Category Archives: Travel Planning

New Zealand, Travel Planning

18. Auckland – Raglan

Saturday, February 28: Clear and sunny, and very warm with a couple of clouds

Robert’s (airbnb, $50)

Couldn’t sleep much beyond 8:30, and there was not much to pack this morning, so I got some breakfast (muesli, coffee), then transported my stuff to the door, woke Chinara and said goodbye to her, then marched along the street to the bus stop. Had thought of leaving my stuff there to begin with & collecting it later, but the roads were already chock-a-block and I was glad I had all my stuff with me, and didn’t have to drive back through town.

The bus was rather full as well (one bus later than planned, and it was apparently the planned bus that had failed to turn up). The driver let me leave my suitcase up front. When we were in town I was quickly at the stop in Albert St, and the next bus that I was able to catch was the one bus earlier. So much for Auckland’s public transport timetabling. Read more…

New Zealand, Travel Planning

17. Ohakune – Auckland

Friday, February 27: Cloudy in the morning, clearing on the way north, just a bit of rain in Taumarunui, which we missed, and rain visible in the distance around Hamilton

Chinara’s

Was up before 8:00 to finish off the bread from yesterday with what remained of the ham, and a can of Watties baked beans with sausages for breakfast. Simon called over with a final loaf of bread which I saved up for the bus trip.

The rest of the morning was spent packing and transcribing another two days of the diary. Managed to transfer €500 from a savings account to the Visa card, and with a daily limit on cash withdrawals of €600, I should be able to get the $1200 for the car together in cash for tomorrow. Read more…

New Zealand, Photography, Swimming, Travel Planning

15. Ohakune

Wednesday, February 25: Changeably cloudy throughout most of the day, and still warm

Danni’s

Slept almost completely through until 8:30 when Simon knocked on the door with a fresh loaf of his bread. Breakfast had to be improvised from what else was to be found apart from the eggs & butter I have over from last week. Some wheatbix were found, some milk and sugar, so the day could start.

The butter, it must be remarked here, was rock solid out of the fridge and still maintains its buttery appearance and taste despite living for 10 days in my sealable plastic container and melting at least twice during the kayak trip. This must be the test of tests for all concerned, both butter and container. Read more…

New Zealand, Travel Planning

11. Ohakune

Saturday, February 21: Cloudy at first, with some brief & light showers in the afternoon, clearing by evening. Still warm

Sue & Simon’s

Time to sleep in this morning – at least until 8:30. Simon was already up baking bread. After breakfast he offered me the use of his jeep and I went across to see how Pea was doing. She had survived decompression and was getting ready for the next adventure. I introduced myself as her chauffeur and had to explain why.

At about 11:00 drove around to her place to pick her up – too early for the bus, but I had been told that Roger & Jackie were in town having breakfast so I thought we might track them down as a final diversion before she left at 12:50. Read more…

Kayaking, New Zealand, Photography, Travel Planning

5. Ohakune

Sunday, February 15: Cold overnight due to clear skies, and clear and sunny during the day, with some clouds in the distance

Sue and Simon’s

Just after 6:00 I felt awake enough that no more sleep seemed possible but with a little relaxation I managed to fall into a lucid dream until just after 8:00.

Simon was the maitre de petit déjèuner and I had some muesli with milk, coffee and a couple of scrambled eggs with toasted ciabatta which Simon had baked himself. It was really worth eating, though I haven’t been up to much in the last couple of days. Then I had to make the mother of all lists for today, the mother of all technical days. Read more…

Kayaking, New Zealand, Travel Planning

4. Auckland – Ohakune

Saturday, February 14: A little cloudy to begin with, but then sunny with some mountain clouds

Sue and Simon’s (airbnb, $90)

Early rising was no word for it. I had wanted to be up at 6:45 but was already awake at 6:30 so went and showered, then had a coffee, toasted a danish or whatever it was that Chinara had left for me on a plate on the kitchen table. Then it was time to try to get the case to close, and by 7:25 I was ready to go. Said goodbye to Chinara through the bedroom door. Have left a small cache of books behind in one of the drawers, so will have to remember to pick them up on the 27th.

Was at the bus stop in good time and could see from the timetable that there would have been a problem taking even one bus later (7:50) than envisaged (7:40) because it was delayed by a quarter of an hour, and because of the unusual intervals in the timetable, a later bus – even if it was on time – would have been touch-and-go for the long distance bus. Read more…

New Zealand, Swimming, Travel Planning

1. Auckland

Wednesday, February 11: Warm and sunny

Swimming: 1200 m

Chinara’s (airbnb, $56)

Kayaker Intrepid has landed

The plane from Kuala Lumpur was very full, and I was seated in my old seat but had a Maori family sitting next to me who I struck up conversation with (a couple, their daughter and her boyfriend). I had the fish this time round (very spicy) and then took in one half of Walking in the Graveyard until I wasn’t following the story any more and slept a good three hours. My rowmates slept the whole way through to dinner, as did most other people. Passengers today included a variety of people wearing religious attire except for Jews, Hare Krishnas, and Bhagwanis. Read more…

Travel Planning

0. Hannover – Hilversum – Kuala Lumpur – Auckland

Hannover – Hilversum

Sunday, February 8: Sunny, quite cold, clouding over in the afternoon, and clearing again in the evening

Bart & Thera’s (airbnb, €28)

Final tasks that had to be done were cleaning the flat, taking the rubbish out, making some space in the wardrobe and getting the case to shut. Seems it will weigh in at about 26 kg, with another 10 in the rucksack.

Down to the bus stop and then two very short bus rides to the local station, a short train ride to the main station, where I bought a couple of rolls for lunch and then the very long train journey to Hilversum. The train was only fairly full, so I was seated for the entire trip, but had to lift the case up to a shelf at about 1.5 m height, and there was little room to do a crouch and grab. Read more…

Kayaking, New Zealand, Photography, Travel Planning

Countdown

It’s time for the preparations to draw to a close, after ten months. Of course, there’ll be stuff that still has to be bought because it was forgotten back at the ranch. I’m still wrangling with the car hirer about whether a larger suitcase than the current one will fit into the boot of the car I’m hiring, and that may continue for several days. I’ll at least try to pack the existing case, but I suspect that, with all the camping gear, too much will be left for the pack. Read more…

Travel Planning

Google and Other Aviation Disasters

Over the course of a couple of years Google has honed its search engine algorithm so far that, regardless of what search terms are entered, the corresponding Wikipedia page appears as the first hit. Now there would appear to be just one last tweak to perfect this system, and I may very well be prepared to take it in the near future. Read more…