After my first deep night’s sleep in a while I woke for breakfast and then the Gentleman Friend and I made our way into town to find out about an afternoon trip to Waimangu, the valley left after the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886. It was about a half hour drive away from town, […]
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Sulphurtown
We are in Rotorua. It’s a strange place. A nothing town again, though less so than Taupo, as it seems more of a tourist town, with lots of souvenir and travel shops including a set of horrific ones catering to visits to Hobbiton. Our bed and breakfast is quite splendid. It’s a small old house, […]
Family
This morning the Gentleman Friend’s aunt, who lives near Taupo, collected us and took us to Hukka Falls. We went via a walk along the fast-flowing blue-green river hung over with ferns and other vegetation, at a near sprint. This is the first time I’ve met this aunt and it was curious to see someone […]
A long walk and back
I got up at four, after having slept at midnight trying to finish work so I’d have today off. At five we were collected by a small van filled with a few equally drowsy people and driven about 90 minutes to be dropped off at the start of the Tongariro crossing day hike. Leaving in […]
Crater lake
A leisurely morning and we packed up and left. This was difficult with my suppurating eczematic fingers, but had to be done and so was. In any case we took a taxi to the bus station, there to wait for hte bus to open. I stayed with the bags while the Gentleman Friend sprinted off […]
On this day in 1665
Sanuel Pepys had a busy day at work and so did I but I went with the Gentleman Friend to visit the Auckland gallery. It was adequate at best, but had a good collection of portraits of Maori notables by one Gottfried Lindauer. Though the jewel in the collection’s crown they were oddly displayed, along […]
Mount Eden
Mount Eden is one of the inner suburbs, with quiet streets (are there any others in this country?) lined with larger houses than most others we’ve seen, with gardens, and a little so-called village in the London sense which is far more compact than the other commercial zones we’ve. It felt a bit like Hampstead. […]
Hipper Auckland
I woke up before the Gentleman Friend as usual and spent the morning listening to some of the top songs of 2018 lists. It is remarkable how one falls behind with music as one grows older. Even leaving aside the 8 month period in 2005 when I was an indie music freak in Montreal, I […]
Cold and wet
Woe indeed, for Auckland was cold and wet today, with a blustering wind. Most of my day was spent indoors, working away, except for lunch at an Italian restaurant nearby and a stop at the supermarket on the way back. I was impressed by the milk selection. At least in the section that I was […]
A night’s sleep
A night’s sleep after a very long time, it feels! Certainly since leaving Thailand. I did wake up at 6, having slept at 1, but then forced myself to sleep till 8. Happy day. The rest of the day was quiet. I worked away on one of the reports in the flat, which is fortunately […]