Okiwi Bay is located in the Rai Valley on the northern coast of the south Island approximately half way between Nelson and Havelock. The locals describe it as, ‘a quaint little drinking village with a bit of a fishing problem’.
My brother picked this for our final stay before returning to Christchurch. We arrived around lunch time and sorted out our cabin. Then off to explore this gorgeous little village. The only retail therapy in town is at the caravan park, which has as a tiny general store with a few basic supplies. Don’t expect to get your weeks shopping there though. I think they sell a few chocolate bars, ice creams, milk, and possibly they may sell some bait too. Being a village with a bit of a fishing problem, i guess that’d take care of the important stuff for the regular holiday makers.
After almost two weeks of clear blue skies, and hot summer’s days, the weather while in Okiwi Bay was overcast with low cloud. Clearly, swimming was out of the question.
cloud hovered low over the hillsA pretty little bayIt would have been a lovely day for boat fishingNow I know what to do when my agapanthus drop their flowers
The bay on one side of us, and this little water way on the otherAnd a bridge leading you to a walk track
Its a shame we only had one night here. Definitely the prettiest place on our trip, I would have liked a few days to wind down and relax. I’m sure Paul would have appreciated tossing a line in the water too. Perhaps next time…..
After a couple of days in Christchurch we headed north to begin our three day guided walk of the Abel Tasman National Park, approximately 36kms walking in total.
We had a couple of overnight stops on the way, and a few short stops to visit places of interest. Paul walked down to capture this next photo – I was busy trying to fend off a very friendly bee. Note to myself – don’t wear blue when visiting NZ, the bees think you’re a flower, or so I’m told.
A pretty place (shame about the friendly bees)
Then onto our pick up point in Motueka where we sorted our luggage ready to begin our three day hike. There’s a tidal crossing towards the end between the Awaroa lodge and Totaranui, and the tides weren’t going to be favourable for us at this crossing if we were walking the track from start to finish, or from finish to start. Instead we started somewhere around the middle. A boat trip took us to our starting point approximately a 7km walk from Awaroa lodge, our first nights accommodation.
A well maintained, fern lined trackLooking down on turquoise bays
A bit of a beach trek and we arrived our first nights accommodation and were allocated our rooms. We were ever so surprised to discover ours was the room at the top left – only the best room in the place. How lucky were we!
Our room – top left
view over the bay from our room
We had been told we could do as little or as much of the walk as wanted. Paul’s a lot more capable than me, so he managed the full hike. I only did around 1/3 of it in total.
I chose only to do the first part of our 2nd days walk, approximately 7km. The tide still wasn’t right for us to walk across the crossing, but fortunately the water was deep enough for us to be transported across by barge to begin day twos walk – around 17kms for those completing the whole walk.
Despite being told we could walk it at our own pace, the pace needed to meet the boat at Totaranui was considerably faster than my natural bush walking pace. I was to stressed at trying to keep up that I found it hard to enjoy any of the sections I did complete. I’ve never enjoyed walking with experienced bush walkers and this walk has only re-enforced my desire not to share a bush walk of any length with anyone other Paul. Paul understands my limitations and, although he’s able to walk considerably faster than me, he also doesn’t mind matching his speed with mine. We both manage to enjoy walking together without pressure, and without stress when on our own.
With a lot of prompting to speed up the pace from our guide we did manage to meet the boat at Totaranui, with more than a few minutes to spare. Phew! (didn’t enjoy that much). The boat then dropped me at our second nights lodgings, and continued on with the rest of the walkers to the previous days’s starting point for commencement of the walk in the opposite direction.
Even if I couldn’t stop and relax to appreciate the views, the walk as seen through Paul’s camera lens did offer some pretty sights.
The track wound up and down between pretty bays
Arriving at our lodge around 5 hours before the rest of the party allowed me to enjoy the solitude, and wonder at our room allocation. Yes, again the best room in the house. Apparently we were the first ones to book, and the rooms are allocated on a first in, first served basis.
Torrens lodge – our room on the top left (again the best room in the house)View from our window – what did we do to deserve this
The next day the walking group left around 9am. I waited until lunch time when a water taxi took me to meet the walkers at their lunch stop. From here I walked with them to the walks completion.
Nearing the endThe start of the Abel Tasman walk – or in our case, the finishing point
A coach met us to take us back to the office in Motueka where my brother and sister-in-law met us to take us back to our digs. The walk is labelled as one of New Zealand great walks. The track is well maintained, winding through shady forest landscape and overlooking gorgeous turquoise bays. For experienced bushwalkers I’m sure it’d be a pleasure. For me, well I enjoyed the accommodation, and apart from that all I can say is – seeing that coach at the end – what a pleasure that was!
I love this little river, and little it is – as far as depth goes anyway. Meandering from it’s source in the Western suburb of Avonhead, and winding it’s way gently through the suburbs to the Central Business district of Christchurch, I doubt the water would reach above knee-deep at any one point.
Shallow, and narrow
Perhaps that’s why so many Christchurch children have spent some of their childhood paddling their own canoes down it’s tranquil waters. It’s safe.
$12 will hire you one of these for an hour
As children we would make our way to the Antigua Boat sheds on a warm summer’s day. The cost of hiring a kayak (or single canoe as I’ve always called them) was very cheap. Goodness, it’s still only $12 an hour. Did we bus into Cathedral Square and walk out to the sheds, or did we cycle from home? I really don’t remember, but I suspect we probably cycled. That’s what kids did in the 1960s. We wouldn’t have locked our bikes up either, we didn’t need to. What a different world it is today for kids.
There’s double canoes, family row boats, or you can even hire a Punt with it’s own skilled Punter to propel you slowly along the water.
They didn’t have these when I was a kid
The river is lined with weeping willows, their long, gentle fronds reaching into the water and forming little curtains for canoeists to steer their vessel behind so as to hide from a fellow friend – such are the games that children play. If you’re like me, you could mistakenly believe that a tree as prolific as the weeping willow on the banks of the Avon belong, and have always belonged there. How surprised was I to read about their origin.
The weeping willows can be traced back to a cutting taken from Napolean’s grave
What a surprising piece of history that was. I’ve tried to find out if, not being a native tree, is the weeping willow is a menace. I haven’t been able to find anything to indicate they’re any cause for concern. Phew! Thank Goodness. Along with the Cathedral, the weeping willows lining the of the banks of Avon river just seem to belong there don’t you think?
I couldn’t imagine the river without the willow’s fronds gently sweeping the water’s surfaceSo tranquil – what a pleasure!
Situated on a deep harbour just 75 kilometres from Christchurch lies the French settlement of Akaroa. The drive around Banks Peninsula to get there offers some stunning hilltop views with gorgeous bays dotted every which way you look. Once there, you’ll encounter a small village with streets bearing french names, a gorgeous harbour and a veritable feast of things to do, places to stay, and delicious food options. It was one of my favourite destinations when I was a teenager, and remains one of my favourite New Zealand destinations to this day. It’s no wonder it’s a favourite port of call for the multitude of cruise ships traversing the New Zealand coastline.
We’ve walked the streets before, canoed on the harbour, and picnicked in many a park. This time there was something new, something we hadn’t seen before – The Giants House.
The most colourful house and garden ever
Located a short up hill walk from the village at 70 Rue Balguerie, lies what must surely be the happiest and most colourful garden on earth. Full of unique sculptures and incredible mosaics, I’m not going to say anymore. I’ll let the pictures tell the story.
A steep, pretty, garden walk up to the entrance doesn’t begin to hint at what awaitsA close up of that grand piano
There were plenty of mosaic seats on which to rest
Circus troopersTopiary, and colourful flowers – there wasn’t a leaf out of placeAnimalsAnother circus figure (or perhaps it’s the mad hatter)This one is definitely for my friend Toni. Anyone who knows Toni would think of her when seeing this
Believe me when I say you just have to go to this place. It needs to be on the very top of your list of ‘Must sees’ in Christchurch and the surrounding area. It’s art at it’s most colourful. I have only shown you a snapshot of all that is to see at the Giant’s House. Don’t forget, you won’t regret it – put it on your list. What a delight to visit this amazing place full of so many amazing works of art. One of life’s memorable pleasures for sure!
We arrived into Christchurch on a February afternoon to a warm family welcome on a bright summers day. The first evening was spent eating, drinking, chatting and catching up – as you do….
After a good nights sleep the sight seeing began. First thing on the agenda was to visit Christchurch’s city centre. Nine years on from the devastating earthquake that took 185 lives and seriously injured another 164 people, an unrecognisable city greeted us.
First stop on my brothers personally guided walking tour was Antigua Boat sheds. The colourful sheds are still standing after nearly 140 years I’m pleased to say, and the river remains relatively unchanged.
Antigua Boat ShedsWeeping willows line the peaceful meandering Avon river
Many days during my childhood school holidays were spent rowing down these tranquil waters. Single person canoes were the thing, and to this day I’m still a single person canoe person. I can’t get the rhythm that’s needed to share the rowing in a double canoe. So literally – I like to paddle my own canoe!
Next onto a restored Bridge of remembrance. I believe this was severely damaged in the earthquake, and restoration has only been completed within the past year.
The newly restored Bridge of Remembrance
Eventually we arrived into the centre of town, the Cathedral Square. The square centre of the city has always been known and spoken of using the Cathedral for identification. We never caught the bus to the square, it was always, The Cathedral Square.
The once proud cathedral now stands steeple-less and in ruins
The whole of the square, once clearly bordered by rows of solid buildings roughly at right angles to each other and forming a square, is now stark and airy in comparison. There’s space – lots of space now where shops, movie theatres, and peoples lives and livelihoods once stood.
It’s eight years on since the devasting earthquake on 22 February 2011. The rebuilding of Christchurch is clearly underway, evidenced by the multitude of high cranes towering everywhere you look. Equally as clear is that the rebuilding is a slow process, and sadly, that the city will never be the same again.
Everywhere we went throughout the south island we were met with signs of what to do in the case of an emergency. We’re all familiar with the usual fire emergency warnings posted in hotels etc. All of these emergency warning notices in NZ now list three things, fire, earthquake and Tsunami. Earthquakes are now accepted as an almost weekly occurrence, and, I gather, the general consensus is that the worst may not yet be behind them. Yes, the city has changed, and so to have the people. You just can’t live with that constant threat without it changing you to some extent.
But I digress, back to the cathedral. Apparently there’s been several years of discussion and argument as to whether or not the iconic cathedral was to be restored. It’ll be a monumental task, but the decision has been made in the favour of restoration. I’m pleased!
We’ve all heard of kids that hide their phone or iPad under the bed covers as they play their computer games long after their lights out time. They wake up tired, can’t concentrate at school, stop socialising, stop exercising and become OCD about their computer games. If you’re like me, you’ve probably been vaguely critical of either the child, or the parenting of said child. Never for one minute did I ever contemplate the sheer power a computer game can have. That was then, now I know differently.
You may remember back in May 2018 I wrote a post called ‘wasting time’,
I had just discovered the joys (or not) of gaming on my iPad. In this case the game was one for home decorating. It proved to be addictive, and expensive, well for me it was. My daughter, Alice, plays the same game but manages to keep her spending to a minimum, and it doesn’t intrude overly into her time. For me, the game totally took me over. I lost interest in so many things.
There were six rooms a day to decorate that were released at approximately four hourly intervals. I couldn’t wait for the next challenge, and I couldn’t wait for the results to be decided on challenges already entered. Each time I disturbed during the night I couldn’t get back to sleep until I had checked out the most recent results, and/or completed any newly released challenges. I kidded myself that I was playing the game because I was having trouble sleeping. The reality was that I was having trouble sleeping because my subconscious mind was wanting to play that damn game.
I checked on the game status before going to bed, and again upon waking (as well as throughout the night as already mentioned). I checked on results before and after each meal, and before leaving the house or upon returning from any outing. I kept an eye on the time waiting (or rather I couldn’t wait) for the time the next design challenge would be released. I had it bad….
That lasted for over seven months. It was foremost in my mind at almost all times. My blogging certainly suffered as a direct result, as did most of my life. At the beginning of December I finally admitted to myself how addicted I was, and took steps to get my life back. I made a New Years resolution that I was going to delete the game, and was never going to return to it. There was a special Christmas series of decorating. I promised myself I would enter all challenges up until the fifth and final of that series, then I would await all results, after which I would delete the game. And I did. On the 27th December I deleted the game.
It’s one of only two New Years resolutions that I’ve managed to stick to. The other one was way back in the eighties when I had my last ever cigarette at approximately 11.58pm on the 31st December. I’ve not had a smoke since, and I’m pleased to say that that dreadful game has also gone for good.
My life is slowly returning to normal, including a slowly rekindling of my interest in blogging. Someone once said to me that in order to be able to write, you must do two things. The first is to read, and the second is to write. She said that once you start to write the writing becomes easier and the thoughts and words will flow. How true. With seven months of stunted writing, I’m finding it harder to find a flow of transposing thoughts to print. But it’s coming……..
I never could have understood the power a computer game can potentially have without having experienced it. Although I never want to become obsessed with something so mindless again, I am pleased to be able to relate. A reminder that one should with hold judgement until having walked a mile in another’s shoes!
The Margaret River region is world renowned as a tourist destination. Our home-town of Busselton, located at the top of the Margaret River region has become a stop off destination for cruise ships allowing their passengers to dis-embark and get to see some of this famous region. Yesterday, Cunard’s ship, the Queen Elizabeth paid us a visit.
The previous day the ship was in the port of Fremantle, approximately 2 hours north of Busselton by road. Whilst in Fremantle people drove many kilometres from all over Perth to catch a glimpse of the visiting ship.
We live approximately 3 minutes walk to Geographe Bay. Yesterday when we went for our daily morning walk along the beach the Queen Elizabeth, a beautiful site on a glorious sunny day, was anchored just off shore. How lucky are we, no driving needed to see this majestic, luxury liner.
In the late afternoon we again wandered down to the beach for a cooling swim. The tenders were returning their passengers to the ship ready for departure which was scheduled for 6pm. It was 5.30pm and we were wet and salty after our swim, so walked home to shower, and grab a bottle of bubbles. A quick text message to a couple of friends and within 15 minutes the four of us had walked back to the beach for a relaxing drink. How lucky we were, sipping our champagne as we watched the big ocean liner ready herself for departure, knowing we are fortunate to have this all within just a few minutes walk from our front door.
6pm and the ship is readying for departureThe passengers are now all back on board, and the last of the tenders is being loadedThe ship slowly does an about turnDusk falls as we sip the last of our champagneand watch the Queen Elizabeth sail off into the sunset
Just another one of the pleasures of living in Busselton!
If you’ve read my last blog you’ll be aware that I’ve stolen a new word from Jonno and Jo-anne who write a great blog called Jwalking. They invented the word Missmas for their Family Christmas celebrations, which for various reasons, aren’t usually celebrated on Christmas day.
2012Checking out the cameraMust have been a good year
When we lived in Perth we always celebrated Christmas Day with our Perth family (all four of them).They celebrated Christmas with the other side of their family on Christmas Eve. I’m sure it was always a bit exhausting for them, as it is for most people who have two sides of their family all wanting a share of their time during the festivities. Alice, Paul G and the two grandees always spread themselves around without complaint, but I’m sure it became easier for them when we hit the road back in 2014.
We’re no longer on the road and have re-settled approximately three hours south of where our daughter lives. They spend their Christmas day however they choose, and a day or two later come down this way. We get to have our family celebrations a little after the 25th December, which thanks to Jonno and Jo-Anne, will from now on be called our ‘Missmas’ celebrations.
First thing – drinks
We start off with drinks. This year Paul treated us all to pre-dinner cocktails. In case it gets confusing – There’s two Paul’s. My Paul who is just plain Paul, and Alice’s husband Paul G (Green).
Then onto the gift opening ceremony.
Grandson Josh and his girlfriend AmberThe gift opening ceremony complete – onto the foodThis years feast – our grazing table
We did justice to the grazing table with repeated visits to replenish plates over several hours. In between times we told the usual corny Christmas cracker jokes, and played a couple of new Christmas games.
The first game this year was one called, Fake News. Two news events are read out, one is real, the other fake, and the contestants have to choose which is the real news item.Then with replenished drinks we moved outside for a game of Jenga. What a great game that is. I think the photos will be self explanatory.
Paul looking for a possible loose block to dislodge safely from the stackSuccessfully removed and added to the topAnd finally the block that topples the tower – it seems to go in slow motion
Some people love Christmas, some people don’t. We’re lovers of Christmas and everything that goes with it. All of the Commercial and hedonistic practices, all of the glitzy and tacky decorating, all of the shopping for pressies and feasting….. Our house is always decorated as soon as we reasonably can, usually around the 1st December. Menus are decided, and the food lists made well in advance. Whether we celebrate Christmas, or Missmas together with our family, the effort put into preparing for the day is never to much trouble. That’s how it is in our household, and I know it’s the same at Alice’s place. Fortunately, the grandees are now young men, and guess what – they love Christmas too. How lucky are we! What’s Christmas like at your place?
It’s already well into January and I haven’t posted photos of Mr Tilley’s 2nd Christmas. I’d better not let that go unrecorded!
We’d had gifts wrapped under the trees for weeks and he hadn’t showed any interest. But when handed his gift on Christmas morning he needed very little prompting before he started ripping the paper off with gusto.
He tore into his gifts with great delightNew tug toys – note the tennis ball held within the ropeNote the ball is gone – it lasted around 5 minutes before he had it shreddedThis boy loves his toys and kept his new ones (minus the tennis ball) close all day
It was just Paul, myself and Mr Tilley on Christmas day – the family were to arrive two days later to celebrate Missmas with us. Do you like that word – ‘Missmas.’ I stole it from Johnno and Jo-anne who write a blog called JWalking. It’s a word they coined for their family Christmas celebrations that are often celebrated after the actual day. I rather like the word, so Missmas is the name our post Christmas day family celebrations will be known by from now on. More on this years Missmas a little later.
On Christmas day Paul and I shared a camembert and cranberry roast chicken dinner. We only ate the legs, so Mr Tilley was treated to the roasted breast meat all covered in delicious home made chicken gravy. Roast chicken is definitely his favourite food, and one he rarely gets, so it was a Christmas feast for him. Doesn’t he just look the picture of someone who’s thoroughly ‘stuffed’ after playing with his new toys all day, and then pigging out on his Christmas dinner.
Eventually he succumbed to a much needed nap
So that was Mr Tilley’s 2nd Christmas day. He seemed to get into the spirit of the day and made our day very pleasurable indeed. He’s such a delight!
Life of Riley - on whatever 