Grateful and Grand Prix
I woke up this morning with a song I could not get out of my head. Bill and I had both watched a documentary on the plane. About a musician who often portrayed the dark side of life in his songs. At the same time, he had a light charm in his lyrics.We had watched his last ever concert. He opened that hunched over, and there was a long silence before he started. You could hear the sound of a pin drop. Later he got up and danced, and was very rhythmical for a 79 year old.It was a...
September 3, 2023Hidden Treasures of Milan Bike Tour
We have booked a bike ride with a guide, Polina - Less Politics More Pedalling! We have done a few of these tours now , we like it as a way to get to know cities we are new to. Bill liked this on her website - "Milan has much more to offer than the Duomo and 'Last Supper'. Take in the city’s unsung gems with this guided bike tour that pairs famous sights and authentic neighbourhoods. Avoid the crowds of downtown by pedalling off to the quieter corners of the city, learn about Milan...
September 1, 2023Milan 31st Aug 2023
It was mostly dark on the 2nd leg of our trip from New Zealand, more than 13 hours from Hong Kong to Milan with Cathay Pacific. I was by the window and with 3 hours to go I lifted the window blind and the light streamed in. This meant we were close. There were alot of crying babies on both legs. When we disembarked young children filed out on scooters with lights, scooting all the way to the luggage area. You had to look out for them. Bill declared he wouldn't fly Cathay ...
August 31, 2023Under 6 Creating Aranga Kaitiaki on Rotoroa- 5-7th July
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July 5, 2023La Fortuna - July 3rd-6th
Bill had picked up the rental car the day before, and we left after breakfast to drive to La Fortuna. Roads off the main road are pretty rough - this was when the car wasn't bouncing around so much so I could take a photo!...
July 16, 2022Manuel Antonio National Park - June 28th-July 3rd
We travel in a van from our hotel to Manuela Antonio National Park - about a 3 1/2 hour trip with a couple of stops on the way - San Jose to Quepos. It is the rainy season, though today's forecast is for just a few showers and mostly fine. ...
June 28, 2022San Jose, Costa Rica June 26th-28th
We flew early in the morning from Newark to San Jose, it was a 5 1/2 hour flight. Ticos, as the people of Costa Rica are called, use the phrase pura vida (“pure life”) in their everyday speech, as a greeting or to show appreciation for something. I learnt this early on, and said it everywhere. From Wikipedia: "Pura Vida (pronounced poo-rah vee-duh) represents Costa Ricans' relaxed attitude towards life, no matter the circumstance. It's used to say hello, goodbye, to say eve...
June 26, 2022New York City June 24th-25th
We had an early start to catch the train to NYC with Lachie and Chiara - for two days there for Lachie and us before we fly to Costa Rica, Chiara flying out to Italy this evening. ...
June 24, 2022Providence, Rhode Island June 20th-23rd
We catch the train to Providence with Lachie and Chiara who have flown into Boston froma wedding weekend in Chicago. It's a little over an hour's trip from Boston to Providence. ...
June 20, 2022US Golf Open, June 16th-19th
From Wikipedia .....The 2022 United States Open Championship was the 122nd U.S. Open, the national open golf championship of the United States. It was a 72-hole stroke play tournament that was played between June 16–19 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb west of Boston. It was the club's fourth U.S. Open, having been held there in 1913, 1963, and 1988.The 1913 Open was particularly famous because a young US amateur caddy called Francis Ouimet, who lived across the r...
June 15, 2022Arriving in Boston via LAX - June 14th-15th
We arrive in Boston 14th June 2022. Our first overseas flight since leaving Peru in a hurry in March 2020 because of the pandemic. Bill and I took a walk along from the Royal Sonesta where we stayed. ...
June 14, 2022Aranga Kaitaki Rangers Trial of Rotoroa Island Education Programme (RIEP)
Written by Benjamin Hepi Brown, assisted and edited by Robin Kermode.Photographed by Robin Kermode and Luiza Turganova. Day One: Jan 6th We packed, went to the supermarket and were early (by half an hour) for the shuttle taxi at the Akarana Yacht Club. I couldn't wait to go to Rotoroa Island. We had been online with Robin for 11 episodes in Term 4 2021 lockdown, being Aranga Kaitaki Rangers, and now we were going to be Aranga Kaitaki Rangers on Rotoroa Island for three days and two nights. For m...
January 12, 2022Rohe's Tuna
In Māori mythology, as in other Polynesian traditions, Māui is a cultural hero. This is a story of Māui mistreating his wife Rohe in a cruel and unusual way, (1000 years ago). Māoris lived differently then. In the rivers there were only big eels and very few other fish.. Night time was pitch black with no light from the stars or the moon. It is not now acceptable to treat your wife in the way things were done in those ancient times nor mistreat Tuna. The old story goes like this&hellip...
July 2, 2020Kuwharuwharu Tuna on Waiheke
Most families I knew went to the beach during their summer holidays. As an 8, 9 and 10 year old I spent my Christmas holidays beside Mangaone Stream in Te Horo in the Horowhenua. I have significant memories of those days – eels/tuna hanging in a shed, holding tuna, damming the stream (I thought it was a river), and swimming in a grey bathtub. After we helped dam the stream, our father found an old bathtub. He half filled the tub which allowed us to cool down on a hot summer’s day and s...
July 1, 2020Return Nature to the Wild
This afternoon I headed to Onetangi Beach, just below our home, to do some earthing. I put my feet in the water and walked for about 2km there and back again along the beach. ...
April 15, 2020Back to Ushuaia, and Our Last Night on Silver Cloud
The Drake Passage was rough for a little while after our dinner, but we both slept well. Neither of us got seasick on either of our two trips. We had both taken a Sealegs pill every day. It was very calm through the Beagle Strait. We had woken at our normal 5am and I chose to finish my book. This is what I have been reading....
February 27, 2020Sea Day on the Drake Passage Going Back to Ushuaia
We head back to Ushuaia. This is our deck. It is a lot colder outside than it looks, and very warm inside. ...
February 26, 2020More Kayaking, Then Landings at Half Moon Bay and Yankee Bay
We get ready for kayaking again - we were lucky to get chosen for a second time, maybe asking Jake out for dinner earlier on the trip was a good idea! Bill is in the back this time and I am zipping. This is all of us at the end....
February 25, 2020French Passage and Neko Harbour (and Una's Tits)
We spend the first part of the morning sailing through the French Passage/ Lemaire Channel looking for wild life, and soaking up the beautiful mountains on either side. It is hoped we might see orca. We don't. Bill goes out on deck for a bit. I stay and hang with Judy. She tells me about Una's Tits / Peaks. And she wants a photo. Today's blog is censored for 13 and under. Here are the photos. We had trouble identifying Una's in the background....
February 24, 2020Polar Plunge, Pleneau Island Zodiac, and Land on Petermann Island
Today is Polar Plunge day, so I've put a photo of that up first....
February 23, 2020Gonzalez Videla Station, Waterboat Point and Paradise Bay
González Videla Base is on the Antarctic mainland at Waterboat Point in Paradise Bay. It is named after Chilean President Gabriel González Videla, who in the 1940s became the first chief of state of any nation to visit Antarctica. The station was active from 1951–58, and was reopened briefly in the early 1980s....
February 22, 2020Kayaking in Mikkelson Bay, and First Zodiac Cruise at Cierva Cove
We were kayaking rather than do the landing at Mikkelson Bay. (You can't do both.) I love being chosen to kayak! Here is Bill and I ready to go. Also I love this interesting fact about Mikkelson Bay - Caroline Mikkelsen, Norway, was the first woman to set foot on Antarctica when she accompanied her husband, a whaling captain. Yes, for woman enjoying Antarctica too. ...
February 21, 2020First Landing, on Snow Island
This is our voyage below. (We got this at the end of the trip.) It gives you where we went and where we will go. We land at President Head, Snow Island first. We are on an expedition, which means things change. This first landing was not on the plan, but a good Drake Passage crossing made it doable....
February 20, 2020Sea Day, Captain's Welcome, and Kayaking Sign Up
Today is a Drake's Passage crossing day. We both slept well after some early rocking and rolling. We wake early, read, and both go to the gym. (Yes, the boat has one, one of the reasons Bill chose it.) After breakfast we tag boots, I exchange my jacket for a smaller one and we go to the briefing for people who want to put their name down for kayaking. Jake and Brooke run it. I remember Daniel, a guide on our sub-Antarctic trip who had started as a kayaking guide, telling us...
February 19, 2020We Board the Silver Cloud
This is the Silver Cloud, our ship to Antarctica. We board at 3.30pm. The Silver Cloud was the first of a fleet of 13 owned by SilverSeas, an Italian company that is now 60% owned by Royal Carribean Cruises and 40% by the founding Italian family. Silver Cloud entered service in April 1994, and was refurbished in 2017. Some other ships in the fleet are Silver Shadow, Silver Whisper, Silver Spirit, Silver Explorer, and more - you get the gist. Silver Dawn will start in 2021....
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