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Spydah

Spydah

viajó a 22 países Leer más🇦🇺Queensland
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    • Waikanae and Wellington

      Home sweet home

      27 de febrero, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      With a 5am check-in required I was so thankful that I’d been able to get a room at the airport hotel in Wellington. It was simply a matter of checking out then taking the lift downstairs to the check-in area. The flights went smoothly enough and we touched down in Brisbane on schedule.

      I got the usual dirty look from an immigration official for travelling on a New Zealand passport while being a permanent and naturalised Australian resident, but apart from that it was all plain sailing. I took the Skytrain to the city, and after a short wait for Julie who was at a pole class nearby she picked me up and dropped me to home and reality. As usual I stayed up until about 11pm local time. By then I’d been awake for about 20 hours straight and was certainly in need of much beauty sleep. There ended a most enjoyable and satisfying holiday.      Leer más

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    • Waikanae and Wellington
      A last lingering view
      Simon and ElspethMy view from the hotel restaurant

      It runs like clockwork… until it doesn’t

      26 de febrero, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      The last day, and I had to pack up and leave my very comfortable accommodation. I took my time and, as arranged, reached Elspeth’s at around 10am. Simon, her son-in-law, was driving down from Auckland to take part in a bike race at Lake Wanaka, and he arrived about an hour later. Heroically he had just driven straight through from Auckland and was due to catch the ferry at midday. We had a pleasant chat for about half an hour before Simon did a quick inspection of the building project and went on his way.

      My flight was scheduled for 4pm, so I bade my fond farewells to Elspeth and left just before midday, This was to allow ample time for dropping the car off and for any unforeseen traffic delays. It all went smoothly and I reached the airport with plenty of time to spare. So far, so good. However… a few minutes before boarding was due to start it was announced that the flight had been cancelled and that we had to go back the way we came and retrieve our bags from the luggage carousal. I did so and then found myself in a massive queue about 100m long, waiting for airline staff to sort out our accommodation and booking arrangements. Without going into a mass of detail, Air New Zealand handled the situation very badly. After I stood in the slow-moving queue for over an hour I finished up, encouraged by the airline staff, making my own booking at the Airport Rydges.

      By incredible coincidence Helen’s company was due to handle all the logistics relating to the flight cancellation, but a series of text messages between Helen and me soon established that Air New Zealand hadn’t requested Helen’s company to provide nearly enough hotel rooms. In a further coincidence Helen was due to attend a pre-arranged meeting with the airline the very next day, so she was going to use her father’s own experience to illustrate the dismal failings in Air New Zealand’s procedures.

      Meanwhile I was able to enjoy the luxury of a comfortable hotel room and a pleasant dinner at someone else’s expense.      Leer más

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    • Waikanae and Wellington
      Elspeth and LaurieA pleasant farewell afternoon tea hosted by Elspeth for Rosemary, Laurie and me

      A full but satisfying day

      25 de febrero, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

      My first visit for the day was always going to be a bit of an unknown quantity as I was keen to visit my old friend Robin Fleming who is in the dementia unit at the Charles Fleming retirement village. Her partner Susi had forewarned me that these visits can either go very well or very badly. Ironically, the village is named in honour of Robin’s father, Sir Charles Fleming, a noted scientist and ardent conservationist who saved much of the Waikanae wetlands which we are able to enjoy today. We were prepared to cut our visit short if things weren’t going well. Susi picked me up from Elspeth’s and the two of us visited Robin together.

      Things turned out even better than we had hoped. Robin immediately recognised me as an old friend and was excited to see me even though she didn’t remember exactly who I was. She was bubbly and chatty, very much like the Robin of old. Much of the conversation was confused, though that didn’t really matter. It was still very much worthwhile, and I’m so pleased that I saw her.

      Susi then left and I wandered the few hundred metres down to Bryan and Norah’s unit, also in the retirement village. Bryan and I then drove down to Paraparaumu to visit an old friend from Rongotai, Mel Fielding, and his wife Jan. Neither of us had seen Mel since our first year at university when he had done his Medical Intermediate then left to continue his optometry studies. We spent a pleasant couple of hours catching up on one another’s news and reminiscing about old times. Bryan then dropped me back at Elspeth’s where we were to meet up again with Rosemary and Laurie whom she had invited for drinks and nibbles. Again we spent a very pleasurable time chatting, while Laurie and I enjoyed a couple of cleansing ales. Even though I’d seen Rosemary and Laurie a few days earlier at the Island Bay Kids’ get-together there was still a great deal to talk about. None of us ever run out of conversation.

      The day wasn’t over yet, as I’d been invited back to Bryan and Norah’s for dinner, and again a couple of ales. I drove over there and spent a most relaxing evening with the Frasers before returning to home base about 9.30pm. Plenty of excellent socialising on my last full day in New Zealand.

      (I also realised that I’d been too abasorbed in all the conversations to take photos at all the places I visited).      Leer más

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    • Waikanae and Wellington
      The Island Bay jetty, more rundown than I remember it as
      A calm and serene Island BayAn interesting mural at Island Bay beachLunch at Spruce GooseOriental Bat at its bestFishing at SeatounSlightly windblown at SeatounOriental Bay street sceneIan and Wendy at Oriental BayMy parents' grave

      Where have all the fish gone?

      24 de febrero, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

      Wendy and Ian had very kindly offered to take Olga and me on a nostalgic tour of Wellington, with Ian doing the driving while I was able to be a passenger for once. I set out from Waikanae at 8am, arriving at the Harlands at about 9.15am. There is such a huge contrast in traffic conditions between the Wellington city roads and those further out of town, beyond Porirua. The former are a total nightmare, exacerbated by speed bumps on major roads, tight roundabouts and an idealogical campaign to create wide,but barely-used bike lanes at the expense of lanes where cars could once drive. The result is a permanently grid-locked city - The Cars That Ate Wellington. By contrast, once you head northwards and and get beyond Porirua the roads are almost deserted. This even includes the suburban streets of Waikanae Beach. Even if you went driving in in Southeast Queensland at 2am you wouldn’t encounter such quiet roads. All of this is a roundabout way of saying that the frustrating last 20% of my trip into Wellington took as long as the first 80%.

      By the time I arrived in Karori Wendy, Olga and Ian were packed, organised and ready to go. It was a fine day, and quite calm. and Wellington was looking at its very best. We started with a nostalgic visit to Island Bay via the permanently bleak and misnamed Happy Valley. The coast road by contrast was absolutely sparkling and the sea was calm. There are now a number of interesting shops to be seen on The Parade, with Island Bay having become quite the trendy suburb. Our family home, high up above Severn Street is invisible from the street, being totally hidden behind trees. This is surprising because we had a spectacular view over the suburb and out to the Baring Head lighthouse. It is unlikely that the current owners would be able to see any of this. Next stop on the Island Bay leg of the trip was the Empire Theatre which has a trendy cafe where the old foyer used to be. The old picture theatre holds many happy memories and it was good to stop there for a while and enjoy some nice coffee.

      We then drove round the coast road to Lyall Bay, a scenic trip which I did hundreds of times by pushbike when I was at Rongotai College, - not that I appreciated it at the time. Wendy and Ian had booked a table for us at the Spruce Goose restaurant, close to the airport. This was by design, as Olga was booked to fly home at 4pm. This gave us time for a relaxing lunch before dropping Olga off in good time for her flight.

      Next stop for the three of us was Seatoun Beach at one of Wendy and Ian’s favourite spots near the Wahine memorial. We spent a warm and pleasant hour or so admiring the harbour, wandering the nearby paths and ogling the nearby enclave of beautiful designer homes. We then took a leisurely drive further round the coast, going via Worser Bay, Scorching Bay and Balaena Bay to Oriental Bay where we stopped for ice-creams and a leisurely walk around.

      I was keen to visit Moore Wilson, the fabulous food wholesalers, as I was keen to pick up some NZ confectionary to take home. Chocolate fish in particular, and the odd Buzz Bar or three were on my mental shopping list. Aside from it being an Aladdin’s cave of wonderful cheeses and other delicatessen items I used to be able to buy large packs of chocolate fish and other tempting goodies. The only chocolate fish they had were in 5kg packs, which was even beyond what I’d had in mind, so we left the place carrying only a few bars of Whittakers chocolate and a big bag of Jaffas for old time’s sake. (I have to confess, these are items which are available in Australia too). Wendy and Ian further indulged me with a visit to the supermarket while en route back to their place, but even there I couldn’t find what I really wanted.

      After bidding my farewells to Wendy and Ian I next headed for the Karori Cemetery where I wanted to visit and inspect my parents’ grave. A few years ago I organised for it to be restored and this was the first time I’d been able to see it since then. I am well satisfied with the result.

      I arrived back at Waikanae at around 8pm after a long but very satisfying day.      Leer más

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    • Waikanae and Wellington
      A view of the wetlands

      It pays to be flexible

      23 de febrero, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

      The original plan had been for Elspeth and me to meet Helene Ritchie, former politician and author of a thoroughly researched book, ‘The Burned Letter’ which dealt with her Jewish family’s escape from Europe as refugees and the fate of the many members of her family who were murdered in the Holocaust. Via Elspeth she had given me a signed copy of her book. Even though I was sure our paths must have crossed at some stage when we were growing up in Wellington I don’t remember ever meeting her. We’d planned to drive down to Wellington to meet her for coffee at Zealandia. Disappointingly, the meeting got cancelled, so I took advantage of the unplanned free time to go for a long exploratory walk in the Waikanae wetlands.

      It turned out that I bit off more than I could chew. After a very pleasant but vigorous walk for an hour or so I reached a road, and decided to use my GPS to follow the streets and take a shortcut back to base. The GPS said that it was a 14-minute trip, which was fine until closer scrutiny showed that to be the duration by car. Covering the 11km on foot would take a whole lot longer. The GPS told me that the quickest way home would be to largely retrace my footsteps. The upshot was that my walk took an energetic two hours, about twice what I’d planned. Fortunately the weather was perfect and there was plenty of birdlife to be seen.

      I had arranged to spend the afternoon with old friends Janet and Jill at their Waikanae bach. Shortly after I got there we had a scratch lunch, mainly of food left over from the previous day’s Vic reunion, while we had a great time with plenty of talk and much catching up of news. Janet’s London-based daughter Fiona was visiting briefly, and it was good to see here again. The last time had been in 1988 when she visited Brisbane as a child with her father (my old mate, the late John Campbell) and her brother Douglas. They stayed with us for a few days while we all visited Expo88.

      I had largely written off the prospect of a swim at my all-time favourite beach, but Janet convinced me that it would be warm enough, at least to avoid the worst effects of frostbite, so I decided to give it a go. We decided the 5pm would be the optimum time when the tide would be right and the air would still be warm. She was right. The sea was very swimmable and we were able to dry ourselves comfortably in the sun afterwards. After a dinner of Chinese takeaway followed by fond farewells to Janet, Jill and Fiona I headed back to my comfortable lodgings. A busy but enjoyable day.      Leer más

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    • Waikanae and Wellington
      I try out an old university blazer, supplied by Mike
      Olga. In the background is the picture which is always a major talking point .Bryan and MikeMike thinks the cheesecake is all his.Wendy, Mike, Elspeth, Rosalind, IanOlga, Janet, Bryan, Wendy, Mike, ElspethOlga, Janet, Bryan ElspethRosalind and WendyJanet, Bryan, Elspeth

      The classy class of ‘61

      22 feb.–1 mar., Nueva Zelanda ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

      This was the big day when Wendy and Ian Harland very kindly agreed to host a lunch for all comers, the only stipulation being that they had to have started at Vic as freshers in 1961 (and still be breathing, of course). Elspeth and I set off from Waikanae, collecting my old pal Bryan Fraser from his retirement village abode along the way. We diverted to the Wellington CBD to collect Mike Bond and Rosalind McIntosh, the former having flown up from Christchurch a couple of days earlier. That made a very full and cramped car-load for the little Yaris hatchback to carry. The road up from the bus terminus in Karori to the Harlands’ house is very long and steep, and none of us would have been capable of walking up there. A car was definitely required, though in my heyday I did manage the trip on foot several ties as part of my exercise regimen.

      We duly arrived and unpacked large quantities of food and drink to augment the large quantities of both which our hosts had already laid out. My special friend Janet Campbell arrived shortly after, also loaded with plates of edible goodies. Unfortunately, Janet’s partner Jill was unwell so couldn’t join us. Many of us those present hadn’t seen one another for a great number of years, and the afternoon went really well with plenty of food, drink and laughter.

      As a last-minute decision when we returned to Waikanae Elspeth and I crashed in to see Norah, Bryan’s wife and to get a quick look at their unit, which neither of us had seen. We were pleased to see Norah, and the impromptu visit went quite a bit longer than expected, with Bryan giving me a comprehensive tour of the village and its excellent facilities followed by plenty of conversation and a round of drinks for the four of us.      Leer más

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    • Waikanae and Wellington
      Elspeth, Wendy, Olga, Ian
      Wendy, Ian, Olga, Brian

      A largely ‘at home’ day.

      21 de febrero, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      The day started with Elspeth directing me to help with some clean-up work around the back of her house, mainly the removal of a long-abandoned birds nest from the back patio area. Wendy and Ian had driven up from Wellington with our friend Olga who was staying with them. As part of our loose and informal reunion arrangements Olga had flown over from Sydney to join us all for a few days.

      We chatted for quite a while then headed off for a light and pleasant lunch at the rather quaint and interesting Relish Cafe in Waikanae. A few more hours of talking and then Elspeth was keen to take Olga back to Janet and Jill’s bach for a bit of a wander round. (J&J weren’t with us but were presumably home in Khandallah).      Leer más

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    • Waikanae and Wellington
      Rosemary's and Laurie's view
      Murray, Peter and JanetLaurie, Elspeth and JoanPeter, Janet, Murray, Rosemary, BrianBrian and PeterLaurie, Joan,Peter, JanetMurray, Laurie, Joan, PeterCutting thebirthday cake on Murray's birthday. (Mine was three days ago)Feeding the birds - seen on our evening walk

      The Island Bay Kids

      20 de febrero, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

      A quiet, relaxing morning for me, as Elspeth had an 8.15am meeting with the electrician and I didn’t want to be hanging around there. After breakfast I took a nice long and leisurely walk around some of the lagoons, and as the weather was warm and pleasant I spent an hour or so looking at the birds on and near the water. They were there in their many hundreds, with numerous species present.

      I was due at old friends Rosemary and Laurie Petherick’s place for around midday, a nice easy walk from my lodgings a mere 100m or so away. (Elspeth’s place is a similar distance in the opposite direction). Soon after, other Island Bay Kids Janet Ritchie and Peter and Joan Wyness arrived. Dear Murray McIvor had somehow thought that it was a 3pm start, so after a revving-up phone call from me, he turned up shortly after. Elspeth, who isn’t a former IB pupil but is a very good friend of the Pethericks and me, arrived after she’d sorted out the electricals for her house extension.

      Rosemary and Laurie are always fantastic hosts and their fantastic house with its incredible views over the estuary and out to sea helped to make it a memorable occasion. There was, of course, a huge amount of talking and laughter. It’s so good to catch up with old friends and share memories of people and places from when we were growing up. We left after 6pm, by which time our hosts must have been totally exhausted.

      Shortly after, when Elspeth and I had got ourselves organised, we took ourselves off for a long walk around some of the lagoons then along my very favourite Waikanae Beach. We got back to Elspeth’s shortly after 8pm, just as it was getting dark. Oh, the joys of daylight saving!      Leer más

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    • Waikanae and Wellington
      1
      11The Otaihanga swing bridge in good use1Susi and El contemplating some of the Fleming family collection from 42 Wadestown RoadAdmiring an original Mary Beard painting

      Getting organised

      19 de febrero, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

      Something which is obvious already is that the next few days will be packed with adventure. After I spent a fairly sleepless night while my body clock tried to adjust itself to NZ Daylight Saving Time Elspeth and I set off to do the boring stuff, which mainly comprised mundane supermarket shopping. However we did divert to an absolutely fantastic bakery which left me puzzled as to why the Centenary Suburbs of Brisbane can’t offer anything which remotely matches their standard.

      Shopping completed, and after a long phone chat with our friend Bryan we had a lunch of tempting goodies from the aforementioned bakery trap. While Elspeth took herself off for a brief nap I set off on a long scenic walk, mainly round the lagoons but with a short diversion to the seashore. It had been overcast and raining but from mid-morning the rain clouds started to clear and the weather stayed dry. There were plenty of birds to be seen - black swans, gulls, pukekos, ducks, geese and many more. A regular visitor is a kotuku (white heron) which is an extremely rare species in these parts. With its brilliant white feathers it really stands out. Down at the beach the tide was well up, the water was very rough and there wasn’t another person visible as far as the eye could see.

      We had been invited to friend Susi’s place for 2.30. She and her partner Robin built a beautiful architect-designed house overlooking the sea and Kapiti Island. I had been there previously when it wasn’t quite finished, so it was good to see their beautiful house in its completed form and with all their artworks now on the walls. (Sadly my very good friend Robin is now in residential care and her partner Susi now lives there on her own).

      After returning to Elspeth’s we set out on a walk up the estuary, my second walk for the day. The weather had cleared considerably, and it was really great to see all the birdlife and native vegetation. On our return to base we had a phone chat with our old mate Bruce who lives in Oamaru and sadly isn’t able to travel to Wellington and Waikanae and participate in all the social events which are taking place over the next few days.

      The day started well and finished well, with dinner at an excellent Thai restaurant overlooking the beach and Kapiti.      Leer más

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    • Waikanae and Wellington
      Elspeth's new extension, under construction

      Happy landings

      18 de febrero, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

      A n early start withJulie picking me up at the ungodly hour of 5am to get me to the airport. Better to be early than late for the 8.15 departure. Everything went like clockwork both before and during the flight, and on arrival at Wellington airport. Finding the shuttle bus to get me to the car rental place was a bit tricky but I got there in the end.

      The peak hour Wellington traffic was a bit of a shock, given that I had just flown 1/3 of the way across the Tasman in the time that it took me in stop-start peak hour traffic to get across the city and on to the highway. The Toyota Yaris hybrid was a pleasure to drive, the only challenge being the lack of a GPS. Instead, the rental company had supplied me with a fairly useless phone holder. After the third occasion that the phone fell out and landed under my feet while I was driving I decided that, comparatively speaking, it was safer to navigate with it on the seat beside me. Definitely not recommended. It was my first experience of the Transmission Gully motorway, and it certainly made the trip northwards from Wellington far easier. Unsurprisingly perhaps the weather during the drive varied from mild and sunny to strong winds with absolutely torrential rain.

      On my arrival Elspeth and I chatted and snacked for quite a while before she took me the 150m or so down the road to meet Judi and Graham Whichter, my hosts for the next eight days. Elspeth’s house extension is only just at the lock-up stage, so Judi and Graham generously offered their self-contained apartment to me, a total stranger, for the duration of my visit. The apartment is beautifully set up, very spacious, and more than adequate for my needs.

      The pleasant surprises weren’t over yet. Elspeth and I went out to dinner at a popular Italian restaurant nearby at Waikanae Beach. At the next table was a young couple with whom we chatted for all of 30 seconds, mainly about the generous size of the fellow’s pizza he’d ordered. They finished their meal and left while Elspeth and I chatted on for another half-hour or so. We got up to leave and pay the bill, only to be told by the waiter that there was nothing owing. The friendly young couple had evidently told the staff what nice people they thought we were and had picked up our whole restaurant bill! A great finish to the day.      Leer más

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