More Dunedin tales

 These might be a double up with Jill's BLOG, sorry. But we take the free bus into town to the Prohibition Smokehouse. Our table is under a couple of flamingos - which puts us in mind of the time Millie was a flamingo in the gangshow (I think she had about 19 costume changes!)

After a short wait, Millie arrives with Jordan and he obliges by taking some family photos.

Jordan seems very nice, and is studying Botany and Genetics. Being from Rotorua he is obviously aware of Scion - the old Forest Research Institute (FRI) from my day.

The food was pretty yum....going, going gone.

Even a nice pic of Alex - these are rare.











Alex was going on to a party. Here he is negotiating with his parents about what booze he can take. (four cans of beer to last 4 hours.)

The Bushes fly South In Winter - August 2020

 Because of the re-emergence of COVID we set off with great trepidation to Dunedin. No one wore a mask on the afternoon flight from Gisborne to Wellington. The flight was very quiet with no tea or coffee service. It was a beautiful view until we got close to Wellington. We had dinner in the lounge, and on the next leg from Wellington to Dunedin EVERYBODY wore a mask - again, a very full plane.

Not sure - should it be the white side out - or the Blue???

Jill was in the pick-up area to greet us, and Rua's painting was delivered without damage and had very kind and encouraging accolades from Alex.

Friday Morning was fine but icy, so we left with Jill for Kaka Point about 10. It is a very easy drive and the scenery is spectacular, especially when we get to the sea and surf.

Rolling farmland

Coming into Balclutha over the Clutha River

The walkway is a minute away.

Looking down to Nugget Point. Next stop Antarctica

Great surf - might have to get a XL wetsuit!!

Me and Jill at Kaka Point.

The site at 2 Tarata Street is smaller than I thought, and the deck is sheltered at the back of the house, but with glass windows and doors through the house to reveal the sea views. The section is quite challenging.

The beach is glorious, the pub, store and local brewery are a very short walk away. We stop at Balclutha on the return journey for lunch. The cafe is very popular, but Jill is probably the youngest person there, and even she has some grey hairs. When we get back to Dunedin, the painters have arrived to review the job that they will be starting on Monday morning - just zhuzhing up the underused part of the kitchen.

Heading Home from Northland - Friday 5th and Saturday 6th of June

 After leaving Paihia we had some heavy rain, and were glad of a very nice cafe at Waipu for morning tea. Not far from Waipu was a macadamia orchard, which looked a bit like ours will. The roads get busier as we head south, until we come to Orewa which is were we set up camp for the night. The weather is lifting and Duncan decides to shake the cobwebs out with a jog up the beach.

Just beyond the trees is a nice boardwalk, and we walk in the opposite direction to Duncan's run to work up an appetite for dinner as we have found a small Italian restaurant within walking distance. I remember very distinctly going up North with Mum and Dad in the first lot of holidays after I started university. I was doing Geology 1and was delighted to see the Top Hat formation of these very rocks rising vertically up from the "brim" (below, on the left)

A very serene evening. 

Next morning we headed off from Orewa to Ohiwa. we managed to get through Auckland without taking any wrong turns - and it was almost like coming home when we got to Ohiwa. The ground was a bit greasy so we just took a site that was easy to get into and out off and went for a walk to the beach.

Giving the Photographer some instructions.

A moody sky and the roar of the surf - magic!

Had to go and check E3 - it looked in pretty good order.

Left-overs for dinner and next morning we headed home. A great little break away.

Small Rotorua Girls' High Reunion

Although Jeanette has a house in Paihia (as well as Auckland and Bern, Switzerland) we arrange to meet for lunch in Russell. We take the ferry to Russell, and have a bit of time up our sleeves so quickly jump on a 45 minute minibus tour. There is certainly a lot of flash looking craft in the harbour - but this picture is taken to capture a nice bit of blue sky.

 You can start to get a sense of the islands in the bay of the Bay of Islands, but Russell is not on an island - just an exceptionally long and winding road from Paihia, which is why the ferry is so important.

Lots of nice swimming beaches here - but give me a bit of surf.

We went up Flagstaff hill - which was quite windy - and the road up was quite windy. We were glad that someone else was driving.

The views were spectacular and the mosaic map of the maritime area was  of special interest to me as I had recently completed The Covid Mosaic on the plinth I am doing.

This was another interesting art concept - kowhaiwhai done on corten steel. You may have noticed in past blogs the use of corten steel to do art works on Kaiti Hill in Gisborne.

The roads around Russell aren't really four lane highways -as these two photos show. Just typical New Zealand!

The photo below: Its hard to see but this fence is covered with cups and mugs. It is a memorial to a Mum who had cancer, but always said, "Come on in and have a cup of tea with me"

Back in Russell we walk along the foreshore - millions of dollars worth of luxury boats in this harbour too. And also reminders of the history of this area. The seagull posed very obligingly.

Below is a picture of Duncan entering a Marae sort of set-up - just a paepae outside the council buildings for welcoming visitors I suppose.

Onto lunch at the cafe by Pompallier house. Jeanette Hoyle was in the same class as me since form 1, and although we were not close friends , the fact that we both favoured maths and science meant that we had a bit in common. She has lived a fascinating life, inventing and testing drugs for all the big Pharma companies like Seiber-geigy and Novatis. Lots of travel, two nice kids (one called Simon), and although Jeanette often found that she was competing with her husband for jobs, and they divorced, she has a relatively good relationship there.

Jeanette came with her cousin Pauline. I said did Jeanette and Pauline plan to travel together, but no, Jeanette said she thought she'd travelled enough. Pauline is based in England, and like Jeanette had been caught out by COVID and never got back to Europe. As you know there is always something that people have in common - and ours was Dave Metzger. Jeanette and I had had him as a maths teacher at Rotorua Girls'. Then he moved to Auckland to work at the Training College, and coached Duncan's soccer team. Pauline is involved with STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering and Maths) Education and he had worked with Dave when he was an adviser in this field.

I wonder if we'll meet again. The thing I always remember was if she was concentrating, she twirled the curls in her hair. I asked her if she still did it - and she couldn't remember doing it in the first place!

The weather was cutting up rough again as we boarded the ferry (nice catamaran) and it was a very squally trip back - the worst part was walking up the gang-plank! So we just headed back to the camping ground for the evening. Interestingly the toilets as you walked into the loos was a disco ball - acting as a deterrent to birds coming in.