After match or aftermath take your pick

What a game. What a crowd. What an atmosphere. Whtawhatawhatswhata. The nerves are jingling as even the subway walls are green and Dublin in November seems not that long ago.

Beep, beep i’m A sheep had become a buzz word for when we were trying to find somewhere for dinner but it became highly appropriate now as we just went with the flow, quite literally and followed the flock.

Beep beep.  I’m a sheep.
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Sorry full up.

We wait for the train and stand first in line rather than push into the pack, as kiwi sheep we like our space and the plan works and we even manage to get a seat.  The scrum becomes larger with each stop and just when you think it’s fill “but wait there’s more”.  I am very grateful for my seat and the bit of extra space it affords in front of me.

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Tokyo stadium

We make it to the stadium and the atmosphere is buzzing.  We can’t get into the fan zone where we planned to watch the England vs Aussie game so wander round to find our seats spreading and receiving good cheer as we go. We are very early but this is not a problem as the stadium begins to fill and the karaoke crowd begins to sing “Sweet Caroline” off the big screen ( yes Cal I wanted to call for you to hear this stunning rendition but couldn’t get reception).  Our singing prowess only got better as the main event drew nearer with “the summer of 69” being a firm favourite.

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Under the Irish flag

we are surrounded by Irish and our neighbours are the instigators of an enormous Irish flag which we have to play a hand in unfurling across our row.   We do this in good cheer but I do have to give them a stern telling off for singing through our haka.  They bleet on that we have two anthems and a haka which is not fair, I tell them they sound like whinging children.    Next door Lived in Dunedin for a year playing rugby so joins in our anthem, insisting We join in there chorus which is simply Ireland, Ireland.  We are ready.  

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Anthems

What a game.  What a crowd. What an atmosphere.

No point saying anything else about it as you would have seen it and by now will have had hashed up and broken down into minute pieces.

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I could probably go on for a very long time explaining the journey home but shall leave you only with these images for your minds.

G, D and WH playing “rugby” on the concourse with some Irish.  WH got tackled,  D got the ball and wasn’t letting go,  the crowd gathered,  the crowd roared – and then the security guards put an end to it.  We shall say no more except that WH now has an aching knee and I shall not remind him of his age.  Jerseys were swapped.  Good RWC 2019 All Blacks jerseys for old dodgy Irish ones.  Again I shall say no more.  Children were lost, then found, then lost again.  Trains were got on, got off and then got on again.

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Security

yet somehow we managed to all make it back to our hotel.  What a game.  What a crowd. What an atmosphere.

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Time to go home

Game day

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Exciting times.  We have wandered around in our All Blacks tops.  Gone to the RWC shop to get some Japan gear for tomorrow and An All Blacks  cap.  Nothing left anywhere of the All Blacks or Japan.  Completely sold out.  WH and I got interviewed for Japan tv which very much got lost in translation- we think – but will never know.

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Lots and lots of Irish most with only tickets to the game tomorrow and not today so lots trying to buy tickets.

The Irish are all in good spirits and great fun.  So fingers crossed and off to the game we go.

 

KYOTO

Love it.  It’s one of those places that unveils something new around each corner and you walk and walk and walk.  Kyoto the pushy personal trainer or maybe it’s the boogie boarding nana “just one more”as it pushes you further and further around yet another turn until you are finally broken.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIts full of lanes of wooden houses like the ones below, and shrines like the one above.

There are restaurants and galleries and all sorts of things

It was almost like Italy where they have a siesta in the afternoon as we finally found a great little dumpling place and they said “no sorry closed”.  So we walked and walked some more.  Finally stumbling into Hard Rock Cafe for a much needed G&T for me and Corona for the others, and of course a burger.

Revived we wander some more and then head back for our Japanese dinner which you already know all about.  We decide to order a cab for 0630 (I say we but I mean me, and ask if anyone else wants to come)  I want to visit the Fushimi Inari shrine and it’s famous torii gates but I want to do it with good light and not hoards of people.  Everyone is keen and although I have my doubts I order two cabs.You can talk to your doctor to figure out what is causing your anxiety. tadalafil professional downtownsault.org Physical and mental strength are necessary to gain bigger free viagra prescription downtownsault.org and harder erection. Arguably, the http://downtownsault.org/the-valley-camp/ levitra prescription famed Amorela is considered to be better than the other. Well, the dosage of online sildenafil tabs 60 mg for sale should be run under doctor s guidance and prescription.

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The morning brings rain and I am a little disappointed with the grey light but on the plus side everyone is present and accounted for.  The orange torii gates are amazing despite the low grey mist and rain.  They glow regardless and my assumption that the sun reflected off them to give them light was obviously wrong.   We walk the mountain with only a few other early birds and are grateful to have yet again been able to experience the sites and sounds and culture.

I have put the photons in a different format so I hope you can see them as a slide show.  It’s game day today so am going to cut this short and soak it up, so in short, Kyoto is amazing and ranks one of my favourite cities in the world.  It has its own unique vibe and I only wished for more time.

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Kyoto

 

Love it.  We decided to do a traditional Japanese stay prior to heading to Tokyo and nothing disappointed.   The ryokan “Gion Hatanaka” was traditional from the entrance to the tatami mats,  the sliding doors and kimonos.

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I shall have to do more than one post as there was so much to see and do.  This one will be all about the ryokan.  Our meal was to be served in our room so we all put on our house clothes ready for the dinner.

Sitting on the cushion side on the floor with creaking knees and hips was an experience in itself.  We could see why they gave you house clothes which were baggy linen pants with wraparound tops as the were more flexible than us.

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Preparing

The art of the meal was spectacular.  The way it was served and what it was served in.  Each little box or jar or bowl holding something new. I can’t say I was a fan of the food as it was mostly seafood and a lot of mushrooms, neither of which I am a fan of, however the meal was special.  The courses kept coming and coming so even if you ate only a taste it felt plenty.

 

With dinner finished we decided to go for a wander and see if the lanterns were lit but I will save that for another’s blog and stay with the ryokan.  Whilst we were gone they clear away the dinner and place out the sleeping mats and sleeping kimonos.

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They were more comfortable than they look but I would definitely not be swapping my bed for a futon mat anytime soon.

J decided to go check out the onsen and put her togs on to go for a dip but got a bit of a shock to see all the women were naked.  She braved it the next morning and had the whole pool to herself.   The rituals of the showers, ladles, wooden stools, mineral pool, shower, moisturiser is all very calming.    Shame I was off doing the laundry as there was one just down the road.

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Above photo is of the bathroom in our room.  It has a little wooden stool and bowl as well, that you can’t see in the photo.  We finished our experience with breakfast this morning where we were expecting some rice porridge as the night before they had said, “rice porridge or mushroom rice?”  We were met with yet another array of all manner of weird and wonderful concoctions.  I ate the egg roll and the grapefruit jelly.
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So all in all a great experience and one that will sit high in the bucket list moments especially as it was shared whanau.  I am indeed a lucky, lucky lady.

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Arashiyama

We are Osaka transport network pros.  We head of this morning to Kyoto and onto the bamboo forests at Arashiyama.   We take the subway, the Shinkansen then the general rail.  No problemo.

Funny thing is yesterday we went all the way to Miyajima to see the famous floating gate, which was covered up and being restored and today we get to Arashiyama and go to take the “old romantic train” which runs along the river to the top, however it we were met with a sign saying “ holiday today  not operating”. Funny. Funny

So we hire bikes and head off exploring.

The bamboo forests are great but it soon gets too busy to bike and I push mine up the hill whilst the rest park them up.

Bamboo Forest

After a long walk back to get the others bike we move off the tourist track and find a great little cafe for lunch.
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Back on the bikes and we tuck in behind a cab and bike down the ridiculously busy Main Street to the famous Togetsukyo bridge originally built in the 800’s. We pose for a photo, watch the world go by and then head back to the train station.

People watching

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Mat-ell whanau

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Togetsukyo bridge

To make commuter life even more interesting, on the way home we decide to split up and do the amazing race back to the hotel lobby on the various train networks.  D,D and G in one team and P,J and S in the other.   All I can say is that we lost, however the Snapchat did show G in a car emoji whilst J was definitely on a train. Say no more.

Hiroshima

A big day.  An even bigger one for the young ones who found themselves at a karaoke bar in the wee small hours belting out VALERRIIIEEEE, with all the energy and confidence that can only be had in a tiny room, with no audience, and a certain amount of alcohol.

The 0700 roll call was met by all and I reminded myself “ ye have little faith”.  WE make our way through the subway and onto the bullet train and speed at around 290 mph to Hiroshima.

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Hiroshima peace park and memorial were our first ports of call.  There is much to say about them, yet no words to describe.   The tributes/memorials  are poignant, and moving, and confronting.  Yet still the words which as ANZACS we have instilled in us,  “Lest we forget” are just as relevant.

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The memorial to the victims is wrenching, in particular its memoirs of the high school students who were killed in there hundreds.

The origani cranes.  There are so many stories that tell of horror, and pain, and hope,  and resilience and most of all the unequivocal necessity for PEACE.
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Let’s move on…. to lunch.  We headed out to visit the famous Miyagama tori gate.  Bus, train, ferry and all that that entails.  On the way we stop for lunch.  There is six of us so it’s always yeahhh nahhhh, yeah nah.  So someone decided to just walk in and yummy.  Great people, great food, great time.

I am too tired to keep writing now so let’s just saying we did eventually get to the Famous floating Tori gate but it was all covered up under renovation.   Oh well maybe next time.

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Getting there – to Osaka

The day was long and much could be written about the journey to Osaka.  We could start with processing being called to halt at Auckland airport and finish with landing in Tokyo some 14 hours later with  our flight to Osaka having been cancelled.. so a bus ride, then a plane ride then a train ride later we arrived at our hotel.  This we were so very  grateful for as it had been a VERY VERY long day.

There was no sign of the typhoon which had held this part of the country to ransom the day before, the sun was showing its face and the wind was but a whisper.  We were grateful for this as well.  But most of all in the egocentric mentality that comes with fatigue I was most grateful for my bed.

We had seen at the airport when we landed at Osaka that Japan had beaten Scotland so the quarter finals will provide great entertainment in a weeks time.  Meanwhile we woke to a cloudy day and head out to navigate our way through subways and metros and feet to buy rail passes and then head to Osaka castle.  This sounds easy but was no mean feat.

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We met quite a few kiwis on the way and with the two degrees it’s amazing how someone always knows someone from OTOROHANGA.

The castle and it’s grounds entertained us and we wandered at leisure through the grounds and its surrounds.  Queued for the famous Osaka octopus balls delicacy but can’t say that any of us found it appealing.It helps to increase the thickness and length of the penis, which adds to the pleasure of their partner rather than shop cialis their own Men love pleasing their spouse or ladylove more during sex. buy cialis Indulging in happy intimate moment is no more a matter to think is the side effects of these pills. It enlarges when the veins collect blood but when the frequency of ED goes higher, it can be viewed to be a serious https://pdxcommercial.com/author/dhuffman/page/3/ generico viagra on line medical problem. That pfizer viagra cheap however is not the case with younger men.

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bojutsu

They were having a “Bojutsu” competition in the big hall.  (We had to google what it was called as we are not that clever).  It was entertaining to watch and involved lots of yelling and fake foot stamping and whacking with sticks.  Three strikes and you are out.

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The most around Osaka castle grounds.

Counting down to Japan

Testing, Testing, testing.  Charging up the ipad, resurrecting the travel blog, cleaning the camera lens, making sure all systems are go.  Testing testing testing

Check, check, check.  Passports. Check.  Japan plug. Check.  Is passport your own? Check. Check. (Will never live that one down).   Got some Yen. Check.  Passport x2 Triple check.

Japan, rugby World Cup 2019 has been in the pipeline for quite literally years.  Airfares were booked as soon as they came available.  Japan has been researched and googled to a point whereby the ads on my PC are starting to be in Japanese.  Over the course of the past year enthusiasm has waxed and waned, as my typical holiday planning is designed to get away from the crowds rather than seek them out and if there is one thing Japan has it’s a lot of people.

Organising a trip for not just WH and I, but for the four adult children as well,  has created certain challenges as well as extra excitement.  Booking flights, finding accommodation, getting rugby tickets, travelling around, is definitely more involved with 6 of us –  Yet  here we are three days out and counting down.

Japan RWC 2019

Have been checking the weather and it all looked ideal,  low to mid 20’s perfect.  Until today that is, as today it said, ” Saturday -Typhoon in the afternoon”.  So that will be a new experience “typhoon in the afternoon” has a real ring to it.   No doubt it will be over on Sunday when we land and if not then there is not much we can do about it so in the spirit of travel mode I begin my “go with flow”  mindset.It is also sold cialis professional uk davidfraymusic.com under the name Adcirca for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. cheap viagra levitra When the impact of PDE5 get discontinue, cyclic GMP (cGMP) get progressive due to escalate in the blood towards the male sexual organ. Chiropractic is a discipline of medicine that is non-invasive and does not involve the use of any pharmaceutical drugs or medical order cheap viagra interventions such as surgery. Muscle mass is typed using Equipoise preserved much better in gathering settings and private treatment, particularly when more proper treatments are discount viagra davidfraymusic.com utilized.

So here’s the plan.  We dodge the typhoon and  land in Tokyo on Sunday – we have 60 minutes to change terminals and make our connection to Osaka.   We are based in Osaka for 4 nights where we aim to have a good look around Osaka and Kyoto as well as do a day trip to Hiroshima.  We then spend a night at a traditional Ryokan in Kyoto and on Friday bullet train to Tokyo to get ready to watch the two quarter finals which as at today are still a mystery as to who the All Blacks will play.  Let’s hope the Japan v Scotland goes ahead, however a Japan v All Blacks game in Tokyo would be pretty great.  Anyway I digress – the kids then head home and Pete and I stay for the semi’s and finals and do a tour in between.  So join in and I will quite literally keep you posted on our travels and thoughts re: Japan, typhoons, RWC 2019, travelling with kids (Big adult ones that is) and anything else that comes along.

Hopefully I will now push post and this blog will appear on my page and it will be another tick of the testing, testing, testing list.

 

 

A long, long weekend in Sydney

It’s tradition now to head away for birthday celebrations.  Melbourne always used to be the favourite but Sydney and it’s surrounds is fast overtaking.  I don’t usually blog a long weekend but this one was special so it has to have a place in my travel archives.

I had always wanted to go to Vivid and it finished on the Saturday night so time was of the essence.  We left on the Friday morning with the intent of being in Sydney by lunchtime however fog in Auckland put paid to that.   I am not going to write about the delays and disruptions as you all get that delays and disruptions are annoying.  I do however now have some handy travel tips for disruptions, so check it out at the end.

By the time we get to our hotel it’s 7pm Aussie time but body clock 9pm and we are tired. We check in to the Sofitel Darling Harbour, my favourite hotel and it never disappoints. We have a great corner view room overlooking Darling Harbour and after watching the fireworks and a beer and a wine we head off to check out VIVID.

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Sofitel my favourite Sydney hotel

We wander the boardwalks and then with tired feet and tired minds we decide to take the ferry round to circular quay.  We are first on the ferry and it fills up fast, in fact it is packed within minutes and we are grateful for our seats.  My next mission is to learn to use my camera at night.

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The lights are amazing and as testament above my night photography is not, especially not as we are moving.  I adjust the lens, rest it on the rail, use WH’s arm as a tripod, adjust again and then decide to forget about looking through the lens and enjoy the moments.

You get the picture.   The moments are great, and the harbour fills with light and action in every direction, our seats on the ferry are priceless.   Once we arrived at the Quay we decided to brave the crowds tomorrow and simply got off the ferry to get back on again and headed back to our hotel.

The next day we wander through the waterfront and into town and enjoy the vibe of being somewhere else.   We get ready to once again get the ferry to the Quay and this time explore the Rocks and the botanical gardens and everything that sparkled out to us the night before, but the weather looks ominous.  I love the picture below taken from the Sofitel lounge on my iPad before we leave.  A shades of grey, colour photo, it’s my best shot of Sydney.

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We leave the comfort and views of the lounge and head out to catch the ferry and the rain falls, and falls, before even making it to the ferry we are wet and we simply turn around with the glass half full attitude of having at least seen the harbour lights the night before and the promise to go again next year.

The next morning we head off to the Bowen Mountain where WH has excelled himself after a 12 year hiatus of booking accommodation (most of you will recall the Copenhagen, snow, railway station, red light district, basement room story).  I am writing this in hindsight without the benefit of the anticipation and excitement but needless to say Spicers Sangoma Retreat is amazing.  There is nothing to do but look out to the bush, the fire roaring and Eagles on vinyl playing on the turntable.
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The morning is skittish and after breakfast we are going to drive to the Blue Mountains. The wonderful staff pack us a picnic to take along for the ride.  It’s my birthday and I am 55, I am indeed a lucky girl.

I have to write that the last time I was in the Blue Mountains was with my beautiful cousin, Leanne.  The precious memory tiptoes through my mind as we wind our way through the mountain.  We went there to toast a brave new future and leave our “sad sorry asses” behind, it was about looking forward and moving on.  It’s always been a great memory but it feels even more special now. We climbed up and sat upon a rocky outcrop, watched the sunset over the amazing valley, laughed and cried and toasted to a life full of love.  I am pleased she found that love in her way too short life and once again thank the universe for the love and life I have in mine.

The rain comes and goes but the journey is good.  We walk, we talk, we drive and we enjoy the scenery.  It’s a beautiful birthday and WH has set a benchmark that will not wait another 12 years.

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There is actually more to tell of food and wine and music but it is in that “you had to be their” category as I can’t remember the names of the eats and drinks etc but I just know that they were yummy and the long, long weekend surpassed itself and can now be printed in the journal of 2019 travel archives that sit upon the coffee table.

Anecdotes:

Disrupt travel tip for Air New Zealand

This is written in “shortsentence” to save energy.  So you are getting ready to head to the airport and you get the dreaded text saying your flight is cancelled.  It tells you that if no-one has contacted you in 15 mins then please call.  Twenty minutes later you call 0800 and of course are met with the expected long delays on the phone – “caller demand is higher than usual” – which you can understand as the fog has disrupted the inbound Auckland flights – “we recognise that you are an important customer”  excellent I would hate to be a not important one as the wait is long. After an age on hold you get through and there is really no palatable solution on offer.  If we leave right now and drive to the Auckland then we might make it? Nope – Maybe move to the 4.15pm flight to Sydney at least we are there by nightfall and can still go to VIVID, maybe.  Nope – no seats only premium economy which they can sell to us for $1600.  Only option fly to Sydney tonight and get there to late for VIVID.   I then went on line to look at the departures ex Tauranga to Auckland and whola there was a flight going to Auckland, it was the one before ours but delayed not cancelled.  Rang back – wait – wait -nope they can’t see it on their screen. Jump in car –  zip to airport and yes whola booked on it and can keep original flight to Sydney.  Yippee.  Not quite as flight did not leave as scheduled and was further delayed but yippee they could put us on the 4.15pm to Sydney not later one.  Excellent result (not as good as the original option but glass half full and all that).

Handy tip – go to Airport if you really need to get there as there are much better options for sorting it out.

For those of you who are over 50 you may be able to relate to the random thoughts below  (if you are not then just sign off now)

It’s sort of weird on your 55th birthday, because you are not that old really, in the scheme of things, so I repeat it’s sort of weird – when you go to an amazing retreat and it feels like you are the oldest ones there.  What do they do I wonder to indulge in this “indulgence”? I look for tell tale shiny new rings on fingers, or maybe anniversaries of significance, but my age is definitely felt by the fact that everyone else is so young.  Maybe 31sts are a new thing and I missed it.  Maybe having only now become DINKY’s ourselves, this is what we missed out on by having babies when there was still an “een” in our age.  I wonder what they look forward to when they are 55?  I even at one stage wonder why they came at all when they spend all breakfast playing on their phones?  I wonder – albeit fleetingly, as a matter of curiosity, because my awe at being here is palpable and I hope they feel as lucky as I do.

Russell to Whangarei

After our morning at Waitangi grounds we catch the ferry to Russell where we decide to stay for the night and hopefully tomorrow will be sunny and we can go out on one of the boat tours.  We stay in a great little studio room at Hukanui lodge where the unit is sparkly clean and cosy as well as having a lovely outlook through the Pohutukawa to the foreshore.

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We wile away the rest of the late afternoon wandering and writing and then eat at the pizza bar next door as it is raining hard and steady now.  The dawn breaks slowly and the weather does not inspire us to head out onto the water so instead we once again hit the road and take the scenic route.

We wind around bay after bay of sandy shores that are draped in  Pohutukawa and framed by rocky cliffs.  NZ bush is spectacular and we debate if this is because it is “ours” and like newborn babies that are our own,  we are biased, or is it truly the best bush/forest in the world.

We have visions of staying in Tutukaka but it doesn’t inspire and before you know it we are in Whangarei.  I will admit that it does not inspire either but we are hungry after eating the last of our meagre rations of crackers and vegemite in Sandy Bay many hours ago.

We check into the Quest who happen to be having an art gallery opening in the lobby corridor and of course a piece jumps out at me.  It’s called The Queen, the Treaty and the Crown and it is an etching and print by a local artist Virginia Grey.   The piece resonates with me in this time and place so it is purchased and checked in with us.Kamagra tablets became viagra levitra cialis the most prescribed drug to enhance the female sex drive. By improving the blood-volume, Kamagra tablets slovak-republic.org generic cialis for sale 100 create circumstances for penile organ becoming erect. The tablet starts working after an hour and provides you with the same benefits and results. online viagra pills It offers cialis 20mg tadalafil slovak-republic.org the effective and safe herbal remedies for seminal discharge.

The next morning we check out and are going to do some walking in the bush and visiting waterfalls but head to the town basin Marina for brekkie first.  (Yes our food supplies are now non existent unless you count one lemon waiting for fish and chips that were never had and some butter waiting for some toast or at least crackers)

The Town basin is lovely and the sun even makes a rare appearance.  We have a great breakfast and coffee at the QUAY cafe and then wander.  And wander. At some stage we go back to the car and put more money in the metre and then we wander some more.

In Whangarei they are building a new art museum, not just any art museum but a Hundertwasser.  Think Kawakawa toilets, Kuchlbauer tower if that still does nothing google Hundertwasser buildings.  I learn lots of fascinating things about Hundertwasser and his links with the north, his relationship with local iwi and the new Whangarei art centre being built from sketches he did for a Maori art gallery in NZ, which have been resurrected and are now being implemented.  But wait there’s more – I purchase a Dick Frizzell named Whangarei Tiki from a great gallery called Burning Issues.  Who knew – Whangarei- it’s great.  Obviously lots of people already knew that but I am a recent convert.

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The parking metre has been fed again and we finally leave after lunch by which I refer to as in  time and not food as we are still digesting our breakfast.

We head to one of the many tracks, the first being the Kauri and canopy walk, brilliant, followed by the waterfall, lovely,  and the loop track, nice.  Have already said all there is to say about the NZ bush so with tired legs (or at least mine) we hit the road and with an obligatory stop and nosey at the port we head for home with promises to myself to return as we have to take grandkids  to Waitangi, walk some more tracks, get out on the water in the Bay of islands, and visit the Hundertwasser art centre which will also hold the Wairau Māori art gallery, when it opens of course.  Can’t wait and of course I will take the camera.

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