Masonic Hotel Napier

... for taking it easy and people watching. Plus the town has great food – we went to one bakery twice. First we had excellent sandwiches – great bread and then came back for dessert. As far as food - we haven't had a bad meal in NZ – everything is good from simple pub food and sandwiches to lamb dinners.
The weather for tomorrow looks good – so we're planning some mountaineering!

... squid! Checked out all the motor bikes and walked the fascinating Cuba street, music , street artists and street food all leading up to the evening parade . I think all of new Zealand turned up to watch.Tonight we ate Singapore food, we did not appreciate how many Asian restaurants there are in NZ It is a lovely town to walk around, lots of interesting sights in a small area. We stayed ...

... phase of the trip. Although the sea isn't rough, there is some swell from the south and we have been pitching or rolling quite a bit - I presume because we are very lightly loaded at present. No doubt that will change over the next few ports. I went for a wander around the ship this morning, and most of the areas I visited seemed similar to ...

... animals that have been injured in the wild and have been kept in captivity as they are unable to go back into the wild for medical reasons. They are really well cared for and have a much better life than if they were not kept here. There are some seals that are almost blind and so could not survive in the open ocean and there is one seal that is afraid of live fish so putting him back in the ocean is not a good option either. The carers are amazing and ...

... Juma en zijn zoon Barry, en zitten er nog 3 dames achter het huis: Sebo, Timby en Kaya. Daarnaast hebben ze nog een "werkhond", gered van een boerderij die hem niet meer hebben wilde: Joe. Katten hebben ze ook: Carrot, Tom, Jerry, BJ, Fluff... Kan zijn dat ik nog ergens iemand vergeten ben trouwens, het is weer eens teveel om op te noemen ;-). Hans kookte heerlijk die avond en tijdens de afwas kreeg ik te horen wat er wel niet allemaal nog gebeuren moest en wat ik wel niet allemaal ...

Wednesday Feb 6, 2008 Napier, New Zealand Winery country. We had a nice tour to 2 wineries. Selini was the 1st stop. We were taken to a lovely grape arbor coverred patio. We tasted 4 different wines paired with cheeses. I enjoyed them all. Mom was catching a bitter coarsness on the 1st wine which she didn't like, but she enjoyed the rest. Browsed the gift shop on the way out and bought some amazing chocolates. The second winery was Ngtarawara ...

... we were greeted by Michael, and Marie's father, gin in hand. I sat down with them, and a gin of my own, and we had a good talk about everything and anything Kiwi and American. Amanda retreated inside with Marie, her mother, and the two daughters, girl time I suppose. Then we came together for a dinner of roast hoggart (a slightly older sheep than lamb). Gorgeous. In the morning we said our thank yous and good byes, and headed south, for Wellington.

... Ook ben ik langs het standbeeld van Pania of the Reef gelopen. Het verhaal van Pania komt voort uit de Maori mythologie en verteld het verhaal van een soort zeemeermin die verliefd wordt op een mens en zelfs een zoon voor hem baart. Het liefste wat Pania wil, is een mens worden en voor altijd met haar geliefde samenleven. Alleen laten de andere zeemeerminnen dit niet toe en veranderen haar in een rif, zodat zij tot de dag van vandaag haar armen uitstrekt voor de kust van Napier.

Napier, North Island, New Zealand cb_goes_again