Once More Around

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Ross
Wyn walking

Back in May, while things were still not at full-tilt with the kiwifruit, we took any opportunity to get out and enjoy the days. Around Mount Maunganui remained a favourite. It is a nice round trip with a variety of vistas. And there is always the chance of a coffee or an icecream (or fish and chips) at the end. For some reason we always seemed to go clockwise. This day we walked along the beach to Moturiki Island, which isn’t an island although maybe it once was. Something else it once was was an aquatic theme park sort of thing back in the 1950s-1960s. Continue reading →

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Biking the Karangahake Gorge

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Ross
Wyn bike

The main road from Tauranga to Auckland  heads north west around Tauranga Harbour before heading inland at Waihi. The Karangahake Gorge provides a stunning low-level gap between the Kaimai Range to the south west and the Coromandel Ranges to the north. Paeroa is the town on the other side, and from there it’s all flat farmland. Gold was mined at both ends of the Gorge, and very intensively. The gorge must have been a significant obstacle but roads and railways were carved out and mines were mined all over the place. Continue reading →

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Walk Around the Mount

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Ross
Tauranga

With fine days we tried to get out and enjoy the last of the summer. This was the summer that was late and carried on into autumn. Worse things happen! A favoured walk was the one around the Mount, aka Mt Maunganui. It is circular, and has views of Tauranga Harbour, Matakana Island, the Pacific Ocean and the beaches at Mt Maunganui. It’s a lovely walk of less than an hour. Continue reading →

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Meanwhile Back At Autumn

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Ross
Wyn Kiwi 360 sign

Back in April, after Easter, work at the kiwifruit packhouse was start/stop. We expected that after last year, but it still made getting into any routine for night shift difficult. We’d just start t get a bit of a pattern going, then have a few nights off and lapse back into daytime time. This year the weather helped; it was finer and colder at night which seemed to make sleeping easier. Continue reading →

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South into Spring

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Ross

Oh crikey! I’ve done it again – got up to date and then relaxed and let things get out of date. Bad, bad blogger!

We’ve been busy doing not much – exploring around Hamilton and the Coromandel and hanging out in Auckland. We’ve found lots of lovely new beaches. Yesterday we finally managed to escape Auckland and start South. Today we’re in Rotorua and we’ll move on south to the hot pools at Waikite Valley for a couple of days – we’ve promised ourselves this for a while now. I’ll make an effort to sort out a few of the photos of our recent travels and see if I can get them posted.

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What Happened to June?

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Ross

Oh heck, now June has come and gone. And we’re on the move again – sort of. We’re alive and well at Simpsons Beach just north of Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula. Today we’re rocking and rolling in the wind – a fierce easterly. And not going anywhere much. So time to see about a bit of a catch-up.

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Awesome Autumn

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Ross

Woops, done it again! There I was all up to date and then I goes and rests on my laurels.

Nevertheless, we’re alive and well and still working at the kiwifruit packhouse. We’re into the busy end of the main season, and heading for the end part. It took a while to kick into gear – but now the rush is on.

We have enjoyed a lovely autumn. Apparently last year was the wettest Autumn for 30 years. Certainly it was wet! So anything less wet was going to seem nice. We’ve only had a couple of spells of rain. Otherwise it has been sunny days and cool and cooler nights. Continue reading →

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Blogging With Pictures

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Ross
Port Waikato

Once, long ago this was a blog of words. Then, inspired by my sisters, it became a blog of words with pictures. Somewhere the pictures faded from sight and for some time it’s been a wordy blog. And not even an up-to-date wordy blog. Thanks to some downtime and determination the words are more or less up to date. And now I’ve even restarted illustrating my words with photos. You can see which ones have acquired pictures from the Home page – they’re the one with a small thumbnail on the list of posts. So, I’m illustrated back to the beginning of March. And on a roll hopefully…

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Not Working at the Packhouse (Quilts and Maketu)

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Ross
Quilt

Monday 2nd April was the start of a period of no-work. We’d just started to get into the swing of things when it all came to a stop. The start of the kiwifruit season is always start-stop and this year is no exception. In some ways this wasn’t a bad thing as Wyn was coming down with a head cold that turned into a sinus infection. She wouldn’t have been keen to be working anyway so it was a chance to rest up. Monday we took the opportunity to do some messages in Papamoa. Continue reading →

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Working in the Packhouse (and Little Waihi and Maketu)

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Ross

Our gallivanting around came to an end on Tuesday 27 March when we had to start work. Night shift started at 6pm. No avoiding it. We hoped that maybe the first night might finish early to ease us in, but no such luck. 3.30am it finished. So began a 4-night stretch. Work, try to sleep, sleep, try to sleep, try to do everything else, work …. You probably get the picture. Continue reading →

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Forth to the Firth of Thames

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Ross
Ray's Rest - Kaiaua

Friday 23 March we finally left Ambury Park, bound south and east. We stopped off at Traillite at Pukekohe for a couple of quick fixes before following our familiar path over the Bombay Hills and then east on SH2. We branched off and took the back road through to Miranda and the Firth of Thames. We went north up the Seabird Coast a short distance to the seaside reserve known as Rays Rest. Here we are more or less allowed to park beside the water – or at least the high water mark. When the tide goes out, it’s a long long way to the low water mark. Continue reading →

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Getting Wet at Auckland’s Beaches (Mahurangi, Wenderholm, Long Bay)

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Ross
Mahurangi Regional Park

We guessed we had another week “on the run” before work would start. So we headed north on Saturday 17 March to visit some of the Auckland Regional Parks on the coast. There are a couple of dozen of these parks, mostly by the sea in great locations. Auckland gets a lot of criticism from non-Aucklanders. But the chain of public parks around the region should be the envy of all of us. They are wonderful and we’re enjoying discovering more and more of them. Continue reading →

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Back to Auckland (Clarks Beach and Port Waikato)

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Ross
Sunset Waiau Beach

Sunday 11 March was my Dad’s 103rd birthday. He died more than 30 years ago but that’s not the point. He was always declaring some day or other Aunt Mabel’s birthday before conceding that she’d been dead for some time. I used to think it was unusual but now I’m carrying on his tradition. Happy birthday old man. I’m a lot like you. Continue reading →

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Bay of Plenty Beaches

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Ross

Wyn finished her training at the packhouse on Thursday 8 March and we headed off to the beach. We left the car behind and took just Suzi motorhome. Where the road first reaches the coast east of Te Puke there is a small parking place – called Sandpit locally. The official name of the area is Otamarakau. We parked up there for a couple of days – days of sun and wind. We enjoyed regular windy walks on the beach – it goes forever to the east. Continue reading →

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Auckland Art And Ambury

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Ross
Pah Homestead Auckland

Friday 2nd March we took the car and went to explore Onehunga. There is an interesting art gallery there, the TSB Wallace Arts Centre in the lovely old Pah Homestead. The setting is great and the art is very interesting. With some art these days you might think you could have a crack at doing it yourself. Then there’s some that you are in awe of, wondering how someone could even imagine the whole thing. One of the latter sorts at the Wallace Arts Centre was an extraordinary assortment of exquisite little drawings on scraps of paper all stitched/tied into a wall hanging. Continue reading →

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