School Holidays

Barb and I had a fabulous South Island holiday on the way down to Christchurch for the ULearn conference. Only a couple of aftershocks to let us know that we live in the shaky isles.

South Island Holiday - Free Slideshow Maker

Ruth, Paul & Denzell Visit

Paul offered to come and have a bit of a 'holiday' in Nelson and give me a hand fixing some of the things around the house that Dad would have done.

Paul and Denzell worked hard water blasting the patio railing.
Denzell was very photogenic and went looking for pirates in the pepper tree.
Ruth, Denzell and I had a nice walk around the Queen's Gardens while Paul worked putting in an extractor fan in the bathroom.
We had a great day out salmon fishing at Anatoki. We all caught one.

It was good that Paul and Ruth were there cos I'm not very good with dead fish- only good when they're cooked and filleted.
This is one of our fish. The guy smokes the salmon while we waited.
Mmmmmmm. We thought of you, Adrian! Reka!
Afterwards we looked around a rather lame animal park. Denzell had a lovely moment with this young fawn.
After that we were off to Waikorupupu Springs- always an outstanding place to be.
Home to feed the swan and try not to let the seagulls get all the bread.
We even threw in a spot of reel fishing down the port. We only caught tiddlers but it is a good way to spend an afternoon.
As you can see from the before and after photos Paul did a great job of making the place look decent. It was in rather desperate need but I didn't know how to put it right..


As well as actually doing the work Paul gave me tips on what to do to do the other side of the fence when winter comes and the foliage dies down a bit.


Didn't he do a great job.

Amy's Holiday in Nelson

Amy and I had a fabulous time while she was in Nelson- home from the UK for a month. We slept in, had a massage, went shopping & to the movies, ate out and tried to fit in a year's worth of catching up.
Amy took photos of the Nelson haven- it really is stunning.Before coming to Nelson she had visited Dunedin to see Danny. It was good to see them both together in a Facebook photo.
Amy was able to visit with Pop and his new bride, Helen, when she visited Taihape.
Amy and I caught one last photo together as she left Nelson to head back to the UK.

Amy's Visit

Amy arrived for a few days after a month spent enjoying Thailand. She gave me some of her photos to share.
She did an 'Intrepid Journey' into the hills around Chang Mai.
She got to experience some of the day-to-day life while she was there.
The sunsets were stunning.

It looks like a tropical Pacific island.


She made lots of new friends.
It is great to have her here. We buried Mum today in the plot at the Marsden Valley cemetery with Dad. I miss her every day.

Dunedin

It was great to get down to Dunedin to visit with Danny and Cheryl before the conference started. Danny took me up to Lanarch Castle. It even had its own livestock.
Here is Danny and I at the top of the castle overlooking the Dunedin peninsula.
You weren't supposed to take inside photos so this photo was a bit fuzzy as I didn't use the flash.
The castle is quite small but impressive all the same.
I had to take this photo as Danny is turning into quite a good cook under Cheryl' guidance. Judy would be shocked.
It was cold overnight and I was impressed with the snow on my car- I didn't realise that much more was to come.


Danny shared this video of himself wakeboarding- very cool.

School Holiday South Island Tour: Day One

I am heading down to visit Danny in Dunedin and to attend the ULearn09 ICT conference in Christchurch while the school holidays are on. I am taking the class mascot with me and will be blogging our trip on the class blog as well.

www.moturoa.blogspot.com

Today I got as far as Hanmer Springs and had a lovely soak in the hot pools. I had my photo taken at the pools by a professional photographer so come back to this post for a copy when it gets sorted. Tomorrow I go shopping in Christchurch and staying with Dennis and Dianne.

Nelson in Winter

Last week during the school holidays Chrissy, Michelle, Stephanie and Ben came to stay for a first visit to the South Island. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed discovering Nelson.

A River, A Tuktuk and an Elephant

Today was the last full day in Bangkok and we had a bit of a sleep in seeing it was a Sunday. We decided it would be fun to catch a taxi to the river and catch a riverboat to Pier 15 and then a tuktuk to the zoo.
At Pier 15 there must be some kind of offering place because the custom is to buy bread, fish or eels to feed to the seething mass of fish. It was interesting and particularly stinky!
The Thewet stop offered a great view of King Rama VIII Bridge which spans the river.
Yes Raewyn this is where we caught a lift in a tuktuk. I agreed to a price of ฿100 which was way too much but there you go! The ride was exhilarating though and I very much enjoyed the novelty!
The zoo itself was a bit of a let down- the place was thronging with people and the noise of Thai blather on microphones everywhere imploring us to do something or other was a bit much. The enclosures were small and we felt there was not a lot of enrichment going on the animals all needed better attention. I got a couple of good photos though of the African animals.
These were the same fish, we think, that were at the pier- top feeding- they troll the surface water looking for food- some were really big.
This one's not real I'm afraid- better to come later in the post but it made a nice photo opportunity all the same.
We quit the zoo early and caught a tuktuk home past the King's Palace. The king is much loved by his people and there are posters and monuments to him all over the place.
The main road to the palace has very ornate gateways scattered all the way down it. Not a bad photo taken with one hand from a hurtling tuktuk.
This photo shows the method of adding new power lines or cabling- you just do and I suppose the tangle of lines just gets more and more knotted as time goes by.
The povery and splendour alongside the river was extraordinary.
Tug boats pulled strings of barges laiden with all sorts up and down the river.
Below is our mode of transport for this leg of the journey.
We saw quite a few riverside temples.

As we got off the ferry we were greeted by a couple of young elephants. I know its a tourist thing to do but I paid the man ฿20 and fed the elephant.
We stopped at a nearby cafe for a spot of Thai cuisine on the way home. The waiter asked if we wanted hot- we said mild. Thank goodness for that- it was fiery. It made my eyes weep and my left eye twitch. You would need a local Singha beer to help with that.
While we were waiting for our bill Ben and I played a couple of games of high stakes Connect Four. The loser had to go to bed when they were told at home and only whine twice about it and pay for tea. I gave it my best shot and Ben cleverly played a blinder by building one of those plays were he wins no matter what I do- very clever Ben- well done. No worries about going to bed- I was exhausted and was in bed by 9:30pm. That doesn't happen very often!