to sleep. Perfect! But ...peaceful recluse at the beach? No such thing with children!
Little monsters pretending to be angels ...
And apparently you can't even swear in front of them. Although Sappho said her parents swore in front of her since she was two and, as we all know, she turned out absolutely lovely and perfect. And before being told off by a six-year old I never even knew "crap" and "bloody" were swear words ...
Anyway, I'm on a crash course in child manipulation and guerilla warfare tactics. I now strongly believe all kids have autistic features - plan it all in total detail or you will be annihilated: Before agreeing to any game make sure to agree on how and when it stops. Before giving them chocolate agree on the number of pieces they can have. Before they go to bed tell them not to get up before 6.30 under any circumstances (including fire). And most important of all: Bribe and corrupt them.
Below the successful child pacification team:
The core team with Sach, me, Brenda and Karen ...
.. supported by Bev, aka Cinderella and Rachel who increased the challenge by bringing two kids and a dog into the mix ...
P.S. Since I have seen Jesse kill a beetle with the words "Die, die, extra die!" I don't believe in the innocence and angelic nature of children anymore.
P.P.S. If anyone would like me to give a presentation on how to raise kids please let me know. I'll charge less than my normal consultant rate as it is for a good cause.
P.P.P.S. I used to be an urban intellectual, well, at least urban ... what the hell happened?
hamilton and other locations
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Wednesday, 11 April 07 - 11:57 PM (GMT +12:00) By Brenda L in eternal holidays |
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Our little Auckland jaunt is over now - it was the first time I've actually just hung out in Auckland instead of flying in and out for meetings with maybe one overnight. We had a great time sightseeing and shopping and also some lying around reading (quite alot of that actually). It has been excellent to spend time with my lovely friends Sacha and Karen (why do they have to live in Auckland though???) - after all these years of infrequent phone calls and emails to be able to just go round for coffee or out for dinner - you can do the infrequency when you're really good friends, they'll still be there when you eventually do show up! Of course the obligatory "best curry laksa in Auckland" (from KK's Malaysia on Manukau Rd) topped off a great few days.
The lovely Sacha, Karen and me :) The absolutely superb curry laksa
There's a few more beauty shots to share with you from the last few days of "up north" - from 90 mile beach through to Waipu Cove, where we really fell in love with the beach-house idea (and the beach, and especially the glorious Resort hotel) all over again. We went out for a birthday dinner at the Beach House Restaurant in Waipu Cove (fish and chips didn't quite do it for me as it turned out) and ate so much we had to lie down for a few hours ...
Ahipara - sunset at the south end of 90 mile beach
we all have different ways of communing with nature
surfing into the sunset (not, not one of us) catching the last rays at Waipu Cove
We're back in Hamilton again now - the place where it all happens ... I picked up Jesse from the airport - she did her first "unaccompanied minor" trip on a plane - no problem at all. Tomorrow we head for Coromandel - hoping the weather gods keep smiling on us as we head ever closer to what should really be autumn ...
the even farther north of New Zealand
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Sunday, 08 April 07 - 04:05 PM (GMT +12:00) By Sandy Mamoli in eternal holidays |
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As we haven't managed to find anyone interested in investing in our beach house in Opononi yet we decided to pack our adventure gear and to explore the far, far, far North. The first step on the way was a scenic ride on a miniature ferry that took us from Rawene to Kohukohu. Apparently some of the very first settlers in NZ used to live here (and why not?) ...
Our road trip lead us along gravel roads which made us realise that there is a real reason why people have four wheel drives (and no, it's not bragging). Due to Brenda's TradeMe adventure we can't afford another car but fortunately our new and now very dusty car behaved well amidst sheep herds and sand dunes.
The top of the island provided us with stunning views. This is not only the northermost point of New Zealand but also where the Pacific ocean and the Tasman sea
meet. According to the signs the lighthouse is still in use.
Stunning and amazing as nature might be there comes a point where you actually need to do something fun and sensible with it. I am duly impressed with all the nature but the adventure parts of NZ life are not to be ignored. Has anyone ever tried sand dune surfing? It's fuuuuuuun .... :-) (... and makes the true purpose of nature entirely obvious :-)
Brenda said she had a good birthday, in fact good enough to let her forget the soreness we acquired after walking up the sand dunes three times (yes, very ashamed - will go to the gym as soon as we are back in Wellington).
Below an impression of Brenda's classy birthday dinner provided by lovely and caring girlfriend ;-)
the far north of new zealand
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Saturday, 07 April 07 - 05:27 PM (GMT +12:00) By Brenda L in eternal holidays |
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It's funny to become used to a land where broadband internet access is not a given, free wireless is almost unheard of and there's frequently no mobile phone network available. It's quite relaxing actually - and those moments when we do get online are just moments; in which we do a quick email up and download, quick scan to see if anyone has commented on the blog (almost never) and then out, back into the sunshine and other more important things. OK admittedly we're travelling around right now and in quite remote areas sometimes - but still, it's a change of pace and priorities.
The sunshine has been following us the last week, as we head north to scavenge the last vestiges of warmth and summer-like feeling. We've had quite a bit of time in Auckland, catching up with friends and driving driving driving from one side of the city to the other on various adventures. It's a biggish city (1.2 million), but so physically huge that you really have to drive - and there are ALOT of other drivers. There are beaches, palm trees, shopping malls, traffic jams, harbours, thousands of people and lots to explore. Thanks to the lovely Sacha we have a place to stay and endless opportunities for nights on the balcony drinking wine :)
the lovely Sacha, editor extraordinaire Sandy and her new friend
We went to Piha, a lovely beach just west of Auckland - really long beach - which doesn't really encourage swimmers (see sign) but is a fantastic walk to the rocks ...
the encouraging sign ..... the magical misty mountain
Then we decided to adventure further north, taking our new car (which is great btw!!) for a decent blat in the country :) We saw giant ancient kauri trees, miles and miles of bush - almost no other cars for hours. Sandy thought that a lot of the countryside looked just like Austria - until we got to the bush and the beach.
We stayed the night in Opononi and dreamed of how cool it would be to have a beach house there ... until we realised they cost as much as a house in the city - is there any undiscovered paradise left that's affordable??? Seriously though, anyone want to go shares in a beachhouse - it's a fantastic place - relatively undiscovered (doesn't even make it to the Lonely Planet, which is a GOOD thing!). Has amazing beaches, stunning views, incredible sand-dunes ... let us know ;-)
Stay tuned for more ... we have learned that our busy stressed out friends don't have time to read long stories ... so just keep coming back for more story bites :) xx
signs of nz
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Wednesday, 21 March 07 - 05:46 PM (GMT +12:00) By Sandy Mamoli in eternal holidays |
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sometimes you just Have to take a photo ....
makes you wonder what people take on the the train equivalent of those outdated mobile phone
ferry on a normal day really .... pictures
this would be fine ... except we were driving a car! maybe the dutch could use some of these ones
we chose to ignore this one but decided at this point perhaps we should pay
attention (glacier in the background)
the scary flightless birds of NZ ... in the wild and on the roads ... apparently
just bizarre ....... and this must be the cruisiest fire station - fire by permit only
when the naming boffins go wild ...
south island wrapup
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Tuesday, 20 March 07 - 01:48 PM (GMT +12:00) By Brenda L in eternal holidays |
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After our adventurous start, the last couple of days of our South Island trip were pretty quiet. Partly because Sandy's altercation with a rock meant she could barely hobble along, and partly because we were in the midst of an incredible storm.
We did visit Punakaiki - the pancake rocks - north of Greymouth on the West Coast. I'm always blown away by this part of the coast, it's wild, rugged, isolated (except for all the tourists with camper vans and german and dutch people everywhere) and stunningly beautiful.
spectacular west coast scenery (on a bad day) and a weka who came to lunch
We finished up with a night in Nelson - where we found a great little bar, with live music and suitably weird locals. After the storms and crazy weather, we managed to get a calm, smooth ferry sailing home. Little window of sunshine :)
sailing into the sunset
Nice to be back in Wellington again - it's still sunny! Spent 4.5 hours assembling Jesse's bunk beds on Saturday - without fighting! One very happy child - and that completes our house set of furniture :-) All set up and ready for visitors .... come on over guys!!
south island story continued ...
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Sunday, 18 March 07 - 04:03 PM (GMT +12:00) By Brenda L in eternal holidays |
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After Kaikoura we travelled on to Christchurch. This turned out to be an incredibly boring city - even though it's relatively big and it was Sunday night ... not a soul on the streets and no decent places to be found for an evening drink. Although the Arts Centre the next morning did provide some excellent coffee and breakfast. After a long scenic drive to Sumner and along the tops of the hills we headed off for Arthur's Pass - travelling through the mountains to get to the west coast.
the strange low cloud made the hills seem quite surreal en route to christchurch
Arthur's Pass was a gorgeous experience - mountains, valleys, clouds, crazy roads and spectacular scenery and bush. We got to the West Coast and headed down to the Franz Joseph glacier. Stayed a night in Hari Hari on the way - had to be the most expensive pub accommodation ever, I guess they don't get repeat visitors and people who stay more than one night so they can afford to charge the earth for buggar all. However even in this tiny one-horse town we met dutch people - there are dutch people Everywhere in this country! There wasn't one place that we didn't hear or see them - are there any left over there?
That's the glacier in the distance ....
The glacier was cool though, we managed to brave raging rivers and legions of tourists to get as close as possible without a guide and safety gear.
ok well maybe it wasn't raging ... but it was cold!
this one was raging - and giant chunks of ice coming through
as close as we could get to the front of the glacier
Unfortunately the golden weather had well and truly ended by the time we left the glacier. We drove to Greymouth in the pouring rain, found the only decent bar there and got through quite a few wines as we watched the hail and contemplated our impending caving trip (another one of those "why did we think this would be a good idea?" moments.
We turned up for our caving adventure completely unaware of what we'd actually be doing - turned out this was a good thing, we might never have done it otherwise! After being fitted out in full 7ml wetsuits with 2 layers of thermals and gumboots and hats we drove out to the bush and then walked for half an hour before arriving at a small hole in the ground. Of course we'd opted for the "adrenaline plus" version (thanks so much Sandy) which included abseiling into the cave. The cave being a dark tunnel under the ground with a rapidly rising (it was still raining) river running through it.
We had to jump down waterfalls, clamber over rocks, swim through pools and squeeze through small holes and tunnels. It was quite exhilarating in parts and terrifying in others. I wasn't too keen on crawling through small holes and sandy had an unfortunate encounter with her tailbone and a rock.
But it was an amazing experience overall! Ending with a natural rock hydroslide and a walk back through the bush to finish in the spa pool. We felt very virtuous and adventurous :)
the light at the end of the tunnel and the pool at the end of the hydroslide!
More to come ... we're spinning it out through our days of idleness and relative calm now we're back in Wellington. For those that are following it, Jesse's updated her blog too :)
The wild south - the beginning
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Saturday, 17 March 07 - 07:13 PM (GMT +12:00) By Sandy Mamoli in eternal holidays |
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Three hours on the ferry and we were ready to discover the wilderness of the South Island. Day 1: A road trip on the tiny coastal roads from Picton to Kaikoura ...
While every single person on the west coast seems to have a bed and breakfast everyone on the east coast has a road sale of whatever they happen to find in the sea. We didn't complain and kept stuffing crayfish in our faces...
Day 2 was designated to the joys of nature but as the east coast is the yellow and dry kind with no icky insects or too much green it was an enjoyable experience. Long hikes and serious and dangerous mountaineering helped us retain our excellent physical shape:
The highlight in Kaikoura? Definitely the whale and dolphin watching! Watching two huge sperm whales and several hundred dolphins was quite an amazing experience. Especially the dolphins who decided to swim along with the boat and to show off their jumping skills were very, very cool.
touring and eating
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Sunday, 04 March 07 - 07:32 AM (GMT +12:00) By Brenda L in eternal holidays |
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It's pretty easy to get used to being on holiday. I think it will be a whole lot harder to get used to working again! But then again we keep meeting tourists who are on 3,4,5 or even 6 month breaks from daily life ... so apparently it's not that unusual to just stop!
Our house is getting nicely sorted now - as of yesterday we even have a bed! Now we don't have to get up to see the view :) We also have an artist in residence, complete with her own art studio. She's producing many paintings, which we are able to buy at hugely inflated prices so that she can save money to buy what she wants .... hmmmm.
The artist with some of her work ...
Sandy's theories on children are ever expanding, including the idea that it's perfectly ok for a 6 year old to have her own blog ... so here you have it, Jesse's Blog [http://supersushi.terapad.com] - keep an eye on it, somehow it must make money (??) - and she loves to get comments (hint, hint). Complete with her own computer, and unlimited access to Sandy's gadgets, this kid is doing pretty well for herself!
Aside from corrupting the minds of children, we had another little holiday last week and went to Napier. It's a very pretty (art deco capital of the south, maybe the world ...) but also rather boring town on the east coast. However they do have alot of vineyards there, and we did a great touristy wine tour and saw lots of lovely countryside.
A strange place called Dannevirke - apparently established by Danish early settlers. The only remnants of this history are vikings all over the place and this sign as you leave town ...
Continuing with the food theme, we had some fantastic meals in Napier - these from a cafe called "Taste".
The mojitos left something to be desired, but the breakfasts were fabulous!
Knowing that we'll need to be moving out of our lovely house around August we've been looking around - taking wooden houses to the extreme, we've settled on this rather lovely wooden cottage with extreme native influences ... what do you think - cute eh?
Hope you're all well, we love to hear from you .... and even tho it's a beautiful sunny day here in Wellington today - in a few months the tables will be turned and those of you in the northern hemisphere will be gloating in your own sunshine :) xxx
kiwi ursula's trip - by jesse
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Saturday, 03 March 07 - 09:33 AM (GMT +12:00) By Sandy Mamoli in eternal holidays |
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kiwi ursula made a new friend called twista at a shop on holiday in napier.
kiwi ursula pretending to be a bottel of wine .
Adventure in the great outdoors … the story (with pictures)
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Sunday, 18 February 07 - 10:25 AM (GMT +12:00) By Brenda L in eternal holidays |
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The day before we left for our kayaking trip it was horrible weather in Wellington – rain, wind, cold – and we wondered what the hell had possessed us to book a 3 day kayak trip in the first place (answer: we didn’t think about it too much at the time, what a surprise). But the next day the sun was shining, all was well with the world and it didn’t seem like such a bad idea anymore! We took the Picton ferry and had a sunny, smooth sail across the Cook Strait.
The next day, with a ridiculously early start (had to take a photo of Sandy up at 6.30am – it doesn’t happen often!) we did get to see a lovely sunrise in Kaiteriteri before we met our group.
Led by the lovely Pania (our guide) we set off on a water taxi for the top of the Abel Tasman park. It was a bit cold and overcast when we were set off the taxi onto a beach, with our kayaks and our supplies for the day - and it was at this point Sandy realized that we would be getting wet – at the very least our feet, and most likely a whole lot more.
We kayaked about 12km on the first day, with a few stop-overs in little bays on the way, and even a fantastic coffee service provided by the guide (who’d’ve thought we’d get flat whites, lattes or cappucino’s on remote beaches in a national park!).
Paddling is a fundamentally exhausting activity and despite our arms almost falling off our excellent teamwork got us to the night camp site way ahead of the Dutch and American boats. (It’s not a competition but …)
Fortunately tents are not what they used to be 15 years ago – it is relatively easy to set them up without an engineering degree and they are a warm and dry shelter providing protection against possums and other dangers of the wild.
Lovely Pania turned out to be a great cook in addition to an outdoor bush barrista (old Maori tradition?) and provided chocolate fondue and a native NZ dance show when faced with a potential escalation of political discussions. All because of George who decided to pretend to be a ferocious Bush supporter … (thanks for figuring out how to get dessert, George! ;-)
Day two was lovely and sunny and we were allowed to take it easy. We did lots of seal watching, saw a glow worm cave, did some rock climbing and had tea, coffee, lunch and snacks in amazing bays. Fully catered is the only way to do camping I say ;-). (Oh, and Pania even showed us the place where they get rocks to patch up the Egyptian pyramids …)
An evening meal of curry on the beach accompanied by wine and topped off with pavlova (!!!) and the most incredible array of stars finished a perfect day - even our muscles had stopped hurting and we could focus on drinking and talking rubbish - as we all know, we're good at that.
The next day was designated by a Dutch/German – kiwi war involving Brenda representing New Zealand and Swaantje the Dutch/German empire. I finally understand history: Wars can break out due to fighting about muffins and paddle splashing. I have never been so wet in my life – next time we’ll drown those Dutch! ;-)
We were daunted by the 18km journey ahead of us on the last day, but then Pania showed us how to set up sail - with 3 kayaks in a row and the sail hoisted on the paddles - we flew home in excellent time - including swimming stops with fish and stingrays, delicious lunch and scenic detours. A final bit of paddling didn't hurt too much and we arrived safely back in kaiteriteri soaked to the bone and on time!
I think we were exceptionally lucky to have a great group of people to travel with (hadn't really thought about potential company in advance) and an excellent guide. Sandy coped with the nature admirably - even if she did manage to ignore it - and even says she'll go camping again!
The last night we spent in Nelson, joy of a real mattress and a shower - topped off with a delicious meal and a long long sleep ... and a massage ... Now planning our next adventure!
survived!
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Saturday, 17 February 07 - 10:34 PM (GMT +12:00) By Brenda L in eternal holidays |
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Just a quick note to let you know that we survived our kayaking experience - 3 days paddling (well, one was an easy day) and 2 nights camping in tents in the bush! Famous Sandy quote "it was fun, and I managed to ignore the nature" .... still a way to go there :) We'll write more tomorrow after we've slept on a real bed and got rid of some of the aches and pains! Here's a couple of pictures to whet your appetites :)
home(?!?!)
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Wednesday, 07 February 07 - 08:06 PM (GMT +12:00) By Sandy Mamoli in eternal holidays |
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... and we made it to Wellington ... scenic routes ... motorways through the desert (dry bush I'd say but they call it desert - little do they know) ... blue/green sea ... beautiful beaches ... 25 degrees ... burning sun ... and after 2 days finally an internet connection (as Bev said no power south of Hamilton. Had to spend two days setting up electricity and a sewage system in Wellington. Good they have Europeans to help out) ...
Right photo: The beaches in Wellington. Obviously completely empty and nothing like Dutch beaches ...
Our days go with furniture shopping, exploring the area and driving along scenic routes. Wellington is amazing and very hilly (for Dutch and Danish people this means mountains - think Himalaya). It is also famous for its ferocious winds which can be experienced on our deck (Brenda calls it a soft breeze but I happen to disagree).
Two days ago we moved into our brand new, beautiful house which is absolutely devoid of any furniture apart from a toilet and a dish washer (phew). Very minimalistic in style and therefore very classy.
We are still sleeping on an air mattress and the dinner table is the garden furniture we have moved inside. We already spent a fortune on furniture but that made no difference at all (delivery within the next 2 weeks).
The house is lovely and amazing and surrounded by lots of nature. I have been taught by Jesse what punga and cabbage trees are (They are really just palm trees). I have also started therapy to get over my arachnophobia, bug-phobia, opossum-phobia, everything-that's-alive-and-has-more-than-two-legs-and-is-smaller-than-a-dog-phobia.
The view from our terrace ...
Me having breakfast (free low speed, unstable wireless with one connection bar on the lower right side of the deck)
Our first dinner at home (Spaghetti cooked in two pots as we don't have a big one). The other photo is the process of setting up Jesse's bed.
(As usual more photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandymamoli/sets/72157594522466250/ )
... all roads lead to Hamilton ...
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Saturday, 03 February 07 - 10:39 PM (GMT +12:00) By Sandy Mamoli in eternal holidays |
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As Jesse had caught a stomach bug we couldn't do too much during the last two days. We went to Auckland though and had a very nice time with Brenda's friend Karen.
Twice the size of the Vondelpark with half as many
people ... (Oh, and Jesse is covered in blankets because
she is sick not because it's cold)
I practised some left hand side driving which everyone seemed to be very concerned about. Karen hyperventilated a lot in the car and kept making funny noises but, really, it was all fine.
We then had a little stuff-up picking up our bags from Auckland airport. We were late because I am always so slow in the morning and they closed just as we got there. No harm done though as this gave us the opportunity to return to New Zealand's true capital, Hamilton (It must be as I have been here twice during the last week). We are spending the night at Brenda's mums who has just finished cleaning up after our last visit and must be thrilled to have us back.
On the touristy side we have seen the kiwi house with kiwi birds and I am going to a rugby game with David later.
The kid thing is going fine too. The best thing is that it gives you a perfect excuse to do all the stuff you are too embarrassed to do on your own. I LOOOVE my roller blades ... (okay, yes, I DO wish to complain about this getting up at 6.30 thing ...)
(As usual more photos on http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandymamoli/ )
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