Mostly about food …. Sunday morning in Auckland was rainy, but the showers stopped long enough to let me walk to the Cathedral for the early morning service held in the glass Bishop Selwyn Chapel – which is on the site where the first Bishop of Auckland actually preached before Read more
All told we’ve had some impressive achievements over the last few days. Jim travelled from Auckland, NZ to Detroit, Michigan and arrived more or less unscathed. He received Vax jab #1 the day after arrival. Timing is everything! Jim found that Auckland international departures was nearly empty, LAX international arrivals Read more
And the NZ Escape team is wrapping up! Jim had his pre-departure Covid test yesterday and today received paperwork stating that he tested negative. Yeah! He’s packed and almost ready to make his masked way halfway around the world tomorrow. Frances will take him to the airport after an early Read more
Happy Easter! We had a lovely weekend. We attended Whangarei Anglican church for a rousing Easter service. Again, we found the parishioners friendly and welcoming, and we felt fortunate to worship in person even if we were a bit creeped out with the insistence of other worshippers that we should Read more
Easter blessings to everyone! Tomorrow we look forward to going to in person Easter services at the nearby church. If ever there were a time for hope and resurrection, this seems to be it. No big adventures over the last few days. We’re putting up with our small and noisy Read more
We’re taking a bit of downtime to get caught up with ourselves. Our stay in Taupo was just that, quite relaxed for us. Everyone else was working quite hard as there was an Ironman Race. Exhausting to behold. We stayed at the edge of Lake Taupo at Two Mile Bay, Read more
With a practiced military precision, the group of intrepid hikers worked as one to clean up our cottage and depart on schedule for our various next missions. George made quick work of getting us to Christchurch airport, where we checked ourselves in and then enjoyed a flat white and a Read more
We drove from Christchurch to the Banks Peninsula, stopping on the way at Akaroa, a French settlement situated on a harbor. We have been staying in a cottage near the Hinewai Reserve, an area comprising about 1,500 hectares of regenerated native bush. Our friends, George and Hilary, invited us to Read more
We packed up our Hanmer Springs house and headed to the Church of the Epiphany, Hanmer’s Anglican Church, this morning. We arrived early, and the vicar greeted us in her bedroom slippers. By the time the service began, she had changed into sandals. The smallish congregation was most welcoming to Read more
We are spending several days hiking and visiting with friends new and old on the Banks Peninsula south of Christchurch. For the most part, we are electronics free in this lovely place. More posts in a few days when we are back in the North Island.