Herding cats

Sometimes, when you have a lot of people in the house and you try to find ways to make everybody happy, it can feel a little like the title indicates, like trying to herd cats. However, for us it didn't at all, because everybody was on best behavior and helped out with everything. In fact, we managed to have 11 house guests here over the weekend without lifting a finger (almost).  Our two daughters who live far, far away, one with her partner, and our son who lives here in Sydney, were here together with our longer-term visitors from Sweden.  Part of the family from Melbourne also drove up to Sydney to meet them. It all coincided with hubby's birthday. It was all great fun.

Today the younger generation has gone to Manly for a swim and then on to Newtown for shopping. Hubby is back at work and myself and the Swedes are recuperating at home.  Tomorrow our younger daughter and boyfriend are going to Bali for a few days and we'll see them again for a few days next week before they go back to South America.

Arrivals from Santiago

Arrival from Dakar

Very picky eater, this one!

Mommy with a little joey in her pouch.

M, our daughter's boyfriend, was called upon to hold the snake. When our daughter was little she was the one who had to hold the snake in Cairns. 

Stay put for more to come, because believe me there is much, much more!

Blueberries

When we are in Sweden we always like to pick blueberries in the forest near our cottage but in New Zealand they had proper blueberry farms where you could go in and taste wine and jam and chutney and other goodies, all made from blueberries. It was delicious and also they are very good for you, apparently.

I have been a bit lazy writing here lately. Hubby is away in Europe for 10 days and I have been very busy with the pool. Something went wrong when we were away and the pool people have been here several times. It is still not quite right so I have to manually clean the bottom since the vacuum cleaner doesn't do the job.  It involves a lot of diving! Those stupid berries from next door!

Just read in a Swedish daily about a 98 year old lady who is a blogger and blogs every day!!!! She actually moved to her son in Thailand at the same time as my mother moved with us to Sydney. Both of them are back in Sweden now after their great adventures, for different reasons. If you understand Swedish here is a link.

Back to another little detail about New Zealanders. Like their Aussie friends, they seem to like "Big Things". Here are some of them:

Me and The White Kiwi

Me and Kiwi, the fruit

Hubby liked this one because Gumboot was his
nickname for a long time

This blog entry wouldn't be complete without a photo of me eating. Here is a photo from a food market where they made these delicious mussel fritters. I hope this recipe is as good as the ones we had. I haven't tried them yet but I think I will do it when we are having the kids here in March.

"The kids" you say, "Are they coming all the way to Australia ... from South America and Africa?" Yesss, for the first time since 2009 we will have all three plus boyfriend under one roof. I can't wait!!! It will not be for very long but at least it is finally happening, more about that later.

It's time to do chores, so bye for now. I'll leave you with a few more pretty pictures from NZ.

Museum of Rotorua, previous bathhouse

Home sweet home

We are back ... after a wonderful two weeks in New Zealand. I have already written a little bit about it, and here is a little more, and there will undoubtably be more after this.

It is a great place with nice people, beautiful scenery, and great temperatures. People speak a form of English that is quite endearing but sometimes difficult to understand, at least for me. If you have ever watched Flight of the Concord you might know how it sounds.

We spent the last two days in Rotorua which is a geothermal area. The place smells like boiled eggs because of the H₂S, but you get used to it. Almost every hotel has thermal pools either in the garden or in your hotel room. It is very relaxing to sit in your pool before going to bed. Temperatures vary from 37°C to 42°C+ which we had in the last place we were. That is a tad hot and you step out of it like a boiled lobster. They recommend bathing with someone since you might feel faint.

On our way to Rotorua from Napier we stopped at this great geothermal spa and had a little soak.

When we visited a Maori village the tour guide told us that the Maori could stand much higher temperatures than the visitors, and I believe her. We were standing on a cliff with hot water underneath the surface and the guide was telling us a story about burials. I had instigated it by asking a question and I could hardly keep standing still because my feet were burning from underneath. I had to jump from foot to another, but discreetly, since she was talking about her ancestors, and they are very important. I felt a bit conspicuous! She, however, was quite unperturbed.

There was actually a burial taking place that day so we could not visit the Ceremonial Hall. The ceremonies last three days nowadays but used to last up to several weeks. Our visit to Tewhakarewarewatangaotopetaauaawahiao finished with a little show with singers and a Haka etc, very interesting. I know that you might be thinking that I have put my hands down on the keyboard and just left them there and by doing that I got those letters. But no, it is actually the name of this particular Maori village and it has a meaning

 

Our first overnight stop however, after leaving Wellington was a place called Napier. This town was destroyed during an earthquake and when it was rebuilt it was all in Art Deco style, since it was in 1931. The buildings are very stylish and beautiful, if you are a fan of Art Deco. The day we were there, there was a cruise ship as well and they had a lot of arrangement for the cruise participents. Like people dressed up in clothes from the 30's and taking people for drives in vintage cars.

It looks a little like Florida I think

I bet you are wondering what I was referring to in my last entry, when I said that trouble frequently comes in threes. Well, several months before coming to NZ we had booked a train trip from Auckland to Wellington on a scenic train. Needless to say hubby was very much looking forward to this being that he is a huge train enthusiast, in fact for him it was the highlight of the trip to New Zealand.

This is while we were still happy and excited about going by train to Wellington

We got up very early to catch this train and after check in, etc. we sat down in our comfortable seats and then we set off. It was well organized with ear phones so we could take in the history as we travelled along. There was also a lovely cafe wagon and we were looking forward to having lunch there, perhaps a glass of wine while we watched the beautiful landscape. The whole point of taking one of these scenic railways is that you get to see areas that are not visible from the road.

The big let-down happened just an hour after departure. There was a message over the loud speaker that there had been a derailment further along the line and we could not continue. We had to continue the trip by bus!!!! So in a town called Hamilton we all disembarked and crammed into the three buses waiting for us and set off on our 10 hour bus trip.

We arrived in Wellington after dark and traipsed away to our Quest apartment which was in fact really conveniently located. There were loads of people dressed up in fancy dress and we managed to glean that there was a special rugby tournament on and also a fancy dress competition. First prize was $10,000 so people were taking it very seriously. After the rugby games there was a street party but these two party poopers needed to have an early night after our nightmarish bus trip, so we skipped that.

This is getting very long now so I have to stop and save some for next time, because believe me there is more.

  

What is not so nice when you have been away is to get back to a clogged up pool filter and a very messy back yard. It must have been very windy when we were away and those darn little berries from the neighbor have all fallen into the pool. So Kia Ora, and more soon! 

Trouble always comes in threes ...

... at least that is our experience on this trip!

It started out with hubby misreading our ticket from Sydney to Auckland; he had looked at the arrival time in Auckland and thought it was our departure time, so we missed our flight. So after buying new tickets, five times as expensive, since we had used frequent-flyer points for the first, we arrived very late in Auckland.

We had a few lovely days there though with lots of walking, and a visit to an island called Rangitoto, which appeared through a volcanic eruption only 600 years ago! I thought that sounded awfully recent and I was not very comfortable.

View of Auckland on the way up to the top of the volcano 

Then we went to another island called Waiheke where hubby had a conference for four days. I spent my time hopping on and off buses and visiting the island which was very beautiful. There were several wineries on the island as well and many art galleries.

This is a lovely little beach very close to the resort where
the conference was held. It is called Palm Beach.

When we returned to Auckland on Friday there was a fire in the port engine of the ferry so we had to travel in slow motion which was sort of okay for us but it was nerve wrecking for the passengers who had a plane to catch. Anyway, I am counting that as the second little mishap, even though it didn't really affect us.

Just a little detail about Auckland, and for that matter maybe it is true of other places here as well. They have amazing intersections.  When the light goes green people start walking like crazy people, straight across and diagonally across etc.

Unfortunately there were not so many people crossing in this
picture, but when there are many crossing it is crazy.

Now I bet you are wondering what the third mishap was, but you have to be patient since we are in a motel with limited internet time so I have to save it for next time.

So I am saying goodnight for now and will write more soon. There is so much more to tell!

For my golfer friends, here is a word of warning!

Very hot

Yes, it has been very hot lately and in some places it contues. Today is not even 30+ yet, so it feels ok. We are so pleased about the pool and we are in it every day, like little kids. Hubby has perfected a couple of moves to get into the inflatable ring that are worth seeing.

We had visitors from the UK for five days and it all went way to quick but it was lots of fun. For example there was fun with eggs. You wouldn't believe how much fun you can have with boiled eggs, especially if they are soft boiled.

Our son came out on Friday when they arrived and stayed over night. We barbecued and caught up on old memories. We met over 30 years ago when we all lived in Grenoble, in fact they are the ones who looked after our two year old when I went to hospital to have our first daughter.
In the morning our son made dim sums which went down a treat, they were delicious.

We also had great fun playing cards every night, something that we never did much when I grew up but I now see what I missed out on. However, I will never be good at it, my memory is not very good, at least not for cards.

The day after Australia Day which is a public holiday here, we did the big tour that we often take visitors on.
First we stopped at the big hindu temple in Helensburg. It must have been some special celebration because there were many people there. We didn't see until after our visit on the way out,  that we should have been vegetarians to go in, oups!

What I really wanted was to take photos inside of all the beautiful women and children in colorful saris but that was forbidden.

 Our itinerary also  included the Big Potato in Robertson where they have a very nice cheese shop.

This little verse should be sung to Sweet dreams are made of this by Eurythmics

We had lunch in Kangaroo Valley but it should have been in one of the wineries but we got started too late in the morning.  Kangaroo Valley has lots of cute shops and galleries and is nice to stroll around in.

We also went to Fitzroy Falls which is very nice, you can take a short walk or a slightly longer one.

Not a very good picture. There was a herd of tourists there and everyone wanted their picture taken in front of the falls

 The last stop of the day was in Kiama to see the blowhole, the little and the larger one. We all agreed that the smaller one was better.

Dave and Rhona and me in front of the "small" blow hole.

I have to leave you now and go off on new adventures but remember " Age is not important unless you are a cheese"

It just goes too darn fast!

I mean time just slips through my fingers; one day it is the first of January and then it is suddenly the seventeenth. What is happening? I really have to take more care of each day and treasure it!

We had visitors from Melbourne with us last week and J, the husband, reminded me of this time aspect, when he said that I am now on my last 3000 days. That doesn't seem much really does it? I have so much still to do. Here are some ideas. I am not going to do number two, and as far as number five, I seem to do that  effortlessly on a regular basis. Here is another website with more ideas. I like the travelling and learning ones, but the sport ones, forget it, they are not for me.

J and J (our visitors) were quite independent and went into Sydney by themselves quite a few times but we also had a few trips together by car.  One of the last day we had a nice dinner at Grissini, a local Italian restaurant in Menai which very good.

I also had a visit from an old Grenoble friend, A, who lives here in Sydney now. She brought the whole season three of Førbydelsen and we watched it all in one day. Occasionally we would get up and grab something to eat. We were like zombies (or teenagers); it was really a disgrace but great fun. Maybe we will do it next year again, since this was the second time we did it, and we seem to  be creating a tradition here. Last year was in our old house.

This is not a sign you see very often here in Australia but in Sweden it is very common, warning you of moose crossing the road.. So of course we had to stop and have coffee where we saw this in Wollongong. I had actually been there several times before, but now that they have this sign up it is easier to find. It is a cafe/restaurant run by a Swedish woman and her South African husband, called Wild Moose Cafe. They are also on Facebook in case you want to have a look.

Cheerio for now everybody and more news after the Australia Day week end, which is the 26 of January. That is when our dear friends from the UK are coming for a visit. Who knows what we will get up to with them! We have a few ideas up our sleeve, but it all depends on what they feel like doing.

Leaving you with a picture of a painting that I saw in the Wild Moose Cafe and that I really like for its vibrant colors and naïve style.

No New Year's resolutions

Yeah, that's right! I am not making any New Year's resolutions this year. It's just too much hassle and to much disappointment involved when you can't keep them. So just generally hoping for a pleasant year for everyone. However, if you are making resolutions, here are some general tips and not just for New Years resolutions:

1. Set achievable goals instead of ideal goals.
2. Expect setbacks.
3. Don't use excuses or setbacks to put it off for another year.

In fact I hardly noticed that we changed year. Here we are in the city that has one of the first and most amazing fireworks displays in the world and we slept through it all. I guess I was counting on hubby to wake me up  for the fireworks,  in case I nodded off in front of the TV and he counted on me doing the same.  We slept like like babies until early morning but looking on the bright side, we now have a bottle of champagne to drink at a suitable moment!

This is what we missed.

We have had some very hot days here in Australia, in some places near +50C but not here. We had maybe around +35C but even that that is way above my comfort temperature, so I am very grateful that the house we are renting has a pool. We virtually live in it. In fact I hear splashing right now which means that hubby is trying to get onto the giant inflatable ring. It usually takes a few tries and is quite amusing to watch. We usually have to fill up with more water too when he's had a few tries.

New Year's Day we went for a drive to the northern beaches and ended up having lunch in Mona Vale and then we drove on to West Head where you have a beautiful view over to Palm Beach.

It is called the Pacific Highway but of course it is  not the street that you drive on in Sydney but this is for the life in the ocean, for the whales and the penguins and the dolphins etc. I hope you can read it.

Other than that we have had a big yacht race  from Sydney to Hobart and again I missed out on seeing the boats start out because we forgot, but one of these days.

On a sad note, Michael Schumacher is in coma in  hospital in my second home town, Grenoble.

My thoughts are with his family.