Sunday, February 1, 2009
Los Angeles Airport: Hell hole of the Pacfic
Forget Russell, New Zealand as a rowdy, lawless whaling port in the early 1800s. Los Angeles Airport must truly be the "hell hole of the Pacific". If I don't go mad over the next few hours before my flight leaves it will be a miracle.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Farewell New Zealand
I am at the Auckland airport now to begin the long journey home.
Today I had my breakfast on the back veranda of the B&B before packing up my bags and checking out. I left my bags at the B&B and arranged for a taxi to pick me up at 3 pm. I decided to go back down to the harbour as it was a beautiful sunny morning. I went to the Pacific Series area to watch the New Zealand vs US yacht race (the kiwis won) on the big screen.
I had my lunch at one of the harbour restaurants -- S'oul Bar & Bistro. Hapuku fish and preserved lemon brandade on toast with poached eggs and asparagus. Instead of a savvie I had a glass of the Gibbston Valley pinot gris from Central Otago region (all of the savs on the wine by the glass list I had already tried).
Then I just wandered around in the sunshine until heading back up to my B&B to get my bags and the taxi to the airport. Homeward bound.
Today I had my breakfast on the back veranda of the B&B before packing up my bags and checking out. I left my bags at the B&B and arranged for a taxi to pick me up at 3 pm. I decided to go back down to the harbour as it was a beautiful sunny morning. I went to the Pacific Series area to watch the New Zealand vs US yacht race (the kiwis won) on the big screen.
I had my lunch at one of the harbour restaurants -- S'oul Bar & Bistro. Hapuku fish and preserved lemon brandade on toast with poached eggs and asparagus. Instead of a savvie I had a glass of the Gibbston Valley pinot gris from Central Otago region (all of the savs on the wine by the glass list I had already tried).
Then I just wandered around in the sunshine until heading back up to my B&B to get my bags and the taxi to the airport. Homeward bound.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Auckland and an interesting cat fact
This morning in Paihia was hot. I had my tea on my little deck around 9 am and the sun was already beating done. Was supposed to get well into the 30s there today.
My shuttle to the Bay of Islands airport in Kerikeri picked me up at 10:15. I had said goodbye to Sassy the cat with some good head pets and chin rubs while drinking my tea. Said goodbye to Siegrid as well and got a lovely hug from Suzi the motel owner as I got into the shuttle. I had a lovely stay at the Outrigger motel.
Just a short flight to Auckland and got a shuttle to my bed and breakfast -- the Great Ponsonby B&B. It's a great place. A wooden villa built in 1898, it is in a great little neighbourhood about a 20 minute walk to the harbour/downtown area. My room is quite nice and cozy with french doors going out to a little veranda looking out at the garden. It is called the "Dunedin Room" as it has two paintings of the Dunedin area by the B&B's owner's grandfather. (I like that for my last night on kiwi soil as I liked Dunedin so much.)
I dropped my bags off and headed out for a late lunch. The B&B recommended a place just up the street called Bambina so I went there and had the seared rare tuna salad with green beans, avocado and capers. Very tasty along with a glass of Rochford Rees savvie from the Marlborough Region (Val G. -- this was a very nice one).
Then I walked down to the harbour. I will explore the Ponsonby area a bit more tomorrow but it looks quite nice with treed streets and old wood houses.
Got down to the harbour and it is a pretty amazing harbour. Lots of sailboats and restaurants and bars filled with good-looking yachting types. (The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series yacht race started today.) But it is also a working harbour. So nice when a city makes good use of its waterfront and the city goes right up to the water (in other words, isn't separated by a big expressway like in Toronto.) Lots of modern hotels and apartment buildings but old buildings as well like the old ferry building.
I walked around the harbour and downtown and it was definitely strange to be back in a big city. Auckland has a population of 1.3 million -- which is 31 percent of the country's population. When I planned my trip I thought about spending a few days here but I decided to stick to smaller places as I was looking to relax. Next time (and there will be one!) I will definitely spend some time here. Although a big city it has a nice feel to it.
The clouds had rolled in by late afternoon so I headed back to my B&B. I had a late lunch so just picked up a bottle of savvie (Mt. Difficulty "Roaring Meg" savvie) and am staying in having some wine with some nibbly bits of pepperoni and nuts. I have my veranda doors open and the garden is lit with floodlights so it's a lovely last night in New Zealand. Tomorrow I plan to just walk around some more before heading to airport for my late evening flight.
Okay -- here's an interesting cat fact I just read in the New Zealand magazine "North and South". New Zealand has the world's highest number of households with cats -- 51 percent of kiwi households have at least one cat. (Canada is second with 38 percent and Switzerland is third with 35 percent). In the shuttle from the airport today there was a young girl with her father and the shuttle driver dropped them off at their house first -- the young girl jumped out of the shuttle van and ran up to the front porch and picked up her cat and gave it a big hug. No wonder I feel so comfortable here -- cat country. To end today's post here is photo of the cat here at the B&B (and, no, I don't know why it is wearing a blue bib...)
And I liked the looks of this burger joint on Ponsonby Road...
My shuttle to the Bay of Islands airport in Kerikeri picked me up at 10:15. I had said goodbye to Sassy the cat with some good head pets and chin rubs while drinking my tea. Said goodbye to Siegrid as well and got a lovely hug from Suzi the motel owner as I got into the shuttle. I had a lovely stay at the Outrigger motel.
Just a short flight to Auckland and got a shuttle to my bed and breakfast -- the Great Ponsonby B&B. It's a great place. A wooden villa built in 1898, it is in a great little neighbourhood about a 20 minute walk to the harbour/downtown area. My room is quite nice and cozy with french doors going out to a little veranda looking out at the garden. It is called the "Dunedin Room" as it has two paintings of the Dunedin area by the B&B's owner's grandfather. (I like that for my last night on kiwi soil as I liked Dunedin so much.)
I dropped my bags off and headed out for a late lunch. The B&B recommended a place just up the street called Bambina so I went there and had the seared rare tuna salad with green beans, avocado and capers. Very tasty along with a glass of Rochford Rees savvie from the Marlborough Region (Val G. -- this was a very nice one).
Then I walked down to the harbour. I will explore the Ponsonby area a bit more tomorrow but it looks quite nice with treed streets and old wood houses.
Got down to the harbour and it is a pretty amazing harbour. Lots of sailboats and restaurants and bars filled with good-looking yachting types. (The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series yacht race started today.) But it is also a working harbour. So nice when a city makes good use of its waterfront and the city goes right up to the water (in other words, isn't separated by a big expressway like in Toronto.) Lots of modern hotels and apartment buildings but old buildings as well like the old ferry building.
I walked around the harbour and downtown and it was definitely strange to be back in a big city. Auckland has a population of 1.3 million -- which is 31 percent of the country's population. When I planned my trip I thought about spending a few days here but I decided to stick to smaller places as I was looking to relax. Next time (and there will be one!) I will definitely spend some time here. Although a big city it has a nice feel to it.
The clouds had rolled in by late afternoon so I headed back to my B&B. I had a late lunch so just picked up a bottle of savvie (Mt. Difficulty "Roaring Meg" savvie) and am staying in having some wine with some nibbly bits of pepperoni and nuts. I have my veranda doors open and the garden is lit with floodlights so it's a lovely last night in New Zealand. Tomorrow I plan to just walk around some more before heading to airport for my late evening flight.
Okay -- here's an interesting cat fact I just read in the New Zealand magazine "North and South". New Zealand has the world's highest number of households with cats -- 51 percent of kiwi households have at least one cat. (Canada is second with 38 percent and Switzerland is third with 35 percent). In the shuttle from the airport today there was a young girl with her father and the shuttle driver dropped them off at their house first -- the young girl jumped out of the shuttle van and ran up to the front porch and picked up her cat and gave it a big hug. No wonder I feel so comfortable here -- cat country. To end today's post here is photo of the cat here at the B&B (and, no, I don't know why it is wearing a blue bib...)
And I liked the looks of this burger joint on Ponsonby Road...
Justin Rutledge has a big fan in Auckland... besides me
Went into a music store in downtown Auckland this afternoon, Marbecks. Was looking at the staff picks wall and there for RL's picks was Toronto singer/songwriter (and Junction boy) Justin Rutledge's new CD, "Man Descending". I said to one of the staff that I was thrilled to see it there and the guy said "RL. That's me." I told him I was from Toronto and am a huge Justin fan. He said Justin was his best music find of 2008 and that he is doing his best to spread the word down here and has started a nice little following so far. Cool. And he seemed pleased to meet someone who has seen Justin play live.
Here's a bit of Justin. Canada continues to call me home.
Here's a bit of Justin. Canada continues to call me home.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Coastal walk to Opua
Today I walked from Paihia to Opua on the coastal walkway and Sigrid came along with me. We headed out about 10:30. There had been a brief shower earlier in the morning but it looked like the sky was clearing up. As we got just outside of Paihia the skies opened and it started to pour. We sheltered under a palm tree until it stopped. It didn't last long so we headed back off on our way following the road for a bit before getting on to the walking path. We were a bit wet but quickly dried off. Once the rain stopped it didn't take long for the ground to dry up and the rest of the day was fine and clear.
The walk went up and down the coastal bluffs, around the little bays, through bush and mangrove swamps. Some very neat tree trunks growing out of the sides of the bluffs.
Three hours later we arrived in Opua -- a nice little harbour.
There isn't much there besides the harbour, the car ferry to Russell and related marine businesses. But there was restaurant called the Blue Water Bistro and we had our lunch on their deck overlooking the harbour. It was very pleasant and I had raw salmon with a ponzu dipping sauce and a glass of Oyster Bay sav.
After resting while eating our lunch we headed out for the three hour walk back to Paihia. By this time the tide was out so the walk looked quite different with water out of most of the bays and out of the mangrove swamp. Sure did get some good exercise today.
Put my feet up on my little deck area with Sassy on my lap or at my feet for about an hour and half and then Sigrid and I went out for my farewell to Paihia dinner. We went to "Only Seafood" which is, as you may have guessed, a seafood restaurant. Located on the beachfront, it is in an old wooden house and has a lovely garden and is bright and airy inside. I had the flash-seared tuna with lightly picked cucumber for my appetizer. Lovely fresh tuna. Then for my main I had the fresh fish of the day -- which I forget the name of -- pan-fried with lemon, olive and parsley. It came with a side salad of leafy greens with beetroot. The fish was excellent -- so simply prepared and delicious. A glass of Wither Hills savvie was my wine of choice. For dessert I had the raspberry creme brulee. A very nice meal to end my stay in Paihia.
Tomorrow morning the shuttle is picking me up at 10:15 to go to the airport in Kerikeri to get my flight to Auckland. I will be there overnight and then it will be time to return to Toronto.
The walk went up and down the coastal bluffs, around the little bays, through bush and mangrove swamps. Some very neat tree trunks growing out of the sides of the bluffs.
Three hours later we arrived in Opua -- a nice little harbour.
There isn't much there besides the harbour, the car ferry to Russell and related marine businesses. But there was restaurant called the Blue Water Bistro and we had our lunch on their deck overlooking the harbour. It was very pleasant and I had raw salmon with a ponzu dipping sauce and a glass of Oyster Bay sav.
After resting while eating our lunch we headed out for the three hour walk back to Paihia. By this time the tide was out so the walk looked quite different with water out of most of the bays and out of the mangrove swamp. Sure did get some good exercise today.
Put my feet up on my little deck area with Sassy on my lap or at my feet for about an hour and half and then Sigrid and I went out for my farewell to Paihia dinner. We went to "Only Seafood" which is, as you may have guessed, a seafood restaurant. Located on the beachfront, it is in an old wooden house and has a lovely garden and is bright and airy inside. I had the flash-seared tuna with lightly picked cucumber for my appetizer. Lovely fresh tuna. Then for my main I had the fresh fish of the day -- which I forget the name of -- pan-fried with lemon, olive and parsley. It came with a side salad of leafy greens with beetroot. The fish was excellent -- so simply prepared and delicious. A glass of Wither Hills savvie was my wine of choice. For dessert I had the raspberry creme brulee. A very nice meal to end my stay in Paihia.
Tomorrow morning the shuttle is picking me up at 10:15 to go to the airport in Kerikeri to get my flight to Auckland. I will be there overnight and then it will be time to return to Toronto.
I have staked my claim...
The funny thing was that when I was walking by this place today there was a radio playing a cover version of Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind". Is my native country calling me home?
You must be joking. I have to come back to this?
Just reading the Toronto weather news on google news... Reentry into winter life is gonna be tough.
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