Bay of Islands

A couple of days after arriving in New Zealand, we took a magical tour through the Bay of Islands from Paihia near Waitangi. Please bear with me for the length of this post, but I think you'll be stunned by the beauty of it all! By the way, you're only seeing 20% of all the pictures I took of this stunning place.

Let's start with Bec and Max raring to go ... well sort of! Paihia, like many places around New Zealand's coast is a Mecca for people with boats - and that seems to be half the population ... we;; not quite.

So here we are departing the wharf en route to Russell across the bay to pick up more passengers. And Russell, like Paihia, is also swamped with pleasure craft!

As we headed out to sea, we were told to watch out for pods of dolphins which inhabit the local waters. And sure enough we saw heaps of them inquisitively sussing us and our boat.

Then it was on to some rocky shores with layers of black rocks - presumably some kind of basalt - and our captain sailed us close to shore to examine them.

These outcrops were in turn nurseries for gulls and other sea-birds and we saw a lot of young preparing for their first flight.

The Bay of Islands is no idle name - there are dozens of them somewhat sheltered from Pacific swell.

And here's the location of the first Christian service in NZ.

And Bec preparing for a swim in the sea to collect mussels from a rocky shore.

Some columnar basalt of the same kind making the Giants Causeway in Ireland or the famous Fingal's Cave in Scotland's Inner Hebrides.

Bec collecting mussels, while a training ship for young people coasted by.

Other lazing in the sum.

Bec and me having climbed the slopes of one of the islands ... note yet more of them in background. Captain Cook must have thought himself in Paradise as he sailed through!

Max preparing to jump into the sea. It was not as dangerous as it might seem, because our boat had a large net over the side into which people could jump. And that's Bec in the net being dragged along.

The famous hole in the tock through which our vessel actually sailed ... though the fit was tight and the sea had more of a swell.

And towards the end a few of the passengers jumped overboard for a mass swim!

Don't worry/ All survived.

AS

Treaty Grounds

Although we were staying in some very nice accommodation at Kerikeri, our first foray into the Bay of Islands region - a name  bestowed by captain Cook if I remember correctly - took us to the treaty grounds at Waitangi where, in the middle of the !9 th century, European settlers and the Maori tribes made a peace treaty. This historical site proved exceptionally interesting as the pictures show. The flag pole marks the spot where the treaty was signed - a beautiful setting.

Nearby was the home of the James Busby, an early settler and proponent of the treaty to prevent fighting between Europeans and the Maori peoples. The tour of the house gave a great impression of the culture of the time.

And in the Waitangi grounds there were many buildings and artefacts to reminds us of the Maori culture. The canoes on display were both huge and exquisitely ornate.

There was a replica of a Maori village.

And here's the meeting house, whose interior was again ornate and even lavish.

And we were privileged to witness a typical welcoming ceremony: Later on our trip in the Rotorua district I was appointed leader of a 'tribe' - actually representing my fellow passengers on our bus - to take part in such a ceremony.

And, after these proceedings, Bec and Max hired a kayak to paddle around the waters adjacent to Waitangi. They were especially interested in inspecting nearby mangroves.

AS

Some Public Toilet

Then our trip north to our holiday pad at Kerikeri took us through the little township of Kawakawa. I presume that, like in Australia's Aboriginal languages, the repetition of a phrase means the plural of the original word - whatever Keri and Kawa actually mean. At first sight the township appears unremarkable:

But on closer inspection Kawakawa has some amazing architecture and street furniture. Have a look at the public loo:

Have you ever seen anything quite as remarkable? Then there's a grand public seat - fortunately not occupied as I took this photo.

And what about this entrance to a children's play area just peaking our behind the wall?

Not bad, eh!?

AS

Kauri Coast

We set off on our epic journey across New Zealand's North Island three weeks ago and the following Blogs - many of them - will recount our pleasant experiences. After a night in Auckland, Dot, I, our daughter Rebecca and our lively Grandson Max, now aged 10, set our for Northland. The western coast is famous for its large, and now well protected, Kauri forests with their massive trees. The road to the coast snaked through rolling hills, but gave little premonition of the spectacular forests we were about to witness.

On first seeing the Kauri trees, Max seemed less than impressed - even when looking at a stand of 4 trees like the ones shown! However, I seemed much more  impressed. The fourth image in this cluster shows Dot, Max and Bec walking along a special path designed to protect the fragile root systems of these stately trees.

 Then we came to the Lord of the Forest, one of the largest Kauri trees whose impressive dimensions are provided on the notice-board. Bec and Max spent quite a while in awe of this monster, while Dot and I posed in front of the monarch of the forest and Max was inspired to take a photo.

The final picture shows some of the impressive west coast of Northland - destination that has much to recommend it.

AS

Insubordinate Klaus?

As we were setting off yesterday for Christmas dinner at Jane Stening's home I was asked to put on a Santa hat. Jane is one of Dot's friends and her son William who had flown home from Vancouver, made up our quartet. The meal and the company were nice and made up for not having either Emily or Rebecca and their families chez nous. In fact, I think we were there for about 4 hours.

Here's me wearing my hat along with William. I don't really look like Santa do I? Nor one of his many subordinate clauses! So I'll call myself an insubordinate Klaus, especially wearing that gear which was suitable for a hot (29C) and steamy day.

Although we can dress down without too much comment, the food we eat and the other paraphernalia surrounding Xmas are much more unmoveable. For example we ate lots of turkey and stuffing, ham, roast veges and all those things. We also pulled crackers dispensing party hats (not much use given my head-gear), bad jokes and ... on this occasion ... magic tricks. One I got enabled me to take a single piece of rope, splice it in two, and then put it back together again in the blink of an eye! It wass very effective. The only dispensation to the heat of a southern Christmas was the desert. Dot slaved several hours to construct this elegant Pavlova, which disappeared rapidly once placed on the table.

AS

Graham and Shirley

Last week we hosted two of our relatives whom we had never met! Graham and Shirley hail from Hillcrest, which lies to the west of Durban in South Africa, and their father (Maurice) and my mother (Phyllis) were first cousins. Their respective mothers, Rose and Kate, were sisters and their mother - our great grandmother - was Lucy Page who died in tragic circumstances as long ago as 1930. Lucy was of course the ultimate common link.

Graham and Shirley are in Australia to visit Graham's sister (Anne) in Brisbane and her family and then to travel to New Zealand to visit Maurice, now 95, and his wife Iris in Auckland. We'll also be catching up with Maurice there within about three weeks as we explore the North Island. They and my Aunt Hazel in Plymouth are apparently our last relatives alive of my mother's generation.

Anyway, they spent three nice days with us catching up on family history, politics and lifestyle in our respective countries, and our various philosophies, goals and achievements in life. We also visited some of the main tourist attractions around this region, which was voted one of Australia's major tourist destinations for 2014. We also sampled a range of cafes, restaurants, and even a winery. of course, one of the destinations was Wollomombi Falls, where these pictures were taken. Alas the volume of water was small because of our recent drought - now abating.

AS

Wicked Deals

The Armidale Bridge Club's Christmas Party was held last Saturday and we had, as usual a big turnout. The attractions were many. Lovely food, club awards, and ... my devilish deals. It is now a club tradition that I select a stack of deals that are, for various reasons, difficult to bid and play. This year was no different, except that this time I got the computer to deal 99 hands from which I selected the 28 most interesting / difficult ones on offer. My selection criteria will remain a secret, but the players generally love the outcome. One example of a difficult deal was a slam hand for E-W. The contract will make 12 tricks against any defence, but interference bidding by their opponents made it difficult to detect that outcome. Only one out of 13 tables managed to get there.

Each year I dress up as the devil - supplemented on this occasion by my Dracula T-shirt. So I directed the event walking around with a red tail, two red horns, and a black cloak. The players found it a hoot and, at the end of the session, I delivered my awards for:

• The most disastrous score
• The contract with the biggest plus
• The wimpiest contract (generally the one with most over-tricks), and
• The player whose attitude at the table most attracted my attention

The last-named went to Olive Tilley, who is well into her 90s. She was the card table equivalent of Usain Bolt in the 100 m event, mostly finishing  her three deals in each round ahead of anyone else! She won a pack of cards I bought in Translyvania. I hadn't opened the pack so I hope they didn't spill blood!

Some pictures of the event:

Each one pictures me as the Devil.

AS

An Unusual Concert

I'm getting a little behind in my posts and reporting a concert Dot and I attended a week ago. It was the last in the prestigious Musica Viva concerts for 2014 and involved a group called The Australian Voices. They are a choral ensemble of 19 singers, roughly balanced between Sopranos, Altos, Tenors and Basses, and a live-wire conductor / composer. The individual performers were all young - in their 20s and 30s - and all were excellent in timbre and timing. No wonder the New York Times described them "as if the gates of heaven had opened". Moreover, a professor of choral conducting in Munich said "this ensemble is captivating: breathtaking homogeny, perfect intonation, spectacular virtuosity". And they're performing in little old Armidale? They've performed in many different countries and won awards for their skills.

So what did they sing? Well, the programme was amazing and very modern for the most-part. Over half the works dated from the 20th and 21st centuries and rejoiced in some bizarre names: Unrepresentative Swill (sayings by Australian parliamentarians - including two Prime Ministers!); Love is Space and Time; Underwater Bask-Weaving; Who are We?; Bookmoth; Dark Doves; and so on. And one work, "Heyr, himna smithur" was written in the 21st century by the well-known Icelandic composer Thorkell Sigurbjornsson. However, his words were penned in 1208 - i.e. 8 centuries ago! That was beaten in time by Heldegarde von Bingen's "O ignee Spiritus" written in 1179. See what I mean? The program was excitingly original to match an excitingly original ensemble. I salute the organisers!

And here they are:

AS