Category: Uncategorized

It has been interesting getting to see a tiny portion of Greece.  While we can’t generalize to the whole country (mainland and multiple islands), we have found it to be study in contrasts.

People — all of the people with whom we have interacted with have been really, really nice. They have been very patient and helpful with us as we didn’t have time to try to master their language before we came.  Almost all Greeks, at least in the urban and suburban areas we have been in, speak English. One of the retailers in the local bakeries has taken to teaching the Texans a couple of words — Yeia soy! (Hello — sounds like achoo but is said Yasoo) and Kalimera (Good Morning — pronounced a bit like the English word for squid — calimeray).  On the other hand, Greeks drive like bats out of hell — zipping down main thoroughfares as well as through neighborhoods at ungodly speeds. They will also nearly drive up on you on the sidewalks if they need a parking place.

Infrastructure — They have it all. They have old buildings, embassies, shiny new homes shops, as well as shells of buildings that have been abandoned or never got to be used (some resulting from the financial crisis impact).  These are often found right next to each other.

Even the Olympic Stadium from 2004 is a study in contrasts. You can see the amazing architecture, and some buildings are apparently still being used, but the grounds are unkempt and some of the facades are peeling and rusting. When we visited yesterday, it felt a bit like walking through a modern sports ghost town. On the otherhand, we checked out a huge mega mall (creatively called “The Mall”) one metro stop away from the stadium, and it was shiny, airy, and quite busy.

On another fun note about little everyday differences, in doing the laundry at the house the other day we were charmed to hear the lovely little song that is played at the end of the cycle.  So much nicer than our American buzzer on our machine.  The house we are caring for is also right across the street from a school, and the “bells” used to indicate transition between class sessions sounds like a very loud doorbell.  (We had originally assumed one of the neighbors must be hard of hearing.)

The weather is finally turning in our favor, so we’re hoping to explore a bit more of the area. Two recent fun finds — the local market and finally getting to see some of the surrounding mountains.

Kifisia, Greece House Sit

After sight seeing in Athens, we headed by metro to Kifisia, a northern suburb of Athens, to start our 10 day house sit with three pets — Lily, an 11 year old cocker spaniel, June, a mostly outdoor cat and X (a yet-to-be-named) mix puppy. All three are so cute and really easy to care for, though the puppy does take a little extra work, as was expected.

We had initially talked with this homeowner couple for a house sit in the October/November timeframe, but the dates didn’t work out for us. In late December, we received an email from them asking if we could do a house sit in January. We were skeptical that we could get affordable-enough air tickets to make it work, but we lucked out and found reasonable airfare on Turkish Airlines from Houston (rather than Austin) via Istanbul. Flying from Houston reduced the per person cost by $500.

With our second day in the home, we are establishing a routine for the 3x/day dog walks, the frequent yard visits with the puppy, and inside/outside time for the cat. June, the cat, is an adept climber and neighborhood explorer. She usually accompanies us (doing her own thing) while we walk Lily. When inside, she is loving and purrs contentedly, but it isn’t long before she’s ready to head back out.

In other “getting into a routine” news, Beth is currently training to hopefully run the Manchester Marathon when we are in England this spring. Luckily, we found a gym less than a mile away that she can use to continue her training while here as there is no ability to run on the local sidewalks or streets. The sidewalks here appear to be for the planting of trees and the parking of motorbikes, if they exist at all. And the car traffic here is crazy.

In terms of local food, we have had some great cheese, local bread, and sweets. Bob has also enjoyed some gyros (made differently than in the States) and souvlaki while Beth has been into the grilled veggies and just discovered a lovely Sonia salad (carrots, beets, kidney beans, onions, dill, and parsley).

The house is just off the main avenue with many shops and markets. And we have enjoyed poking into local markets (seafood, regular, produce) and various bakeries.

The costs here are really good (cheap). The owners pointed us to a great coffee shop where we had two coffees and four pastries for about US$8. The Metro cost us US$1.25 a piece (going from central Athens to Kifisia, the last stop, approximately 15 miles). Greek wine is very tasty and really cheap — about $6 – $8 for a good bottle of red, white, or rose. We have also sampled local liquors — ouzo (anise-flavored and often mixed with water) and mastika (slightly sweet).

The weather has been chilly. In fact, it snowed all day and overnight last night with some snow accumulation on cars. But, it is likely warmer than our next house sit locale in Calgary, Canada. (At 5:20 pm Athens time on Sunday the 24th, it is 43 in Athens, 43 in Austin (but much earlier in the day), and 27 in Calgary (ditto about time difference).

Day 2 in Athens started with sunshine, and a note from our house sit couple. While the girlfriend/fiance was already in England for their house sit, he was here finishing work but was ill and needed us to wait to come until 7 instead of the planned 4 pm arrival time. We had a few more hours to enjoy Athens.

We started at the Acropolis after our “free” meal at Niki Hotel.  Bob had found us a great hotel in the Placa section of Athens — near the Parliament House for $43 US a night with breakfast.  The area was great — with lots of local restaurants and shops but without the high tourist section annoyances of workers hollering at you to get you to go inside.

The Acropolis is amazing!  It sits on a hill far higher than any other in town, so you see it a lot and are reminded of the long, long history of this amazing city and country.  Due to its age, it is in a continual state of restoration.  The Acropolis is a section of Athens consisting of various temples, theaters, stadium, etc.  However, it is most well-known for the largest building set on the highest part of the hill — the Parthenon.  I have to say as amazing as it is to stand near structures that have survived (at least partially) for so long, the view of Athens from the hilltop is just as impressive.  See below for some highlights with evidence of the restoration work underway.

We then wound our way back down the hill to see the ancient Agora (market/meeting place — think of Socrates and Plato leading their discussions).  Again, an area and group of structures rather than a building.  We spent most time at the Temple of Hephaestus and the Stoa of Attalos.

From the Acropolis we wandered over to the City’s Central Market where the crowds were busy shopping for the freshest fish and meat (including skinned goat’s heads with eyes intact).  We just tried to hang onto our bags in the throng and didn’t buy anything.  We had an interesting bathroom experience on the way to our next stop.  We had stopped at a public toilet in a little square but we’re waiting patiently (and then beginning to be not so patiently) since the red light indicated that it was in use.  Finally, a nice little older Greek gentleman came over and told us to go into a nearby building where we could use the facilities for free.  We took his advice.  Bob had no problem, but the men sitting in the room near the restroom kept trying to tell me something in Greek.  I finally figured out that I needed a key for my door.  Turns out it was a veterans hall and apparently they don’t have many female members.

We decided to check out what are known as the Trilogy of Neoclassical architecture in Athens — The Academy, The University of Athens, and The National Library.  The exist side-by-side on a Main Street. The Academy was the most attractive from the outside, but the English nerd in me loved seeing the old card catalogs and spiral staircases in the National Library.

Probably the two of the most intriguing sites we saw on Thursday were a social protest (never did learn what exactly it was about) and the changing of the guard near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside of Parliament House.  We heard warnings about the protests, but it didn’t seem terribly large and was certainly completely non-violent from what we saw.  The changing of the guard ceremony, however, was something like no other guard ceremony we have ever seen.  Picture grown military men wearing what appears to be Catholic school girl uniforms with stockings, garters, a little beanie with a long tassel, and clog style shoes with fluffy balls on them doing some type of weird high kick ( front, back, side) march and then getting their outfits restyled by the head guy in camouflage.  And then they have to stand at attention while tourists pose with them!  I couldn’t do it, they had already sufficiently made my day.  All military should be required to dress and act in this manner to limit actual fighting.  See below.

Hey All!

Bob and I started our 2016 nomadic existence on January 18 by flying Turkish Airlines from Houston to Athens via Istanbul.  We had a fun time exploring the Istanbul international airport terminal ( and the free samples of Turkish Delight) but regret that we won’t have time to explore the actual city on this trip.  See photos below of Istanbul Airport.

We had 2 great (though cold and a bit rainy) days in Athens before heading to the northern suburb of Kifisia where we are caring for the home and pets of Athena and Constantinos. More to come on Kifisia. See below for highlights of the pre-housesit portion of our trip.

The first day in Athens was rainy, but we still got a good introduction to it from a local college student that we connected with through the This is My Athens program.  This is a program promoted by the tourism bureau that connects visitors with local guides for a free 2 hour tour based on common interests.  Our guide,  Jason, was a 5th year engineering student who had a great knowledge of Athens history and architecture and spent a little over 3 hours with us showing us the Parliament House, constitution square, the national gardens, past Olympic venues, temple ruins, and a great view of the Acropolis and Parthenon from atop the Hill of Muses.

Afterwards, Bob and I went to the Acropolis Museum where they now store many of the original columns and sculptures from the Acropolis to save them from further damage.  Unfortunately, Bob took the photos on his phone but didn’t have the photo stream turned on, so we just have a couple photos from Tues. night and Wed.  See below.

We are coming to the end of our Australian house sit. Gulp! Too sad to think about –so we’ll catch you up on what’s been happening here instead.

We have been caring for the new home and two beautiful cats (Grahammy and Ivy) of Romaine and Katie in the suburb of Griffin, north of Brisbane and on the edge of the Moreton Bay region of Queensland. The cats are adorable. Grahammy likes calm and prefers hanging out in the linen closet (quiet, please) or on top of one of the cat towers. Ivy is the cutest little actress you’ll meet. She likes to tease you for pets by rubbing up against your leg before scurrying a short distance away to scratch on a scratch tower or stretch while looking at you. They both also really like to climb inside cardboard boxes to sleep or look out at you.

Griffin is a new subdivision that is still being developed, so there aren’t a lot of places that we can directly walk to from the house (although we have walked the 30 min. to the 7-11 for a paper on some days). However, we have had the generous use of Katie’s car, so we’ve been doing day trips to explore the surrounding Moreton Bay region and greater Brisbane area.

Our first exploration was to the local Osprey House here in Griffin. This is a great little sanctuary where we got to watch an Osprey (via telescope and on camera) eat the fish she had just caught and brought back to her nest atop a pole. The facility also had a boardwalk along the Pine River that discussed mangroves and other shore birds. These birds really travel — all the way from Australia to Alaska and back depending on the seasons.

Next up was a short drive out to explore Redcliffe and Scarborough just northeast of Griffin. In Redcliffe, we walked the Heritage Trail along the gorgeous coast, saw Settlement Cove Lagoon (their version of an urban “beach”, talked with the friendly I-site staff, and explored the shopping district and Bee Gees Way, and tried to admire flying foxes (large bats) from afar. The Bee Gees were born in England but migrated to the Redcliffe area when the children (4 boys and 1 girl — with only Barry, the oldest, and Lesley, the girl, along still Stayin Alive) were young. The Bee Gees got their first singing job performing over the loudspeaker at the local raceway. The Walkway dedicated to them is really well done with lots of photos and facts, murals, statues, and (best of all, from Beth’s perspective) playing of their music. (There are also nightly light shows, but we didn’t stay for that.) Barry has been back for the dedications as the Walkway has been built out. You Should be Dancin after that write-up, and I’m not just Jive Talkin.

Saturday we stayed local, as Beth was in desperate need of a hair revival and had convinced Bob that with the local charges and good exchange rate it was financially beneficent to have this done while still in Australia. So, after a lovely breakfast at Kat’s Korner in North Lake (the subdivision just across the highway from Griffin), Bob killed time at the local mall and surrounding environs while Beth was dyed, trimmed and otherwise pampered — all for approximately $50 less than what it would have cost in Austin! Afterwards, we did the short walk around Lake Eden, the man-made lake within the subdivision that many families were enjoying with their children.

Sunday we headed further into the Moreton Bay region to explore a couple of small towns (Petrie, Dayboro), visit a winery, and catch some views from the lookouts on Mount Mee (you can be assured that no off-color jokes were made about that name during the excursion). It was market day in Petrie. This is held on the grounds of Old Petrie Town. Very cute! We perused the stalls, and Bob almost got a AU$8 haircut but decided he didn’t want to wait in line. Lots of people partaking of the festivities, and we noted that there are not many other places where you can hear both a seniors community band playing the theme from Bonanza and also catch some recitations of Bush (not the W or HW kind!) poetry. Then it was on to Dayboro — a little further northwest to walk their heritage trail before heading into the mountains for a visit to the Ocean View Estate Winery. We did a little tasting and had a great chat with the pourer before having our picnic lunch overlooking the vineyards. We then caught a glimpse of the Glass Mountains from the Dahmongah Lookout Park near Mount Mee. Lovely day!

Monday had us visiting mountains in the D’Aguilar National Park — Mount Glorious and Mount Nebo, as well as the very cute community of Samford Village. Unbeknownst to us, Monday was a “pupil-free” day at school, so we had some unexpected company on our Greenes Falls and Rainforest Circuit hikes. The most noteworthy features, to us, for these hikes were the huge trees, with their huge, gnarly trunks. We also got some good views of the area from the Westridge Outlook and Jolly’s Lookout. Coming back out of the mountains, we stopped to walk through the community of Samford Village that we had driven through on our way to the hikes. It was a cute little mountain village with lots of cute cafes, a good visitor center, and a fun heritage walk that we used to guide our stroll through town.

Tuesday we drove to Ipswich — a very different, urban drive to explore the town and it’s parks. The drive wasn’t long, but was much more trafficked than the others and took us through some pretty long tunnels. The highlights of the trip were Queens Park with its beautiful trees, Japanese garden, and animal sanctuary, the Top of the Town (old town center), and a hike through the lovely Denmark Conservation Park and then an almost 360 view of town from atop the water tower. (The surprising thing was having to search to find the water tower where we were suppose to get this great view. A park map finally helped us locate it. Not your typical tall water tower. The view is helped by the fact that it sits atop a very large hill.)

Yesterday, it was a short (but very walk-intensive) trip to Deception Bay to walk their version of a coastal walkway.

And now we are busy planning for the return of our hosts as well as our departure on Saturday for Tasmania. . . The next blog may be from the US depending on time and wifi availability. Thanks for letting us blather at you once again about our nomadic adventures.

We were warmly welcomed to Australia on Friday, October 9, by beautiful sunny, summer-like weather in Brisbane. The city is gorgeous and though we were a bit groggy the first day with a 7:00 am (Brisbane time) arrival we managed to make a great tour of the City until we could check into our downtown hotel at 2:00. We followed a walking tour of downtown highlighted by the war memorial and tomb of the unknown soldier and city botanic gardens before crossing one of the 15 bridges that span the curvy-quey Brisbane River to the tree and park-lined South Bank to see Street Beach (an urban, outdoor beach/pool) and many of the city’s museums. We got our first of many views of the city with a ride on the narrated Wheel of Brisbane (Ferris wheel).  We  also found a local grocery store (Coles) in an underground mall off of a pedestrian-only walkway a couple of blocks from our hotel.

After doing a bit of laundry in our room Saturday morning, we continued exploring more of the central city area, including the gorgeous Roma Parklands and a visit to the Brisbane museum in City Hall — lots of info on the history of the Brisbane River which is a vital component to the character of this town, before heading back across the river. This time we walked the opposite direction from South Bank along the lovely, lengthy hike and bike path along the river to the area of town called Kangaroo Point.  For our 2nd good view of Brisbane, we completed the world’s trifecta of urban bridge climbs by climbing the Story Bridge. (The other 2 bridge climbs are in Sydney and Auckland which we did on our initial trips to Australia and New Zealand.). We celebrated with dinner at Bincho in Fortitude Valley (across the Story Bridge from Kangaroo Point) before heading back to our hotel.

View #3 of Brisbane and the surrounding area came on Sunday from the lookout atop Mt. Coot-tha. We caught a city bus out there and then hiked down the mountain to the Mt. Coot-tha botanic gardens at the base (also managed, along with the city botanic gardens by the Brisbane city council).  Lovely area, though I think I prefer the Roma Parklands in the CBD. Once we figured out that it would only be about an hour to walk back into town, we decided to do that. It was a lovely, easy walk that had us back on the hike and bike trail again for much of it. By the time we were back in town I had managed to quit kicking myself for listening to the tourist book about taking the bus there.

Monday we had an excursion to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Bob humored me with this request, as I have been enamored with koalas since having had a stuffed toy one as a child. We made it a good half-day trip (10-3) by getting a combined ticket which provided a narrated 1.25 hour boat cruise along the Brisbane River to the sanctuary. The narration was great and provided good information on the river, the many subdivisions that we passed, some of the more impressive houses, etc. One item of note for us Yanks was a boys academy along the river that was used by Gen McArthur during WWII as the command center for the Pacific operations. BUT, the highlight of the trip for me was getting my photo taken with Victory, a sweet female koala. We listened to a presentation on koalas while we were there and learned that their numbers were nearly decimated when they were being hunted for their fur. As these beautiful creatures sleep up to 20 hours/day I wasn’t terribly impressed with the individuals who would choose to “hunt” them. Along with koalas, we saw a wombat, Tasmanian devil, cassowaries, lots of kangaroos, and a dog showing off his (her?) ability to herd sheep. We shared the walkways and picnic areas with lots of sizable iguanas and Australian bush turkeys.

Before being picked up by our 2nd house sitting couple at 2:30 on Tuesday, we walked back through Fortitude Valley to an area called New Farm to see the old Brisbane Power Station which has been remade into an event venue with cafes and restaurants. Really nice! While we were there, moms and their “littlies” were queuing for a children’s show in the open auditorium on the main level. Returning to the city via Fortitude Valley we stopped in at the Contemporary Art Museum, but it wasn’t open. We did check out a little gourmet food store called Black Pearl where Bob talked cheese with the friendly merchant, including discussing some cheeses that are made in Tasmania which will be our next stop in Australia after our house sit.

We again have reliable, and super fast!, wifi access so should be more in touch — lucky you!

We sadly farewelled beautiful New Zealand at 6 am on Friday morning, Wellington time (3 am Brisbane, Australia time). Wellington was everything we have come to love about New Zealand — gorgeous, athletic, and interesting weather.

We had a great few days in Windy Wellington, as it is known by the locals. Chicago winds have nothing on this town, but it treated us well with only one night of really powerful winds (luckily at our backs to push us quickly back to our hotel after dinner). We would highly recommend a visit to this lovely city (where the female mayor rides her bike out to the airport to meet Hillary C for a visit!) and hope to get back ourselves sometime.

As you’ll see below, we stayed busy riding cable cars, climbing mountains, visiting gardens and museums (still free entry! — and the national museum Te Papa and the Museum of Wellington rocked!), and visiting the local wine region where we talked with the manager of one winery who used to live in New Plymouth and another one from Oregon.

We are now getting acquainted with warm Brisbane (30 degrees tomorrow or 86 for us yanks) and having some issues getting consistent access to free wifi, so I’ll let the photos of Wellington speak for themselves . . .

There are a number of good memories that we will take away from our time in New Plymouth. We wanted to share some of the funner ones with you.

First, I have had the following thought at least once every day that I’ve been here — “New Zealand — brought to you by the color green.” If you’ve never watched Sesame Street, you won’t get the reference, but I must say in New Zealand green is the new green. There should be a reference in the dictionary for “green” that says “see New Zealand.” You see every shade imaginable, and it is very, very good. I will very much miss all the trail walking — both in town and out.

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign. . . Okay, so when I’m not having Sesame Street thoughts, I am thinking of the lyrics of this song (my mind is going/has gone to mush. . .). While we have our share of signage in the states too, it’s just the little differences that have caught our eye.

For the mail/circular delivery people —

For pedestrians/trampers —

For drivers? —

Happy, clean signs —

As I’ve said, my mind has gone to mush. . . but in a good way.

More fun language usages. We mentioned some local expressions in one of our earlier blogs, but wanted to add a few more here.

Fun with plurals. So, while in the States there is sports coverage, here it is always referred to as Sport. As in, full coverage of weather will be provided right after Sport. However, the school subject of math (States) is always referred to as Maths here.

New and different terms. A homeless individual is termed a rough sleeper, and a car inspection is referred to as a Warrant of Fitness. (We finally had to ask about this one, as we kept seeing car service businesses with signs for WOFs.) In athletic competitions, while in the States one may be sent to the penalty box, here one can be sin-binned. Other examples — anti-clockwise (NZ) rather than counterclockwise (US). (And for Bob and Beth’s relatives — Beth still doesn’t know which way this is.) Athletes get injured in the states but here they just get niggled. If you wanted to get a job here you would look in the paper under “situations vacant.” To make a recipe here, you might use a “kitchen whiz” rather than a food processor. The space between a lawn/sidewalk and the street is “misspelled” as a kerb rather than curb.

Verbing a noun. One common noun (at least for us) that we have heard frequently used as a verb is “farewell.” This is used whenever someone has died, as they are then “farewelled” at their funeral or memorial service. Also, while we might see a particular action as a likely “eventuality,” here, if something doesn’t come to pass it wasn’t “eventuated.”

Fun travel term. To travel from New Zealand to Australia is to go “across the ditch.”

I will miss leisurely breakfasts spent reading the local and Auckland papers and noting new word terms/uses while noting (for both good and bad) that New Zealand faces similar issues to the US in trying to appropriately care for the aging and vulnerable populations in terms of health care, child and protective services, treatment of prisoners, etc.

There is a store here in New Plymouth called Taranaki Hardcore. I’m not sure what exactly that means to the store, but Bob and I have seen it lived everyday by the many individuals out and about barefoot. Yep, no shoes. Yesterday at the park at the base of a mountain, a young girl had a winter coat on but no shoes. (However, usually the barefooters are just as likely to be in shorts and short sleeved shirts while I have my long pants and jackets on.) The weather has not been what most would define as no shoes season. Spring has just sprung for pete sake (really, we got to spring forward with the clocks for the 2nd time this year.). Anyhoo, Taranaki Hardcore. We’re still working on that one.

We will miss weather forecasts that can show the whole country in one shot and include reports on the current and forecasted weather conditions for all major cities (usually up one coast for both islands and then up the other).

We will miss all of the great food, as we have continued to eat our way across the world — Thai, Indian, New Zealand (seafood, cheese, pies/pasties, veggies — kumara!), Chinese. . .

And we will definitely miss the beautiful dogs. Jess is the sweetest girl ever. She is impossible not to like. She also loves to eat and likes to have her belly rubbed. She doesn’t get around as well as Baz due to her age, but she likes to try to hang with him as much as possible — joining in on barking at the neighborhood cat and starting out her walks with her version of a jog. Baz is gorgeous. He always draws compliments on the color of his coat while we’re out walking. He is super active (usually walking us) and knows what he likes (greeting other dogs, running off leash) and what he doesn’t (skateboarders!!!). He is a fun walk and likes his loving in the evening as well.

We are blessed. Next up. . . Wellington, the D.C. of New Zealand.

Our time in New Plymouth has flown by– today is Thursday, October 1, Day 41 of our New Zealand house sit. We pick up Dana and Allan, our homeowners, on Saturday. Amazing how fast the time has flown! Baz and Jess, the easy-care dogs, will be excited to see their owners.

As our time in New Plymouth is coming to an end and the weather has turned more spring-like, we have been actively exploring new areas and redoing hikes that we enjoyed the first time.

Last Saturday we redid a 10+ mile hike around New Plymouth. Partially, we wanted a good excuse to be out in the gorgeous weather enjoying part of New Plymouth’s coastal walkway, scenic Mount Paritutu and the Sugar Loaf Islands, Back Bay Beach, and a couple of scenic trails back into town and partially we just wanted a good excuse to grab another huge ice cream cone at Iona Dairy on St. Aubyn street!

Last Friday, we were finally able to make our first visit to THE mountain — Mt. Taranki (the fickle mountain that teases us with partial views on most days). Mount Taranaki is located in Egmont National Park in the center of the Taranaki region. There are a number of access points to the park. On Friday, we went to the North Egmont Visitor Center which is the visitor’s center closest to New Plymouth. Based on the still early Spring conditions, we opted to hike the Veronica Loop which allowed us to enjoy the almost-tropical vegetation while hiking through some mud and a good bit of unmelted snow. The trail provided great views of the mountain and of the countryside below.

We returned to the mountain on Tuesday, but this time started at the East Egmont Visitor Center which is a bit further south from New Plymouth — near the town of Stratford (of Shakespeare and Glockenspiel fame — see prior blog). We did 2 hikes here — the Wilkies Pool Loop which took us alongside and over (via boulder crossings) a river stream (water does not get any clearer than this!) and the Kapuni Loop Track which took us to the Dawson Falls waterfall and allowed us to walk through more of the always interesting trees and bushes.

All of the mountain hikes we did were short and pretty easy. We would love to be here a bit later in the year to summit the mountain and/or do one of the multi-day hikes that are available.

On another day, we enjoyed the cloud-covered mountain for a late lunch at the Stratford Mountain House Cafe after a hike around Lake Rotokare. Lake Rotokare is lovely — it’s a large scenic reserve enclosed by a predator-proof fence. The lake is fed entirely by natural springs. As per usual, we heard more birds than we saw, but we did note the many critter-catching boxes set up to ensure that no unwanted animals get into the reserve. On our drive up the mountain for lunch, the temp dropped from 13 celsius to 7 celsius. However, as we split an amazingly awesome antipasto platter at a table near the fireplace, we were warm, happy trampers!

Yesterday, we hiked the Cardiff Centennial Walkway before heading to the Hollard Gardens. Parking for the Cardiff Walk is right off of the Opunake Highway. There we were greeted by information on the volcanic deposits in the area as well as some red chickens who seemed to be okay with us being there. The walkway was fairly short but had lots of climbs and descents over pastures and through bush along the Waingongoro River. It was really very nice and ended with a lookout tower of Mount Taranaki. Parts of the hike reminded us of our hikes in Switzerland as we went through what seemed to be private pastures with animals grazing. Nice of farmers to allow hikers.

Hollard Gardens is the last of three best-known gardens overseen by the Taranaki Regional Council that we have visited. It is situated on the former property of the Hollard family. It has beautiful gardens with all kinds of trees, bushes, and flowers as well as a large lawn for events and gazebos for picnics and a playground for the kids and a couple of nice trails. School holidays are on, so many families were out for a picnic.

All of our adventures above and to date have been off of Highway 3 which runs primarily south of New Plymouth on the east side of Mount Taranaki. In the last few days, however, we did a couple of trips off of Highway 45 (the Surf Highway as it goes past lots of beach/surf communities on the west and south coasts of Taranaki). This is one beautiful drive, and it would have been criminal to not have enjoyed some of this before we left.

Our first visit out was to Opunake to do the Opunake Walkway around the coastline of the town. It was a very, very windy day, so we almost seemed to be walking backwards during parts of the walk as we went into the wind. We weren’t really sure what to expect, but it was one of the more interesting walks that we have done — dramatic cliffs, great beaches and a lake, some great gardens along the route, an historical cemetary, etc. We walked into town on the way back to the car. It was a great walk that I would love to do again sometime.

On our way to Opunake, we drove through the town of Oakara which looked really cute, so we went back there on another day to walk through Matekai Park, check out their beach, and then poke through some of the shops on their “main drag.” They have a really nice craft shop, a couple of cute cafes, and a restaurant. The best find though was a specialty food store which sold a number of gourmet cooking items — surprising for such a small town. On the way back into New Plymouth, we stopped at the Okurukuro winery/cafe/function center. We didn’t partake of the wine or food, though with the beautiful weather, they were doing a good business, but we did enjoy the great views of the Tasman Sea. Another great location for a special event.

Today and tomorrow will be rainy which is giving us the excuse we need to be a bit productive.

New Plymouth has offered some fun local activities that we have tried to take advantage of.

One Saturday night after a lovely dinner at a local tapas restaurant, we attended the Taranaki Fashion Art Awards Show. This was a fun event that was centered on the making and modeling of garments out of everyday items. Individuals competed in different categories at either the open, student, or child level. The whole show was then set against a story line of an adult character (Pure Imagination) teaching two children (Anna and James) about being creative with their dress up box. The overall winning outfit was a beautiful (really!) dress made out of painted egg shells and cartons. Individuals from all over the Taranaki region entered, and it was well-attended. Between each theme category (imagination, mystery, comedy, multi-ethnicity, and color), there were performances by local dancers that corresponded with that theme. I’m not sure if Bob enjoyed it as much as I did, but I was amazed by the creativity and craftmanship of each garment as well as the level of modeling (by some) displayed. Definitely a unique event!  No photos though — they are making a dvd to sell.

Another local event that occurs monthly, is the New Plymouth Seaside Market. This is typically held on the first Sunday of each month near the port. This month it was moved to the second Sunday due to weather. We walked down from the house last Sunday. The weather this time was really nice — one of the best days we’ve had since we’ve been here. It was 16 degrees Celsius, 61 F, and sunny. Lots of families were out enjoying the market which features lots of locally made craft products as well as some produce and food to take away or eat there. Really lovely!

After we perused the market, we stopped by Chaddy’s Boat Tours to check into one of their charters. The boat can only go out at high tide, so they had already done their tour for the day. However, they recommended coming back the next day for the 12pm tour, as the weather would be just as nice and the waters a little calmer. We took them up on that and had a lovely hour on the boat — getting a wee bit of history of the sugar loaf islands off the coast, seeing some seals sunning themselves on the islands, and watching some locals on the boat with us haul in some crayfish from the pots they keep in the sea. They caught 3 which they planned to keep for themselves as they aren’t allowed to sell them.

After the boat ride, we walked up to the Gables Colonial Hospital which is now used as the Taranaki Society of Arts gallery. They were having a special exhibition in which they had participating artists draw a number for a photograph to reproduce (Each photograph had a different number.) The exhibition displayed both the original photograph and the artist’s rendering of it (using oils, pastels, or fabric). It was a cool idea and fun to see the different interpretations. We got to vote on our favorite. While talking to the gentleman staffing the event, we learned that he lives across the street from where we are staying.

We have checked out a couple of movies as well over the past week. We saw “Everest” in 3D. Good movie and even better as they mention Taranaki (the region of New Zealand in which we are staying) in the movie. Also, Bob and I had both read Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air about the events depicted in the movie. We have also just come from seeing Best of Enemies, a documentary about the William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal debates during the 1968 presidential conventions. It is being shown as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival. Good movie — more interesting as part of a larger historical change in television coverage and commentary than in the specific debate.