Category Archives: Daily log

Storm Clouds Over the Manukau Harbour

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Ross

A couple of weeks ago we got some time out from working at the motels for a walk around the other side of the Manukau Harbour – that’s the other side from Onehunga. We took the car over to Mangere … Continue reading →

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Several Views From One Tree Hill

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Ross

As well as being the city of sea and beaches, Auckland is also the city of volcanoes. There’s about 50 of them – dormant. They don’t work any more as volcanoes. But they do work well as viewpoints. They rise … Continue reading →

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Back in Business – Mangere Bridge

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Ross

So let’s jump forward a bit – a big bit. We’re currently working at motels in Onehunga in Auckland. Which is a lot different to anywhere that’s not in Auckland. There’s traffic, a lot of traffic. It sort of goes … Continue reading →

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Return to Ray’s Rest

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Ross

After a few days in Auckland in April – including an evening at the Wine Cellar in K Road to hear Nadia Reid and Holly Arrowsmith and Ciaran McMeekin (three names to watch out for) – we headed east to … Continue reading →

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Smelling The Roses – Auckland Gardens

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Ross

From Pukehina we headed to Tauranga for the National Jazz Festival over Easter. There were a couple of days of bands in the main street – with a fair bit of blues sneaking in. The highlight was a Jazz Village … Continue reading →

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Pukehina Beach – Recent Travels Pt 2

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Ross

After a night at the beach at Sandpit, we moved further west to Pukehina Beach, another gem in the Bay of Plenty Beaches. Pukehina is built on a 5km long narrow sand spit between the sea and a large estuary. … Continue reading →

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Sandpit – Recent Travels Pt 1

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Ross

We arrived in the Bay of Plenty at the end of March to learn that it would be a while before our kiwifruit packhouse shift would be starting. We weren’t immediately concerned about that having just finished 38 days straight … Continue reading →

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…And All That Day You’ll Have Good Luck

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Ross

Meanwhile back in New Zealand we have been working at motels in Blenheim and hanging out here and there. Tuesday was a day for getting stuff done, including COF and WOF. Somehow both our truck Certificate of Fitness and our … Continue reading →

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Visiting 100 Chicken Temple in Shangrila in Yunnan China

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Ross

There were things we could have done around Shangrila, and things we might have done. But we didn’t. We ended up a bit lethargic. Maybe the altitude didn’t help. Maybe we were just a bit lethargic. There are not a … Continue reading →

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Shangrila By Night, Yunnan China

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Ross

In Shangrila we stayed at Kevin’s Trekkers Inn, a wonderful little guesthouse near enough to the old town, but far enough not to have been involved in the fire in January this year which destroyed 260 homes over 10 hours … Continue reading →

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Visit to a Monastery in Shangrila Yunnan

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Ross

Continuing our travels in Yunnan province of China brought us to a small city variously called Shangrila, Shangri-La, Zhongdian, Jiantang or Gyaitang! And the airport is called Diquing. There are ethnic reasons for this surplus of names but it does … Continue reading →

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To Tiger Leaping Gorge To Look – Yunnan China

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Ross

From Lijiang we were heading north to Shangrila. In between is the Tiger Leaping Gorge and it would be wrong to not stop there for a walk or a look. There is a high hiking trail which sounded energetic and … Continue reading →

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The Retrospective Tourists in Baisha China

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Ross

I’d harboured hopes of a trip to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain up the valley from Lijiang but the cloudy weather ruled that out. There is a gondola or chair lift or something up to 4,500m and then you can walk … Continue reading →

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Lots of Tourists in Lijiang China

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Ross

Lijiang Old Town is one of the big tourist draw-cards in Yunnan Province and one of the must-see places in China. Lijiang city is a small city of 150,000 people at 2,400m above sea level. We had chosen to stay … Continue reading →

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The Interesting Surprises of Travel – Jianchuan

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Ross

Some of the best things about travel are surprises. Some days are unknowns, especially for we who organise ourselves. Some days are travel days, getting from somewhere to somewhere else; maybe with transfers and changes along the way. Our day getting … Continue reading →

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