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Sydney 2020 Day One

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February 11 – Tuesday

I made it!!! There have been several times recently that I was afraid I might not make it to Sydney because of bushfires, smoky skies, corona virus and debris on the runway closing Auckland Airport twice.  Ok that wasn’t all in one day but for the past few months there have been events that made me think I might not get to go.

At last all the stars aligned and an awesome friend who also lives on the North Shore got up extra early and gave me a lift to the airport.  Because of the corona virus I needed to be at the airport an hour earlier than normal, so I was there three hours ahead of departure and I had the place to myself, there was no queues anywhere and no holdups, so I managed to get through check in/bag drop, passport control and security really fast.  This meant I had loads of time to wander around Auckland airport checking out all the fab new areas and flash shops that weren’t there two years ago when I was last there.  If you take a walk beyond the food court towards the really far away departure gates and look up you will see this amazing art installation.

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At last it was time to board and take my seat, luckily I was the first in my row so I could wipe down the window, touch screen and everything else I’d be touching with wet wipes.  As the name implies they were “wet” wipes and I ended up soaking the window, so I had to hurriedly dry it with something before the people seated next to me wondered what happened.  The airplane was one of the new Boeing 787s, was very comfortable, had really big windows and a clever window tinting instead of a blind.

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For many days before departing I had my eye on the weather forecast and sadly it was all doom and gloom with nothing but thunderstorms forecast for the whole week I was going to be there, however 1/2 an hour before landing the Captain announced the great news that all the horrible weather they’d been having had cleared up!

A friend recommended I catch the train from the airport to Circular Quay as it is cheap and easy, so I did and it was.  But it wasn’t air conditioned and the heat was unlike anything I’d experienced in a very long time, maybe not since living in Japan.  Once I stepped off the train I was hit with a wave of heat and sunshine that was both a happy surprise and unbearable.  I was dressed for rain, cold and thunderstorms, I didn’t even have a cap.  So here’s my first pics of sunny Sydney.

Luckily the Hotel Intercontinental was only 5 minutes walk away from the train station and it was stunning.  As this trip was for my 55th birthday I splashed out and treated myself to three nights of luxury in a 5 star hotel in a great location very close to the Opera House.

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While checking in at the very flash & luxurious reception desk the friendly and welcoming guy at the counter went through my booking and noticed the reason I gave for this trip was for my birthday.  He asked how old I was then refused to believe it, so then he went to the office to see if there was anything they could do and came back with an amazing free upgrade to a room with a view on one of the top floors.  But the room wouldn’t be ready for a while, so he gave me some free drink vouchers to enjoy a nice cool beer (or 2 or 3) in the lobby bar while I wait.  I was quite early, it was only 11:30am, but 1:30 New Zealand time, so I headed to the bar and had lunch plus several free beers.

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After several beers and lunch I decided to go for a walk to fill in time before my room would be ready at 3:00, at the rate I was going I’d be too drunk to make it in to my room.  But it was very very hot and humid outside so I didn’t last very long, but I did manage to cross the road and have a quick look at the Royal Botanic Gardens.

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The Royal Botanic Gardens (Sydney Conservatorium of Music in the background)2

After what felt like an eternity I headed back to the hotel and waited in the beautiful air conditioned lobby for my room to be ready.  Just after 3:00 my fantastic room was ready, everything was awesome; spectacular view, a bath, fully stocked minibar, a Nespresso machine, a flash desk with executive swivel chair, an electric blind that was controlled from the bed, a sofa and a very handy window bench seat to lie back on and enjoy the view and a few more beers.

 

And just when I thought I couldn’t get any luckier there was a knock on the door from Room Service – they gave me a special birthday treat of a cake with an Opera House type decoration.  Wow!!!

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Eventually I felt brave enough to go back outside in the heat and take a stroll around the Opera House.  Actually it was early evening so I figured it should be cool enough.  While I was wandering around the Opera House a very rusty looking cruise ship (the Ruby Princess) departed which was a very impressive sight from where I was standing.

Once it got dark I headed back to the hotel for dinner and drinks in the lobby bar.

A Very Heidi Xmas 2019

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Xmas 2019 will forever be remembered by me as the Xmas of Heidi. It all started on Xmas Eve meeting up with Heidi at the Cordis Hotel. In case you’re wondering this used to be the Langham and before that it was the Sheraton.

Last Xmas Heidi and I decided to go to Fiji for Xmas 2019 for something different to do and get away from it all. Turns out that December is the worst month to go to Fiji because it’s the rainiest month of the year and very humid.

So Fiji turned into Bali after several months of indecisiveness and then sadly I didn’t think I’d have enough money to have an awesome trip coz there really wasn’t enough paydays till Xmas for me. So as a compromise and a way to still do something fab… we decided to stay in a flash 5 star hotel in the city where we could sit by a pool on Xmas day and drink cocktails.

I started my Xmas holidays this year on Monday the 23rd so all I had to do on the 24th was wait for Heidi to finish work and check in to the hotel. I caught a taxi from my place to the hotel and the driver gave me a $10 Xmas discount making it only $20, what a fab start to my luxurious Xmas experience.

While waiting in the very flash lobby there was a Santa wishing everyone a very merry Xmas and a very lovely lady handing out beautiful gingerbread cookies.

Our room was very very nice and the beds were like giant marshmallows- they were so comfortable, and we had a great view of the Sky Tower lit up for Xmas.

Once it got dark enough we went for a big walk along K Road to the pink cycle path because I thought we should do something involving lights on Xmas eve.

Xmas Day

Got woken suddenly this morning by a faint knock on the door announcing our room service breakfast had arrived. Or maybe the poor guy had been out there a while knocking – we will never know.

Checked out of the hotel at 11:00 and went for a walk over Grafton Bridge to fill in time till High Tea at 11:30. It sure was very special and what a fab thing to do on Xmas day – no stress no drama no dishes and we were treated like royalty.

Boxing Day

Today I joined Heidi and a bunch of her friends for their annual Xmas tradition. We caught the ferry to Waiheke Island and had an awesome lunch and much wine in a vineyard restaurant called: Thomas’s Batch.

Awesome views, fun company and a fab day.

27 December

Today we went to Point Chev for a catch up brunch with a mutual friend Dave L. The cafe we planned to meet in was closed!!! So we went to another one nearby called Ambler Cafe. Great food and great service, would happily go back there again.

So… it’s been a very busy few days with lots of fun adventures with Heidi, hence the title of this blog post.

Xmas 2018 Nelson Trip

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Day one – Thursday 20 December – train to Wellington

What an awesome start to our trip – the taxi driver didn’t charge us for the ride from home to the train station as a thank you for previous business and xmas gift. We arrived nice and early and checking in to the Northern Explorer train was fast and easy. The train was very comfortable with loads of room, huge windows, plugs for charging devices, comfortable dining car with great food and my favourite beer.
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The train ride took just under 11 hours and apart from the first bit from Auckland to Hamilton the weather was great. The best scenery of the trip was definitely Mt Ruapehu.
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We stayed in the Ibis hotel and after dinner we had a few beers in Dad’s hotel room.

Day two – Friday 21 December – Wellington to Picton

We did breakfast in the hotel and then said goodbye, Dad and Paula flew to Nelson and I stayed on to catch the ferry. I went on the cable car and loved the lights they’ve added to the tunnels. Weather ok and great views at the top.
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Click the last pic to view the video.

I ran in to a couple of people I know from work so we did a quick coffee and catch up in David Jones. Then I collected my bag from the hotel and headed for the ferry terminal.
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I chose to go on the Bluebridge Ferry rather than the InterIslander coz it was about $10 cheaper and they had Airpoints. BIG MISTAKE! As soon as I got on the ferry I would’ve paid anything to get off it and on to the other ferry (the Interislander). The whole thing smelt like a public toilet everywhere. I went outside for some fresh air and hopefully find a good seat, but it worse. On the right side of the boat were vents that made the air smell like old stale warm fat. On the left side were the vents that I guess went straight to the toilets coz that side smelt like poohs. Neither side was a good option. So I got myself a private cabin where I could escape the screaming children and horrible smells. The cabin had its own toilet and shower and a bed – very cool and it was the best $30 I’ve spent in ages. Before I headed indoors tho I did see a pod of dolphins – very cool, but very hard to photograph.
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The scenery through the sounds was beautiful but I just couldn’t stomach the smells.
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Getting off the boat was quite an ordeal too. The directions for the walking people (people without cars) was not very clear and I got lost trying to find my way out. Then once I was reunited with the other walkers we were herded like sheep on to a bus and shuttled to the terminal to wait for our bags. Then I was on my own with no signs to show me the way to get to the town and there are NO TAXIS in Picton. So I walked along the main road which was not the right way to go I found out the next day!
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Day three – Saturday 22 December – Picton to Nelson

Awesome weather in Picton, actually managed to get too much sun just wandering around in the morning and sitting in the shade by the stunning waterfront, while waiting for the bus to Nelson.
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While waiting for the bus to kill some time and get out of the sun I paid $25 to see the Picton Aquarium. Wow what a waste of money, it was awful and actually gave me the creeps.
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After filling in enough time I went to the bus stop to wait for the bus, unfortunately I was waiting at the wrong stop and 10 minutes before the bus was due to depart I wondered why it hadn’t even turned up and why am I the only one waiting for a bus. So I went in to the info centre next to the bus stop and asked if I was in the right place – I wasn’t!!! A quick two minute dash to the correct stop and luckily the bus hadn’t left. But the bus was overbooked and they needed two buses so there was some confusion and a 20 minute hold up. The bus trip was great and I’d definitely do that again. Beautiful scenery, loads of famous vineyards.
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Then at long last I’d made it to Nelson and Dad and Paula were there to meet me at the bus station. Short ride to my Aunt’s home and a beer!

Day four – Sunday 23 December – Nelson

This morning my cousins Janine and Stephanie turned up for a coffee and a quick reunion catch up. Then my Aunty and Ken took me on a little pilgrimage around Nelson to revisit the three houses I’d stayed in when we came to visit at Xmas time back in the 70s 80s & 81. It was hard to photograph the houses from the car so here’s an old pic I took back in 1980 of the house we stayed in that Xmas.

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After lunch at the McDonald’s cousin Stephanie worked at for her first job, we went to the Nelson Cathedral to see the Xmas Tree display.
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After dinner the old photo albums came out so Paula could see what I looked like as a Page Boy at my Aunt’s wedding back in the 60s.

img_7874  Me as a page boy.

It was a great evening filled with stories and so many memories.

Day five – Monday 24 December – Te Waikoropupu Springs

I remembered as a kid the whole family went for a really long drive to see the Pupu Springs and it was the most beautiful crystal clear water I had ever seen – but that was all I remember of that trip, so Dad and Paula took me on the long drive out to Takaka where the springs are. The drive up the mountains was spectacular and the long journey was well worth it, when we walked round a corner in the bush track and saw the stunning water bubbling up from the ground.
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On the way out to the springs we stopped in Motueka for lunch and I was amused by the name of the shop across the road.
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Day six – Tuesday 25 December – Christmas Day

Lovely Xmas day. Presents and breakfast then getting ready for the cousins who turned up for the big xmas dinner at lunch time. We had a secret Santa before food and it was one of the few times I’ve seen a Secret Santa activity go well (something usually goes wrong) – everyone seemed happy with their gifts and everyone got one!
The following two pics are not from Xmas Day , but most days there were fantastic sunsets seen from my Aunt’s balcony.
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Day seven – Wednesday 26 December – Mapua and Kaiteretere Beach

Today Dad, Paula and I drove out to Mapua a little wharf town with a maritime museum full of interesting facts about the area. The best thing I learnt was how Cable Bay got its name and that it only took 12 days to lay the cable between Australia and New Zealand back in the 1800s.
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From there we drove on to Kaiteretere a very popular beach with golden sand.
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Day eight – Thursday 27 December – Last Day in Nelson

This morning we had a visit from my Uncle Ray who I hadn’t seen since I was 21, great catch up and many more memories. After that Dad, Paula and Tarnie went in to town to check out the shops and have lunch. After lunch we had a drive out to the Maitai Valley River spot where we spent many days swimming back in 1980. I didn’t take any photos coz there was nowhere practical to stop, and the river bed was all brown and not as stunning as I remembered it. But at least we found it. So here’s an old pic of my Uncle Ray and Dad standing by our favourite Maitai river spot in 1980.
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Our very last stop before heading home was at the very beautiful Queen’s Gardens (to use the loo).
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Weekend in Cambridge

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Last weekend I got to stay with friends in their very lovely home in Cambridge.  While I was there I was on a mission to take photos of spring for a photo competition I’m running at work.  So our first little venture out was to a park where there would be plenty of cherry blossoms and hopefully some cute little fluffy ducks.

On the drive back from the park we stopped by the side of the road for some shots of some glorious trees in full blossom.


We had a really lovely walk around the park and I even learnt some history.

For dinner we went to an amazing restaurant called Alpha St.  The food was amazing and I had the most fabulous desert ever.  You pour this hot berry sauce over a stunning ball of white chocolate to reveal the dark chocolate mouse inside.  Not only was it fun but it was very delicious.

  
The next day we drove to the Hamilton Zoo where we got to see some very pretty birds.

  
Meerkats, pigs and giraffes.


Tigers, ducks and a turtle.


A family of monkeys with a really cute baby.


But my favourite was the rhinos because it was their feeding time and we got to see them up real close.


After the zoo we headed back to Cambridge for lunch and then I drove home amongst all the school holiday traffic also heading home.

Christchurch for Four Weeks

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I always feel very lucky to have a job I really love and there have been many highlights, but the last four weeks have been amazing.  I got to work in Christchurch for four whole weeks and fly home for the weekends.

Luckily on one of the flights I got to sit in seat 1A.  It was so cool, I felt like I was part of the flight crew.

The cathedral is still broken and it’s been like that for so long it’s become very overgrown, but one night on the way home from work the evening sun was shining just at the right time and it looked quite stunning.

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I even made time to go to the art gallery and soak up some culture.

On my last weekend I made it to the Gondolas for a grand view of the city and harbour.

One particularly clear morning I even discovered the clouds on the horizon weren’t clouds after all – it was actually snow on the mountains.

The Crowne Plaza Hotel had only just opened and they had really good opening special prices making it affordable enough even for my work to pay for.  The room was amazing, I never wanted to leave.

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I don’t normally take photos of food I eat but the hotel food was truly spectacular, delicious and very well priced.  Look how beautifully the chocolate cake was presented.

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And the view was stunning.

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After work one night I walked up the road to investigate an amazing playground my nephew told me all about, apparently it’s one of the biggest in New Zealand.  It was very cool and I would’ve loved to play there if I was a kid.

Photo 24-08-17, 5 51 44 PMwAfter that on my way back to the hotel I found I funky street with old looking shops, bars and restaurants.  But most importantly I found a wine shop!

During a lunch break on a beautiful sunny day I went for a walk to take some pics of the cool buildings near where I was working.

London Day Twenty One

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Saturday 22 April

My last full day in London, so I made the most of it by catching up with a friend I hadn’t seen yet and visiting the Lego Store one last time.

I expertly navigated my way to the Lego Store all by myself, catching a train and the Tube just like a real Londoner.

There was a queue to get in to the Lego Store but it moved quite quickly and there were friendly staff chatting to people in the queue to take their minds of the fact that we were all queuing to get in to a shop to spend money.

  

If you look closely you’ll see something I find mildly amusing… there is actually only one child in the queue to get in to this toy shop, everybody else is an adult!


It was a sad visit in a way, knowing this would probably be the last time I ever visited this shop, so I needed to make the most of it – but I couldn’t buy everything I really wanted because there is only so much Lego you can fit in one suitcase.  It was cool though that I managed to come here on my first and last day!

After that I was really hungry and couldn’t wait till I met up with my friend to eat, so I popped in to a pizza place in Leicester Square right next to the last place I ate at 30 years ago (Burger King) after my big farewell with the people I worked with.


From there I got myself to the Tate Britain where I met up with a friend who is a member so we got to eat in the members’ lounge like VIPs and attend the Hockney exhibition for free.


I hadn’t seen this friend for about 5 years so it was cool to have a catch up.  The gallery and exhibition were very cool.  We have a David Hockney print on the wall at work which I walk past every time I go to the kitchen for coffee (so that’s loads of times) so it was awesome to see the real thing.  We couldn’t take photos so here’s a couple of pics of the fab light display at the entrance.

  
And here I am feeling very happy observing some cool taxis – they’re not all black anymore, although most of them still are.

  

From there we walked past the parliament buildings to get in the massive queue for the London Eye, even tho we had a ticket for a specific time booking.

  
That turned into quite a drama.  There were millions of people all hanging out around the area where you queue for the Eye and we could hardly move and then suddenly we were all told to turn around and head back to the bridge and go around the back of the building due to an incident.  This was quite scary as we didn’t know what was happening and nobody wanted to move and we were all being pushed backwards.  I’m was also aware that this is the very place there was a terrorist attack a couple of weeks ago adding to the whole situation.


Eventually we made it to the massive queue of people waiting to get on to the London Eye.  Some people had tickets, some didn’t and nobody knew where to go or what to do and none of the staff would tell us what was going on.  So we waited… and waited… and waited and then suddenly the queue moved and then shrunk and then stopped again.  Turned out they had closed the London Eye for some unkown reason and we were handed a form to get a refund.  We looked up at the Eye and noticed it wasn’t moving and half the pods were empty and some people looked very stuck in a couple of the pods, so we guessed it broke down and were very glad we weren’t actually on it when it broke down.  Imagine suddenly needing to go to the loo and being stuck up there.


So we decided the best thing to do instead of going on the Eye was to get a bottle of wine and sit on the grass enjoying the sun and make the most of our short amount of catch up time together.


After all the wine was gone we walked along the Southbank towards where my friend had to catch her train home from.  That’s where I noticed there was a beach!!! Right in the middle of London!!!


It may have had something to do with all the wine we drunk relatively quickly but on that walk in the sunshine – everything looked sparkly and stunning and we decided we shouldn’t wait five more years before we had another catch up, and as we met each other originally in Japan back in the 90s we made a pact to meet again in five years time in KOBE!!!

  
With that very exciting and happy warm fuzzy thought we said goodbye and I headed home.

London Day Twenty

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Friday 21 April

Today the plan was to meet a friend for cocktails high up in a couple of the London skyscrapers, to enjoy a drink or two with a view.  To fill in time till then I booked an on-line ticket to Madame Tussaud’s and hoped there wouldn’t be the same long queues as on Monday.

After arriving at Waterloo station I caught the Tube to Picadilly Circus and walked all the way up Old Bond St for a spot of window shopping in the very flash designer label stores where all the “old money” goes shopping.

          
After that I caught the Tube from Bond St to Baker St where a queue-less Madame Tussaud’s awaited.

  
There were a lot of people inside it and it was a bit of a bun fight to try and take a photo without hundreds of people getting in the way or draping themselves over the mannequins for “selfies”, so in the end I just took photos of the random strangers anyway, don’t ask who the guy is standing next to the Queen, the Royal Family was a popular set and you had to queue up to have your pic taken by the professionals so I just took the photo and moved on.

  

There was a lot to look at and enjoy and there was even a 4D Marvel character movie experience which was very cool and a little taxi ride through the history of London (kinda like Toad Hall at Disneyland, or the Ghost Train for kids at the Easter Show).

                             
From there I walked down Baker St all the way to Oxford St and caught a Tube to Liverpool St to meet my friend who took me up to a bar called Sushisamba on the 38th floor of Heron Tower.  Fab views and very cool atmosphere. 

  
From there we went to Tower 42, which used to be called the NatWest Tower, we went up to the 24th floor to a bar called City Social on the 24th floor.  It was so flash and fabulous that I couldn’t possibly order a beer, it felt more like a coffee martini kinda place.

  
The views were awesome.


And the view from the toilet was so amazing I almost forgot what I went in there for.


Next we went down to the ground floor of the same building for more cocktails in a bar called Paul.  After that we walked round the corner to a restaurant called Burger and Lobster.  They only do burgers and lobsters – it was fab and yes I had a whole lobster all to myself.  After desert I looked at my watch and suddenly felt like Cinderella as I had a very short amount of time to make it to the station to catch the last train home.  But I made it.

London Day Nineteen 

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Thursday 20 April

A nice lovely relaxing day today.  Usually when we go in to the city we catch the train to Waterloo and then we catch the Waterloo to Reading home and get off at Egham, but today I got to go the other way and find out what Reading was actually like – it was lovely.


First thing on our list of things to do in Reading was lunch.  Because we don’t have sit down Pizza Hut restaurants in Auckland anymore it was a real treat to go to one here.  They even serve alcohol!!!


After lunch we went to the big mall so I could see if there was anything in the Apple Store that I didn’t know existed but simply couldn’t live without.  There wasn’t!

I found a really cool retro Casio watch with the world time built in to it in a department store called John Lewis.  I need this watch for the long journey home because my Apple Watch has a minor downfall – you can’t manually change the time on it, it needs the iPhone to know the time and because I didn’t turn on data in Dubai as I had no idea of the cost, my watch permanently told the wrong time all the way to London.  It comes complete with a massive instruction booklet so that’ll keep me busy for some of the mega long 30 hour journey home.

After that we strolled around Reading for a bit and headed home.