This morning, around 8.30 Surfer Dude came to collect us and we left for a tour around the island. Going west, we took the mountain road, between Mauna Kea on one side and Mauna Loa on the other. It was very clear and the landscape was stunning. The two mountains are immense shield volcanoes so […]
Island in the rain
At around 10 our ride arrived. We had spoken to Surfer Dude, our driver from the airport, and made an agreement to take us to the Volcano National Park today. So we left in unpromising weather, lowering clouds and light, cool rain. When we got up the volcano it was still cool and grey and […]
Island in the sun
In Hilo. It was a very long journey from the Doyenne’s house to our current abode, with some panic and disruption along the way, particularly when we arrived at the airport to find that we needed to show proof of outbound travel not from the US, but from countries contiguous to the US, so our […]
We’re off
Tonight we fly to the US. Last night was a sort of farewell dinner with Yerbouti, his wife and daughter. A pleasant and intelligent lot but at the end of dinner I realised there was an urgent work message and spent much of the rest of the evening finishing up. Overnight it began to rain, […]
Three stars
Last night we had our dinner at Hiakai, the new hottest thing in Wellington. This is a high-end restaurant that uses Maori/ Pasifika ingredients and has created a great deal of buzz including an article in the New York Times and this interesting piece about the challenges of sourcing native produce in NZ. It’s located […]
Uphill
After a leisurely Sunday morning we accompanied the Doyenne to her weekly shop, helping with the heavy gingerbeer crates she couldn’t manage by herself. (Or, more accurately, the Gentleman Friend helped her). Part of the shop is a wholesaler, which is the sort of thing I enjoy wandering through and seeing the immense buckets of […]
Zealandia
This morning we went for a drive with the Doyenne, who is not able to walk much but does enjoy driving. As soon as we passed over the hill we arrived at a wild coastline, with high waves breaking on a rocky shore. Hard to believe that this was a near suburb of a major […]
Downhill
This morning I went down the hill on the cable car, which is really more of a funicular, hoping to find a walk-in clinic so I could get a prescription refilled before going off to America where it’ll be significantly more difficult. I arrived at 11 and the receptionist said that they’d have drop-in times […]
Storied aunt
Last night we went for dinner to the home of a storied aunt, one who suffered an unspeakable tragedy when she was in her late teens and, according to all her relations, has not been the same since. There was something not quite as usual about her, but after a stilted start to the evening […]
Curly hair
Last night we decided to stroll down to town for dinner. While the net strolling was downhill, a lot of it was very steeply upwards, to the top of the hill where the cable car (funicular, to be more accurate, I think) ends. Then there was a way downwards between tall hedges. At the foot […]