The Thursday with cancelled dragon boat training

 Hi,

Work was a bit manic and I was kinda glad that dragon boating had been cancelled...  because I was a bit shattered.  They cancelled it a few days back so I am going to guess it was the exploding sewage pipe that led to unfortunate overflow into the harbour that caused the cancellation.

Bench Thursday morning

I did get a coffee in with Maureen.  That was a good chat about things mostly outside of work.  But we need to position her away from the foot traffic heading into work.  She was constantly nodding at people walking past.  Hahah.  I now think she knows half of Wellington.

Iced latte with Maureen

Catch up with Angie and an iced latte @ work

And later in the morning I had a meeting with Angie.  This one was totally mostly work.  Hahah.  The iced latte was good but inexplicably had a shot of something sweet and flavoured in it.  Hahah.

In a great fortunate twist, Ange took me and Mike home in her car.  Way better than the bus as I was tired and it was raining.

Cooked tea for Toby and Mike (butter chicken) and dinner for Sreejith's party on Saturday.  Saves me time on Fri after dragon boating and Saturday with all the work we have on.

And yes - raining today.  Friday.  But I have brekkie with James and Celia (not Celia's James though).  So - yay!  Heading off to that now.

Have a good weekend.   I think this is the last weekend Toby is at home.  Oh.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday with a bit of Vincent

 Hi,

After a crazy day at work, Mike and I had date night.  Dinner at Rosie's cantina (I had guacamole and street corn - which was so yummy) and then a wee walk before we headed into the Van Gogh exhibition.

Sunflowers

Selfie time

Even the ceiling

Male model in the sunflowers

Selfie in Vincent's room

A replica of the room

Mike reading info

Me too, Vincent

Mike in the room

There was a huge room packed with people for the 8pm session reading info about the paintings and prints of the paintings.  Then around 8.30 the main viewing in the next room started.  Multiple huge screens showed paintings through Van Gogh's career.  They had added motion to some.  It was a lovely visual experience.  And you have to feel for the man.  Tormented by something.  But stunning in what he created.

Stunning moonrise

The evening when we got out was amazing.  Ubered home.  Fell into bed and was in a coma in seconds.

Up for gym and bench this morning.  32kg.  Hopeless.  I am so weak.  

Busy day at work.

Take care.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday that feels like Thursday

 Hi,

The short week has done me in.  Tuesday was only yesterday and it felt like I had been at work for days and days that week already.  Totally think today is already Thursday.

Groan.

Manic lunch iced latte @ Ugly Bagel

Got an iced latte and a bagel for lunch and ate it by the harbour.  So pleasant.

Acorns everywhere

Our house has been inundated with acorns.  Apparently Tessa collected them on the road trip and now I see them everywhere.  This one was by the letterbox.

My sunnies were not in my bag

Bagel.  Harbour.  Sun.

Got home and Elly came around.  We kicked a footy in the park (and I talked to a woman called Elaine that runs there all the time) and Mike got a BBQ dinner ready.  Tom also popped around to eat with us.

Into bed and a reasonable sleep.

Bus into work and it is date night!  Woot.  Going to see the Van Gogh exhibition.  

Have a great day!

Love,

Angela

The weekend that was long and had hobbits

 Hi,

It was weird to have the house to myself for the long weekend and I see that Mike has blogged about the trip already.  Woot!  Go and read that for some entertainment.

Mike, Toby and Tessa left around 9.30am on Friday.  I had already gone into work via Mojo to meet Andrew.  But the Mojo across the road from his work only does basic food.  I had a scone.

I will push for the brekkie place to be the Mojo in the Asteron building.  But the sun was shining and the Mojo was very close to Andrew's work.

Friday morning iced latte at Mojo on Molesworth

I met Khemry and Davy for a mid morning iced latte and Celia was in there with her family having brekkie.  Her parents were down for Celia's birthday and they were off to see the Van Gogh exhibition.

I see Celia - happy birthday!

I was there to see Khemry and Davy

Home with Ange quite early (she was driving home - house painters and Sapphire needed her attention) and managed to finish my tasks from home.

Saturday I was supposed to get up, go grocery shopping, have a picnic with Celia and her whanau and tidy the house.  Got up super early.  Did a mountain of laundry.  Sorted the shopping list.  Had so much time I could read for a bit.  Got pinned by the cats.  Weather wasn't nice.

I stayed home.

Pinned by the cats.  

Andrew came around Saturday night though - so I was sort of social.  We got Uber Eats (email told me it was my first order!) from Dehlicious.  And we watched a movie that started poorly, but we persevered and it did improve.  Andrew rated it higher than Wonder Woman.  That's not a high bar.

I woke at 4am and got up and put bread on and went back to bed.  yeah - weird.  I blame Mike being gone.

I made bread

Chris came over and helped me start the Suzuki.  Took two pushes from the top of the hill before I got to the garage and said to Chris it wasn't likely to start.  He said to try one more.  And I was astonished that it started.

So we locked up the garage, headed through the back roads at Johnsonville through to Makara beach.

Chris gets me out on the bike

Mini Coffee Bar - really good iced latte

Stopped at The Mini Coffee Bar by the skate bowl in Northland on our way back.  Best iced latte!  Thank you so much, Chris.

Back home to stall with the grocery shopping - again!

Moxley snuggles under the covers

Finally up on Monday for my first gym session with Quentin for 2021.  Boxing!

Then grocery shopping.  Finally.  And had to cut it short because in a surprise, Sue was in town, heading for her ferry crossing.

Fruit and iced latte

Hey there Sue

Monday was stunning

Moxley beans

Just hanging

Mike, Toby and Tessa got back around 5pm and we relaxed over dinner and David came around to collect Tessa.  They both leave in 10 days time.  Bet they are glad they are not in Chc today - 38C forecast.

Mike and I were in bed early.  But  my sleep wasn't great.  On  well.

Up for gym again - deadlifts with Quentin.  Oosshh.  Form over weights.  But it was good.  Knee was fine.

Roads are closed in central Wellington and we're supposed to watch flushes and showers at work.  Home is fine.

Have an awesome day.

Love,

Angela

Seeking Hobbiton - Whakapapa and home

Toby and Tessa 'slept in' for the first time this trip so I got up and went wandering and seeking coffee. National Park was almost completely deserted. I found some at The Park Hotel -  I saw was one receptionist, one barista and zero guests. But the coffee was good.

We had one destination today - take the Whakapapa Sky Waka Gondola to Knoll Ridge. Toby hadn't been up since the Gondola was put in, and Tessa hadn't been past Happy Valley. It was a beautiful day and showed off Mt Ruapehu at its best.

I just bought the gondola ride (along with 50% seasons pass discount for me). In hindsight, the buffet lunch would have been better value. Compared to winter, the restaurant takes over far more space and the cafe food is more expensive and more limited. The buffet looked really good, too.

And now it was time for home. Traffic was heavy and slightly annoying but we had a mostly uneventful trip straight home. It was great to see Angela waiting for us at the garage! 

That was a wonderful long weekend break and really good to get time in with Toby and Tessa before they head south. Hobbiton is a must see. And we got to see more of the North Island that I've never been to before. So much fun. 

Seeking Hobbiton - Rotorua, National Park

 I felt a bit woozy in the morning so got a run in to clear my head. It was hard. The one thing I forgot was my "long term" asthma inhaler so I'm running on ventolin and my lungs aren't what they should be. 

We headed out on the short road from Tauranga to Rotorua; which should have been a fast trip if not for an old car whose driver had decided that if he wanted to go at 60 km/h, the rest of us could as well. The road was windy enough that there were was nowhere to pass, and slow vehicle lanes were assiduously (the new word of the day) ignored. 

Oh well. It was a nice scenic road, so we and the 10 other carloads following relaxed and enjoyed the views. (Well, attempted to.)

Toby navigated us straight in to the Picnic Cafe for brunch. It was great. And a real locals' cafe with people wandering in and chatting to the staff. My vegetarian pancakes were superb - nice filling and tasty.

There was a car show in the field opposite the cafe so we thought it'd be rude not to take a look. It was very eclectic - a mix of expensive and cheap cars, old and new cars - looked to be all the various car clubs in one place. Minis were mixed with all ages of Jaguars and Mustangs, Fiats rubbed shoulders with Corvettes, there were Austin Maxis and even a base model Ford Laser from the 1980s that was assiduously maintained and presented. 

Toby and Tessa played in the kids' playground for a short time while I eyed up the construction works to create a lakefront walk. It'll be nice soon when all the heavy machinery goes away.

Next on our list was a visit to the 'Farty Park' - aka Kuirau Park - that Toby remembered from his childhood. Initially it was completely underwhelming. An average grassy park with fenced off areas of insipid dirty pools and mud with no activity. But the action was all at the other end of the park, culminating in a large hot thermal lake. 

Tessa had spotted a cat cafe just around the corner so we checked it out. Wonderful! A gelato cafe attached to a room with 25 chilled out cats. It was a peaceful and fun hour to just hang out with friendly but largely disinterested cats.

We were planning on staying the night here in Rotorua, but we felt we'd done everything we wanted to so headed south instead - on highway 30 and 32 just to make it interesting. Toby the navigator was confused by this and thought we were on our way to Hamilton. But it all worked out. 

We stopped at the famous Tokaanau hot pools and Toby and Tessa headed into a pool while I booked ahead at Plateau Lodge, National Park. A slightly awkward conversation to try to avoid the booking dot com margin left me paying $15 more for the room than I could have if I'd have just booked on the app. Oh well, lesson learned. 

Our room was nice - 4 beds with shared facilities just across the hallway. I'd stay here again! It'd be ideal in the snow season. 

Off to Schnapps Bar for dinner, for hearty pub grub. My burger was just what my friend Doro had been talking about - an honest kiwi burger done right. No aioli and sourdough bun and seven different kales here - a white bread bun, a regular patty from the freezer and lettuce and beetroot, but all done exactly as it should be. Delicious.

While Toby and Tessa played pool I chatted to the bar owner about the future of Ruapehu, got an interesting perspective. He was definitely one of the business owners that sees the changes happening as a good thing, and (as I agree) we can't expect things to be like they were back in the day for us regular skiers. 

Wandered back for a nice comfy sleep.

Seeking Hobbiton - Taupo, Hobbiton, Mt Maunganui, Tauranga

It was the same weird start as yesterday. I got myself up and ready, and was trying to figure out things to do before Toby and Tessa woke up - when just after 7am they both appeared, dressed packed and eager to leave. So off we set.

Taupo was still and uninhabited when we arrived looking for breakfast. After a short reconnoitre we chose Dixie Browns on the waterfront. When we went inside I realised that I'd indeed been here before at some Taupo Cycle Challenge or other.

It was colder than I expected so after ordering I ran back for my jacket and brought the car around. Which was a good move - my omelette was good but I really need hot sauce with things like scrambled eggs and omelette. But the car was there. And in the car was my gym bag. And in the gym bag was Lee Herd's home made hot sauce, that I've carried everywhere for some weeks so I can get it back to him. It hit the spot nicely!

We headed north again, next stop Hobbiton, but realised that we were far too early. A side trip to Karapiti 'Craters of the Moon' was called for.   I had been there before, but not since last century. It was definitely worth the trip and the new $8 admission (which according to the website pays rental fees to DOC as well as supporting local community organisations and environmental work and providing scholarships for local high school students). The steam pressure and ground temperatures had definitely dropped since the 1900s when I went - instead of a truly alien landscape, hardy plants like kanuka had grown up and colonised the area. The really informative and interesting signs on the way spoke to this - over the last 100 years the site has steadily become tamer. But there is still a rich variety of steam vents hissing and brilliant hues of mineral colours.

Back to the car, back to the podcasts (a whole series of a comedic slant on the JFK assassination ... yes really! And it's great!) and Google Maps Woman directing us north. Back onto SH1 after taking a little rat run, and on to Hobbiton in good time for a cafe lunch before our tour.

 Hobbiton was fantastic and even the hefty admission fee felt like great value for money. We were loaded into a bus and taken to the start of the tour. A friendly, relaxed and helpful guide took us through the site. He gave the impression that he loved his job and that we weren't the umpteenth group he'd taken through! The Hobbiton site itself is hard to describe but has a vibe and a sense of place that just has to be experienced. I've seen movie sets and movie props before and was expecting something that you had to not peer too hard at before you noticed the plywood and plastic foam and rough spraypainting. This wasn't like that at all. It was detail perfect. The gardens were immaculately maintained at just the right level of overgrown. The hobbit holes looked like their occupants had just left for the afternoon, with their washing on the line and their wares such as cheeses and eggs and breads outside with little pouches to pay.  Our guide highlighted all the different scales; some hobbit holes were 'hobbit scale' for hobbits to appear the right size, others were 'human scale' for Gandalf to tower over. All carefully arranged for forced perspective to make the site look right, and I guess larger than it was, at the right angles for the right shots.

Hobbiton

Even the vege garden is immaculately maintained

That pose

That pose. Toby was here at this hobbit hole a year ago!

After a hobbit brewed beer at the Green Dragon pub - the movie set frontage with a replica interior retrofitted after filming - we happily bussed back to base and checked out the gift shop. 

One really good thing about Hobbiton is that it is very close to many Waikato destinations - Taupo, Tauranga, Rotorua, ... So next on our list of 'places to stay that Mike has never been to' was a quick flying visit to Tauranga and Mt Maunganui. Google Maps again navigated us (mostly) seamlessly to our accommodation at Academy Motor Inn. Quite a contrast to our last night's accommodation - immaculate and professional. We dropped our gear, sorted our lives and then back into the car to check out Mt Maunganui.

I know nothing about Mt Maunganui other than that there's a beach there and teens go to party on New Years. What would we find?

We found an incredible beach, that stretched as far as the eye can see, along with blocks and blocks of bars, restaurants and cafes on the street a block behind. It felt like we'd been transported to a New South Wales beach town, complete with a warm breeze and what looked like warm water - but those city kids didn't want to get sandy so we didn't actually check out the beach itself. Clearly a lot of money here, but still room for a beach bum surfing culture too.

Mt Maunganui

After wandering about the waterfront we headed back to the food strip and checked out Latitude 37. A really good relaxed place with incredible food. Unusually neither Toby (sticky rice balls with pork) nor I (salmon salad) had steak, or even anything from a cow. 

And incredible chocolate mousse to finish!

We left happy and sated and headed back to town. Toby and Tessa spent a good hour in the swimming pool and hot tub here, until after dark.

 

Seeking Hobbiton - Wellington to Taupo

 Toby, Tessa and I are off on an adventure. It's a three day weekend, so I've padded it out with a day off either side - and we are off to Hobbiton which is most of the way to Auckland.

Toby had pleaded off an early start so I was planning to grab my usual Friday potato cakes before we headed off. But the early morning saw two excited people dressed packed and ready to go. We were off around 8:30am. 

Traffic flowed okay but was really heavy - we were in queues most of the way, usually doing a good 90km/h though. I was surprised at this. I guess there are lots of people going from A to B on a weekday! Lots of roadworks too; just out of Taihape we were stationary at a top/go for a good 20 minutes. Just too many cars to make stop/go work very well.

1pm saw us at Hydro Cafe in Turangi, straight through with just a couple of fuel and comfort stops. We were all very happy with our lunches. Then on to Taupo and the impressively named Grandeur Spa Resort. A strange place but lovely and comfortable. I have so many questions. A large, imposing conference centre with bar/restaurant - closed up and unused. A swimming pool and Tokaanau style spa pool taking water from the hot spring stream at the back of the property. Some very old cottages and an ancient, tiny church that would fit maybe 10 people speak to a huge history to the site. A massive warehouse with a huge load-out canopy that would suit freight dispatch for 10 semitrailers. And, a collection of cute little townhouse style chalets from the 1980s or so, where we were staying. 

I think there have been a series of failed ventures on this site. Everything is run down and crumbling, though our chalet is clean, tidy and with a flash new looking kitchen and bathroom. The resort's official website still speaks of the ambition of the place; high dining, well stocked bar, the perfect venue for your event or offsite meeting. Alas it is not to be.

The location is amazing though. We headed off the site to explore, armed with a vague idea that Huka Falls was close. 

We tried a 'shortcut' through Owen Delany Park next to the site - but this proved fruitless and we wandered for ages before emerging back about 100m from where we started. Then we followed a walking track to an amazing spa area, Otumuheke Stream hot pools. Nicely built up and full of families swimming in the clear Waikato waters and soaking in the hot Otumuheke Stream as it flowed into the Waikato. There was a cafe in a container with a very friendly helpful couple selling coffee and icecream who provided us with sunscreen (oops), pointed us in the right direction for Huka Falls and gave us pointers for the things to do around here. 

Otumuheke Stream hot pools

It was hot, and jeans were not the best clothing choice. But we soldiered on, walking down the bank of the Waikato. The water is amazing! So much water, and so clear and unsullied. Reasonably fast flowing. You could see the riverbed so clearly. Huka Lodge on the other side of the river spoke to the sort of accommodation you could have if money was no object.

Water so clear

Toby spent the walk planning on how he could successfully navigate the river in his Warehouse inflatable raft (recommended max weight: 40kg) and avoid shooting into the Huka Falls channel. Plenty of friends with slack-ropes to throw at him. Plenty of contingency when they inevitably failed. Finally how he would navigate the falls themselves when all else failed.

Huka Falls. Descent in blow up raft not recommended.
 

Looking back at Otumuheke Stream hot pools

We were back at our wee chalet by 5pm, after a bit of a recharge we headed into town and found the Taupo Steakhouse. No Paroa Pub adventures for us tonight! Service was perfect and our steaks were done to perfection. Really, really good. Definitely coming back here, though maybe not with Angela since there was just one line on the menu - "vegetarian dish - ask" - for her.

After dinner we strolled along the waterfront and then back to the substantial park. But there were too many pesky children playing on the swings, so we headed back to our chalet so that Toby and Tessa could explore the park close by instead.

Taupo has so many great looking eateries, and its waterfront is beautiful. It really feels like a place you could often visit in its own right. I've only ever been here for an event like the cycle race or the 100km team walk, or as I was passing through. I may have to remedy that in future. 

The Thursday with so much on

 Hi,

What a big, big day.

Got up super early (and Iona was kind enough to also get up to take me to the airport) and bleary-eyed me jumped in the shower to attempt to wake me up a little.  Kinda worked.  Iona took me to Blenheim airport, I checked in and sat in the seats with her. watching the sunrise.

We decided to go out for a better look.  I left my boarding pass on the table.  Didn't realise until much later when we were boarding.  Not there.  I approached the staff calling for boarding, looking worried.  She saw me coming up to her, my face no doubt etched with concern because she waved a green pass at me and said:  I think you dropped this.

Lucky there were only 7 people in the airport on that flight eh?

I was so happy I almost left without giving Iona a goodbye hug.  She just smirked at me, called me back for a hug and left me to my mortification at being a twit.

Flight was a tad bumpy.  The Strait was whipped u.  Not big swells or white caps or anything.  Just - angry looking.  Like underneath was a swirling mass and the surface was containing it all - barely.  We swooped a few times on our approach.

Fun!

Mike collected me from the airport and we headed to work.  I dropped off my stuff and went toi Mojo in the Asteron building to meet Andrew.  Mike went to the gym.

Mojo Asteron

My toe is coming along nicely.  I think I might document the bruising as it already looks pretty cool.  It's also sore - which isn't quite as much fun.  But rather that toe that a useful one like my big toe.  Hahahah.

My toe looks so cool!

Then I was back at work and into my full on day of meetings and planning and whatever else.

Once that long day was done, it was into the dragon boat training session.  5.30pm - 7pm.  I was a bit tuckered out but Dave the instructor was full of praise.  So - we took that.  

Mike met me at work after his run and we drove home.  I tidied the kitchen with Mike and then showered all the saltwater off me and into bed.

Toby got home a little while after we got back and Tessa arrived a bit later still.  The 3 of them are off on a road trip this long weekend.  Woot.

Up early to meet Andrew for brekkie.  We tried the Mojo across from his work.  Yeah, nah.  No decent brekkie food.  Although Andrew enjoyed his muesli.

Looks like summer!

Take care - have an awesome day.  

Happy birthday to Celia today.  

Love,

Angela