In the morning we got an uber, loaded it with our bags and went to the Gentleman Friend’s cousin’s house for Christmas. The driver was, unfortunately, rather inept and managed to dent the corner of my suitcase by trying to bang the dickie lid shut on it. After watching a couple of vigorous attempts in […]
Market morning in Sulphurtown
In the morning we went to the Rotorua farmer’s market, which turned out a disappointment, perhaps because it is so close to Christmas. Only about 6 stalls, of which three sold prepared food. The greengrocer’s stall was nearly out – they sold their last courgette to the person in front of us – and the […]
Mud bath
(An inaccurate title to this post, as will be seen). Early in the morning we had our breakfast (a surprisingly hideous one, as we’d requested omelettes from our AirBnb and these emerged from the microwave which they had been cooked. I tried telling myself they were steamed, like a chawanmushi, but it didn’t help in […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
On the defensive, again
I am in the executive lounge at the airport, waiting for a much delayed flight. It was supposed to leave at 11 in the morning, then yesterday we got that email informing us that it was postponed to 4.40 in the afternoon. Wednesday arrived at the airport a couple of hours early you find a […]
Crunch time
The Brexit storm has struck, and I do feel some pity for Theresa May, despite her own hand in her misery. Also some admiration for her ability to keep going, like the Black Knight, even though I wish she’d just done the sensible thing and called off the whole business and let the Brexiteer loons […]
Story of a friend
“Are you from India?” “No, from Pakistan.” “Muslim country.” “Yes.” “Are you Hindu?” “No, Muslim.” “Ahhh. You don’t wear, what is it called?” “Hijab? Scarf?” “Like dupatta….” “Dupatta?” “Burqa.” “No I don’t.” “It doesn’t make a problem for you?” “No. Many people in Pakistan don’t wear it.” “I saw Pakistan on TV and all the […]
Move on
Yesterday we checked out of the hotel and moved to our next Airbnb, a room in a family house in Lazimpat. This is the embassy district of Kathmandu, about a 20 minute walk from Thamel. The main road is full of restaurants and shops, and behind it is the usual Kathmandu warren of very narrow […]